# Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

    For the 2001 film adaptation, see Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film).
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is the first book of the Harry Potter series, written by J.K. Rowling. It was first published in 1997; in America, it is was published as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. In this book, Harry discovers on his eleventh birthday that he is a wizard after many years living with his non-magical relatives who don't accept him, before discovering friendship and adventure by attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

### The Boy Who Lived

Mr and Mrs Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense. Mr. Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings, which made drills. He was a big beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large mustache. Mrs. Dursley was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the amount of neck, which came in very useful as she spent so much of her time craning over garden fences, spying on the neighbors. The Dursleys had a small son called Dudley and in their opinion there was no finer boy anywhere.

### The Vanishing Glass

"Brazil, here I come.... thanksss amigo.
* The snake
* pg 30

### The Keeper Of The Keys

* Boom! They knocked again. Dudley jerked awake.
    "Where's the cannon?"
* Dudley pg 46
* 'NEVER — INSULT — ALBUS — DUMBLEDORE — IN — FRONT — OF — ME!'
** Rubeus Hagrid
* "Harry — yer a wizard."
** Rubeus Hagrid

### Diagon Alley

* Enter, stranger, but take heed
    Of what awaits the sin of greed,
    For those who take, but do not earn,
    Must pay most 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.
   * pg. 78
   * Engraved on the doors of Gringotts Bank
* 'Curious indeed how these things happen. The wand chooses the wizard, remember.... I think we must expect great things from you, Mr Potter.... After all, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things — terrible, yes, but great.'
** pg. 85
** Spoken by Garrick Ollivander, the Wandmaker

### The Journey from Platform Nine and Three-Quarters

* "Don't talk rubbish," said Uncle Vernon. "There is no platform nine and three-quarters."
** pg. 95
* 'Fred, you next,' the plump woman said. 'I'm not Fred, I'm George,' said the boy. 'Honestly, woman, you call yourself our mother? Can't you tell I'm George?' 'Sorry, George, dear.' 'Only joking, I am Fred.'
** pg. 98
* 'Whatever house I'm in, I hope she's not in it,'
** Ronald Bilius Weasley
** pg. 106

### The Sorting Hat

* Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you.
** pg. 123
* 'Is he — a bit mad?' he asked Percy uncertainly. 'Mad?' said Percy airily. 'He's a genius! Best wizard in the world! But he is a bit mad, yes. Potatoes, Harry?'
** pg. 123

### The Potions Master

* 'Ah, yes,' he said softly, 'Harry Potter. Our new — celebrity.'
** Snape's first words of the series
** pg. 101
* "Take him up to the hospital wing," Snape spat at Seamus. Then he rounded on Harry and Ron, who had been working next to Neville. "You — Potter — why didn't you tell him not to add the quills! Thought he'd make you look good if he got it wrong, did you? That's another point you've lost for Gryffindor." This was so unfair that Harry opened his mouth to argue, but Ron kicked him behind their cauldron. "Don't push it," he muttered. "I've heard Snape can get pretty nasty."
** pg. 103-104

### The Midnight Duel

* 'And what if I wave my wand and nothing happens?' 'Throw it away and punch him on the nose,' Ron suggested.

### Halloween

* Wingardium Leviosa!' he shouted, waving his long arms like a windmill. 'You're saying it wrong,' Harry heard Hermione snap. 'It's Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, make the "gar" nice and long.' 'You do it, then, if you're so clever' Ron snarled. Hermione rolled up the sleeves of her gown, flicked her wand and said, Wingardium Leviosa!' Their feather rose off the desk and hovered about four feet above their heads.
** pg. 184
* 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.
** pg. 132

### The Mirror of Erised

* "I do feel so sorry," said Draco Malfoy, one Potions class, "for all those people who have to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas because they're not wanted at home."
* 'There was a lot more to magic, as Harry quickly found out, than waving your wand and saying a few funny words.'
** pg. 133
* 'You haven't got a letter on yours,' George observed. 'I suppose she thinks you don't forget your name. But we're not stupid — we know we're called Gred and Forge.'
** pg. 149
* "It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live, remember that."
** pg. 214
* 'One can never have enough socks,' said Dumbledore.
** pg. 157

### Nicolas Flamel

* 'Don't play,' said Hermione at once. 'Say you're ill,' said Ron. 'Pretend to break your leg,' Hermione suggested. ' Really break your leg,' said Ron to Harry when they heard Snape was going to be the referee for the Quidditch match.
** pg. 159
* Longbottom, if brains were gold you'd be poorer than Weasley, and that's saying something.
** pg. 163
** Spoken by Draco Malfoy

### Norbert the Norwegian Ridgeback

* I tell you, that dragon's the most horrible animal I've ever met, but the way Hagrid goes on about it, you'd think it was a fluffy little bunny rabbit. When it bit me he told me off for frightening it. And when I left, he was singing it a lullaby.
** pg. 173
** Spoken by Ron Weasley
* Malfoy's got detention! I could sing!
** pg. 176
** Spoken by Hermione Granger

### Through the Trapdoor

* Neville will play Quidditch for England before Hagrid lets Dumbledore down.
** pg. 192
* 'You want to be more careful,' said Snape. 'Hanging around like this, people will think you're up to something. And Gryffindor really can't afford to lose any more points, can they? … Be warned, Potter — any more night-time wanderings and I will personally make sure you are expelled. Good day to you.'
** pg. 195
* 'One of us has got to keep an eye on Snape — wait outside the staff room and follow him if he leaves it. Hermione, you'd better do that.' 'Why me?' 'It's obvious,' said Ron. 'You can pretend to be waiting for Professor Flitwick, you know.' He put on a high voice, 'Oh Professor Flitwick, I'm so worried, I think I got question fourteen b wrong...' 'Oh, shut up,' said Hermione.
** pg. 196
* "Devil's Snare, Devil's Snare... What did Professor Sprout say? It likes the dark and the damp-" "So light a fire!" Harry choked. "Yes - of course - but there's no wood!" Hermione cried, wringing her hands. "HAVE YOU GONE MAD?" Ron bellowed. "ARE YOU A WITCH OR NOT?" shortly after "Lucky you pay attention in Herbology, Hermione," said Harry as he joined her by the wall, wiping sweat from his face. "Yeah," said Ron, "and lucky Harry doesn't lose his head in a crisis - "there's no wood", honestly."
** pg. 202
* 'Harry — you're a great wizard, you know.' 'I'm not as good as you,' said Harry, very embarrassed, as she let go of him. 'Me!' said Hermione. 'Books! And cleverness! There are more important things — friendship and bravery and — oh Harry — be careful!'
** pg. 208

### The Man with Two Faces

* There is no good and evil, there is only power, and those too weak to seek it …
** pg. 211
** Spoken by Professor Quirrell, quoting Lord Voldemort (Lord Voldemort in the film)
* What happened down in the dungeons between you and Professor Quirrell is a complete secret, so, naturally, the whole school knows. I believe your friends Misters Fred and George Weasley were responsible for trying to send you a lavatory seat.
** pg. 214
* To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure: filled with fun, majesty, and a bit of mischief.
** pg. 297
* Humans do have a knack for choosing precisely those things which are worst for them.
** pg. 297
* Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself.
** pg. 298
* The truth. Dumbledore sighed. It is a beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with great caution.
** pg. 298
* 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.
** pg. 216
* It was Quirrell.
** pg. 288
* "Yes, him - Quirrell said he hates me because he hated my father. Is that true?" "Well, they did rather detest each other. Not unlike yourself and Mr Malfoy. And then, your father did something Snape could never forgive." "What?" "He saved his life." "What?" "Yes ..." said Dumbledore dreamily. "Funny, the way people's minds work, isn't it?"
** pg. 217
* 'There are all kinds of courage,' said Dumbledore, smiling. 'It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends. '
** pg. 307
* They don't know we're not allowed to use magic at home. I'm going to have a lot of fun with Dudley this summer...'
** Spoken by Harry
** pg. 309

## About Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

* So many of the beloved heroes and heroines of children's literature -- from Cinderella and Snow White to Oliver Twist and the Little Princess to Matilda, Maniac Magee and the great Gilly Hopkins -- begin their lives being raised by monstrously wicked, clueless adults, too stupid to see what we the readers know practically from page 1: This is a terrific person we'd love to have for a best friend. And so it is with Harry Potter, the star of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, by J. K. Rowling, a wonderful first novel from England that won major literary awards and has been at the top of the adult best-seller lists there, and is having the same kind of success here too.
** Michael Winerip, "Children's Books", The New York Times, February 14, 1999
* Harry Potter began his education at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the first of seven projected novels: Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. In that first novel, Harry was on a quest to find the Philosopher’s Stone, which turns base metal into gold and produces an elixir of immortality. But his real quest in that novel, as in the succeeding books of the series, is for self-knowledge
** Harry Potter’s Quest In The Chamber Of Secrets, by John Algeo, Theosophy in Australia, (March 2005)

## External links

* Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone quotes analise; study guide with themes, character analyses, literary devices, teacher resources