It's time to review one of the most popular series of all time -- Harry Potter! I will be reviewing the first one, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. I figured it would be a good idea given that Freeform has a Harry Potter weekend going on now (which I is what I'm doing this weekend rather than being productive and actually doing work). I am sure most people have either read the books, watched the movie, or have a vague idea of the plot from all the "Potterheads" yelling about it from day 1, but, if you need a refresher, here we go. If you don't, well, I'm going to give it to you anyways because I love talking about Harry Potter. We begin with the Dursley family, who were perfectly normal, thank you very much. The Dursleys are the nonmagical, or Muggle, family of Harry Potter and extremely horrible people. Harry was placed with them after his mother and father, Lily and James, were killed by a dark wizard named Voldemort . Voldemort tried to kill Harry, but he was unable to do it and left Harry with a scar after the spell rebounded, hitting Voldemort instead. Harry grows up in an abusive household (something that is never addressed and I am still salty about) and is kept from his true identity until his Hogwarts letters begin arriving. The Dursleys are petrified of magic, so Uncle Vernon literally drives them to a house in the middle of the ocean because the letters keep on coming and he can't find a way to make them stop. Harry is found by Hagrid, the gamekeeper of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Hagrid is half giant and gives Dudley, Harry’s cousin and constant bully, a pig’s tail, then leaves with Harry. Hagrid takes him to Diagon Alley, which is like a shopping center for all your wizarding needs, and buys him all the items he needs for his first year at Hogwarts, as well as his first ever birthday present, an owl named Hedwig. After a month, Harry goes to King’s Cross Station, where he meets the Weasley family, a family of kind redheads that guide him through what he needs to do to get to the Hogwarts Express. He becomes friends with the youngest son, Ron, and a brilliant witch, Hermione Granger, on the train, while also finding his school enemy, Draco Malfoy, arrogant son of pureblood extremists. He gets assigned to the school house (basically Hogwarts groups students together based what they value most. This dictates where they live, their classes, and who their disciplinarian will be), Gryffindor, after having an argument with a talking hat that looks into your mind to determine your house.

The trio begin classes when they find a trapdoor guarded by a three-headed dog in the forbidden area of the school, though why they thought a three-headed dog would be a good idea in a school full of children bound to break rules is beyond me. They believe the dog is guarding something behind the door and suspect their potions teacher and actual slime all, Snape, of trying to steal whatever it was. Harry, Ron, and Hermione discover it is the Sorcerer's Stone, aka the elixir of life, is behind the door and Voldemort himself will try to use it to get back to his true form of evil. When they find out that Dumbledore has left the school, they realize that Snape will try to steal the Sorcerer's Stone so they go beyond the trapdoor and solve the professors’ protection tests. Ron is severely injured during a giant chess match, so Hermione takes Ron out and goes to tell their head of house and best teacher in the world, Professor McGonagall, what is going on, while Harry goes to confront Snape by himself. Surprise, surprise, Snape isn't the person trying to steal the Stone. It's actually Professor Quirrell, a stuttering nervous man who is never seen without his turban. Quirrell is possessed by Voldemort and is one of his followers. Harry is able to find the Sorcerer's Stone through the use of the Mirror of Erised and Quirrell tries to get it from him, but Harry’s touch kills him. Harry passes out and wakes up in the infirmary, where Dumbledore explains to him that the Stone will be destroyed because of its appeal and the consequences they could face if Voldemort gets his hands on it. Harry returns to the Dursleys for the summer and awaits the next school year.

The thing that confuses me the most about this book is the fact that three twelve-year-olds could pass the Professors’ protection tests and spells that were supposed to keep out Voldemort. I know they're smart, but come on! It must have been the most basic of spells that the Professors used to keep out one of the most dangerous and powerful dark wizard of all time. Not very smart on their part is it? The book is a fantastic read. It lays the foundation for the rest of the series, like the creation of the trio, Harry, Ron, and Hermione, as well as the rivalry between Draco and Harry. We see the impoverished Weasley family provide Harry with his first real Christmas presents and Professor McGonagall being the strict, but fantastic teacher she always will be. I also loved the red herring Snape who becomes and the plot twist that Quirrell is because no one expects the stuttering Quirrell to be the villain and horrible, hostile Snape to be trying to protect Harry. Something else that is not addressed is Snape’s hostile attitude towards the children he teaches, particularly toward Neville Longbottom. He continuously humiliates the students he doesn't like and shows extreme favoritism towards his own house, Slytherin. I know he is really trying to protect Harry and the others, but this does not excuse his actions. He only does so because of his feelings toward Harry's dead mother and loyalty to Dumbledore, not out of the goodness of his heart. At the end of the book, Harry is made to return to the Dursleys, despite the detestable way that they treat him. No one seems to understand that Harry is in an abusive family and the only ones who do anything about it are the Weasleys, but not until the next summer when Uncle Vernon puts literal bars on Harry's window. I would have loved for Rowling to expand upon these issues in the books, but, alas, it was not meant to be. It is clear from the very beginning that this book and every one afterwards would be a masterpiece. The language, the themes, and the characters create a magical world of the chosen one, Harry Potter.