The first novel in the Harry Potter series and Rowling's debut novel, it follows Harry Potter, a young wizard who discovers his magical heritage on his eleventh birthday, when he receives a letter of acceptance to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The story of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone include friendship, privilege, nature versus nurture, discovery, and the power of love. Harry Potter, an eleven-year-old orphan, discovers that he is a wizard and is invited to study at Hogwarts. Even as he escapes a dreary life and enters a world of magic, he finds trouble awaiting him.
Harry Potter
Harry Potter is a wizard, the only child of James and Lily Potter. He is famous for having survived an attack by Lord Voldemort when he was a baby. It is only on his eleventh birthday that he finds out he is a wizard and is invited to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Hermione Granger
Ron Weasley
Hermione is the brains of the three main protagonists. She must know everything and she shows off her knowledge very frequently. Hermione constantly corrects Harry and Ron whether they want it or not. At first Ron thinks Hermione is arrogant and the two do net get along. After saving both of their lives, Harry and Ron grow more fond of Hermione. She was often described as brilliant, to the point of being said to be “the brightest witch of her age”.
Ron is Harry's loyal friend. He comes from a large wizard family. He does not care much about school and would rather play games or joke around than go to class. Sometimes he acts without thinking. Ron is a master at strategy. In order for Harry to get to the supreme ordeal, they must play a large scale chess game that Ron leads the two to victory. After war, Ron became an Auror and helped reform and revolutionize the Ministry Magic.
Draco Malfoy
Hagrid
Rubeus Hagrid is a well-meaning creature with more kindness than brains. He cares deeply for Harry, as evidenced by the tears he sheds upon having to leave the infant Harry with the Dursleys. His fondness for animals is endearing, even if it gets him into trouble (as when he tries raising a dragon at home). Hagrid symbolizes the importance of generosity and human warmth in a world menaced by conniving villains. Hagrid is a giant who delivered Harry to his aunt and uncle's home after his parents were killed. Harry goes to Hagrid whenever he is in need of advise or knowledge. Hagrid will always give Harry knowledge, weather he meant to or not.
Draco Malfoy is from a wealthy, pure blooded, magical family. He is one of the first people Harry meets when he arrives to Hogwarts. Draco tries to befriend Harry but the two instantly find hatred for each other. As Harry discovers a clue from Hagrid, Draco catches him, Ron and Hermionie out past curfew. Instead of being reward, which Draco hopes for, he too is given detention along with Harry, Ron and Hermione. An arrogant student and Harry’s nemesis. Malfoy, whose name translates roughly to “dragon of bad faith,” is a rich snob from a long line of wizards who feels entitled to the Hogwarts experience. He makes fun of the poorer Ron Weasley and advises Harry to choose his friends more carefully. As the story progresses, Malfoy becomes more and more inimical to Harry and his friends, and there is a hint that he may grow up to become another Voldemort.
Professor Quirrell
A stuttering and seemingly harmless man, and a professor of Defense against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts. Quirrell appears as nervous and squirrelly as his name suggests for most of the story. It is he, for example, who nearly faints when announcing the news that a troll is loose in the school. It turns out later, however, that Quirrell has faked his withdrawing meekness and is actually a cold-blooded conniver. Leaving Hermione to take care of Ron, Harry finds Professor Quirrell. Controlled by Voldemort. Quirrell forces Harry to look into the Mirror of Erised (shows the person what they desire most). Harry acquires the Sorcerer’s Stone but Quirrell demands he have it. Harry refuses, and Quirrel attacks him. Stand up for his beliefs.
Professor Snape
A professor of Potions at Hogwarts. Severus Snape dislikes Harry and appears to be an evil man for most of the story. His name associates him not only with unfair snap judgments of others but also with his violent intentions to snap the bones of his enemies. Snape’s grudge against Harry, which is nevertheless far from a murderous ill will, helps us remember the difference between forgivable vices and unforgivable evil intentions.
Albus Dumbledore
A kind and wise head at Hogwarts. Though he is a famous wizard, Dumbledore is as humble and adorable as his name suggests. While other school officials, such as Professor McGonagall, are obsessed with the rules, Dumbledore respects them (as his warnings against entering the Forbidden Forest remind us) but does not exaggerate their importance. He appears to have an almost superhuman level of wisdom, knowledge, and personal understanding, and it seems that he may have set up the whole quest for the Sorcerer’s Stone so that Harry could prove himself.
Voldemort
A great wizard gone bad. When he killed Harry’s parents, Voldemort gave Harry a lightning-shaped scar. Voldemort has thus shaped Harry’s life so that Harry’s ultimate destruction of him appears as a kind of vengeance. Voldemort, whose name in French means either “flight of death” or “theft of death,” is associated both with high-flying magic and with deceit throughout the story. He is determined to escape death by finding the Sorcerer’s Stone. Voldemort’s weak point is that he cannot understand love, and thus cannot touch Harry’s body, which still bears the traces of Harry’s mother’s love for her son.
Professor McGonagall
The head of Gryffindor House at Hogwarts and a high-ranking woman in the wizard world. Minerva McGonagall is fair but extremely stern and severe in her punishments. Her devotion to the letter of the law is impressive but a bit cold, and we constantly feel that she could never become a warm and wise figure like Dumbledore. Rowling named her after a notoriously bad nineteenth-century Scottish poet named William McGonagall who was nevertheless highly confident of his own talents.
Vernon Dursley
Harry’s rich uncle, with whom Harry lives for ten miserable years. Dursley symbolizes the Muggle world at its most silly and mediocre. It is through Mr. Dursley’s jaded Muggle eyes that we first glimpse wizards, and his closed-mindedness toward the colorful cloaks and literate cats that he meets emphasizes how different the human and wizard worlds are.
Petunia Dursley
Mr. Dursley’s wife. Petunia is an overly doting mother to her spoiled son, Dudley, and a prison-keeper to Harry. She is haughty and excessively concerned with what the neighbors think of her family. She is somewhat humanized for us when we discover that she was always jealous of the magical gifts of her sister, Lily, Harry’s witch mother. Perhaps her malevolence toward Harry springs from an earlier resentment of her sister.
Dudley Dursley
Harry’s cousin, a spoiled, fat bully. Annoying and loud, Dudley manipulates parental love to get what he wants—his outrageous desires for multiple television sets foreshadow the important scenes involving the Mirror of Erised and the wrongful desire for eternal life that motivates Voldemort. Dudley’s tormenting of Harry foreshadows Malfoy’s later bullying tendencies at Hogwarts, though he is less gifted than Malfoy.
Above were some of the characters in then story of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone according to the Spark Notes (n.d.).
Seizing the Reward
According to John P. (2014), Harry Potter is an orphan who was adopted by his aunt and uncle when he was a baby. His parents were killed by Lord Voldemort. Harry grows up being treated as a servant in his aunt and uncles house. After receiving thousands of letters from a school trying to enrol him, Harry and his family run away only to be found by a giant named Hagrid. He explains to Harry that he is a wizard, and takes him away to a new world full of witches and wizards. During his first flying lesson at Hogwarts, Harry is asked to join the quidditch team but he doubts that he will be any good only to realize that his father played the same potion. Harry discovers that the sorcerer’s stone has been stolen, and with the help of his two friends Ron and Hermione, he must take it back.
Although Harry never had the stone in his possession after he destroyed Quirrel, his reward is saving the stone and protecting it from Quirrel.
After receiving the letter his aunt and uncle refuse to send him off.
THE HERO'S JOURNEY
Professor Quirrel, the antagonist, instantly notices Harry as an important student. He is first shown as a person who likes to be left alone, and when he talks to anyone he speaks with a stutter. He is shown as a quiet innocent person. When Snape confronts him in the hall it is obvious that Professor Snape is the antagonist. In the end of the movie we realize that it was all an act and that Professor Quirrel is after the stone, and is keeping Lord Voldemort alive.
Crossing the Threshold
Harry and Hagrid cross through The Leaky Cauldron. This is Harry's first taste of the wizard world. Harry gets his wand, owl, and his money from Gringotts Bank left behind by his parents. Here, Harry sees the Elixir but does not know it.
The Road Back
Free from his enemies in this movie, Harry returned home on the very train that brought him to Hogwarts. Harry does not return home with the stone, but rather, with knowledge about the magical world. He also gained two life long friends.
As the story unfolds, Harry progresses through the classic, mythic stages of the hero's journey. Harry does everything that he can, he is a brave and smart man, he is willing to sacrifice in order to survive and help people. According to Amalia (2014), "A hero is someone who inspires people to do well. Spirit to emulate the selfless hero attitude and never give up should continue to be built by the next generation." Even though Harry's story takes place in a fantastic world, it is or will be really the story of everyone who reads about him. Like Harry, we must all separate from the known in order to discover the truth about who we are, we must go out in our comfort zone just like what Harry did, we need to explore and try to take a risk. Through that we will be able to learn more and knows our capabilities. What makes you different from others, made you more beautiful. You can never underestimate what you can achieve when you believe in yourself. YOU WILL NEVER KNOW UNLESS YOU TRY.
END!!!
REFERENCES
Amalia (2014). Archetypal Heroes as Reflected in Harry Potter's Character in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter Heptalogy. Retrieved from: https://etheses.uin-malang.ac.id/8627/1/10320100.pdf.
John P. (2014). Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Archetypal Analysis. Retrieved from: https://prezi.com/xw_i68m8kx-m/harry-potter-and-the-sorcerers-stone-archetypal-analysis/
[Spark Notes] (n.d.). Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone Characters list.
Retrieved from: https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/harrypotter/characters/
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