Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling



Pottermas 2015 is finally here! I have read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone the most of out any of the Harry Potter books. I always attempted to do a full re-read of the entire series and it just never happens. But this year, a full Harry Potter re-read is happening. Elizabeth from Book YAbber and I have fun things planned for our blog visitors for the entire month of December. Don't forget to check out Elizabeth's blog for her thoughts about the first book.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is the start of a fantastic series. Although simple and short, this is the book that welcomed many people to the magic of the Wizarding world. Many of us are still awaiting of our own letters from Hogwarts. Of course many of us aren't fortunate to get the letter so the next best thing is to experience Hogwarts through reading the books. This is the most innocent book out of the series.  

WARNING 
For those who haven't read the Harry Potter series, all book discussions WILL HAVE spoilers. If you do not want to read spoilers, please do not read ahead.

During the re-read, I couldn't wait until Hagrid meets Harry again. Harry finally finds out that he is a wizard at the age of 11.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is a book of a lot of firsts. 

It's Harry's first time talking to a snake. Foreshadowing!
Harry meets his first friends.
Harry makes his first real enemy.
It's Harry's first time he hears about his parents not dying in a car crash.
It's Harry's first time he hears about his parents in a positive light.
It's Harry's first time seeing his parents (through the Mirror of Erised).
It's Harry first time he is welcomed by a family with open arms.
Sirius Black is first introduced informally.
Harry gets his first taste of fame.
Harry learns how to use AND control magic for the first time.
Harry plays Quidditch for the first time.
Harry catches his first snitch! Foreshadowing!
Harry's first time thinking Professor Snape can read minds! Foreshadowing!
Harry first meets the girl he will marry.
Harry obtains the first hallow! Foreshadowing!

Also, don't forget that Harry's invisibility cloak plays a big part of the plot later in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. J.K. Rowling is absolutely brilliant how she hints about so many things in her books to reflect what will happen next. I am LOVING it!

Did you catch these firsts, especially the ones that foreshadow future events? 


One of my favorite quote from this book is:


Don't forget to stop by on December 3rd to check out Harry Potter Trivia! There might be a prize involved. If you are new to Pottermas 2015, make sure to check out this post. Also, you can follow Pottermas 2015 on social media with the hashtag #Pottermas15. 

6 comments:

  1. YAY!! Happy Pottermas!!! I love your lightening bolt bullets, very festive!
    Harry had some incredible firsts in this book. I love when he talks to his first snake!
    I totally didn't catch the Snape mind reading foreshadowing! CRAZY!!

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  2. Happy Pottermas! Love everything about this first post. I have some notes put they are all on stickies in my book. I also did not catch the Snape mind reading foreshadowing. I did love that J.K. Rowling basically wrote her own self-fulfilling prophecy into the 1st book On page 12, it says "He'll be famous--a legend--I wouldn't be surprised if today was known as Harry Potter day in the future--there will be books written about Harry--every child in our world will know his name!" Little did she know then how very true this would be. She clearly knew she intended to write more books about Harry, but I am sure she never could have guessed how lovingly her books were to be received. I also doubt that there are still people that have never heard of Harry Potter, so it's come true. I love that quote...it's just perfect. So maybe J.K. Rowling can truly weave magic, and make dreams come true...at least for herself and all those that her stories have touched.

    Also....the mention of Sirius Black....clearly Hagrid and the others knew he was Harry Godfather, so why was Harry not already placed in his care? We of course find out in book three, but did Dumbledore already suspect something?

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    1. I love how you mentioned Rowling writing her own self-fulfilling prophecy. Also, dreams come true with the magic of Harry Potter.

      Yes, everyone must know that Sirius was Harry's godfather. Dumbledore knows a lot of things but he is the type that will wait until the right time to discuss things with people.

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    2. I was over on Elizabeth's page, and I was telling her about how the Sirius's motorcycle makes me happy because it brings Harry to "safety" and also takes him away to start his magical adventure...but at the same time it makes me sad because as we find out later on Sirius always wanted to have Harry come live with him, but this never happens due to (see book 5). However, he still managed by the act of loaning the motorcycle to Hagrid to take Harry away from his mean muggle relations and bring him to live in their magical world....years before they even met.

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    3. Yes! Even though Sirius was not there physically to help young Harry, he helped Harry to safety. He helped secure the legend of Harry Potter. But then again, if Harry didn't live with the Dursleys, the magic protection would not protect Harry from Voldemort the same way.

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