6 Things I Will Always Love About Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone {Review}

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J K Rowling
Series: Harry Potter #1
Publisher: Scholastic, Pottermore (1997)
Audiobook, Paperback
{8 hours and 33 minutes} (310 pages)
Rating:
Also by this author: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Also in this series: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Reading Challenges: 2016 Backlist Books, 2016 Re-Reading, Read 2016

Synopsis

Harry Potter has never played a sport while flying on a broomstick. He's never worn a cloak of invisibility, befriended a giant, or helped hatch a dragon. All Harry knows is a miserable life with the Dursleys, his horrible aunt and uncle, and their abominable son, Dudley. Harry's room is a tiny closet at the foot of the stairs, and he hasn't had a birthday party in eleven years.
But all that is about change when a mysterious letter arrives by owl messenger: a letter with an invitation to a wonderful place he never dreamed existed. There he finds not only friends, aerial sports, and magic around every corner, but a great destiny that's been waiting for him...if Harry can survive the encounter.

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My Review

I remember first reading this book in grade school shortly after it was released. I fell in love with the world of Harry Potter and that hasn’t changed.

I am going to assume that most people have read this book or at least know the storyline from the movie. For those who don’t know, here is the quick recap: Harry Potter has been raised without knowing anything of the magical world until a Hogwarts letter shows up. Harry heads off to Hogwarts where he befriends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger while making an enemy of Draco Malfoy. All is well and good until Harry discovers Lord Voldemort is in league with one of the teachers to steal the hidden Sorcerer’s Stone. Now Harry and his friends are the ones to stop this from happening, if they can.

This is the basic premise of the story so, instead of a normal review, I am going to tell you some of the parts of this book I still love after all these years.

1. Jim Dale

When I was younger, I had the first six Harry Potter audiobooks on cassette tape. The narrator, Jim Dale, is what makes this audiobook awesome. Audible now, very recently, has the whole series and I snatched them up. Jim Dale is an amazing narrator and will always, for me at least, be the voice of the Harry Potter books.

2. Norbert

I had completely forgotten that Norbert happened when Harry was in his first year at Hogwarts! Norbert the Norwegian Ridgeback makes me smile. Hagrid has always wanted a dragon and so he tries so hard to make things work with little Norbert.

3. Know-It-All Hermione

Hermione is definitely the annoying know-it-all in the beginning of the book. It is almost as though she is trying to prove to herself and everyone else that she belongs at Hogwarts. She is, in a way, trying to make up for her Muggle parentage through her brains.

4. The Halloween Troll

This part in the book is a bit different from the movie. I do love this part though because it is the first time Hermione lies to a teacher and also the event that solidified the friendship between Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

5. The Quotes

This book has so many amazing quotes. Even if you have never read the book, I’m sure you have heard some of these awesome quotes before.

There are some things you can’t share without ending up liking each other,
and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them.

“It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live, remember that.”
~Professor Dumbledore~

“Death is but the next great adventure.”
~Professor Dumbledore~

“It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies,
but just as much to stand up to our friends.”
~Professor Dumbledore~

6. The Fight Against Evil

It would have been so easy for Harry to choose the side of evil. He could have chosen to be friends with the wealthy Draco Malfoy but chose the poor Ron Weasley instead. He could have let the Sorting Hat place him in Slytherin but instead chose Gryffindor. He could easily have left Hermione to fend off the troll on her own or taken Voldemort’s offer but he didn’t. Harry chose his friends and the cause of good over the lure of power and wealth. Harry didn’t pick the easy path, but rather the right path.

I have always wondered why this book is only the Sorcerer’s Stone in the United States. Is there something about philosopher’s that we aren’t able to understand in this country? Why on earth was the name changed? I just don’t get it.

Anyway, I love this book so much. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone opened up a whole new world to me, a world I will always love. This was the very first series I loved and I love it still.