Mr. Dursley, a well-off Englishman, notices strange
happenings on his way to work one day. That night, Albus Dumbledore,
the head of a wizardry academy called Hogwarts, meets Professor McGonagall,
who also teaches at Hogwarts, and a giant named Hagrid outside the
Dursley home. Dumbledore tells McGonagall that someone named Voldemort
has killed a Mr. and Mrs. Potter and tried unsuccessfully to kill
their baby son, Harry. Dumbledore leaves Harry with an explanatory
note in a basket in front of the Dursley home.
Ten years later, the Dursley household is dominated by
the Dursleys’ son, Dudley, who torments and bullies Harry. Dudley
is spoiled, while Harry is forced to sleep in a cupboard under the stairs.
At the zoo on Dudley’s birthday, the glass in front of a boa constrictor
exhibit disappears, frightening everyone. Harry is later punished
for this incident.
Mysterious letters begin arriving for Harry. They worry
Mr. Dursley, who tries to keep them from Harry, but the letters
keep arriving through every crack in the house. Finally, he flees
with his family to a secluded island shack on the eve of Harry’s
eleventh birthday. At midnight, they hear a large bang on the door
and Hagrid enters. Hagrid hands Harry an admissions letter to the
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry learns that the Dursleys
have tried to deny Harry’s wizardry all these years.
The next day, Hagrid takes Harry to London to shop for
school supplies. First they go to the wizard bank, Gringotts, where
Harry learns that his parents have left him a hefty supply of money.
They shop on the wizards’ commercial street known as Diagon Alley, where
Harry is fitted for his school uniform. Harry buys books, ingredients
for potions, and, finally, a magic wand—the companion wand to the
evil Voldemort’s.
A month later, Harry goes to the train station and catches
his train to Hogwarts on track nine and three quarters. On the train, Harry
befriends other first-year students like Ron Weasley and Hermione
Granger, a Muggle girl chosen to attend Hogwarts. At school, the
first-years take turns putting on the “Sorting Hat” to find out
in which residential house they will live. Harry fears being assigned
to the sinister Slytherin house, but he, Ron, and Hermione end up
in the noble Gryffindor house.
As the school year gets underway, Harry discovers that
his Potions professor, Snape, does not like him. Hagrid reassures
Harry that Snape has no reason to dislike him. During their first
flying lesson on broomsticks, the students are told to stay grounded
while the teacher takes an injured boy named Neville to the hospital.
Draco Malfoy, a Slytherin bully, snatches Neville’s prized toy and
flies off with it to the top of a tree. Harry flies after him. Malfoy
throws the ball in the air, and Harry speeds downward, making a
spectacular catch. Professor McGonagall witnesses this incident.
Instead of punishing Harry, she recommends that he play Quidditch,
a much-loved game that resembles soccer played on broomsticks, for
Gryffindor. Later that day, Malfoy challenges Harry to a wizard’s
duel at midnight. Malfoy doesn’t show up at the appointed place,
and Harry almost gets in trouble. While trying to hide, he accidentally discovers
a fierce three-headed dog guarding a trapdoor in the forbidden third-floor
corridor.
On Halloween, a troll is found in the building. The students
are all escorted back to their dormitories, but Harry and Ron sneak
off to find Hermione, who is alone and unaware of the troll. Unwittingly,
they lock the troll in the girls’ bathroom along with Hermione.
Together, they defeat the troll. Hermione tells a lie to protect Harry
and Ron from being punished. During Harry’s first Quidditch match,
his broom jerks out of control. Hermione notices Snape staring at
Harry and muttering a curse. She concludes that he is jinxing Harry’s
broom, and she sets Snape’s clothes on fire. Harry regains control
of the broom and makes a spectacular play to win the Quidditch match.
For Christmas, Harry receives his father’s invisibility
cloak, and he explores the school, unseen, late at night. He discovers
the Mirror of Erised, which displays the deepest desire of whoever
looks in it. Harry looks in it and sees his parents alive. After
Christmas, Harry, Ron, and Hermione begin to unravel the mysterious
connection between a break-in at Gringotts and the three-headed
guard dog. They learn that the dog is guarding the Sorcerer’s Stone,
which is capable of providing eternal life and unlimited wealth
to its owner and belongs to Nicolas Flamel, Dumbledore’s old partner.
A few weeks later, Hagrid wins a dragon egg in a poker
game. Because it is illegal to own dragons, Harry, Ron, and Hermione
contact Ron’s older brother, who studies dragons. They arrange to
get rid of the dragon but get caught. Harry, Ron, and Hermione are severely
punished, and Gryffindor is docked 150 points.
Furthermore, part of their punishment is to go into the enchanted
forest with Hagrid to find out who has been killing unicorns recently.
In the forest, Harry comes upon a hooded man drinking unicorn blood.
The man tries to attack Harry, but Harry is rescued by a friendly
centaur who tells him that his assailant was Voldemort. Harry also
learns that it is Voldemort who has been trying to steal the Sorcerer’s
Stone.
Harry decides that he must find the stone before Voldemort
does. He, Ron, and Hermione sneak off that night to the forbidden
third-floor corridor. They get past the guard dog and perform many impressive
feats as they get closer and closer to the stone. Harry ultimately
finds himself face to face with Quirrell, who announces that Harry
must die. Knowing that Harry desires to find the stone, Quirrell
puts Harry in front of the Mirror of Erised and makes him state what
he sees. Harry sees himself with the stone in his pocket, and at that
same moment he actually feels it in his pocket. But he tells Quirrell
that he sees something else. A voice tells Quirrell that the boy
is lying and requests to speak to Harry face to face. Quirrell removes his
turban and reveals Voldemort’s face on the back of his head. Voldemort,
who is inhabiting Quirrell’s body, instructs Quirrell to kill Harry,
but Quirrell is burned by contact with the boy. A struggle ensues
and Harry passes out.
When Harry regains consciousness, he is in the hospital
with Dumbledore. Dumbledore explains that he saved Harry from Quirrell
just in time. He adds that he and Flamel have decided to destroy the
stone. Harry heads down to the end-of-year banquet, where Slytherin
is celebrating its seventh consecutive win of the house championship
cup. Dumbledore gets up and awards many last-minute points to Gryffindor
for the feats of Harry and his friends, winning the house cup for
Gryffindor. Harry returns to London to spend the summer with the
Dursleys.
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