Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone Summary

This is a fictional novel written by J.K Rowling.

After being rejected 12 times, it was finally published by Bloomsbury Publishing and immediately became very successful.

This book talks about the legendary ‘boy who lived’. If you are eager to know more about this boy, then stay tuned until the end.

The Boy Who Lived

This story unfolds with the entry of the headmaster of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

He was standing in the deserted street of Privet Drive, a town in Little Whinging, Surrey.

The man seemed to be waiting for someone, with a cat Animagus of Professor McGonagall.

An Animagus in this series is a witch or wizard who can transform into an animal at will.

After some time, a half-giant appeared riding an enchanted motorcycle that was flying in the sky. He seemed to be holding a pile of blankets in his arms.

After he landed, Professor Albus Dumbeldore and McGonagall greeted him, saying they wanted to see the baby.

After unearthing those piles, a baby emerged with a scar on his forehead, and the three left it in the footsteps of his only relatives, the Dursleys. 

Their house was supposed to be his home for the next ten years.

Under their care or rather their abuse, he grew up to become a small, skinny, black-haired boy with green eyes and round glasses.

And was forced to live in a spider-inhabited cupboard under the stairs. 

His aunt Petunia and uncle Vernon’s son Dudley lived lavishly. His parents granted all his wishes as soon as they came out of his mouth.

Probably, it’s the reason why he was so corpulent and obese.

When he was ten years old, the Dursleys took him for his first trip with them to a zoo.

There he released a boa constrictor by mistake, but much to his surprise he could talk with the snake.

Unknowingly, he was speaking in a language that he himself didn’t know he was speaking. 

After that incident, the Dursleys started getting mysterious letters from owls who congested their street.

Even after several considerable tries, Vernon was not able to get rid of these letters. So, with his family and Harry, he went to a secluded hut on the rock on a small island to stay there temporarily.

At midnight, a half-giant broke into their cottage, scaring everybody, and he told Harry the truth that he was the son of one of the most respectable and powerful wizards and witches of their time.

Unfortunately, they were killed by a dark wizard, and Harry was the only person who survived, but it left a lightning bolt-shaped scar on his forehead.

Harry trusted this man, Rubeus Hagrid, and Hagrid took him to a hidden alley called Diagon Alley.

It was like a big market for wizards and witches from where they could buy their brooms, books, clothes, pets, and other essential materials, and also with a wizarding bank named Gringotts.

Hagrid first took Harry to Gringotts, from where he collected money from Harry’s parents’ vault and gave it to him.

Then Hagrid gifted him a snowy owl as his pet and as a present.

Harry named it Hedwig. He also gave him a ticket to his train that would take him to Hogwarts.

But something was puzzling about that ticket, as it was written that it was situated on platform 9 ¾ in King Cross station in London.

After dropping Harry at his home, Hagrid went off to do his other duties.

On 1 September, some minutes before 11:00 a.m., Harry stood blankly, staring at the two walls in King Cross Station that read Platform 9 and 10, respectively, but Platform 9 ¾ was nowhere to be found.

But suddenly, he heard a red-haired woman talking to her children while addressing some muggles. In the wizarding world, muggle was a term used for common people who didn’t know about magic.

And Harry had first heard this term from Hagrid.

So, he thought they must belong to a family of wizards, so he started following them.

He asked that lady how he could reach platform 9 ¾. She responded by saying that you just have to cross the wall between platforms 9 and 10 without stopping, and you will reach the other side.

He did what he was told, and somehow, magically, he found himself on the other side of the platform.

He boarded the train, where he made friends with Ronald Weasley, Fred and George Weasley (the twins), and Percy Weasley, who were all children of that red-haired woman.

He also met Hermione Granger and a round-faced boy named Neville Longbottom, who would later become his friends.

When he reached Hogwarts, he saw Hagrid directing the first-year students to the Hogwarts castle.

The Sorting Ceremony

When all the first-year students were crammed inside, the sorting ceremony started. Students were segregated into different houses during this ceremony according to their personalities. 

1. Among the four houses, the first house was Gryffindor, where the brave and courageous were sent.
2. The second house was Hufflepuff, where hard-working, friendly, honest, and loyal students were sent.
3. Third was Ravenclaw, where only the students with wit and wisdom can be selected.
4. The fourth house was Slytherin, where the clever, determined, and ambitious were selected.

The protagonist of our story, well, he got into Gryffindor, and on his very first day, he became a rival with Draco Malfoy, one of the Slytherins.

As days passed, he learned many things in his classrooms, but one that he most resented was Professor Snape’s ‘potions’ class. According to Harry, Snape hated him the most.

Just two weeks later, they had their first flying lesson, which Professor Hooch took.

A Rivalry Sparks: Harry vs. Draco Malfoy

While learning how to fly, Neville got into trouble and hurt himself, so Madam Hooch took him to the hospital wing and told everyone to wait until she returned.

But in between that time, Harry and Draco Malfoy got into a fight.

Draco knew a bit about flying, so he got up in the air with his broomstick, holding one of Neville’s belongings and teasing Harry to get it.

In his fury, Harry grabbed his broomstick, and on the very first try, he swiftly drifted upwards in the air and caught hold of the thing Draco had dropped.

Because Draco had sensed some danger, one of the teachers approached him, so he landed.

But alas, Harry didn’t land on time, and Professor McGonagall saw him landing swiftly on his first try.

She caught hold of him by his hands and dragged him into an empty classroom.

Harry thought he would be expelled, but much to his relief and shock, she introduced him to Oliver Wood, this year’s house captain for the Quidditch Gryffindor team. 

Quidditch is a wizarding sport played on flying broomsticks.

There are seven players on each team (three Chasers, one Keeper, two Beaters and one Seeker), four balls (one Quaffle, two Bludgers and one Snitch), three hoops (but you can only score the Quaffle in them), ten points per goal.

And 150 points if you catch the Snitch, ending the game.

Now, the professor told Wood that Harry might become a suitable seeker.

A seeker’s task was to catch the golden snitch, which was also very difficult, and only a lightweight person who darts along quickly could do this.

But there was a problem: Harry was a first-year student, and first-years were not allowed to play Quidditch.

The professor told Wood that she would settle all this with the headmaster and that they should schedule some practice time.

But by the time Draco Malfoy learned that he had been made a member of a Quidditch team instead of being expelled, he started envying him.

So, he approached him and challenged him to a duel that night in the trophy room, which mostly remained unlocked.

Harry’s First Flight: An Unexpected Talent Emerges

Harry crept out of his dormitory with Ron to duel with him that night.

Hermione had also seen them, so she started telling them the dangers of doing it to prevent them, but her pleas weren’t affecting them, so she chose to go with them. 

On their way, they met Neville, who was lying in the corridor alone because he had forgotten the password to his dormitory.

So, they took him along. When they reached the trophy room, they knew they were betrayed because Filch, the caretaker, and his cat, Mrs. Norris, were approaching. 

So they hurried off towards a door that was, unfortunately, locked.

But thanks to Hermione’s skills and intelligence, she opened the door with a click by casting an Alhomora charm, which can unlock doors. 

But as they entered the room, they were welcomed by the low growls of a three-headed giant dog.

To save their lives, they got out, and much to their relief, the caretaker had already left because he felt tricked by Draco.

Because he couldn’t find the students who were supposed to be wandering in the deserted corridors of the castle at night.

The next morning, they decided to investigate about the dog.

But when they couldn’t find anything, they got tired and went to Hagrid’s cottage for tea.

While speaking with him, they discovered that Fluffy, Hagrid’s pet dog, was there to guard something.

Possibly, the Philosopher’s Stone, as suggested by Hermione, cause she recounted that last night she saw a trapdoor beneath the dog, which means that something so valuable was kept there out of the reach of the hands of bad pupils.

Hagrid, though not wanting to, spilled the truth that Nicholas Flamel built the philosopher’s stone.

The whole day they spent searching for books in the library wasn’t all a waste, as Hermione, while searching, got little information about the stone, too.

It can transform any metal into pure gold and can cure any illness.

A Surprise Delivery: Harry’s Nimbus 2000

And what would be the safest place to guard it, other than Gringotts and Hogwarts, which were the most protected buildings in the wizarding world? Harry thought.

Hermione assigned them all to find out more about Nicholas Flamel, but Harry had heard his name before but couldn’t remember it.

The next morning, while having his breakfast, Harry saw some owls carrying a heavy package in their beaks, and they approached him.

They dropped the package on his lap along with a letter saying that it was a broomstick, Nimbus two thousand.

It was one of the finest and most expensive broomsticks in their world.

He showed the letter to Ron, who couldn’t believe his eyes either. After that day, Harry started staying very busy. 

After a long wait, Halloween came. All the students were excited about it except Hermione, who was crying and had locked herself in the bathroom.

That’s because, after her class, she heard Ron saying to Harry that she was the most disturbing person he had met.

That was probably true because she has been interfering in all their affairs since the start of the term.

And telling them about the dangers, rules, and points they’ll lose Gryffindor if they do this or that, which both of them didn’t want to hear. 

Teachers and prefects gave points to houses throughout the year for various things, including answering questions correctly and doing good deeds.

The winners of the school Quidditch games also received points. Points could be taken away for misbehaving or rule-breaking, and they were displayed in four giant hourglasses, one for each house.

At night, while having their Halloween feast without Hermione, both of them heard Professor Quirrel telling Professor Dumbledore in a trembling voice that a mountain troll had entered the school building.

Then, Professor Dumbledore announced that the prefects should usher all the students back to their dormitories.

The Wrath Of The Mountain Troll

While everyone was returning to their dormitories, Harry and Ron went down to see the dungeons, where the troll was rumored to be roaming around.

On their way, they also saw Snape running toward the third floor’s left wing, where Fluffy lived.

However, they half expected him to steal the philosopher stone, but eventually left him and continued their walk towards the dungeons.

As you know, our heroes always have an inevitable desire to put their heads into trouble, or I might say an adventure.

They saw a huge mountain troll bursting with energy when they reached down there, so they thought to lock it up in the room.

It was roaming in the room or, otherwise, the bathroom, which our heroes hadn’t noticed it to be.

But suddenly, they heard Hermione’s screams, realizing it was coming from the same room they’d locked or the girl’s bathroom now that they had realized.

They got inside and tried to distract it until the teachers came, but Harry had something else in his mind, so he clung to the neck of the troll from behind.

Harry attacked the troll’s nose with his wand, and he fell down in pain as he was knocked out.

After hearing screams and wails from beneath the floor, the teacher rushed to the spot to find the troll unconscious and the trio standing there.

At first, they were angry at them for thinking that they could fight a troll single-handedly.

But Hermione came to their rescue and took the blame on herself, claiming that she had overestimated her skills.

This only caused McGonagall to take away ten points from Gryffindor, but she also rewarded the boys with ten points for their bravery and strength.

After that, Harry’s most awaited moment came: his first quidditch match against Slytherin. The game’s referee was Madam Hooch, with her yellow and hawk-like eyes.

At the last moment, she instructed everyone to play fairly, and the game started.

At first, everything was well off, but after some time, Harry noticed his Nimbus Two Thousand getting out of control.

And everyone in the audience, including Ron, Hermione and Hagrid, had noticed this.

They were watching the match from binoculars.

Suddenly, Hermione snatched those binoculars from Ron, and she targeted them towards Snape, who was muttering something under his breath without breaking his eye contact with Harry’s broom.

She took the wand and went near Snape to cast a spell to set fire to his robe, but accidentally, she also bumped into Quirrell.

But till then, she has already done her work.

Snape breaks eye contact with Harry’s broom, which results in Harry gaining control of his broom again. Finally, he caught the golden snitch, which earned Gryffindor 150 points and ended the game.

That night, everyone celebrated the victory of Gryffindor with a delicious feast. 

The Mystery Of The Invisibility Cloak

Christmas finally approached, and students left their homes on Christmas vacations.

However, Harry and the Weasley brothers were the few who chose to stay at Hogwarts only because their parents were off to meet their brother Charlie in Romania, and Harry didn’t want to go home.

The next morning after Christmas Eve, when Harry woke up, he wasn’t expecting any gifts, but he got loads of them from Hermione, Mrs. Weasley, Hagrid and surprisingly from Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon. 

One gift was delivered to him with a note, but the person’s name was not mentioned.

Once he took out the gift, it became a cloak that looked and felt like silver fabric woven into water.

But Ron was more stunned than him because he knew it was an invisibility cloak.

The note attached mentioned the same and said that this cloak once belonged to his father.

After getting this cloak, Harry had the idea that he could sneak out at night and roam around freely without getting caught because, after wearing it, his whole body disappeared as if it was never there.

Then Harry remembered that before going off for her vacation, Hermione had told them to search for Nicholas, and now he could also search in the restricted areas of the school library.

He went off that night only without informing Ron because he didn’t want him to get into trouble again cause of him.

When he was searching in the library in the restricted area, and he opened up a book, it screamed at him, which alarmed the teachers.

It really did, as Snape and Filch were advancing towards him, although they couldn’t see him. 

At his left side he saw a door left ajar so he got inside, and he saw a magnificent mirror!

The Mirror Of Enrised

He stood in front of it and saw his whole family standing behind him, but as he looked at his back, no one was there.

He stared at it for a while, and after that, it became his daily routine to visit his family members at night.

But one night, he was watching his parents standing behind him in the mirror.

A voice came, not from the mirror but from behind him. He looked back, and to his horror, he saw Dumbledore standing there.

Dumbledore explained to him that this mirror had not done good to any man.

It drives them crazy because when they see themselves in the mirror, they see the deepest desire of their hearts in it. He also told him not to go looking after it, as now it will be moved from here.

When the Christmas vacation ended and Hermione came back, she questioned them whether they had found out about Nicolas or not, but their response was no.

A couple of days later, Harry gave him a chocolate frog when they were inspiring Neville to stand up to Draco, who had just made fun of him while soothing him.

Neville returned him a flashcard of Albus Dumbledore, saying that Harry should add it to his collection of flashcards. But as he turned it over, all the answers to his questions were in front of him, and he showed them to them.

He also remembered that when he was on the train with Ron while coming to Hogwarts, he got a chocolate frog card from Albus Dumbledore.

At the back of it, it was written that Albus was Nicholas Flamel’s alchemy partner, the maker of the philosopher’s stone. That’s where he first heard the name of this stone.

Norwegian Ridgeback

After some days, when the trio met Hagrid and went into his hut, they felt like they had entered a pressure cooker, as if it were boiling inside.

Upon a closer inspection by Hermione, she found out that something like a black egg was in the fireplace, and according to its size, it might have a dragon. 

When asked, Hagrid replied that it was a Norwegian ridgeback’s egg.

He got it from a stranger in Hogsmeade village who wanted to sell it.

But Hermione claimed that it is illegal to keep a dragon at home. But Hagrid refused to dump it, as he feared that the baby may not survive alone in the wild.

The following days in Hagrid’s hut remained warm.

Until one day, he sent an owl to the trio to inform them that the egg was hatching.

They reached on time and watched the baby come out of his shell. 

It resembled the Hungarian Horntail, except for the black ridges on its back.

The browner texture in its scales and less hostile attitude made it a perfect Norwegian. It also had venomous fangs.

The problem was that it was growing too fast, and in just one month, it could have grown to the size of Hagrid’s hut.

But Ron advised Hagrid to send him to his brother Charlie, who rears dragons. It was a good idea, so Ron sent Charlie a letter explaining everything.

In return, his brother wrote that they should bring the dragon to the topmost tower of Hogwarts this Saturday, where his fellow mates would take it from them.

But another problem arises the whole time Draco is spying on them because one day, he hears them talking about a dragon that is in Hagrid’s hut. And at any moment, he could go up to Professor McGonagall to tell her the truth.

But after days of fear and worry, finally, Saturday came.

Harry and Hermione draped themselves into the invisibility cloak, along with the dragon in his cage.

While climbing the last flight of stairs of the tower, they encountered Draco, who Professor McGonagall was scolding for being out at night and for talking rubbish about a dragon.

After what seemed like a long hour of struggling and panting, they finally reached the top of the tower while dragging the dragon behind them. They were satisfied watching Draco being scolded.

At the top, they met Charlie’s friends, who took the dragon with them. Phew, all of it was over, they thought.

They climbed down again, but unfortunately, they had left their cloak on the roof.

How could they make such a stupid mistake? Professor and Filch, along with Mrs. Norris, were directly staring at them.

They knew the storm was brewing. But this time, Neville was also in the professor’s grasp.

He was caught because he was coming there to warn all of them about the impending danger but got into one himself. 

For this, the professor took down 50 points for each of the three Gryffindor’s. But the punishment wasn’t over yet.

The Forbidden Forest

The next day, after their classes were over, they were sent to Hagrid’s hut.

All four ( Harry, Hermione, Neville, Draco ) were standing in front of Hagrid and were instructed by him to split into two groups and go inside the Forbidden Forest, which contained some of the most mysterious and dangerous creatures and was also near Hagrid’s hut.

Hagrid told them the reason why they were going there in the first place.

He expounded that recently, some unicorns have been murdered, and they have to find out about the killer.

Hadrid, Harry and Hermione were in one group, whereas Draco, Neville and Hagrid’s boarhound, Fang, were in one.

When given a choice, Draco chose Fang because he thought that the boarhound would save him in times of emergencies.

They went inside, for a while everything was okay and silent until Hagrid’s group saw some red sparks flying up in the sky.

It meant that Draco’s group was in danger because he had instructed them to do so if they were in any danger.

But it turned out that Draco had scared Neville, who anxiously had sent up the sparks.

To solve this problem, Hagrid swapped Neville with Harry because he knew Draco couldn’t scare Harry’s soul out of his body.

As Harry’s group crept deeper inside the forest, their heart stopped after seeing a horrible scene, and their blood ran cold.

Harry saw someone feeding on the blood of a nearly dead unicorn, and it was a human, not any other creature.

Draco and Fang ran for their lives, whereas Harry stood watching the scene ahead of him.

He is also unable to see the faces of the men until a centaur named Firenze sees him and comes to save him, as the creature might attack Harry, too. 

He took him to Hagrid, as Hagrid was his friend, but along the way, he was carried on his back because his torso was like a man’s.

His lower body was like a horse, and he also told him that whoever was feeding on the blood of the unicorn was cursing himself, as the only man capable of feeding on a unicorn had nothing to lose but everything to gain.

As Hagrid came into sight, he stopped talking and left.

Their detention ended, and they went back to the castle, clueless, except for Harry.

But Harry also knew that he couldn’t do anything about the matter, and he couldn’t stop the one who was drinking unicorn blood, not at least now.

The Pieces Of Puzzles Are Matched

So, he started preparing for his exams, which soon ended well.

But one thing had been bothering him all along, and it had become more so after their trip to the forest.

His head was hurting more than ever. One night, he woke up all drenched with sweat and a pale white face. 

Then suddenly, a thought struck his mind, and he summoned Hermione and Ron and explained to them his so-called theory:

Why would Hagrid desperately want a dragon? Why, at that same time, would a stranger pop up? Why would he have an egg in his pocket at this same time, and why would he want to give it away?

And most of all, why would he take all Hagrid’s expenses on him? Hagrid told them that the stranger was very friendly and would take up all the expenses on himself.

They also knew what bit of information that stranger would want to get out of Hagrid—that’s how to get past Fluffy.

They knew that if that person was Snape, he would get past all the obstacles because all the teachers used their magic to enchant them.

He would know how to get out of there, but he would never know about passing Fluffy because Hagrid or Dumbledore knew the only way of getting past him.

After his theory, he went up to Hagrid’s hut that instant While Hagrid was trying his best not to tell them, he told them in his flow.

Harry realized the stranger might have found it easier to get the information from a drunk Hagrid.

The Battle For Philosopher Stone

At the succeeding hour, they all went into Fluffy’s room, made him listen to music, which made him sleep, and easily slipped down the trapdoor to again find themselves in trouble.

Because a Devil’s snare was wrapping its stem around them like a snake coiling itself around their body.

But eventually, Hermione used a charm to get rid of the plant, and she saved her friends.

They walked for a while and entered a room full of golden keys fluttering high above the ceiling.

This time, their task was to catch the most prominent key and put it into the lock to unlock it.

Harry used his skills as a seeker, and all of them collaboratively found the keys they inserted into the lock. It opened with a click, and just to challenge them more, a room with a huge chessboard and players opened. 

Ron quickly understood what they had to do in this task.

He requested his friends to do the same, and he himself sat on one of the pawns.

The game started, but they were stuck between two choices after a while. Ron decides to sacrifice himself and is smashed to the floor by the black queen, who drags him off the board.

Harry and Hermione won through his sacrifice, and they knew that if they could overcome these obstacles, they’d save Ron.

But when they entered the next room, they found a severely injured troll, which meant that somebody had been there before them and battled with the troll nearly to his death.

So, they quietly slipped along the room to enter the next one.

After their entry, a purple fire erupted behind them from the door through which they came.

A black one erupted ahead of them, preventing them from backing up or moving forward.

But there was also a table with seven differently shaped bottles kept on it and a paper beside it.

Hermione took the paper and read it, then discovered that it was a quiz that could have allowed them to enter the next room.

Two of the bottles among them would extinguish the fire, allowing them to move back or forward. Hermione claimed that none of the wizards could have solved it because it required muggle logic.

She found the bottles, passed one to Harry, and kept one for herself.

Just then, Harry told her to return and fetch someone’s help if they needed it, probably from Dumbledore, so that he could keep the school safe if anything happened.

At first, she hesitated to leave him alone but accepted after a while and left.

The Final Round

Harry drank from his bottle and walked through the fire, but he couldn’t feel any heat, which meant that he had drank from the right bottle, permitting his entry into the next room.

He saw someone standing there; it was neither Snape nor Voldemort, the dark lord.

Instead, it was Quirell, ‘Defense against the Dark Arts’ teacher.

He wasn’t stuttering in his usual manner when he spoke.

Before he did anything else, he blurted out the truth to clear Harry’s doubts.

He told Harry that in their quidditch match when Hermione set fire to Snape’s cloth she accidentally knocked him too.

This broke his eye contact with Harry’s broom, ultimately saving him, and Sanpe was muttering a counter curse.

On Halloween, when the troll entered the school and Harry and Ron saw Snape running off to the third floor, it was because he was following Quirrell.

Then suddenly, in the present, Quirrell gave way to Harry to look behind him just to find a mirror of Erised behind him.

And to his horror, Quirrell slowly untied his turban to reveal a face with red eyes and slit nostrils on the back of his head.

Voldemort commanded him to make the boy stand in front of the mirror. 

When he did, Harry saw himself standing in the mirror while pocketing out a philosopher’s stone, and at that same moment, he found his pockets a bit heavy.

When he turned around, Quirrell asked the boy what he saw in the mirror, and instead, he lied.

But Voldemort’s voice came back again from behind Quirrell’s head, saying that the boy was lying, and ordered him to force the boy to speak the truth.

But when Quirell tried to touch Harry, his skin burned.

Harry tried every possible way to save himself just to get strangled again by Quirrell, who was also yelping in agony.

Just then, Harry grabbed his arms because he knew that somehow Quirrell couldn’t touch his bare skin, but on the contrary, Quirrell shrugged him off so hard that Harry fell unconscious on the floor.

“The Winner Of The Year Is….”

When he woke up, he found himself in the hospital wing with Dumbledore beside him.

Dumbledore explained to him how he came on time and destroyed the stone for good.

When Harry inquired whether Voldemort was gone, he said that he couldn’t be finished completely, but for now, he had left Quirrell’s body and was looking for some other host.

After their talk, Harry waited for some days to get better.

By then, his exam results were also out, and he scored fine in every subject.

Of course, Hermione was on top with straight A’s.

The term was also nearing its end, and on the last day before their departure, the points from every house were to be evaluated.

However, everyone was disappointed because it was clear that Slytherin would also win this year for the sixth time in a row.

But a change came when Dumbledore awarded Harry 60 points, Hermione 50, Ron 50, and Neville 10 points, respectively, earning Gryffindor enough points to win this year.

After their celebration, everyone boarded the train and got off in the evening to enter platform 9 ⅔ again. With their final goodbyes, everyone departed.

                                                                    THE END