book reviews harry potter

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone

By j.k. rowling.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone is one of the most popular children's books ever written. It is a story about the triumph of love and bravery over evil.

About the Book

Article written by Mohandas Alva

M.A. Degree in English Literature from Manipal University, India.

‘ Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone ‘ is a very engaging read for children and adults alike. Since it is the first book in this series, we are introduced to an entirely new world in this book. The world of magic slowly builds itself as we read through the book. The genius of this book is using the protagonist Harry’s discovery of this world to parallel the readers’.

Furthermore, despite several hardships and literally being an orphan who never knew love, Harry still recognizes love and affection when he sees it. While this book is memorable for a plethora of reasons, some elements of Rowling’s writing triumph as winners.

Discovering the Story World and Magic as a Metaphor

J. K. Rowling does a great job writing this story with an omniscient third-person narrative but still keeping the narrator wherever Harry is for a major part of this book. This makes the reader’s fascination and interest in the world of magic as new and real as Harry’s. We are introduced to several facts and significant peculiarities of the world of magic, all of which seem very consistently developed, adding authenticity to it. 

While there are a lot of similarities between the real world and the world of magic, the differences are usually peculiar and downright funny at times. Platform nine and three-quarters, running through a brick wall, ghosts roaming freely and talking to living people, and many other peculiarities add to the charm of creating an interesting story world. One could go on to theorize that calling non-magic people muggles and portraying the Dursleys as ordinary people who hate things like magic has a metaphorical purpose. 

It furthers the cause and appeals to the readers to be more imaginative and creative. Magic is a metaphor for imagination in this case. The Dursleys are scared of anything out of the ordinary. They spend their entire day doing mundane tasks they assign meaning to and criticize almost anything and anyone that doesn’t fit their design.

On the contrary, Harry, despite being ill-treated and not loved by the Dursleys, has a flair for imagination and creativity. It didn’t take very long for him to get used to the wizarding ways, and he very clearly had the potential to do great things after all. This book is, in its essence, an inspiration for readers to make dreams come true and bravely follow their dreams despite obstacles. It is an apt narrative for children who, at their age, tend to discover new things and ideas to develop. 

Good vs Evil and Heroism

The trope of a savior standing up to the tyrant is not new. However, ‘ Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone ‘ being a children’s book, delves into this slowly. When Harry is unaware of magic and thinks that his parents died in an accident, he is a normal child with very little to think about good, evil, and the need for heroism.

However, once he is informed of the actual circumstances of his parents’ death and after discovering magic, he gains new insights, and his worldview significantly changes. His sense of responsibility and the need to stop Voldemort at any cost from getting to the Philosopher’s Stone set the path for his heroism. This transition happens slowly, yet it feels very natural. He doesn’t know what he will do if he faces Voldemort. Despite this naive understanding of the consequences, he still chooses to face Voldemort. 

This portrayal of heroism is quite commendable as it appeals to the very cause of wanting to stop the wrongdoing. The fact that an eleven-year-old boy and his two friends thwart a feared dark wizard from stealing the Philosopher’s Stone in a school that has so many adults who are way more experienced and well-equipped to do it portrays heroism in its purest form. Heroism is more the choice to take action against evil than the ability to stop evil. This book does a good job illustrating this subtlety.

Sacrifice in Harry Potter

Sacrifice is an essential part of this novel. The story of ‘ Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone ‘ uses sacrifice to define both friendship and love. Harry’s parents die because they sacrifice themselves to protect Harry. Ron sacrifices himself while playing Wizard chess. Several people who fought in the war against Voldemort sacrificed themselves for the well-being of the collective community. 

The trope of sacrifice plays a major role in setting up differences in morality between the good and the evil. As Dumbledore points out to Harry, Voldemort does not understand love. The fact that Harry understands love and values it, sets a specific difference in the choices that Harry and Lord Voldemort make.

Harry is willing to sacrifice himself when he takes over the task of protecting the Philosopher’s Stone. On the contrary, Voldemort uses others for his selfish motives. This stark difference between willing to sacrifice oneself and using others as a shield to protect oneself makes all the difference and definitively separates good and evil in this book.

Why was Harry Potter banned?

Harry Potter was banned in a catholic school in Nashville, Tennessee, because of fear of evil spirits. Some other places have also banned Harry Potter books for similar religious fears. Some religious leaders were concerned that the spells and enchantments mentioned in the book were real and that they could summon evil spirits and dark magic.

Is  Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone  worth reading for an adult?

‘ Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone ‘ is definitely worth reading for an adult. While it was written as a children’s book, it has outlived this label, and there are people of all ages who not only read these books but also engage in community discussions and have fun playing games inspired by these books. Many people have found reading this book a very rewarding experience, as is evident from the sales and fame this book has garnered across all demographics.

Should I read  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone  or watch the movie? 

While the movie is undoubtedly well-made and a thrill to watch, the books are far more detailed and a very thrilling read. Most people who have both read the books and watched the movies always choose the former as a better experience. Furthermore, there are several interesting and amusing characters and scenes in the book that the movie couldn’t incorporate. So, one would be missing out on a lot if one doesn’t read ‘ Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. ‘

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone Review - A Thrilling Read

• Writing Style
• Lasting effect on the reader

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone Book Review

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J K Rowling is a thrilling read that hooks the reader from page one. Published in the year 1997, it is one of the highest grossing novels ever written. Some elements of the novel like its elaborate yet accessible world-building makes it a very entertaining read for children and adults alike. It follows the story of an orphan boy named Harry Potter who realizes he is a wizard and the rest of the book records his journey as a young wizard in Hogwarts, a school of magic. This book, and the series as a whole have been a definitive part of an entire generation’s childhood and have garnered very high praise as an entertaining read.

• The plot is entertaining and is a very immersive read.
• Has a lot of early lessons for children on morality.
• The characters are well developed and the story world is well structured and interesting.
• The writing style may be a bit rudimentary for adult avid readers.
• Several instances of Deux Ex Machina make the protagonist’s position very safe and lacking any real danger.
• Some mild instances of body shaming exist within the novel.

About Mohandas Alva

Mohandas is very passionate about deciphering the nature of language and its role as a sole medium of storytelling in literature. His interests sometimes digress from literature to philosophy and the sciences but eventually, the art and craft of narrating a significant story never fail to thrill him.

Cite This Page

Alva, Mohandas " Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone Review ⭐ " Book Analysis , https://bookanalysis.com/jk-rowling/harry-potter-and-the-philosophers-stone/review/ . Accessed 12 April 2024.

The Harry Potter section of Book Analysis analyzes and explorers the Harry Potter series. The characters, names, terminology, and all related indicia are trademarks of Warner Bros ©. The content on Book Analysis was created by Harry Potter fans, with the aim of providing a thorough in-depth analysis and commentary to complement and provide an additional perspective to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

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HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE

From the harry potter series , vol. 1.

by J.K. Rowling ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 1998

It’s slanted toward action-oriented readers, who will find that Briticisms meld with all the other wonders of magic school.

In a rousing first novel, already an award-winner in England, Harry is just a baby when his magical parents are done in by Voldemort, a wizard so dastardly other wizards are scared to mention his name.

So Harry is brought up by his mean Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia Dursley, and picked on by his horrid cousin Dudley. He knows nothing about his magical birthright until ten years later, when he learns he’s to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Hogwarts is a lot like English boarding school, except that instead of classes in math and grammar, the curriculum features courses in Transfiguration, Herbology, and Defense Against the Dark Arts. Harry becomes the star player of Quidditch, a sort of mid-air ball game. With the help of his new friends Ron and Hermione, Harry solves a mystery involving a sorcerer’s stone that ultimately takes him to the evil Voldemort. This hugely enjoyable fantasy is filled with imaginative details, from oddly flavored jelly beans to dragons’ eggs hatched on the hearth.

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1998

ISBN: 978-0-590-35340-3

Page Count: 309

Publisher: Levine/Scholastic

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1998

CHILDREN'S SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY

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SEEN & HEARD

THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD AND EVIL

From the school for good and evil series , vol. 1.

by Soman Chainani ; illustrated by Iacopo Bruno ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 14, 2013

Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic.

Chainani works an elaborate sea change akin to Gregory Maguire’s Wicked (1995), though he leaves the waters muddied.

Every four years, two children, one regarded as particularly nice and the other particularly nasty, are snatched from the village of Gavaldon by the shadowy School Master to attend the divided titular school. Those who survive to graduate become major or minor characters in fairy tales. When it happens to sweet, Disney princess–like Sophie and  her friend Agatha, plain of features, sour of disposition and low of self-esteem, they are both horrified to discover that they’ve been dropped not where they expect but at Evil and at Good respectively. Gradually—too gradually, as the author strings out hundreds of pages of Hogwarts-style pranks, classroom mishaps and competitions both academic and romantic—it becomes clear that the placement wasn’t a mistake at all. Growing into their true natures amid revelations and marked physical changes, the two spark escalating rivalry between the wings of the school. This leads up to a vicious climactic fight that sees Good and Evil repeatedly switching sides. At this point, readers are likely to feel suddenly left behind, as, thanks to summary deus ex machina resolutions, everything turns out swell(ish).

Pub Date: May 14, 2013

ISBN: 978-0-06-210489-2

Page Count: 496

Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013

CHILDREN'S SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

by Soman Chainani ; illustrated by Iacopo Bruno

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BOOK TO SCREEN

THE LAST EVER AFTER

From the school for good and evil series , vol. 3.

by Soman Chainani ; illustrated by Iacopo Bruno ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 21, 2015

Ultimately more than a little full of itself, but well-stocked with big themes, inventively spun fairy-tale tropes, and...

Good has won every fairy-tale contest with Evil for centuries, but a dark sorcerer’s scheme to turn the tables comes to fruition in this ponderous closer.

Broadening conflict swirls around frenemies Agatha and Sophie as the latter joins rejuvenated School Master Rafal, who has dispatched an army of villains from Capt. Hook to various evil stepmothers to take stabs (literally) at changing the ends of their stories. Meanwhile, amid a general slaughter of dwarves and billy goats, Agatha and her rigid but educable true love, Tedros, flee for protection to the League of Thirteen. This turns out to be a company of geriatric versions of characters, from Hansel and Gretel (in wheelchairs) to fat and shrewish Cinderella, led by an enigmatic Merlin. As the tale moves slowly toward climactic battles and choices, Chainani further lightens the load by stuffing it with memes ranging from a magic ring that must be destroyed and a “maleficent” gown for Sophie to this oddly familiar line: “Of all the tales in all the kingdoms in all the Woods, you had to walk into mine.” Rafal’s plan turns out to be an attempt to prove that love can be twisted into an instrument of Evil. Though the proposition eventually founders on the twin rocks of true friendship and family ties, talk of “balance” in the aftermath at least promises to give Evil a fighting chance in future fairy tales. Bruno’s polished vignettes at each chapter’s head and elsewhere add sophisticated visual notes.

Pub Date: July 21, 2015

ISBN: 978-0-06-210495-3

Page Count: 672

Review Posted Online: June 25, 2015

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A review of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone By J. K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone By J. K. Rowling Bloomsbury Pub Ltd Paperback: 224 pages, Feb 2000, ISBN-13: 978-0747532743

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J. K. Rowling is a book about bravery and courage. As Professor Albus Dumbledore, the Headmaster at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, says “It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends.”

I enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it for muggles aged eleven and up. This is the first in the seven book Harry Potter series. I think readers must read Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone before reading the other books in the series, as this book sets the scene for the Harry Potter world.

As the title suggests, the main character in this book is Harry James Potter, also known as the boy who lived. The book follows Harry in his first year at Hogwarts, where he meets Hermione Jean Granger, a genius, and Ronald Bilius Weasley, a red head with six siblings.

When he was just a baby, Harry’s parents were killed by a Dark Arts wizard named Voldemort. Voldemort also tried to kill Harry but failed, leaving Harry with a scar in the shape of a lightning bolt on his forehead, and giving him the title the boy who lived. On the night of his parents’ death, Harry was placed on the doorstep of his aunt and uncle, the Dursley’s, much to their displeasure.

“Harry – yer a wizard” Harry was told on his eleventh birthday. With this news, he left the Dursley’s grasp for Hogwarts.

Harry, Ron and Hermione discover that in a room in the Forbidden Corridor on the third floor at Hogwarts, covered by spells and curses, lays the one and only Philosopher’s Stone – a stone that can transform any metal into pure gold and also produces the Elixir of Life, which will make the drinker immortal. During his time at Hogwarts, Harry develops the feeling that his potions teacher Professor Snape hates him, and has a gut feeling that Snape will try and steal the stone. One night, Harry, Ron and Hermione sneak up to the Forbidden Corridor to get the stone before Snape does. The trio pass through challenging obstacles. In the end, Harry has to finish the mission on his own and to his surprise, it’s not at all what he expected.

The theme of this story is magic and mystery. Nothing is as it seems, with changes at every turn.

This book is unlike any other; J. K. Rowling has opened the door to a whole new world of reading. Those readers who enjoy the Scarlet and Ivy series by Sophie Cleverly should also enjoy the Harry Potter series.

About the reviewer: Cleo was Commended in the 2019 Hunter Writers’ Centre/Compulsive Reader Review competition. She is in Grade 6 and her favourite subjects are novel study, reading groups and writing. Cleo has participated in the Premier’s Reading Challenge since she started school. Cleo plays as the Goal Shooter and Goal Attack in her local netball team, which she loves. Cleo’s dream is to have a dog and she is yet to know what she wants to be in the future.

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Book Review

Harry potter and the sorcerer’s stone – “harry potter” series.

• J.K. Rowling

Readability Age Range

• Scholastic Press, an imprint of Scholastic, Inc.

Year Published

After being raised in the miserably unfair home of his Uncle Vernon Dursley, Harry practically begins life anew when he discovers that he is a wizard and is invited to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Among Harry’s first-year adventures are making new friends (Hagrid, Ron and Hermione), standing up to the torments of school bully Draco Malfoy, and becoming the star player on his Quidditch team (the favored sport in the magical world). Harry’s life as a Hogwarts “first-year” is more interesting than that of most attendees, because he is already famous for surviving the attack of the evil Lord Voldemort, who tried to kill him as an infant. Everyone in the wizard world knows more about Harry’s family and his story than he does, so a great deal of the book is about Harry growing into his heritage.

By far the most important happening of Harry’s first year is unraveling the mystery of the Sorcerer’s Stone and coming face to face with Voldemort. The Sorcerer’s Stone has the power to turn things to gold and to give immortality to humans. Voldemort, who lost most of his power in the battle with Harry’s parents, is desperate to find the stone and use it for his own evil purposes. He enlists the help of one Hogwarts professor, and in the end, Harry meets both of them in hand-to-hand combat. Of course, Harry wins, but Voldemort is not defeated forever.

Positive Elements

At the wizards’ bank, Harry reads on the door the following warning against greed: “Enter stranger, but take heed of what awaits the sin of greed. For those who take but do not earn must pay dearly in their turn. So if you seek beneath our floors a treasure that was never yours, thief, you have been warned, beware of finding more than treasure there.”

Unraveling the Sorcerer’s Stone mystery, Harry, Ron and Hermione find themselves involved in a life-sized chess game, in which they become playing pieces. Two positive things here: first, Harry recognizes that Ron is more gifted than he at chess, so he defers to Ron as the wiser partner. More important, Ron proves himself to be such a good friend to Harry that he is willing to sacrifice his playing piece (and get knocked unconscious in the process) so that Harry can go on to find the stone.

Harry’s parents loved him unconditionally, even sacrificially. The message is clear about the effects of this kind of love: Voldemort says, “I killed your father first, and he put up a courageous fight … but your mother needn’t have died. … She was trying to protect you.” Later, Dumbledore says, “Your mother died to save you. If there is one thing Voldemort cannot understand, it is love. He didn’t realize that love as powerful as your mother’s for you leaves its own mark. Not a scar, no visible sign … to have been loved so deeply, even though the person who loved us is gone, will give us some sort of protection forever.”

Violent Content

No detailed description is given of the death of Harry’s parents. All Harry can remember is a huge flash of green light.

The resident directors in the Hogwarts dormitories are all ghosts. Two of them, in particular, have apparently died rather gruesome deaths, for they are named The Bloody Baron and Near Headless Nick, which gives some clue as to how they became specters.

Nicolas Flamel, the inventor of the Sorcerer’s Stone, agrees that it is in the best interest of humanity for the stone to be destroyed. This means that he and his wife, who both are over 600 years old, will die, because they will have no more sustenance from the stone. Harry expresses his distress over this selfless act, and the good professor Dumbledore responds, “To one as young as you, I’m sure it seems incredible, but to Nicolas and Perenelle, it really is like going to bed after a very, very long day. After all, to the well organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.”

As previously mentioned, an evil professor tries to knock Harry to his death (or at least to serious injury) during a Quidditch match. This same professor slaughters a Unicorn in order to drink the life-giving blood of an innocent animal.

Preceding the final match with Voldemort, Ron is knocked unconscious as he, Harry and Hermione struggle to solve the mystery of the Sorcerer’s Stone. The final battle itself is an intense struggle, for Harry soon discovers that Voldemort cannot touch his body without being badly burned. As Harry’s encounter with Voldemort rises to a climax, Voldemort screams at one of his followers, “KILL HIM! KILL HIM!”

Harry’s Family

Harry is treated horribly by Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia and cousin Dudley Dursley. The Dursleys make Harry sleep in a closet, and they make no excuses about denying Harry simple pleasures while spoiling Dudley (“Every year on Dudley’s birthday, his parents took him and a friend out for the day, to adventure parks, hamburger restaurants or the movies. Every year, Harry was left behind with Mrs. Figg, a mad old lady who lived two streets away. Harry hated it there. The whole house smelled of cabbage, and Mrs. Figg made Harry look at photographs of all the cats she’d ever owned”).

The Dursleys are not characterized in such a way that the reader understands them to be a respectable or even a normal example of a family. In fact, the Dursleys are set up more as an example of the damage that is done when a child doesn’t have a real family. Children who have been neglected are likely to identify with Harry and be encouraged by his success at changing his station in life.

The Hogwarts community becomes a kind of surrogate family for Harry. He has a better Christmas at Hogwarts than he ever had with the Dursleys. And through his new friend, Ron Weasley, Harry is semi-adopted into the Weasley family, who care for him and even send him gifts, though they are poor themselves.

Throughout the story, there is the understanding that Harry’s real family truly loved him and would have treated him well. Finally, Harry finds them through a magical mirror called Erised (desire spelled backward.) In the mirror, he is able to see his mother and father looking at him longingly and waving. The mirror is intended to show its viewer the deepest desire of his or her heart.

School Discipline

J.K. Rowling paints a detailed picture of each of the prominent professors—McGonagall is fair and an excellent disciplinarian; Snape is grouchy and vengeful; Quirrell is stuttering and spineless; Dumbledore is wise and altogether respected. Harry and friends figure out early where their loyalties lie and what they can get way with in the classroom. They respect McGonagall and Dumbledore most, because these two are upright, wise and understanding.

Hogwarts rules include no fighting, no sneaking around after hours and no use of magic outside the classroom. Harry and company find a lot of their adventure in breaking the sneaking around rule and usually wind up saving someone or making an important discovery when they’re doing things they shouldn’t. They are always justly punished when they are caught in their misdeeds.

Hermione is the dissenting voice, always warning Harry and Ron that they’d better toe the line. Unfortunately, it is when she finally concedes to breaking the rules (for a good cause, of course) that Hermione proves herself a true friend to Harry and Ron (“Ron dropped his wand. Hermione Granger, telling a downright lie to a teacher?… Hermione was the last person to do anything against the rules, and here she was, pretending she had to get them out of trouble. … From that moment on, Hermione Granger became their friend”).

In the end, Harry repents of his rule breaking: “It was a bit late to repair the damage, but Harry swore to himself not to meddle in the things that weren’t his business from now on. He’d had it with sneaking and spying. He felt so ashamed of himself.”

Alcohol Use

Hagrid, the school’s caretaker, likes to drink (both for social reasons and to calm his nerves). “Everyone [in the bar] seemed to know Hagrid; they waved and smiled at him, and the bartender reached for a glass, saying, ‘The usual, Hagrid?’ ‘Can’t Tom, I’m on Hogwarts business,’ said Hagrid.” Hagrid does renounce his drinking habit when he realizes that while he was under the influence, he disclosed secret information that could have cost Harry his life. (“It’s—all—my—ruddy—fault! … I told him! Yeh could’ve died! … I’ll never drink again!”)

Spiritual Elements

Witchcraft and wizardry are central devices in this story. And they are presented in a very stereotypical manner. For example, Harry’s school supply list includes “three sets of plain work robes (black) … one pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar) … one wand, one cauldron (pewter, standard size 2),” and books like “The Standard Book of Spells … Magical Theory and One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi.”

References to dark magic and other evils that pertain to the “dark side” are included, but they are never presented as desirable. Every character who is allied with these forces is an enemy or at least a tormentor to the hero of the story. For instance, one evil professor uses powerful dark magic to try to knock Harry off his broomstick during a Quidditch match. (On a cultural level, Rowling can be commended for steering young fans away from the so-called dark side, but from a spiritual perspective, it’s clear that there are not dark and light sides when it comes to witchcraft; it’s all as black as sin.)

The most intense example of dark magic occurs during Harry’s confrontation with Voldemort, when the evil one tempts Harry to come over to the dark side in order to save his own life: “‘See what I have become?’ the face said. ‘Mere shadow and vapor. … I have form only when I can share another’s body … but there have always been those willing to let me into their hearts and minds. … Don’t be a fool. … Better save your own life and join me … or you’ll meet the same end as your parents. … They died begging me for mercy.'”

“Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow, turn this stupid, fat rat yellow” is a spoken charm typical of what Harry and his friends learn at Hogwarts. Some children may be fascinated and want to try these seemingly harmless spells for themselves. Not a wise idea, considering how very real the occult is. The meaningless charms found in this book may not summon occult forces, but there are real charms that do.

That said, Rowling presents life in the supernatural realm as much fuller than life in the physical realm. Colors are brighter, people are more interesting and life is more exciting and surprising. But the side of the supernatural world that Rowling presents is not really the side that offers this abundant life. In fact, biblically speaking, to participate in the world of witchcraft brings death rather than a fuller life (1 Sam. 28:6-18, Is. 8:19 and 47:12-14). That’s more than enough reason for families to think long and hard before embarking on Harry Potter’s magic carpet ride.

Plot Summary

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Harry potter and the sorcerer's stone: harry potter, book 1, common sense media reviewers.

Magical start of the fantastic boy-wizard series.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this book.

Author borrows many magical creatures, people, and

Friendship and bravery are more important than boo

Main characters Harry, Ron, and Hermione, models o

There's a little diversity at Hogwarts. Lee Jordan

Kids are in peril often, but it's mostly at the ha

One instance of "damn" and a "Good Lord."

Hagrid mentions having way too much to drink one n

Parents need to know that Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is the first book in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series about an orphan boy who begins his studies at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The novel respects kids' intelligence and motivates them to tackle its greater length and complexity…

Educational Value

Author borrows many magical creatures, people, and concepts from other fantasy traditions and puts her own spin on them: Nicholas and Perenelle Flamel and their Sorcerer's (or Philosopher's) Stone, wands and potions, unicorns, goblins, centaurs, dragons, giants, trolls, and more.

Positive Messages

Friendship and bravery are more important than books and cleverness. There are many kinds of bravery, and it's even braver to stand up to your friends than to your enemies.

Positive Role Models

Main characters Harry, Ron, and Hermione, models of dedicated friends, are rewarded for their bravery. They are usually punished for rule-breaking but also get away with quite a bit, especially when Harry gets his hands on an invisibility cloak. Harry always means well, though, and just like the sorting hat says, he has a "thirst to prove himself." Dumbledore (Hogwarts' eccentric headmaster) is a wonderful mentor to Harry, showing up with sage advice at just the right times.

Diverse Representations

There's a little diversity at Hogwarts. Lee Jordan is described as having dreadlocks, and the Patil twins are sorted into the Gryffindor house. Some diverse family structures are described: Harry lives with his aunt and uncle and Neville with his grandmother. Harry and Ron bond over growing up with second-hand clothes and wishing they had more money; Ron's insecurity over being from a poorer family comes up a lot. Women have prominent roles at Hogwarts: Professor McGonagall and Professor Sprout are both heads of houses. There are two girls on the Gryffindor quidditch team. There's only one larger-sized character who isn't a bad guy, and that's Hagrid. Lots of negative language around the size of Dudley and his father and Malfoy's Slytherin friends Crabbe and Goyle.

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update.

Violence & Scariness

Kids are in peril often, but it's mostly at the hands of fantasy creatures. A three-headed dog threatens Harry and friends. Harry and Draco see a dead and bloody unicorn and are chased by a hooded figure in the Forbidden Forest. Harry and friends fight a troll and knock it unconscious, are nearly crushed by a constricting plant and pummeled by a life-size chess board. Some minor injuries: a dragon bite that swells up and a broken wrist after a fall off a broom. Some bullying and a fistfight. One minor character dies. Mostly friendly ghosts roam the halls; the ghost Nearly Headless Nick shows how he got the name. Talk of Harry's childhood with his Muggle family, how his cousin bullied and hit him and his aunt and uncle neglected him. Harry's uncle points a gun at Hagrid. Flashback to the (bloodless) deaths of Harry's parents and much discussion about how they died and the one who killed them.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Hagrid mentions having way too much to drink one night and giving away a dangerous secret. At another time Hagrid carries and drinks from a flask, and at Christmas dinner he drinks heavily and kisses Professor McGonagall on the cheek. Vernon Dursley is served brandy after a trying day. Witches drink sherry, and someone smokes a long pipe at a wizard bar. Baby dragons drink a mixture of brandy and chicken blood.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is the first book in J.K. Rowling' s Harry Potter series about an orphan boy who begins his studies at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The novel respects kids' intelligence and motivates them to tackle its greater length and complexity, play imaginative games, and try to solve its logic puzzles. Book 1 is the lightest in the series, but it still has some scary stuff for sensitive readers: a three-headed dog, an attacking troll, a violent life-size chess board, a hooded figure over a dead and bleeding unicorn, as well as a discussion of how Harry's parents died years ago and how he was raised by an aunt and uncle who neglected him. Some adult wizards drink, especially Hagrid, who drinks to excess more than once. There's little diversity at Hogwarts beyond a few students of color, but women have prominent roles at the school, and the smartest kid in class is Hermione, a girl. The 2015 lavishly illustrated, larger-format edition features a new cover (different from the original U.S. cover pictured here) and more than 100 full-color illustrations by Jim Kay ( A Monster Calls ) that depict shimmering ghosts amid breathtaking scenes of Hogwarts, character portraits, and pages from magical textbooks. Parents who want to learn more about the series (and spin-off movies and games) can read our Harry Potter Age-by-Age Guide .

Where to Read

Community reviews.

• Parents say (61)
• Kids say (375)

Based on 61 parent reviews

Great book for kids and adults alike. Beautifully written :)

What's the story.

In HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE, Harry Potter is left on his aunt and uncle's doorstep as a baby after his parents are killed. For 10 years he's forced to sleep in a cupboard under the stairs while his bullying cousin, Dudley, is spoiled rotten. The summer before the start of secondary school, a letter arrives with his name on it, no stamp, and a mysterious seal. Uncle Vernon snatches it away before he can open it, but it doesn't matter. More and more letters arrive and the family is eventually chased down to a rocky island by a large hairy man named Hagrid. Thanks to Hagrid, Harry finally gets to open his letter: an invitation to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. And, surprise! "You're a wizard, Harry." It turns out that Harry is one of the most famous wizards ever, called the Boy Who Lived after he survived an attack from the evil Lord Voldemort. Not only did Harry survive the attack that killed his parents, but somehow baby Harry also managed to defeat Voldemort in the process. So that's how he got that lightning-bolt scar on his forehead.

Is It Any Good?

There are two kinds of magic in this phenomenal boy-wizard tale, the literal spell kind and the spell cast by a thrilling world for young (and old) fantasy readers to explore. While Harry Potter and his new friends Ron and Hermione get their first lessons in potion making and how to make a feather fly ("swish and flick!"), readers are getting lessons in delightful ideas like owls delivering the post, secret train platforms, pictures and staircases that move, sports played on broomsticks, and even odd-flavored jelly beans. Readers will want to grab their owl, cat, or toad (how can you choose just one?!) and hop on the train to Hogwarts immediately.

But it's not all fun with flying broomsticks. Harry Potter isn't called the Boy Who Lived for nothing. He's an orphan because an evil wizard killed his parents and wanted to kill him, and that evil still lurks at the school. As Harry, Ron, and Hermione uncover a plot to steal the Sorcerer's Stone of the title, more and more school rules must be broken (and some serious house points must be lost) to figure out who the enemy at school really is. Readers will enjoy the twists, danger, and kid wizard heroics that drive the final action.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about when kids knew they were ready to read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone . Did you feel pressured to read it when your friends did? Were any parts too scary for you? How did you handle it?

Kids just getting into the series will find a whole world of Harry Potter available to them, from Chocolate Frogs for sale at the grocery store to theme parks. A die-hard Potter fan can spend a lot of money in their lifetime on merchandise and experiences. Do you think this is worth your money? Are there other ways you can celebrate books you love without raiding your piggie bank?

This series has been commended for getting so many kids to love reading. Which books made you start to love reading? Or are you still looking for them?

Book Details

• Author : J. K. Rowling
• Illustrator : Mary Grandpre
• Genre : Fantasy
• Topics : Magic and Fantasy
• Book type : Fiction
• Publisher : Scholastic Inc.
• Publication date : September 1, 1998
• Publisher's recommended age(s) : 9 - 12
• Number of pages : 309
• Awards : ALA Best and Notable Books , Common Sense Media Award
• Last updated : March 3, 2022

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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The latest book reviews and book news, harry potter and the sorcerer’s stone: book review.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone novel by J. K. Rowling

A novel that needs no introduction is Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J. K. Rowling. It is the novel that has shaped the lives of millions of readers and is still one of the most read novels today! Keep reading to find out why this novel and series is as popular as it is.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone Summary

On his eleventh birthday, Harry Potter finds out he is a wizard and will be attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Before then, Harry did not even know that magic was real or that he was famous. As Harry learns about his past and his parents who died protecting him, he prepares to embark on a new journey.

Harry arrives at Hogwarts and becomes friends with two of his classmates Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger. The trio all are members of house Gryffindor and help each other pass the first year at Hogwarts. But as they find out throughout the course of the year, they will face many challenges and enemies.

Suspicious activity at Hogwarts like a three-headed dog guarding a trap door and a troll somehow entering and attacking Hogwarts makes the trio suspicious. Harry, Ron, and Hermione soon discover Professor Dumbledore is hiding something at Hogwarts and someone is trying hard to steal it. As the first years try to manage the workload, they must also stop whoever is after the secret artifact before it is used by the dark forces at the school.

Originally published as Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in the United Kingdom in 1997, within the first six months of release, the children’s book took off. When Scholastic bought the U.S. rights, Scholastic’s Arthur Levine believes that the title wouldn’t work for American readers. After some discussion, the novel’s title was changed to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone which was suggested by Rowling.

Rowling went on to say that she wished she hadn’t changed it but since it was her first novel, she didn’t have as much leverage. The title change was not necessary and makes it a bit confusing for some people. The good thing is that that is the only novel where that happened. Maybe Scholastics should give readers a little bit more credit.

I was first introduced to the Harry Potter world by the movies. As a kid, I was always intimidated but the size of the Harry Potter novels and did not believe I would be able to read a book that big. It was later on in my life that I tackled bigger novels and even later when I finally read the Harry Potter novels.

I fell in love with the novels wholeheartedly. The writing is great, the characters are wonderful, and the overarching plot and how everything connects was done perfectly. One thing the movies never did well was showcase Harry’s struggle of not having a family and his loneliness. In the novel, we see how they affect Harry’s state of mind and acting out because of those feelings, something the movies don’t do that well.

This novel and the whole Harry Potter series should be read by every reader in my opinion. Not everyone has to like it but reading it and finding that whether you do or not should be a test given to everyone. It will get a lot if children into reading and that is always a great end result. Expect reviews for all the novels in the series in the coming months!

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Share this:, 27 thoughts on “ harry potter and the sorcerer’s stone: book review ”.

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In the first paragraph u wrote eep instead of keep… XD

Thanks I’ll fix it now 🙂

I used to be a huge fan of the movies but never read the books. It’s always interesting to hear the differences. Good to know that the book expands on the characters a bit more!

The entire series ends differently in the books than in the movies. the boom ending in Deadly Hallow makes much more sense.

My daughter made sure all her copies were the the UK versions

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these series made a reader out of me, thanks for sharing 🙂

Thanks for reading! 👍

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I also saw the movies first. It wasn’t until after “The Goblet of Fire” film came out that I started reading the books. But I read the 4th one first, and the rest out of order, until “The Deathly Hallows” book was released. Not too long ago, I started rereading the 1st “Harry Potter” novel, and picked up on some new details and moments that I’d missed before, including some dark ones.

Rereading them now and there’s a lot that you realize that you missed. Rowling thought it all out!

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I love Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s stone also known as. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.

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The cover was good, but I read a little, and I thought that if I read more it would be more interesting. Well, beyond interesting, but my new favorite book!

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“Harry Potter” Book Series Review

This post is outdated!

When I wrote my original review of the Harry Potter series, I was holding back with regard to some of my criticisms.  With author J.K. Rowling using her considerable influence to spread transphobic propaganda , I feel it’s necessary to criticize both her political views and her work, which glorifies some truly repulsive ideas.

Hogwarts is a school that kidnaps and drowns its students for entertainment.  Their death toll alone makes the average American school look safe by comparison.  The Wizarding World is a society of slaveowners, and yet the author expects us to fall in love with their culture.  The idea that abuse builds character is a central theme in Harry Potter .

Learn about why Harry Potter is really a crime against literature in my new article: Harry Potter, Transphobia, and Slavery Jokes .

In case you are still interested in reading this outdated piece, I’ve provided some helpful footnotes.

If you ask me what I think of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, my answer will likely depend on what day you ask me.  Some days I’ll say I liked it, 1 some days I’ll hate it.  In all honesty, however, my feelings towards Harry Potter are best described as “confused,” because there are a lot of things I really like about the series and a lot of things I really hate.  All things considered, I usually wind up mostly ambivalent towards Rowling’s best-known work.

One of my biggest problems with the Harry Potter series is the lack of a consistent tone.  The stories get gradually darker until about halfway through the series, at which point she abruptly changes her target audience from children to teenagers.  As one might imagine if one gives this even a small amount of thought, this shift may have worked in the context of a series that’s still being written 2 , but it’s quite harmful to the longevity of a series.

Whether a conscious decision or not, Rowling’s tone-shift allowed her to keep up with a generation of fans who were growing ever nearer to adulthood; the stories became darker as their target audience grew older.  Having a story grow with the age of its initial fanbase is an interesting idea.  To my knowledge, no one else has tried this, and there’s a very good reason for that: because it’s a short-sighted move.  When future generations start reading these stories from the beginning, they’re not going to wait a year before starting the next book; they’re going to start as soon as they can get their hands on it.  The consequence of this is that when the tone changes mid-series, those who’ve become invested in the tone of the first three books will be jarred out of that investment.

On Divisions

Many stories grow darker as they progress, but this is almost never a conscious decision, and it is therefore a gradual process.  In such cases the target audience doesn’t change.  In Harry Potter, the change happens on a dime around the end of Book Four, alienating anyone who enjoyed the previous three books.  It is therefore possible to divide the Harry Potter series into three distinct groups: the children’s books (consisting of the first three books); those directed at an older audience (consisting of the last three books); and book four, an outlier in that either audience might enjoy it equally (though not so thoroughly as they might enjoy the books in their own preferred block).

I feel Rowling’s decision to change her books’ audience to have been ill-conceived, not least because many adults enjoyed best the first three books.  I also feel the quality of the series peaked with Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets 3 and then began to decline sharply with Order of the Phoenix.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone

The first book in the series was, in my opinion, really good.  Colourful characters, an enjoyable tone with sufficient darkness, and an interesting world-within-a-world all made The Philosopher’s Stone a really good children’s book for both kids and adults.  Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was, at this point in the series, a fantastic—if not altogether original—setting. 4   It’s the little details at which Rowling excels, from the floating candles to the food on the table to the frankly ridiculous games her characters enjoy.  That’s not to say there weren’t problems, but they weren’t at all noticeable unless one was searching for them.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

My favourite out of the books in the series was the second, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, because I consider it to be the best-structured of the seven books, with all its compelling sub-plots coming together in the climax.  All the first book’s strengths remain, as well as a greater sense of stakes, an unforgettable Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, and an even better climax with the hero of the story fighting a giant snake with an ancient sword.

Sadly this is also where some of the big problems started.  Harry’s treatment of the house-elf Dobby carries some unpleasant implications, as does Rowling’s decision to use comedically the idea of a slave being forced by his masters to inflict self-harm.  Harry tricking Lucius Malfoy into freeing Dobby at the end was, on the surface, a good scene, but the implication that it is a reward for his help rather than an act in defence of his rights tainted it somewhat.

Despite my mixed feelings about the books and films, the 2002 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets video game was quite fun. It has a compelling Legend of Zelda æsthetic and a memorable score by composer Jeremy Soule. By far my best memories of the Harry Potter series are of playing that janky old game.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Prisoner of Azkaban, unsurprisingly, was also really good, considered by many to be the best of the series.  It certainly introduces some of the most interesting characters.  My favourite part is the Marauders’ backstory, told by said interesting characters.  And who could forget the dementors? 5   The climax, in spite of the typically mental time-travel logic, was also great.

Unfortunately Prizoner of Azkaban’s quality suffers somewhat as a result of its context concerning the later books in the series.  You see, the first three books are essentially stand-alone stories, whereas the last four tell a continuous story divided only by the summer holiday.  The problem with this is that Prisoner of Azkaban doesn’t really serve that much of a purpose when it comes to serving the greater story.  All it really does is introduce some great new characters 6 … who won’t really have much to do with the plot henceforth.  In fact, apart from Wormtail resurrecting Voldemort in the following book, these characters all die without having contributed much.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Goblet of Fire is where the series starts to go off, although much of it is enjoyable.  Things like the Unforgivable Curses are introduced here, which makes me wonder whether Rowling hadn’t thought them up till this point; this would prove to be the beginning in a series of ideas that she should have introduced earlier than she did.  This is not to say that the book wasn’t a fun read, but the problems with this one were more noticeable than any problems with the previous three. 7

Among a number of other problems I won’t get into, Goblet of Fire also saw the return of Dobby, which I will elaborate on later in this article.  The climax, although by no means terrible, did end in somewhat of a deus ex machina that could have been prevented by a brief Mad-Eye Moody lecture on Priori Incantatem.  I didn’t think Amos Diggory casting a vaguely similar spell on Harry’s wand at the beginning to show it was possible was enough to excuse this.

Of course, this was the one in which Voldemort returned, and here was where the more-or-less episodic nature of the books changed to a more epic style, something I think worked against the books in the end.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Order of the Phoenix was my least-favourite of the series.  In spite of its status as the longest, so far as I could tell it was mostly filler.  Luna Lovegood is introduced out of bloody nowhere and, despite her being a likeable character, 8 it would have been nice to know she existed at least a book or two before she suddenly became important.  This fifth book serves almost as the “calm before the storm,” but the consequence is that said calm isn’t especially interesting.

The Death of Sirius

The only thing of note that happens in Order of the Phoenix is that Sirius dies at the end, having done very little in the story, all told.  His death scene is a bit confusing where the “Veil” is concerned, and the character of Bellatrix (the one who kills him) had only been properly introduced several pages ago.

Another problem is that everyone in the story has, with this fifth book, become inexplicably stupid.  Every decision they make is so thick-headed that it’s hard not to hate Harry for everything that goes wrong, particularly as he causes the death of a character far more interesting than himself.

The Prophecy

The prophecy that is revealed at the end of the book seemed like it might be leading to a great twist at the end of the series, but it didn’t.  Aside from this, I found the half-poetic nature of it slightly irritating; it’s far from the best-written prophecy I’ve read.  Aside from its sloppy composition, the prophecy reveals at once too much and too little in many of the wrong ways, making it difficult to care about many of the dangers Harry will face in later books.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Half-Blood Prince was better than Order of the Phoenix—way better.  Dumbledore taking Harry under his wing was a breath of fresh air after the great deal of nothing in the previous book.  Most of the sub-plots were interesting, particularly Harry and Dumbledore searching various memories for clues about the horcruxes and unearthing Voldemort’s fascinating backstory in the process. 9   Especially when compared with Order of the Phoenix, Half-blood Prince was compelling, and of the later books it’s quite possibly the best.

The Problems

The problems with this one are relatively small compared to those of the fifth book.  The trend of putting Harry’s importance above the lives of all others continues, summed up with the line, “Your blood is far more precious than mine,” and it becomes annoying at times.

Ron and Hermione

Then there are the people who said that Harry, and not Ron, should have ended up with Hermione.  I really hate agreeing with these people (especially after the idiotic “Zu-tara” relation-shipping craze), but in this case they were actually right!  Ginny isn’t a character; she’s a prop.  In fact, the only female character with whom Harry has a real friendship is Hermione.  Aside from that, the Ron of these later books has increasingly become an unlikeable arsehole, especially as he mocks Hermione for actually having a moral compass and seems to betray Harry at every opportunity.  As much as I hate agreeing with “shippers” like this, Harry and Hermione really should have ended up together, and Ron should have been left at the mercy of some dementors or something!

But again I must say that these problems don’t prevent Half-Blood Prince from being an enjoyable read less of a slog than Order of the Phoenix .  The plot is compelling enough, the backstory is interesting, and the death at the end is far better-handled than the previous one.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

I tend to lose respect for modern authors who employ the tired device of killing a main character’s pet in a lazy attempt to gain pathos points without having to work for them. For another example, see my article on Game of Thrones .  J. K. Rowling begins Deathly Hallows, the grand finale, by doing just that.  As you might expect, Hedwig’s death is predictable, manipulative, and requires no skill to pull off.  I also can’t help but wonder how this would have gone over with the audience of the earlier books. 10

Fortunately, Deathly Hallows has more plot than Order of the Phoenix and Half-Blood Prince put together, and most of the time it’s a fun and compelling read in spite of its flaws. 11   As usual, the best parts are the backstory, whether it’s learning about Dumbledore’s history with Grindelwald or seeing Snape’s childhood through his memories.  By far my favourite part was the Tale of the Three Brothers , a children’s fable of the Wizarding World.  It’s in little stories like this that Rowling’s talent really shines, and I loved how the tale payed homage to Chaucer’s The Pardoner’s Tale .

There are, in my opinion, a lot of things to like about this final volume. 1   Deathly Hallows is very different from Order of the Phoenix in that where the fifth book has one or two really big things wrong with it, the seventh novel has many much smaller problems.  I would say that, along with a great deal more things happening, Deathly Hallows has the most individual things wrong with it of any of the books.  By Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows , the genre is completely detached from that of the first book.

Props Die. Weep, Dammit!

I mentioned earlier the manipulative death of Hedwig the owl, but she is far from the only death in this bloodiest of the series.  This wouldn’t be a problem if the deaths were even a tenth of what might be considered Boromir-quality, but as it is, they make Rowling seem rather lazy.  She uses the deaths of background characters as a way to get an emotional response without doing much work.  Some few of these background props, despite serving little purpose to the plot, are markedly more interesting than the main characters, and the story gets less interesting as each leaves it.

Rowling’s background characters are props—colourful and entertaining props, but props nonetheless. 12   Still she treats them as though they warrant proper character status.  This would be all well and good had they sufficient impact on more important characters, but even Fred Weasley’s death impacts Ron far less than it should.  In fact, I would go so far as to suggest that the Ron Weasley before his brother’s death is the same one we see mere hours afterward.  Indeed, with a history like Ron’s, I’m surprised it didn’t lead to his betraying Harry again.

Killed to Compensate

There’s a bit in Order of the Phoenix where Ron’s father, Arthur Weasley, almost dies.  Originally Rowling had intended to kill him off, but she decided to spare him for various reasons.  To “compensate,” she decided to kill off Remus and Nymphadora near the end of the last book.  Alright; to “compensate”?  This sort of thinking should not be what drives a story.  In most cases, characters should be killed off either to drive the development of other characters (as with Boromir), to move the plot forward (as with Boromir), or to drive home a point (as with Thorin, Kíli, and Fíli).  Dumbledore’s death in Half-Blood Prince was the best in the series because it had a clear impact on the plot.

“I’ve Always Thought…”

It is in this book that we finally learn about Dumbledore’s dark past with the evil wizard Grindelwald.  Rowling later revealed in an interview…

“I always thought of Dumbledore as gay.  Dumbledore fell in love with Grindelwald, and that that added to his horror when Grindelwald showed himself to be what he was.”

Then you should have included that in the book !  That would have been awesome!  Seriously, even ignoring that this might have made her massive readership more accepting of people’s differences, the relationship’s romantic nature would have made Dumbledore all the more interesting as a character.  I cannot imagine why she chose not to put this in the book, but the decision deprives his character of that depth.

Post-Mortem Motivations

I also thought the character of Severus Snape, arguably Rowling’s best character, was wasted somewhat.  As with many of Rowling’s best characters, you never learn Severus’s true motivations until after he’s dead—something that has become repetitive by this point.  The problem with waiting till a character’s died is that by the time you find out what motivated them, they can no longer directly impact the plot.  Perhaps this would be alright occasionally, but Rowling has made a habit of it.

Begging for a Twist

Speaking of characters being wasted, there’s Neville Longbottom to think about.  This goes beyond Neville just being an interesting character who wasn’t used much; that’s all normal for these stories.  When I spoke of Order of the Phoenix, I said that the prophecy seemed to be leading to a great twist.  Well, that’s because there were two people who fit the criteria to be the Chosen One: Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom.  When Neville pulled the sword out of the hat, I thought that finally that seed would bear fruit, but all Neville did was behead one horcrux—not bad, but I feel it was a missed opportunity to defy expectations.  Instead, Harry returned from the dead and killed Voldemort himself as a contrived christ-figure.

Goblet of Fire onward, Harry has never gotten past a book’s climax without an unexpected deus ex machina saving his arse at the last minute, and I had hoped that he would, in the final battle, finally win due to his own strengths.  Imagine my disappointment when, as I just mentioned, Harry comes back from the dead and I have no idea why!

The return of Gandalf  in The Two Towers was explained well enough that I wasn’t confused.  The explanation for Harry Potter’s unlikely survival, on the other hand, is both convoluted and non-existent.  I would love it if someone could explain it to me, because I have absolutely no idea what was going on in that chapter.  And why is Harry given the choice of whether to return to life or to board some spirit-train and die?  Either he is dead or he isn’t !

The Unforgivable Curses

A less serious problem, yet one that irritated me a great deal, was that Rowling has made a huge deal of Harry being forced to use the three Unforgivable Curses over the course of the series.  In Order of the Phoenix, following Sirius’s death, Harry tries to use the Cruciatus curse on Bellatrix Lestrange.  In this book, a big deal is made of his using the Imperius curse for the first time, and then the Cruciatus—this time successfully.  It all seemed to be building up to the final duel, where Harry would of course be forced to use the final curse, Avada Kedavra , on Voldemort… except that he didn’t!  All this buildup goes nowhere, and Harry just shouts, “Expelliarmus!” which does the job, for some reason.  I found this thoroughly unsatisfying.

The Flaw in the Plan

Another problem I have with Deathly Hallows is that Dumbledore seemingly had an unbeatable plan, and everything proceeded according to that plan.  All the examples are in this last book.  Somehow he knew how every character would react to every situation that he somehow knew would befall them.  This makes the climax quite a let-down as there was no way Voldemort could have been victorious.  To worsen matters, almost every important sub-plot is abandoned on the spot the moment Voldemort dies by his own curse.

Had Neville turned out to be the chosen one or if the end of the story had been more like BBC’s Merlin, I could have forgiven almost all of the problems with this series.  But the ending the author gave us was nothing special and gave no new meaning to any prior events.

Epilogue: Nineteen Years Later

I stand by what I said; Deathly Hallows is a fun read despite its flaws.  The saccharine epilogue, however, is notoriously stupid!  Everyone makes fun of this bit, and they’re entirely justified in doing so.  The way-too-perfect future that Rowling’s surviving characters enjoy feels especially out of place after having just seen almost every interesting character slaughtered only a few pages ago.  Who married whom and how many kids they had is not the sort of thing that belongs in the epilogue; that’s what an appendix is for.

Slavery Isn’t Funny!

I said earlier that the inconsistent tone was one of my biggest problems with the series.  Well, my biggest problem with it is Rowling’s attempt to play slavery for laughs.  For all the good things about Chamber of Secrets, the one big problem was the house-elf Dobby.  House-elves are creatures permanently enslaved to their wizard masters.  They have virtually no rights and may be abused without consequence; it’s basically like what the Americans did little more than a century ago, only it’s supposedly going on right under our noses in the nineties—because that’s funny, right?

Unlike when the Americans had slaves, in Rowling’s world of “childlike wonder” there has never been a single witch or wizard to question the rightness of owning house-elves as lifelong slaves to be beaten at one’s leisure—not even the great Harry Potter, who stopped at freeing just one.  There were always people fighting to end American slavery, but not in the Wizarding World—the world Rowling sets so far apart from the abuse of the Dursleys.

The Society for the Protection of Elfish Welfare

The only character who thinks there might be something wrong with this is the muggle-born Hermione, and it’s made perfectly clear she’s the only person who’s ever had any problem with the way house elves are treated… ever !  The fact that she’s essentially an outsider, having not been born to wizards, is used to imply that she’s naïve—that things are more complicated in the magical world.  To any normal person reading this, Hermione is the heroine here, trying to organize the Society for the Protection of Elfish Welfare (S.P.E.W.).

Everyone —from her classmates to the author herself—reacts to S.P.E.W. with mild amusement, because we’re meant to believe she’s taking the issue too seriously—as though this were some laughable grass-roots “save-the-wheat grass!” crusade or a protest against the violence in wizard’s chess.  Even the acronym “S.P.E.W.” is a bloody joke , because the idea that slavery is wrong is something to laugh at, apparently!  But it’s slavery—SLAVERY!

“They Like Being Enslaved”

But what does the ever-compassionate Hagrid have to say about all this?

“It would be doing them an unkindness, Hermione.  It’s in their nature to look after humans; that’s what they like, see.  You’d be making them unhappy to take away their work, and insulting them if you tried to pay them!”

Yes, the house-elves are indeed as happy with their lot as a plantation-owner would have had you believe his slaves were.  As Ron succinctly put it, “they like being enslaved!”  Even our “hero” Harry Potter owns a slave, and no one bats a bloody eye.  If the sorcerers in Merlin were as repulsive as the wizards in Harry Potter, then I’d be firmly on Uther’s side!

Ambivalence

When I think about the books’ portrayal of slavery, I cannot help but be shocked that I don’t hate the series.  I think, however, that the author simply didn’t think through the implications of anything she wrote; she had no idea what she was doing when it came to these issues.  Rowling claims to have had the series planned out from the beginning, and I honestly don’t believe her.  I think she had a rough outline, but there’s so little continuity between the first books and the later ones that I feel sure that this plan changed suddenly when she was halfway through the series.

The Potential for Greatness

In each of the seven books there were some great moments; even Order of the Phoenix had the Room of Requirement.  Even as the end of the story drew near, I think the series had the potential for greatness, but I feel it fell short of what it could have been.  Still, the first three books were, for the most part, really good—a part of me wishes she’d stopped at three.

In the end, I’m ambivalent towards the Harry Potter series.  I don’t much like it, but I don’t dislike it either . 1   I just think it’s something to be learned from—perhaps as a cautionary tale.

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• Yeah… that was my opinion back in my late teens, watered down by a naïve urge to give Harry Potter the benefit of the doubt. The author’s real-life bigotry has eliminated this urge. Now that I’ve analyzed the themes of these books more closely, I can confidently say that I hate J.K. Rowling’s books. For details, please check out my more recent and comprehensive article on the subject . ↩︎
• Although, to be fair, I even found the abrupt change in tone off-putting when I read them as a kid. The moment the books started getting dark, one starts to question why no one died in the first three books. It’s not just that the change in tone alienates readers who’d got used to the original tone; it makes you retroactively interrogate the earlier books in light of the world the later books take place in. If all these Hogwarts students are getting killed now , then how come the basilisk’s victims in Book 2 all just happened to see the monster indirectly through various lucky coincidences? Do they have children’s book plot armour or not? ↩︎
• Having reexamined Chamber of Secrets as an adult, I must conclude that despite being the best-structured book in the series, it still doesn’t have much of a plot. It’s mostly school minutia filler. ↩︎
• Truth be told, most of Philosopher’s Stone ‘s supposed strengths have been greatly overestimated, including by me. I think the trainwreck that followed caused me to look at the early books with rose-coloured glasses. ↩︎
• Low-quality Ringwraith knock-offs though they are. ↩︎
• Great characters by the standards of this series, anyway. ↩︎
• Once again, “enjoyable” refers specifically to reading it as a child. More specifically, I originally read these books while waiting out a days-long car ride, so there wasn’t exactly much else to do at the time. ↩︎
• As close to a likeable character as you’ll find in Rowling’s borderline-sociopathic roster, anyway. As it happens, Luna is one of many characters who do almost nothing throughout the rest of the series. ↩︎
• Fascinating until you read the final book and find out how pointless everything was. And then, of course, you read it as an adult and realize that it basically amounted to “Tom Riddle was conceived through rape, and his mother was from a bad bloodline, and so he was born inherently evil.” ↩︎
• I mean, before they’d aged into their late teens and—like most teenagers in the early 2000s—started craving edginess above all else. ↩︎
• After slogging through Order of the Phoenix , even reading about angsty teenagers camping for chapter after chapter seems fun by comparison. ↩︎
• Returning to the books as an adult does make one wonder how one could have thought these characters were entertaining. ↩︎

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Book review: the harry potter series by j.k. rowling.

Over the last month or so I have re-read the entire Harry Potter book series by J.K. Rowling . Something I haven’t done since I was a child. It reminded me why I feel in love with reading, a throwback to my childhood. A must read for everyone everywhere.

The series consists of seven books. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone is the first book in the series. I gave it 5 stars. From the first chapter you are drawn into this fantastic world and that you just want to be part of. An adventure from the beginning to the very end. The friendship between Harry, Ron and Hermione is also developed so naturally. I also love how much more assertive Harry is compared to the films.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is the second book in the series. I was surprised how much I enjoyed this book as it is my least favorite film in the series; I gave it 3 stars. There is so much cut out of the film compared to the book. I also love the introduction of Tom Riddle . Every villain needs a beginning.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was a 4-star read. I only marked it down as it did drag a tiny bit. Remus Lupin and Sirius Black are brilliant additions to the world. They provide a new layer of History to the world. They add back story and a new list of emotions for Harry to deal with.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is a 5-star read. J.K. Rowling really stepped up her game with the introduction of the Triwizard Tournament ; I was hooked. I really enjoyed how the friendship between Harry and Ron was tested and how the relationship between Hermione and Harry blossomed. You really felt that they were friends through thick and thin. This book contained so much in its pages and all of it seemed relevant. The ending was so shocking, I couldn’t wait to pick up the next edition in the series.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was really long. The narrative was interesting, but I found it drawn out in parts. I only gave it 3 stars. I may have just be overloaded with info, but I found the climax hard to follow. There were a lot of characters and I felt it difficult to follow each strand of the battle. The ending was heart-breaking, another loss for the boy who has lost so much already.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was a 4-star read. I loved the expansion of the friendship group into the other houses besides Gryffindor lot. I felt in this book you got a real sense that the characters had matured. The twist and turns still surprised me after all these years. The twist at the end made me tear up. A twist that I didn’t see coming.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was a fantastic end to the series. A 4-star read, I only marked it down as I felt that it was a slow start to the action. This book had more twists and turns than a roller coaster. It incorporated so much and made a call back to each and every book in the series. I felt I didn’t fully appreciate this book the first time I read it. The characters throughout the series all play such critical roles both big and small.

J.K. Rowling has created something amazing with this series. Stories that don’t age and can be passed down. There is no age limit, they can be enjoyed by young and old. I think I’ll make it an annual read. I think I might even treat myself to the illustrated version for my next excursion into the fantastic wizarding world of Harry Potter .

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Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Book Review

The Harry Potter series has been around for awhile now and has cemented itself into the fantasy genre. Though some may not take the series at the same level as a Lord of the Rings or a Wheel of Time, it deserves its own place at the table of fantasy book series. Today we are going to be looking at the first installment to the series Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and let you know what really makes this book magical.

Introduction to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

This book’s first edition was released in October of 1998 and was written by J.K. Rowling. The book is 309 pages long not including any table of contents. The pages are spread by 17 chapters. My copy has the illustrations at the top of each chapter, I am not sure if this is something that has changed in the many editions that have been released since.

The book starts off introducing the wizarding world from the vantage point of the Dursley’s who we later find out are the Aunt and Uncle of Harry Potter, a boy who’s parents were murdered while he managed to survive. The attack on Harry’s parents left a signature lightning bolt scar on his forehead.

This was a fantastic way to introduce a new different world to an audience and is done in a very creative way. I must applaud J. K. Rowling for setting up the story in this way as even though this book is fast paced, it steeps the reader into the world from a perspective that would likely be more like our own.

The story then takes a time leap to when Harry has grown up and gets a letter of acceptance into the magical school called Hogwarts. The Dursley’s are very against this and do whatever they can to keep Harry a normal boy in their eyes. They fail in this after taking drastic measures to stop the letters from being sent in larger and larger quantities. So the rest of the book is Harry Potter’s introduction to the the magical world that is unknown to us “Muggles” (the name given to non magical people).

Strengths of The Sorcerer’s Stone

This book has a lot going for it that will be reiterated as we continue on through the story. The descriptions are very vivid of locations and items as well as character motives. This leads to a pretty laid back and easy read. Understandably these books are children books, anyone of any age can enjoy these books though and really appreciate everything else they have to offer for a relatively small time commitment based on this books size.

The school year structure of this book and the subsequent books makes for a really easy method to control pace for the story. The ending ties in many story notes from earlier on in the book such as learning magical spells that come in handy at the end of the book, playing a game of chess. Paying attention in potions class. Even getting onto the schools Quidditch team (Which can be best defined to me as football on brooms.) plays a role in the end. Though it may seem silly how many points in the story are later used at the end to accomplish the overarching story, it satisfies me knowing that next to every chapter has meaningful content to the end goal in some way or another.

Character Introductions In Sorcerer’s Stone

Character introductions are very well done. It takes very little for each character to be painted into the mind of the reader as well as share the base level motives and beliefs of each. Though later books handle these ideas in a more deep and complex manner, the method that is done in this book tends to match the age of the characters in the book which is around 11. The way J K Rowling rights this allows for easy understanding and the same level for children around the age of these characters as they can relate to what is happening in the book easily.

Ron Weasly’s introductions feel like a introduction of kids becoming friends on their first day of school, and that is exactly what it is. Most people can relate to an introduction like that cause we have all experienced it in a way ourselves.

Hermione’s introduction is well handled also. Though not the same experience as Ron, we are treated to her joining the group later on in the story. I feel that this was a good idea as to not overload the reader with new characters right away. This allows for the descriptions of Hogwarts to fill in that space and establish the world better instead of create a bogged down character spaghetti.

Weaknesses of The Sorcerer’s Stone

Reading the book as an adult can make the resolution of these books seem childish and that is something that will continue on through most of the series as the characters are literal children. For this book specifically it would make one wonder why grown adults that have been through school themselves would not be able to accomplish simple puzzles that the trio Harry, Ron, and Hermione could do.

The book ends rather abruptly. The last chapter contains the end of the story as well as the final confrontation. This seemed rather jarring to me. I feel that it could have been handled with whole additional chapter that expands slightly on Harry’s return to the muggle world and show that he has learned that not all is the same as when he left. That he as a character has definitively grown apart from the wishes of his Aunt and Uncle and has a hunger to return back to the wizarding world.

Plot of The Sorcerer’s Stone

The plot of the book once the book has made it to the wizarding world and Hogwarts is very school oriented as well as getting Harry Potter situated in the wizarding world. When Harry finds that Hagrid, the groundskeeper of Hogwarts has helped the headmaster named Albus Dumbledore hide a mysterious item, he and his friends jump into action figure out what the item is and protect it. Along the way they get into trouble a few times leading them to go into several restricted sections of the castle that only increases their curiosity.

Throughout the book Harry also learns a lot about who he is and about his parents since they went to the same school of Hogwarts as himself. He also needs to come to terms with being a celebrity in the wizarding world that he has only just now discovered.

In the end, this book is an example of a series that can be enjoyable for children and adults. It’s a perfect book to grab and start reading to your kids, but also is a strong escapism book. It’s incredibly easy to get enveloped in the story and the characters. Everything is so well crafted and put together. Descriptions are rich and characters are well thought out and developed, especially for just the first book in a series of books.

If you want to find out where this book ranks in the series you can check out our ranking list for the Harry Potter book series here !

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone is a must read. Regardless of your age. If you have not read this book please take the time to do so, if just to understand why so many people love this series. If you want to pick up this book for yourself, you can use our affiliate link here. It helps out the site at no extra cost to you. I personally have all my books in a hard cover due to wanting them to all be in the same print format and the larger books tend to have weak bindings over time.

If you enjoyed this review, please share this around and comment below. What are your thoughts on the book? How does it compare to later books in the series? Comment below and let us know! We plan to review this entire series and then review all the movies as well. So check back, for more on this series in the future!

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Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, by J.K. Rowling | Book Review

The Children’s Book Review  | July 31, 2018

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

Written by J.K. Rowling

Age Range: 8 and up

Paperback: 336 pages

Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books; Reissue edition (June 26, 2018)

ISBN-13: 978-1338299144

What to Expect: Fantasy and Magic

It is July 31. That means that it is Harry Potter’s birthday and the the perfect opportunity to celebrate the 20th anniversary of  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone .

Get your tickets ready. The grand, shiny red Hogwarts Express is ready to depart from platform 9 3/4, and you won’t want to miss the enchanting ride into the spellbinding wizarding world of Harry Potter.

Harry is an orphan who has been living with Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, and cousin Dudley Dursley since he was a baby. The Dursleys are plain despicable and make Harry sleep in a cupboard under the stairs. On Harry’s eleventh birthday, mysterious letters addressed to Harry Potter begin arriving at the house, and his aunt and uncle try everything they can to keep them from Harry. That’s when a very large looking man, Hagrid, shows up to deliver the letter in person, along with a very important message: “You’re a wizard, Harry!” Unknown to Harry, he isn’t just any wizard, he is a very famous wizard with a destiny waiting to be fulfilled; a destiny that explains the peculiar lightning bolt scar he has on his forehead.  Harry’s whole world will be turned upside down as he embarks on a new and exciting journey to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

J.K Rowling’s writing is as magical as the story itself. The settings and locations provide rich backdrops for the page-turning drama that unfolds—Hogwarts is located in a remote location in a majestic castle nestled against the Forbidden Forest. Feel-good moments soften, and also propel, the ever-growing tension—amidst the flurry of new magical activities (flying broomsticks and playing the wizarding sport of choice, Quidditch) and lessons (‘Care of Magical Creatures’ and ‘Defense Against the Dark Arts’), it becomes apparent that a dark power is growing stronger … the kind of power that could only come from the most feared wizard … He Who Shall Not Be Named. Could Harry and his lightning bolt scar be somehow connected to this dark wizard? This question and more make it near impossible to stop at just one or two chapters a night!

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone is not to be missed by any reader, young or old. To celebrate the 20th anniversary of this story, Scholastic has released new covers for the series, illustrated by Caldecott Medal-winning artist Brian Selznick. The covers are a kind of magic in their own right: when placed side by side, the seven covers make one spectacular picture that highlights the arc of the seven book series. Selznick’s artwork is fantastical and the cover design concept is genius!

Of course, there’s only one thing to do: Grab your invisibility cloak, and jump headfirst into this adventurous, mysterious, perilous, and highly entertaining book about muggles (non-magical) and magical folk.

Available Here: 

About the author.

J.K. Rowling is the author of the record-breaking, multi-award-winning Harry Potter novels. Loved by fans around the world, the series has sold over 450 million copies, been translated into 80 languages, and made into eight blockbuster films. She has written three companion volumes in aid of charity: Quidditch Through the Ages and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (in aid of Comic Relief and Lumos), and The Tales of Beedle the Bard (in aid of Lumos), as well as a screenplay inspired by Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them , which marked the start of a five-film series to be written by the author. She has also collaborated on a stage play, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Parts One and Two , which opened in London’s West End in the summer of 2016. In 2012 J.K. Rowling’s digital company Pottermore was launched, where fans can enjoy news, features, and articles, as well as original content from J.K. Rowling. J.K. Rowling is also the author of The Casual Vacancy , a novel for adult readers, and the Strike crime series, written under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith. She has received many awards and honors, including an OBE and Companion of Honour, France’s Légion d’honneur, and the Hans Christian Andersen Award.

About the Illustrator

Brian Selznick ’s books have garnered countless accolades worldwide, and have been translated into more than 35 languages. He is the Caldecott Medal-winning creator of the #1 New York Times bestsellers The Invention of Hugo Cabret , adapted into Martin Scorsese’s Oscar-winning movie Hugo ; and Wonderstruck , adapted by celebrated filmmaker Todd Haynes, with a screenplay by Selznick; as well as The Marvels and Baby Monkey, Private Eye (co-written with Dr. David Serlin). Selznick divides his time between Brooklyn, New York, and San Diego, California.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone , by J.K. Rowling, was reviewed by Bianca Schulze. Discover more books like Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone   by following along with our reviews and articles tagged with  Books About Witches ,  Brian Selznick ,  Fantasy ,  Harry Potter ,  J.K. Rowling ,  Magic , and  Wizard Books .

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Bianca Schulze is the founder of The Children’s Book Review. She is a reader, reviewer, mother and children’s book lover. She also has a decade’s worth of experience working with children in the great outdoors. Combined with her love of books and experience as a children’s specialist bookseller, the goal is to share her passion for children’s literature to grow readers. Born and raised in Sydney, Australia, she now lives with her husband and three children near Boulder, Colorado.

My reply is , The book is so very nice

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I'm an adult and I just read the 'Harry Potter' series. Why it's not just for kids.

My boyfriend will tell you I don't have that many flaws. Can I be impatient? Sure. Do I get hangry? Absolutely.

But my biggest one? I never finished reading the " Harry Potter " series.

I know, I know. Cue the gasps. The outrage. The shame. If you're a millennial reading this, maybe you've stopped reading. If you're Gen Z reading this, you're probably ready to cancel me for bringing up the "Harry Potter" author in any remote way.

In an effort to appease my new beau – and admittedly check an item off my bucket list, as I had been a devoted fan of the movies for decades – I decided to actually read the original seven-book series . So that's exactly what I did from January through March of this year.

What did I find when I was done? There's power in revisiting childhood tales and giving into a bit of magic. You shouldn't let anyone – not even one of the movies' stars, Miriam Margolyes, who recently told adult Potter fans they "should be over that by now, " – tell you the stories are only for kids. Like anything else, enjoyment of Harry Potter books is far from being black and white.

Check out: USA TODAY's weekly Best-selling Booklist

In case you missed: 'Harry Potter' is having a moment again. Here's why.

Why did I stop reading 'Harry Potter' in the first place?

When I was younger, I devoured the first four books in the series. Like, stay-in-my-room-during-Thanksgiving-when-all-of-our-family-is-over devour. Then at some point during "Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix," boredom took over so intensely that no spell could cure it. The movies fulfilled me enough, and I was OK not knowing the intricacies of the books vs. the films.

And then when critics slammed J.K. Rowling as transphobic – and I understood what they were talking about – I figured it's for the best I leave the books on their metaphorical shelf.

But something was always missing whenever " Harry Potter " whisked its way into a conversation. Someone would mention a scene in passing that wasn't in the movie. Someone would talk about staying up all night finishing the last book. I felt left out and there was only one way to correct that. I opted to listen to audiobooks instead and the reading (listening?) journey began.

Sigh: How trans 'Harry Potter' fans are grappling with J.K. Rowling's legacy after her transphobic comments

What Harry Potter means to me as an adult

Once I started listening to the books , I couldn't stop. The characters accompanied me on runs, train rides and while I cleaned my apartment. It was all-consuming. Magic flowed through my ears and into every part of me. I empathized with the woman on TikTok documenting her experience reading the books for the first time , who regularly entertains her followers with dramatic, dumbfounded reactions to various turns of the screw.

I grew up in hyper-speed with all the characters matriculating through Hogwarts, facing early problems like school pranks and Quidditch matches to confronting life, death and the unknown. I crashed into the Whomping Willow with Harry and Ron, heard the house elves' plight, accompanied Dumbledore and Harry in and out of the Pensieve.

This time around I paid even closer attention to the nuance. I felt compassion for everyone, even You-Know-Who sometimes. I recognized we're all a product of our upbringing, the friends (and enemies) that surround us and our teachers. While our inherent kindness, ambition, wit and courage can shine, these qualities take nurturing, too. When ambition envelops a person, it can spiral into greed and terror (Voldemort). Kindness can lead to your downfall (Cedric Diggory).

It's not enough to get sorted into Gryffindor and be blindly brave – as our heroes often learned the hard way. It means working with those around you and standing up for what is right even when it's scary.

Look, I get what Professor Sprout – err, Miriam Margolyes – is saying. I don't want my future wedding to be Harry Potter-themed. But that doesn't mean I can't smile thinking about Harry, Ron and Hermione walking about the Hogwarts grounds. I still get teary-eyed thinking about the sacrifices Snape made to secure Harry's safety. I wonder where I would've ended up at Hogwarts (Hufflepuff, probably).

While I don't understand Rowling's logic about, um, a lot of things, I can separate the art and the artist here enough to know reading and watching "Harry Potter" changed my life, again and again.

Now if only my boyfriend will finish " Grey's Anatomy ," then we're even.

BOOKS AMEYA

For the voracious indian reader.

Book Reviews

[Book Review] ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’ by J.K. Rowling

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

J.K. Rowling needs no introduction. She is, of course, the author of the famous Harry Potter series . She was born on July 31, 1965 at Yate General Hospital near Bristol, and grew up in Gloucestershire in England and in Chepstow, Gwent, in south-east Wales. Rowling conceived the idea of Harry Potter in 1990 while sitting on a delayed train from Manchester to London King’s Cross. Over the next five years, she began to map out all seven books of the series. She wrote mostly in longhand and gradually built up a mass of notes, many of which were scribbled on odd scraps of paper. The result is known to us all – a series of unparalleled fame and popularity that we all enjoy. Under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith , J.K. Rowling also writes crime novels, featuring private detective Cormoran Strike.

“The truth.” Dumbledore sighed. “It is a beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with great caution.”

Harry Potter books tell the story of orphan Harry James Potter, the discovery of his secret magical powers and the role he plays in the safety of the hidden world of witchcraft and wizards.

After being raised in the miserably unfair home of his Uncle Vernon Dursley, Harry practically begins life anew when he discovers that he is a wizard and is invited to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry . Among Harry’s first-year adventures are making new friends (Hagrid, Ron and Hermione), standing up to the torments of school bully Draco Malfoy, and becoming the star player of his Quidditch team (the favored sport in the magical world). Harry’s life as a Hogwarts “first-year” is more interesting than that of most attendees, because he is already famous for surviving the attack of the evil Lord Voldemort, who tried to kill him as an infant. Everyone in the wizard world knows more about Harry’s family and his story than he himself does.

This first book – Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone – introduces you to this magical world for the first time, and it does so in a smooth and comfortable fashion, introducing both you and Harry to strange wonders never yet experienced. This makes the transition into the world of magic an easy and pleasant experience. Rowling has built a strong and multi-layered world with immense amounts of detail , yet it is written in such a way that it doesn’t feel tedious or as though you are being fed all the information at once, as is the case with many fantasy novels . Through Harry’s eyes, you encounter wands, monsters and spells with their magical properties, purposes and history laid out in small, easily consumable chunks. This means that the book never ceases to envelope you in its world or characters, whereas many epic fantasies have a habit of pulling you aside in a rather obvious fashion and indulging in the rather fruitless exercise of explaining every newly encountered item.

All the characters, teachers, students and bad guys alike have truly believable personalities, eccentricities and flaws, which, more often than not, helps to make them the truly lovable and long-standing characters that they have gone on to become. These friendships and relationships drive the book forward, providing comical respite and emotional engagement along the way.

It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends.

There are characters in this book that will remind us of all the people we have met. All of us have known a spoilt, overweight boy like Dudley, or a bossy and interfering (yet kind-hearted) girl like Hermione. A large number of the younger readers will also be able to easily identify with Harry, especially with his initial feelings of isolation and a sense of not belonging, and then through to his excitement at finally leaving that life behind in favor of one where he does belong and will be happy.

Hogwarts is a truly magical place, not only in the most obvious way but also in all the sheer detail that the author has gone to describe it. It is the place that everybody wishes they could have been to when they were eleven , for that’s where many adventures befall the trio (Harry, Ron and Hermione), and the stone in the book’s title is center to all the events that unfold as the plot progresses. The story builds toward the exciting conclusion that has the ultimate feel-good factor.

In conclusion, this epic journey out of the Muggle world and into the school and world of witchcraft and wizardry bags 4 out of 5 stars. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone is a must-read for anyone within the age-group of 8 to 600 years (for those who have used the stone :p) who want to be mesmerized by an enigmatic world.

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Book Review: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Harry Potter is an unusual boy who lives with his uncle, Vernon Dursley, his aunt, Petunia Dursley, and his over pampered cousin, Dudley Dursley. He has constantly faced neglect and cruelty at their hands ever since he got left on their doorstep 10 years ago. Since then, strange things that he couldn't explain seemed to happen around him, especially because of the fact that they detest the "ugly" lightning bolt scar on his forehead. He was punished for this even though he didn't understand why any of these things happened to him. Little did he know that he would receive a mysterious letter, that his uncle confiscated immediately, that would reveal to him that he wasn't just a normal kid, but a wizard who is old enough to go to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. When the letters continue to come, his uncle takes his whole family to hide out for a few days. His uncle soon learns that hiding from wizards isn't so easy and Hagrid, the groundkeeper at the school, finds him and takes him to help him navigate this new world. Not only this but Harry also founds out that his parents weren't killed in a car crash like he was told, but were actually murdered by an evil wizard named Lord Voldemort. He tried to murder Harry too, but when he tried to his power broke and all that Harry was left with was his scar. Most reckon that he died, but Hagrid doesn't believe that, that is true. This synopsis sums up the perfect prompt for the story of Harry Potter. As the book goes on he meets many other amazing characters including his best friends Ron and Hermione and the eccentric headmaster, Albus Dumbledore. I would recommend this book to anyone even if they don't like fantasy because it feels so relatable.

I liked this book for a multitude of reasons. It wasn't predictable, it had amazing characters, and a set-up for an amazing series where each following book complements the impressiveness of the last. I was not the one who decided to read this book. The first person who read it to me was my mother and I am so glad she did. This is not only one of the best books that I have read all year, but probably all of my life.

Reviewer Grade: 8

• Younger Readers

I finished writing the final Harry Potter book in 2007, which seems a very long time ago now. And before that, I had been immersed in Harry’s world for nearly 20 years – since 1990, in fact, when the idea of a boy who doesn’t yet know that he is a great wizard first bubbled up in my brain. But what makes me happiest is that new readers, all over the world, are still discovering Harry Potter for the first time, today.

The short introductions here to each of the seven Harry Potter stories will give you a flavour of the adventures ahead of you. I’ve also tried to answer some of the questions I’m most often asked in the numerous letters and emails that I continue to receive from fans.

I could not have imagined in my wildest dreams just how popular my Harry Potter books would become and at times it was truly overwhelming. Below is a snapshot of what happened when the books were first published.

If you would like to find out more, why not visit Wizarding World.com , the official hub for fans of Harry Potter and the Fantastic Beasts film series.

Enjoy your reading!

The Harry Potter Stories

From Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone , where the story begins, through to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows , here’s a brief introduction to the seven books that have made Harry the world’s most renowned wizard.

9 and 3/4 Questions

J. K. Rowling answers some of the questions she’s most often asked by fans about Harry Potter and the wizarding world she created.

The Magical Journey…

Since the first book appeared in 1997, Harry Potter has not just enchanted readers worldwide, but become a true publishing phenomenon. Find out more here.

Explore More About The Wizarding World

Whether you love Harry Potter and have read every book twice, or you are just starting out on your journey, a visit to Wizarding World.com will answer all your questions, fire your imagination, and draw you deeper into the magic!

Which Hogwarts house would you be in?

Gryffindor, I hope. I value courage beyond almost anything. But I’d be quite a good fit in Ravenclaw, too.

What’s your Patronus?

I used to think it would be an otter, which I gave to Hermione in the books, because I love otters so much, but I’ve got a feeling that if I ever managed to produce one, it would be some kind of large bird. Possibly an owl.

Where do the names of the spells and potions come from or are they made up?

They’re mostly made up, though some derive from old charms people thought genuinely worked, such as Avada Kedavra, from which came ‘abracadabra’. I used a good bit of pig Latin and took liberties with archaic words, too.

Where do wizards go to school before going to Hogwarts?

If they’re Muggle-born, they’ll go to regular schools. Wizarding families tend to home school their children until they’re ready for Hogwarts.

Which Harry Potter character would you most like to meet and why?

I think it would have to be Dumbledore. We’d have a lot to discuss and I would love his advice; I think that everyone would like a Dumbledore in their lives.

Does Harry Potter still have his owl (Hedwig) and does Hermione still have her cat (Crookshanks)?

Poor Hedwig died in book seven, but I like to think Harry would always have a snowy owl in her honour. Crookshanks lived to a ripe old age, but I’m afraid he’s no longer with us.

Will Harry Potter and the Cursed Child ever be made into a movie?

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child was conceived and written as a stage play. It was always intended to be a stage play and nothing else, and I’m afraid there are absolutely no plans for it to become a movie, a novel, a puppet show, a cartoon, a comic book series or Cursed Child on Ice!

Will there be another Harry Potter book – about the Marauders or the Founders of Hogwarts, for instance?

I have always refused to say ‘never’ to this question, because I think it would be foolish to rule out something I might want to do in the future. The play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is a prime example. I was intrigued to do something new. Working with Jack Thorne (the playwright) and John Tiffany (the director) was one of the most satisfyingly creative experiences of my working life. We developed the story together and I couldn’t be more thrilled with the result.

What happened to some of the other characters like Dudley Dursley, Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood?

I think Dudley’s out there living a happier and better life for having known Harry. He wouldn’t be nearly as hidebound and fiercely conventional as his parents. Neville became a Herbology teacher at Hogwarts, where I think he’d be hugely popular.

Luna married a descendant of Newt Scamander and became a magizoologist.

14 Hidden Messages in the Harry Potter Books You Never Noticed

The house colors represent the elements.

I n Harry Potter’s magical world, nothing is as it seemsand that goes for the books themselves. Master storyteller J.K. Rowling wove in all kinds of mysterious meanings, surreptitious signs, and cloaked clues that, when deciphered, illuminate the themes of the story.

For example, everyone knows that students are sorted into the four houses of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry based on their personalitiesbut did you know the house colors have a deeper meaning? “The four Hogwarts houses have a loose association with the four elements, and their colors were chosen accordingly,” Rowling wrote on the official Pottermore site. “Gryffindor (red and gold) is connected to fire; Slytherin (green and silver) to water; Hufflepuff (yellow and black, representing wheat and soil) to earth; and Ravenclaw (blue and bronze; sky and eagle feathers) to air.” For each book’s 20th anniversary, new U.K. editions are being released in all the house colors and crests, with special house-specific content inside. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (the U.K. name for the first book in the series) and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets ‘ house editions are out now and available on Amazon; Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban releases this month.

Harry has two contrasting father figures

Colors also come into play with orphaned Harry’s father figures in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone : Rubeus (or “red”) Hagrid and Albus (or “white”) Dumbledore. Rowling points out that red and white are complementary colors in the mystical science of alchemy, and represent different stages of spiritual transformation. “Where my two characters were concerned, I named them for the alchemical colors to convey their opposing but complementary natures: Red meaning passion (or emotion), white for asceticism; Hagrid being the earthy, warm, and physical man, lord of the forest; Dumbledore the spiritual theoretician, brilliant, idealized, and somewhat detached,” she wrote on Pottermore . “Each is a necessary counterpoint to the other as Harry seeks father figures in his new world.”

Names reveal whoor whatpeople really are

Several of Rowling’s characters’ names have hidden meaningsand in many cases, if you know what they are, you can uncover the plot. For example, in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban , beloved teacher Remus Lupin is discovered to be a werewolf, and Harry’s godfather Sirius Black is revealed to transform into a dog. Remus’s name refers to the Roman myth of Romulus and Remus, two brothers who were raised by wolves; and Lupin comes from the Latin word “lupinus,” meaning “wolfish.” Sirius , on the other hand, is the name of the “dog star” in astronomy, part of the Canis (i.e., canine) Major constellation. Check out more surprising Harry Potter details you may have missed the first time you read the books .

Lupin’s condition is a metaphor for HIV

Speaking of Lupin, Rowling revealed a deeper layer to his werewolf disease and the secrecy surrounding it. “Remus Lupin’s affliction was a conscious reference to blood-borne diseases such as the HIV infection, with the attendant stigma,” Rowling wrote on Pottermore . “The potion Snape brews him is akin to the antiretroviral that will keep him from developing the ‘full-blown’ version of his illness.” Unfortunately, the discrimination Lupin unfairly faces when his condition is made public is the reason he has to leave Hogwarts. “The sense of ‘apartness’ that the management of a chronic condition can impose on its sufferers was an important part of Lupin’s character,” Rowling wrote. In the Prisoner of Azkaban movie , the filmmakers wanted to present Lupin’s condition as an illness, so he appears pallid, unwell, and sad.

Names also reveal the characters’ true natures

Some characters’ names give readers clues to their hidden motivations and feelings. J.K. Rowling is proficient in French, and that shows in her naming of Draco Malfoy and Voldemort . In French, mal foi means “bad faith,” fitting for a character whose family follows the evil wizard He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Voldemort’s name comes from the French vol de mort , or “flight of death,” which makes sense as he fears dying and does everything in his power to gain immortality. Of course, as Chamber of Secrets reveals, “I am Lord Voldemort” is also an anagram of the Dark Lord’s original name, Tom Marvolo Riddle. Rowling assured fans she had no “anti-French feelings” in naming Voldemort. “I needed a name that evokes both power and exoticism,” she said while receiving the French Legion of Honor. (Fun fact: In accordance with French pronunciation, Rowling revealed the last “t” in Voldemort is silent, meaning we’ve been saying it wrong all these years.)

Hedwig symbolizes the comforts of childhood

Although Rowling herself hasn’t elaborated on the meaning behind Harry’s pet owl, the Catholic St. Hedwig had seven children and took care of orphans. Who does this sound like? Harry’s best friend Ron’s mother, Mrs. Weasley, mother of seven who sheltered Harry whenever he needed somewhere to go, sure fits the bill. Hedwig the owl likewise cared for Harry: In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix , he said she was “the only friend he had at number four, Privet Drive [his Muggle relatives’ home].” And perhaps that’s why fans were so saddened when she was killed in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows . “The loss of Hedwig represented a loss of innocence and security,” Rowling said . “Voldemort killing her marked the end of childhood.”

Dementors personify depression

The soul-stealing dementors, creatures that suck hope and happiness out of anyone they’re near, first appear in Prisoner of Azkaban . According to Rowling, they’re a physical manifestation of what it’s like to experience depression. “It’s so difficult to describe [depression] to someone who’s never been there, because it’s not sadness,” Rowling said in an interview with Oprah Winfrey . “I know sadness. Sadness is to cry and to feel. But it’s that cold absence of feelingthat really hollowed-out feeling. That’s what dementors are.” For Harry, dementors also cause him to relive the trauma of his mother’s death at the hands of Voldemort: When dementors are near, he hears her screams. If you just need to read something silly, check out these Harry Potter jokes .

Harry bears a resemblance to another “chosen one”

A sword with magical powers that only can be summoned by a special someonenope, we’re not talking about the legendary King Arthur’s Excalibur, but the sword of Gryffindor. If Harry’s sword bears resemblance to Excalibur, though, does that mean Harry is King Arthur ? Arthur, after all, was also an orphan from humble beginnings who was chosen to possess a powerful sword and become a leader. (Not to mention Dumbledore could be Arthur’s wizard mentor, Merlin, and Hogwarts could be Camelot.) “Gryffindor’s sword owes something to the legend of Excalibur, the sword of King Arthur, which in some legends must be drawn from a stone by the rightful king,” Rowling said on Pottermore . “The idea of fitness to carry the sword is echoed in the sword of Gryffindor’s return to worthy members of its true owner’s house.” Rowling included another intentional throwback to the Arthurian legend. “There is a further allusion to Excalibur emerging from the lake when Harry must dive into a frozen forest pool to retrieve the sword in Deathly Hallows ,” she says. “In other versions of the legend, Excalibur was given to Arthur by the Lady of the Lake, and was returned to the lake when he died.”

Bathrooms are another kind of “room of requirement”

Rowling hasn’t revealed exactly why this is, but bathrooms are really, really important to the Harry Potter books. Nearly everyone has a major scene taking place in the “loo,” as the British call it: the troll fight in Sorcerer’s Stone ; the home of ghost Moaning Myrtle and the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets ; Harry solving a Triwizard Tournament clue in a bathtub in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire ; Harry’s wand battle with Draco in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince . Plus, one of the first hints of the hidden Room of Requirement , which changes to fit the seeker’s needs, is Dumbledore mentioning coming across a room full of chamber pots when he had to go the bathroom in Goblet of Fire . Perhaps this potty preoccupation exists because, before bathrooms, wizards apparently went wherever they pleased, cleaning it up with a flick of the wand. “Hogwarts didn’t always have bathrooms,” revealed Pottermore in a tweet that caused a fan frenzy. “Before adopting Muggle plumbing methods in the eighteenth century, witches and wizards simply relieved themselves wherever they stood, and vanished the evidence.”

Snape’s first words to Harry were about his mother

As Pottermore explains, the Harry Potter books often employ floriography, or conveying meaning through flowers, a pastime popular with the Victorians. So, the first words cold Professor Snape says to Harry in Sorcerer’s Stone ”What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?”aren’t just a way to humiliate Harry by asking him about a potion he hasn’t learned yet. Asphodel is a type of lily and means “my regrets follow you to the grave”; wormwood is also associated with regret and bitterness. Snape, who was in love with Harry’s mother, Lily, is telling Harry he bitterly regrets her death. (By the way, the answer to the question is the Draught of Living Death, which Professor Slughorn’s class attempts to make in Half-Blood Prince .) Dive deeper into Snape’s first words to Harry here .

Seven is the most powerful number

In numerology, numbers have mystical meaning, as they do in Harry Potter . Lucky number seven, for example, pops up everywhere : seven Potter books, seven children in the Weasley family, seven players on a Quidditch team, seven years at Hogwarts, seven Horcruxes containing pieces of Voldemort’s soul, and more. In Hogwarts lore, a 13th-century witch named Bridget Wenlock was the first to discover the magical properties of seven. Another number that pops up often? The trinity, or number three: three Deathly Hallows, three unforgivable curses, the three-headed dog, three tasks and three schools in the Triwizard Tournament, and the core trio of Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

Wizards like Starbucks?

The books aren’t the only places secret messages turn up. Look closely in the Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix film , and you’ll see what looks like a Starbucks logo in the Black family tapestry at Sirius’s former home and current Order of the Phoenix safe house, 12 Grimmauld Place. (Check it out on the bottom left side of the tapestry in this photo on Pottermore.) Could the filmmakers be paying homage to the coffee shops where J.K. Rowling wrote the early books? In truth, Rowling favored Edinburgh’s The Elephant House, not Starbucks, as the spot to craft her tales. Perhaps the tapestry’s creators at graphic design firm MinaLima were just really in need of caffeine.

There’s a secret Daily Prophet character

The cheeky artists at MinaLima didn’t stop there: There’s subliminal advertising for a wizard perfume called Divine Magic in the Half-Blood Prince and Potter spin-off Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them movies. But perhaps the designers’ boldest move is the creation of a whole new character who appears in the Daily Prophet and New York Ghost newspapers throughout the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts movies: a mischievous criminal called the Ginger Witch . Could this be a long-lost relative of the red-haired Weasley clan? According to MinaLima’s Eduardo Lima , she’s based on a friend of theirs named Debbie.

Mirrors are the window to the soul

Even in the Muggle world, mirrors seem enchanted, but they take on an even greater significance in the wizarding world, reflecting crucial truths about the characters. First in Sorcerer’s Stone , Harry becomes entranced by the image of himself with his parents in the Mirror of Erised (“desire” spelled backward). But the lesson the mirror represents, Rowling says , is that “life can pass you by while you are clinging on to a wish that can never be.” In Goblet of Fire , Harry comes across a Foe-Glass, which reveals your enemies. Then in Order of the Phoenix , Sirius gives Harry a two-way mirror for them to communicateonly to meet his own death soon after. But even after Harry shatters the mirror in frustration, he sees an eye staring back at him in a shard: Harry later discovers it’s Aberforth, Dumbledore’s brother, who helps him to safety using the mirror in Deathly Hallows . If you picked up on these meanings already, try our Harry Potter quiz that only diehard fans can ace .

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The post 14 Hidden Messages in the Harry Potter Books You Never Noticed appeared first on Reader's Digest .

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Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone review – 20 years on, it’s a nostalgic spectacular

The first film in the franchise is re-released into a very different world – but it’s as entertaining and exhilarating as ever

T he very first Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (or “Sorcerer’s Stone” for its release in the United States, where audiences were assumed to be unfamiliar with this alchemical term) is now re-released after 20 years, into a rather different world. Sadly, the actors who played the original Dumbledore, Snape, Uncle Vernon and Mr Ollivander – Richard Harris, Alan Rickman , Richard Griffiths and John Hurt – are no longer with us. The Harry Potter franchise itself is still a colossal commercial entity, an IP Shangri La, although its creator JK Rowling is now at the centre of an acrimonious gender politics debate – undreamed of in 2001 – and the world of children’s and YA fiction, which she almost singlehandedly revived all over the world, is strongly policed on just these issues.

It’s amazing and poignant to remember the sheer excitement of that HPATPS premiere in November 2001: I myself called it an “old-fashioned pre-September 11 news event”. Harry Potter emerged into cinemas as we were still all stunned by 9/11, but yet to see the retaliatory “war on terror”. This film, emerging four years after the original novel, marked the birth of a new consolatory pop culture myth, to rival Sherlock Holmes and James Bond, and the circumstances of its own arrival became mythic, from Rowling’s own early poverty to the snapping up of film rights.

Warner Bros had gambled on three cherubically young actors to carry the series through their own adolescence to its finale: Daniel Radcliffe as Harry, Emma Watson as Hermione and Rupert Grint as Ron. Opinions on the acting may divide here, and it was admittedly Robert Pattinson (playing Cedric Diggory in Goblet of Fire), who had the real career staying power. But I can’t think of these characters played by any other actors: the thought of the stories being remade or re-adapted with a different cast is heresy. I even grew to like Grint’s very broad, goofy acting, in which he was encouraged by director Chris Columbus at the outset. Radcliffe’s bespectacled moon face looks heartbreakingly unformed.

In the film we see Harry Potter coming to terms with his messianic purpose: he is released from his Dickensian incarceration in the Dursley household and sent for his first term at Hogwarts with its public-school/Oxbridge traditions. Harry learns how to play quidditch (like Tom Brown learning rugby) and he and his three pals are sorted into their various houses; they encounter the formidable teaching staff, including Professor McGonagall (Maggie Smith), Professor Quirrell (Ian Hart) and Professor Snape (Alan Rickman) and then meet the challenge of a deadly assault on Harry.

And it’s still a very entertaining and spectacular movie, with a rush of nostalgia to go alongside the exhilaration of fun, even though some of the “flying” effects during the big quidditch match aren’t quite what we’re used to in 2021. “Wingardium Leviosa,” says the earnest, wide-eyed Hermione … and the story is airborne again.

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Screen Rant

Harry potter's tv remake can show the villain fate i've wanted to see for 17 years (the books & movies ignored it).

The Harry Potter television remake has the chance to expand on various things the movies never got to, including the fate of 1 truly awful villain.

• The new Harry Potter TV series has the chance to explore aspects that were missed in the movies, like the fate of Dolores Umbridge.
• By being more faithful to the original books, the show can provide fans with the details they truly care about, including key character arcs.
• Including Umbridge's downfall on-screen would not only tie up loose ends but also add an important layer of satisfaction for fans of the franchise.

Now that the Harry Potter franchise is moving to television, this new series has the opportunity to expand on certain story elements that were cut out of the movies, including the treacherous fate of the worst Harry Potter villain . A year ago, HBO announced that it would be at the helm of a Harry Potter TV show . The series is starting entirely fresh, with a new cast and a new vision. Apparently, its focus is on being a more faithful adaptation of J.K. Rowling's books. Recently, it was revealed that the series would hit Max in 2026.

Although the Harry Potter movies are beloved, it is undeniable that they get several things wrong about the original books. Countless aspects of the novels were cut for time , while others were portrayed much differently than they appeared on the page. However, HBO's TV series changes everything. With a full seven seasons at its fingertips, the Harry Potter show can finally bring to life the parts of Harry Potter that never made it on screen . From the house elves to Peeves, the TV show can include the details that fans truly care about. This includes villains as well.

The Harry Potter TV Show Can Do A Key Character Death Justice After The Original Movies Rushed Past It

The harry potter books & movies don't reveal what happens to dolores umbridge, j.k. rowling later confirmed umbridge's fate.

As it turns out, there is one character whose fate was never explored, not in the movies or the books . It was only later that Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling confirmed what happened to Dolores Umbridge after the Battle of Hogwarts. According to Rowling, the despicable Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher from the fifth book ended up being sent to Azkaban for her crimes . This came after the Battle of Hogwarts, which resulted in Lord Voldemort's death and saved the wizarding world. Though this answer never appeared in the Harry Potter books, this later-revealed fact definitely makes sense.

Umbridge is likely not the only character whose fate is never revealed on the page or on-screen. Harry Potter has such a vast world with quite a number of characters and storylines. Therefore, it isn't uncommon for certain details like Umbridge's fate to fall under the radar . In the case of Umbridge, Rowling later confirmed what happened to her, but other characters may not be so lucky. That is where the television adaptation comes in. HBO's Harry Potter can include these seemingly small details which will help tie up loose ends and satisfy audiences' most subtle questions.

HBO's Harry Potter Remake Can Finally Show Umbridge's Downfall On-Screen

Audiences will get a satisfying end to umbridge's story.

Unlike the Harry Potter books or movies, the television series can finally depict Umbridge's downfall. Now that Rowling has revealed her fate, the show should include this detail so that it can finally join the story's canon . Furthermore, it would be incredibly satisfying to watch. While it is vital for the series to portray Lord Voldemort's defeat in great detail, it is just as important to see Harry Potter's other, smaller villains pay their consequences too.

Though Umbridge is often forgotten by the final book, it would be great to change the narrative and see her sent off to Azkaban.

It would also be great to portray Umbridge's downfall on-screen because it would join the long line of memorable Umbridge scenes from the original film franchise . Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is an installment that is especially dark, but also filled with moments that are staples of the franchise. For example, the scene where Fred and George Weasley fly out of their OWLs on brooms and set off a series of fireworks, sending Umbridge into a tizzy, is a very iconic scene. If the TV series can ace Umbridge's punishment, then it could be another memorable moment.

Umbridge Going To Azkaban Could Be 1 Of TV Show's Most Satisfying Moments

Umbridge's fate is important to fans.

Another major reason why this detail should be included is because of Umbridge's reputation. If this reveal had concerned any other character, it may not have been as interesting, but because it is Dolores Umbridge, it feels important. Umbridge is notable in the Harry Potter series as the most evil villain after Lord Voldemort. Behind her pink exterior lies a sadistic and cruel woman who will do anything for power. In this way, finally learning about her downfall is incredibly relieving for Harry Potter fans who despised her in the fifth book, and want to see her pay the price.

Dolores Umbridge was played by Imelda Staunton in the Harry Potter film franchise.

Overall, the fate of Dolores Umbridge is a tiny part of the greater Harry Potter franchise, but it is still important in regard to the television series. In many respects, the TV show does not need to happen, therefore, its existence needs to be worth it. Focusing on accuracy and detail is the key to that. If the Harry Potter TV show is able to include these seemingly miniscule details, then it will ultimately prove that it is adding something important to the greater franchise.

Harry Potter

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'Harry Potter' author J.K. Rowling criticised for gender views

LONDON - British author JK Rowling, who scored stellar success with her series about the boy wizard Harry Potter, has courted controversy online and even death threats because of her outspoken views on gender identity.

Her position that biological sex is immutable has made her a darling of some feminists over the years, but incurred the wrath of transgender rights activists, who have called for her to be “cancelled”.

Rowling, 58, denies charges of transphobia that have tarnished the global success of the Harry Potter books, which have sold a staggering 600 million copies worldwide.

The latest row on social media blew up last week after the Scottish government in Edinburgh, where Rowling lives, passed a law criminalising hate speech, including against transgender people.

Rowling, who lives in the city with her second husband, on April 1 published a volley of messages about transgender women on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, including several convicted of sexual offences.

“Obviously, the people mentioned in the above tweets aren’t women at all, but men, every last one of them,” she wrote.

The new legislation, she added, was “wide open” to abuse those wanting to silence advocates of women and girls’ single-sex spaces, and predatory men identifying as women.

“Freedom of speech and belief are at an end in Scotland if the accurate description of biological sex is deemed criminal,” she added, saying she welcomed arrest.

Police said complaints about the post were not criminal as the comments predictably triggered a firestorm, including from those for whom gender identity has become a “culture war” issue, such as Britain’s right-wing media and politicians.

The right-wing Daily Mail newspaper called Rowling a “hero”.

Rowling’s transformation from almost universally popular children’s author to a hate figure for supporters of gender identity began back in 2018.

The writer liked a post on Twitter – the forerunner to X – by a woman who described transgender women as “men in dresses”.

She apologised after attracting criticism. Then in 2019, she publicly defended a woman who was sacked from her job after posting what were deemed to be transphobic tweets.

In 2020, Rowling also sarcastically replied to a description of “people who menstruate”, writing: “I’m sure there used to be a word for those people.

“Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?“

The comment earned her the rebuke of her Harry Potter prodigies, including Daniel Radcliffe who played the boy wizard in the film franchise of the books, who publicly disassociated himself from her.

Two years later, Rowling spoke out again when Scotland, which has some devolved legislative powers, proposed making it simpler for people to change their legal gender.

The UK government stepped in to block the bill going through at the devolved Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh.

Rowling calls herself a militant feminist, and has revealed how she had been a victim of domestic violence.

Women’s rights, she argued, could be threatened by some supporters of transgender rights and has spoken out about allowing transgender women to use changing rooms, toilets or prisons designated for women only.

Born on July 31, 1965 in the town of Chipping Sodbury in western England, Joanne Rowling began writing at an early age, telling stories she had dreamt up in her imagination.

After studying French, she became a translator at Amnesty International in London, then on a train trip to Manchester came up with the story of Harry Potter and his adventures at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

She taught English in Portugal where she married her first husband and had a daughter.

She worked on the Potter books every morning before work, continuing after she returned home in 1995, and moved to Scotland following her divorce.

Rowling struggled and was receiving welfare payments when the publishing house Bloomsbury finally accepted her fantastical creation.

Within a few years she and Harry Potter were a global phenomenon, shifting more than 600 million copies in over 80 languages.

The eight films based on the books have raked in some US$8 billion, making Rowling a millionaire several times over.

Despite the furore about her views on gender identity, she admitted in the podcast “The Witch Trials of JK Rowling” that she was “not uncomfortable about getting off (her) pedestal” and speaking her mind. AFP

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Harry Potter TV Series: Everything We Know So Far About Max’s Adaptation

Rebecca iannucci, senior editor.

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The Boy Who Lived is coming back to life.

Max announced in April 2023 that it had ordered a TV series based on the massively popular Harry Potter novels, with original book author J.K. Rowling attached as an executive producer. And though the expansive project is still in its early stages, we’re going to make like Hermione and get a jump on our studying, via the following round-up of intel about Max ‘s sweeping series.

“We are delighted to give audiences the opportunity to discover Hogwarts in a whole new way,” HBO boss Casey Bloys said at the time of the series’ announcement. “ Harry Potter is a cultural phenomenon and it is clear there is such an enduring love and thirst for the Wizarding World. In partnership with Warner Bros. Television and J.K. Rowling, this new Max Original series will dive deep into each of the iconic books that fans have continued to enjoy for all of these years.”

But how, exactly, will Max’s version take shape? How many seasons will it run? Who will star? For answers to those questions and more, keep scrolling to see everything we know so far , and be sure to bookmark this page for all the latest news — until we can get in on that owl-based postal service, at least.

What will the Harry Potter series be about?

Max ‘s upcoming series is described as a “faithful adaptation” of Rowling’s novels, so it stands to reason that the project will follow young wizard Harry Potter as he attends Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and repeatedly faces off against the villainous Lord Voldemort.

However, the streamer has not yet announced who will write the series and how, exactly, the story told in Rowling’s sprawling novels will be adapted for the small screen. As of February 2024, three candidates — Francesca Gardiner, Tom Moran and Kathleen Jordan, per Deadline — were still in the running to be named the series’ head writer, and a decision is expected in June.

How many seasons have been ordered?

Ostensibly, seven — matching the number of books in Rowling’s series — but it’s not completely clear. When the Harry Potter TV series was first ordered, Max noted its plans for the show to span a decade. It has yet to be confirmed, though, if that equates to 10 seasons , or simply a 10-year lifespan for the show. Eight Harry Potter films were previously made, with the final Deathly Hallows novel getting split into two movies; it remains to be seen what approach Max will take with its own adaptation.

Who will star in the Harry Potter series?

Casting for Harry & Co. has yet to be revealed, but we’ll update this post as soon as the series adds to its ensemble. In the meantime, peruse our dream castings !

Is J.K. Rowling involved with the show?

Indeed, Rowling is on board as an executive producer, news that was met with many fans’ ire after Rowling’s statements on sex and gender in recent years have widely been deemed transphobic.

“ Max ’s commitment to preserving the integrity of my books is important to me, and I’m looking forward to being part of this new adaptation which will allow for a degree of depth and detail only afforded by a long form television series,” Rowling said in a statement when the Harry Potter series was first announced. Days later, having seen the criticism of her involvement with the show, Rowling weighed in more sarcastically in an X post : “Dreadful news, which I feel duty bound to share. Activists in my mentions are trying to organise yet another boycott of my work, this time of the Harry Potter TV show. As forewarned is forearmed, I’ve taken the precaution of laying in a large stock of champagne.”

When will the Harry Potter series premiere?

You don’t need to have your wands at the ready for a while longer: The Harry Potter series adaptation is currently on track for a 2026 premiere.

“We’ve not been shy about our excitement around Harry Potter,” Warner Bros. Discovery boss David Zaslav said during a company earnings call in February 2024. “We can’t wait to share a decade of new stories with fans around the world on Max . We’re aiming for a debut in 2026.”

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26 comments.

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Have to wait and see what they come up with. Lots of rumors floating around

What have you heard?

Why? The movies are great. I have no desire to watch a different adaptation and no desire to give Rowling any more money.

Well, the movies left out A LOT.

I am thrilled about this. JK Rowling is responsible for improving literacy in two generations or more.

It was always going to be this. Based on later books, I’m sure that the first 2-3 books had lots of cuts, ie stuff she cut out. They could be fleshed out with more stuff about how bad Harry’s home life was. Or about how much Hermione was struggling with loneliness prior to befriending Ron/Harry. Think 10-11 eps per season. 12+ or more in later books. Enough to get to 80-90 eps. . Frankly, the later books were very disappointing when turned into films. Way too much time was spent of SFX moments, while valuable plot/storylines were ignored. I’d love a faithful adaptation of the books.

and that choir singing ‘Double double toil and trouble’ was a complete waste of time (and film).

A faithful adaption would be amazing to see. Any involvement from JKR is definitively the best option for any Potter project. Hoping they will fix the many mistakes and omissions that plague the movies.

The books are a load of garbage. Pure drivel.

The only reason I am mildly interested is seeing a proper live action portrayal of Ginny Weasley. The movies did to her what the X-men movies did to Cyclops made a great character into a poor one.

I think all of the Weasley’s were treated pretty bad in the movies.

Give me a proper adaptation of MOLLY Weasley, who was very short changed.

Shelve this and release Coyote vs Acme instead

So David Zaslav and Warner Bros. Discovery are promoting Transphobia and Nazi War Crime Denialism by still being in business with her? Good to know….

No thanks. I don’t support transphobic sh**heads.

She’s a melodic voice of reason in a cacophony of enforced wok31sm.

Sounds interesting but I don’t have streaming.

JK Rowling’s views “in sex and gender” have NOT been widely condemnex, they have in fact been widely supported save a few loud, ignorant activist voices. She has been proven right time and time again and is one of the strongest voices for the rights of women and the protection of children.

She’s the Donald Trump of womens rights. Right wing poster girl who spouts propaganda and lies.

The movies definitely left out a lot from the books. Will be interested if they will follow Hermione’s quest to free house elves from slavery. Stuff like that. Could be a very different feel compared to the movies, so that may make it a very interesting watch.

Rowling being involved is ONLY reason I’m interested..

There are two kinds of people: Those who judge shows on their merits, and idiots.

Hopefully in this adaptation Hermione Granger ends up with Harry in the end as JK as stated she should have done in the books countless times

I won’t watch anything that has JK Rowling’s name attached to it. And once again, shame on TVLine for promoting it. Officlally done with this site.

god, just let it die already

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