Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by JK Rowling

Well! This is going a little out of order, but I'm a little short of time and will be until Sunday afternoon (or more) and Harry Potter will be much easier to get through.
Obviously I've read the book before. I'm pretty sure everyone ever has read it, even people who died before the book was published. It just got so popular that these dead guys, uh, created worm holes, and took copies, and... well. You know the rest. Anyway, the reason why I'm writing about it is because we read the book in Wizards. And... is a summary necessary? An average little British boy finds out he is a wizard. And he's like the chosen kid or something yayyyy. Guys, it's Harry Potter!


This is the first time I've reread it ever--I never felt compelled to, not even the third one, which was my favorite book of the series. But anyway, that means I noticed a lot of foreshadowing and references and stuff I wouldn't have gotten.... my God, it's been nine years since I first read this book. Well. My first note is just that Hagrid's flying motorcycle was lent to him by "young Sirius Black" (18). My second note is also foreshadowing--Harry speaking to the snake at the zoo. (Did that even happen in the movie? It's been eight years since I've seen that in its completeness.) It's foreshadowing the discovery of his Parseltongue (the ability to speak to snakes) in the second book.

I like how Ron's mom tells Fred and George not to ask Harry about Voldemort for fear it may upset him and then Ron goes ahead and does just that.
One think that seems strange is when they first speak of Dean Thomas they say he's "a Black boy" (152). Why is black capitalized? Well, I guess they can't really say he's African American, but...

During one of the Quidditch matches Harry momentarily sees gold and thinks it's the Snitch, but realizes it's one of the Weasley twins' wristwatches. Isn't it funny that they have watches, like, normal watches? Maybe?

"'Hermione, the exams are ages away.' 'Ten weeks,' Hermione snapped. 'That's not ages, that's like a second to Nicholas Flamel'" (284). SHUT UP, HERMIONE. Starting to remember why exactly she was my least favorite character....

In the movie, there are two trials to get to the chamber where the stone is hidden that are taken out. One of them is Snape's trial, which is a logic problem and nothing more. As in, a critically-thinking eight-year-old could get through it. There are several potions laid out and to get past you must drink one... here are some sample clues: "Two of us will help you... one among us seven will let you move ahead, another will transport the drinker back instead... two among our number hold only nettle wine... three of us are killers... you will always find some on nettle wine's left side.... different are those at either end, but if you would move onward, neither is your friend... neither dwarf nor giant holds death in their insides... the second left and the second right are twins once you taste them, though different at first sight" (354-355). Good job, Snape. Thank you for giving us the answers. No, really, you're great. Though I do like the change they made in the movie that Hermione stays to help Ron instead of her staying being only because there's not enough potion for her and Harry. That kind of makes her look like a jerk...
It bothers me that the stone just appears in Harry's pocket. You had me, then you lost me. TOO FAR, ROWLING, TOO FAR!

Oh, and Dumbledore's point system at the end? I feel like the Slytherins would have revolted. I would have been hopping mad. Like... Oh, Slytherin wins! LOL JK, Gryffindor just got 170 more points and they win. YOU KIDS SUCK! I like Joe Dunn's strip about this. Actually, all of his Harry Potter strips are pretty hilarious.


Anyway. After rereading this--well, we dissected this in class. It's full of plot devices, cliches, et cetera--well, it kind of doesn't hold up to my enjoyment of it as a kid. I probably won't reread the whole series, though I will continue to watch the movies, since at this point most of my fond memories of the series are about the movies, or the LEGO sets. (I have Hogwarts Castle, The Dursleys'/Flying car set, Gringott's, Diagon Alley, the Quidditch set and the mini Buckbeak set, so there! ....Not that I can find the instructions to any of them other than Hogwarts and the Dursleys' ... or Snape... *sigh*.) Man, I would totally kill to get the whole LEGO series... time to hit Amazon up....