Before this summer I had not read or watched the Harry Potter books and movies. I started reading them back in June to surprise someone special and ended up a huge fan along the way! I committed to writing out my thoughts as I read each chapter. Here are my notes for the first book.

Philosopher’s Stone

(started June 1st, finished June 14th)

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Chapter 1: The Boy Who Lived.

– First thing I wanted to mention was wow!! What a nostalgia trip! Even though I never got into Harry Potter fully, I was still exposed to it and lived through the excitement when I was younger. As soon as I opened the book I was taken back to the simpler times of my childhood, like movie night at elementary school where we watched the first Harry Potter movie (that I didn’t pay attention to), the time my mom bought me the half-blood prince (that I only read halfway). Just a rush of emotion!
– Anyway onto the chapter, it’s a really fun feeling to finally start being in the “know-how” for this series. There are a lot of Harry Potter plot points I’ve been exposed to over the years, and the sheer amount of Harry Potter media I’ve seen (everything from fanart to theories) gives me rigid outsider’s perspective on it all. But there has always been a lot of holes and missing context for like 70% of the story so it all feels very disconnected in my head.
– My point is that it’s really cool knowing that there’s this deep lore and history behind everything. Like, the term muggles was used, and I practically know what that means already – and the manner in which it was used. Not to mention name drops like Voldemort, Albus Dumbledore, Harry himself – all characters I know are super important and do amazing things. As a first time reader, knowing that is really cool! It’s like having the fun of rereading a book you’ve already read with the added bonus of not actually knowing what’s going to happen next.
– Exposition-wise I thought it was really great. Super interested in knowing what happens next.
– Harry survived being killed by Voldemort for some strange reason? I wonder why? The first big mystery of this series that hasn’t been spoiled already! I’m excited to find out.

Chapter 2: The Vanishing Glass.

– The Dursleys are the worst! I felt so bad for Harry, the poor boy 😦
– Something interesting I noticed though, and this was touched upon briefly in chapter 1, do Mr and Mrs Dursley know about magic? In chapter 1 they emphasized how they don’t like Harry’s mom for certain reasons. But this chapter really hammered in their dislike for Harry’s strangeness. They would blame things that we clearly abnormal on him. My initial reaction was anger but I thought it was really strange. Why would they get mad at a 10 year old boy if his hair grew back from being shaved overnight? Or at any of the other inexplicable things? My guess is that yes, they’re assholes but they KNOW about magic and that he’s magical and they are trying their best to keep that out of their life. The part where Harry casually says that he saw a flying motorcycle in his dream and Vernon responds by screaming “MOTORCYCLES DON’T FLY” in his face tells me that he’s trying to erase the idea of anything even remotely magical from Harry’s life.
– The part where strange people started greeting Harry in the streets!! Who is the man in the purple top hat I wonder?

Chapter 3: The Letters From No One.

– Small Mrs. Figgs moment ❤ have Harry some chocolate cake.
– So I guess it’s more or less confirmed that the Dursleys know something. They referred to the person sending Harry the letters as ‘them’.
– This man Vernon is crazy lmao. It’s kind of comical.

Chapter 4: The Keeper Of The Keys

– Harry finally learned that he was a wizard! It was super satisfying when Hagrid told off the Dursleys.

Chapter 5: Diagon Alley.

– This intersection of this magical person (Hagrid) and the regular world is so fun to read.
– ONE OF THE BOOKS ON HARRY’S TO-BUY LIST IS “FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM BY NEWT SCAMANDER”!!!!! I knew that eventually I’d start seeing really cool references to things I already know of, but I didn’t think I would see them so soon!
– I love Harry. He’s so unused to being treated kindly for a change! Warms my heart. And hagrid is so great.

Chapter 6: The Journey from Platform Nine and Three Quarters.

– I can feel the excitement and anticipation coming from Harry as he approaches Hogwarts!
– It’s like when I went to my high school for the first time and felt all that nervousness and excitement. Except for Harry – he’s pretty much stepping into a whole new world!

Chapter 7: The Sorting Hat.

– The Sorting Hat knows a lot, huh. He suggested that Harry go to Slytherin at first but only because they would help him become great.
– Harry being in the same room as Professor McGonagall and Dumbledore is really cool knowing how they felt about Harry when they first sent him to the Dursleys.
– They’re obviously not showing favouritism, but I’d really like to see them interact with Harry! It’s been eleven years since they saw him when he was just a little baby!
– Woah, the dream Harry had where professor Quirrel’s hat ordered him to transfer to Slytherin was worrying. All of a sudden I’m very suspicious of professor Quirrel. I’m calling it now, something’s up with him.
– Interesting tidbit: students can sing the Hogwarts anthem in whatever tune or cadence they like, all at the same time. Cool.

Chapter 8: The Potions Master.

– Ugh I hate Snape..

Chapter 9: The Midnight Duel.

– Holy shit the monster dog was scary.
– So things are starting to come together… The package that Hagrid collected from Gringotts, the historic break-in that happened the same day, the fact that Hogwarts is a good place to keep something safe.
– Also the adults don’t really tell Harry about anything huh? It’s interesting, the Gringotts break-in happened on his birthday. And Hagrid obviously knows why Snape hates Harry so much. But they’re keeping it all from him. I get why – he’s just an 11-year old. But what’s interesting is how Harry is picking up on the fact that they’re keeping things from him.

Chapter 10 – Halloween

– Finally know how Quidditch works!
– WINGARDIUM LEVIOSA
– Sidenote: Draco Malfoy is a little shit, sure, but he’s like not even an issue? Anytime he tries something he gets shown the heck up it’s actually amusing. Plus Harry is always ready to straight up FIGHT him anytime anywhere it’s amazing. Draco is the worst bully ever.
– They’re all friends now! Fighting off a mountain troll is truly a unifying experience.
– Though a few things of note. The fact still remain: how did the troll end up at Hogwarts? They joked that Peeves probably let it in as a joke but if you consider the fact that Hogwarts is one of the safest places in the wizarding world, and that trolls are supposedly really dumb, it makes it even stranger that it found its way in. Not to mention the fact that Snape was headed in a direction opposite to the other professors who were going to the dungeon! A strange occurrence…

Chapter 11 – Quidditch

– Snape is limping..
– Oh so he was headed to that third floor corridor last chapter! That’s why his leg is hurt.
– HE TRIED TO KILL HARRY! He was muttering some sort of jinx.
– Who is Nicholas Flamel? I wonder.

Chapter 12: The Mirror of Erised

– Nothing that Draco tries ever works haha. He’s the worst bully, like I said. He can’t stop people from liking Harry.
– What a quaint holiday season at Hogwarts 🙂 Harry’s enjoying himself so much.
– Wizard chess sounds so cool!
– I’m so happy Harry got gifts from Ron’s mom. How nice of her!
– Oooh an invisibility cloak!
– So a close call with Snape and Filch
– Strange mirror with the inscription: “Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi”
– Harry saw his family in the mirror! And it was so sad! The aching feeling Harry had. Even though he never knew his family, he missed them
– It’s the mirror of desire. Erised backwards is desire.
– Dumbledore and Harry’s first conversation :))). I love Dumbledore already. So cool and wise. I wonder if there’s any deeper meaning when he said he wanted woolen socks? Or maybe it was just a little joke.

Chapter 13: Nicholas Flamel

– I can already tell by the name of this chapter that I’m going to like it! Going to learn more about this Nicholas Flamel character.
– Dang! Okay so he was the first person to ever create a Philosopher’s Stone, and Dumbledore’s partner. Kind of embarrassing to admit but the title of the book hadn’t even crossed my mind yet. “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone”
– RON AND HERMIONE ARE SUCH REAL ONES WTF, they’re ready to straight up curse Snape with some Locomotor Mortis if he tries anything funny.
– I’m so happy for Harry.
– So at this point it’s confirmed that the Philosopher’s Stone is at Hogwarts.
– Ugh Snape is bullying Quirrel into helping him take the Philosopher’s Stone. I STILL DON’T TRUST QUIRREL. I haven’t forgotten about that dream – I just know there’s something for it

Chapter 14: Norbert the Norwegian Ridgeback

– So this was…an interesting chapter about a dragon named Norbert.
– I’m reading this book knowing that there’s some deep and vast lore to it, right. And that there are many important events to come. So that’s why I’m looking really deeply into everything so far because I don’t want to miss anything seemingly small but will be very important later on.
– My first thought was that this chapter seemed kind of unimportant but I’m thinking Norbert the Norwegian Ridgeback will come back someday.

Chapter 15: The Forbidden Forest

– Okay, whew, a lot to unpack here.
– Really sucks that this whole ordeal undid everything Harry managed to accomplish during his time at Hogwarts so far but there are far more important things to worry about.
– First of all, that couldn’t have actually been Voldemort right? There’s no way he was just hanging out in the forest on school grounds this entire time.
– Interesting tidbit regarding centaurs, unicorn blood, and fortune telling.
– The centaurs know some things. What future did Firenze change by saving Harry from the hooded creature? Everything they were saying was quite cryptic.
– Someone returned Harry’s invisible cloak! I bet it was Dumbledore. So he was watching the whole time, huh! This brings up another point: are the kids really just far removed from everything that’s actually happening? I get the sense that there are higher powers at play (namely the professors/Dumbledore/etc) doing all these important things while the kids think they have it all figured out. That’s the feeling I’m getting.

Chapter 16: Through the Trapdoor

– A really exciting chapter. I couldn’t even bring myself to take notes until the very end!
– Couldn’t help but feel that something is off. If the Philosopher’s Stone truly is here, and the professors all charmed it to ensure that it would be safe, how did three first-year wizarding students make it past? Something’s up.
– So someone who isn’t Snape or Voldy is in the last chamber. I bet it’s Dumbledore.

Chapter 17: The Man with Two Faces.

– Hoo boy. First encounter with Voldemort.
– I KNEW QUIRREL WAS EVIL. Totally called it.
– So Snape was protecting Harry this whole time. That was really nice of him.
– But the question remains: if Snape knew about Quirrel (and Dumbledore as well, most likely) why didn’t they do anything to stop him? Surely they didn’t know the extent to which Quirrel was inhabited by Voldemort. Dumbledore obviously knows a lot more than he’s letting on, but maybe Harry was right and he let Harry become involved just long enough to learn the things he’s learned. There’s still so much mystery to it all.
– I’m not sure what to make of Dumbledore’s answer to Harry’s question about his scar and how Quirrel was unable to touch him. The power of love seems like a dodgy answer but Dumbledore said he wouldn’t lie to Harry. I guess I’ll just take it at face value.

OVERALL SUMMARY

– The book was a wonderful and gentle introduction to the world of magic, Hogwarts and the wizarding world. For Harry and the readers.
– There was a lot of setup planted in most of the book, to give us the well-needed background information. But at the same time there was a lot of vague burdened mysteriousness. Harry encountered Voldemort for the first time since we was a baby and actually managed to thwart him again!
– So I thought the book overall served as a really great introduction to the world of magic – I was really into the world building, things like the magic playing cards on the train to Hogwarts and learning about Nicholas Flamel for the first time among lots of other things gave me a good sense of the scope of the reaches of magic. For example the Philosopher’s Stone right now stands as the most powerful magical item at this point in the story and it’s just been destroyed to thwart Voldemort? Cool launching point.
– Apparently J.K. Rowling planned the entire series before she started writing. Knowing that, it was fun to point out plot elements that felt unexplained/seemingly unnecessary cause it seems like they’ll become relevant later on!