Harry potter and the sorcerers stone (first ) - Book Report/Review Example

Book Report Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone was written by J.K. Rowling and tells the story of Harry Potter, who is an eleven-year-old wizard.He is the only survivor in the terror that Lord Voldemort instilled on the wizarding world. Albus Dumbledore is the headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and is an elderly, eccentric, yet very intelligent man. Hagrid is a half-giant who delivers Harry to his aunt’s house when Harry was a baby and befriends Harry later on. Ron Weasley is Harry’s red-haired best friend at Hogwarts as well as his partner in troublemaking.

Hermione Granger is a bossy, intelligent girl whom Harry and Ron first dislike, but they befriend her later in the story. Professor Snape is the hooked-nose and evil-tempered potions teacher whom hates Harry at first sight; Draco Malfoy, a blonde, snobby boy, quickly becomes Harry’s worst enemy at school. Professor Quirrell is the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, and is a frightened, stuttering man who appears to be afraid of everything. After Harry’s parents were murdered by the Dark Wizard Lord Voldemort, who was said to have died after trying to kill Harry, he was sent to live with his loathsome aunt, uncle, and cousin.

On Harry’s eleventh birthday, it is revealed to him by Hagrid that Harry is a wizard and that he has been accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry spends the rest of his summer preparing for his trip to Hogwarts, including visiting the hidden Diagon Alley to purchase his wand and spellbooks. It is here where he has his first run-in with Draco Malfoy, whom Harry dislikes from the start. While at Hogwarts, Harry befriends Ron Weasley. Together they experience classes, make enemies with Professor Snape and Draco Malfoy, and learn that Harry has talent as the Seeker on the Gryffindor’s Quidditch team, which is a sport played on broomsticks.

The two boys also discover that the school is the hiding place for the sorcerer’s stone, a stone that produces an immortal elixir. During the Halloween feast, a troll is let into the castle as a diversion for someone to steal stone. After rescuing Hermione Granger from the troll, Harry and Ron add her to their little group of friends. The three of them soon discover that there is more to the mystery of the sorcerer’s stone and they begin to believe that Professor Snape is out to steal it for himself to bring Lord Voldemort back to his former self.

Despite the trio’s efforts to protect the stone from Professor Snape, Harry ends up being the only one left to finish the job. When Harry arrives at the place where the stone is hidden, he is shocked to find that the person attempting to steal the stone is not Professor Snape, but Professor Quirrell. While warding off Professor Quirrell, Harry comes face-to-face with Lord Voldemort himself, who is protruding from the back of Quirrell’s head. Even though he is nearly killed in the process, Harry successfully obtains the stone from Professor Quirrell and is saved just in time by Professor Dumbledore.

The cultural differences discussed in the story involve the witches and wizards in the hidden magic world and the non-magic people, who are more commonly referred to as muggles. Even though they all live amongst one another, the culture of the magic differs greatly from the culture of the non-magic world. While the non-magic world prides itself on inventions such as electricity and technology, the magic world prides itself on its ability not to require such advances in technology, which is due to the fact that they have no use for them.

The non-magic people have learned to live with more, but the magic world has appreciated living with less. Some of the vocabulary words in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone are difficult for a freshman in college. Jostle means to come into rough contact with someone else while moving, such as shoving another when moving through a crowd. Pompous is when a person exudes excessive self-esteem, arrogance, or exaggerated dignity. Bated is to speak with a lowered or inaudible breath. Wheedled means to persuade someone by using flattery or charm to sway them into doing what one wants.

I enjoyed reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. It is a book that anybody can find worth reading. The story is both wonderful and powerful, and the adventures and twists in the plot make it difficult to put down. The best part about the book is that even though it really plays with the imagination, it still comes complete with lessons of morality and good and evil. As such, it can be considered both entertaining and insightful.