Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone Free Study Guide

Stone Book Notes is a free study guide on Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J. K. Rowling. The story begins with a description of the Dursleys, an utterly normal family in England, who are left with baby Harry Potter on their doorsteps. Aunt Petunia’s sister Lily married James Potter and became a powerful couple in the wizard’s world. They were killed by the evil Voltemort, leaving Harry with a large scar on his forehead and legacy as the only wizard to escape Voltemort alive.

Head wizard Albus Dumbledore decides to have Harry grow up with the Dursleys until he is ready to attend Hogwarts, the premiere magic school in England. At age 11, Harry is wisped away to Hogwarts by the giant gamekeeper, Hagrid, to find himself lost amongst a new world of magic and power. Hagrid takes Harry to Diagon Alley, where he retrieves some of his inheritance from Gringotts, the wizard bank, and purchases his books, wand, and robes from the Leaky Cauldron and Ollivanders.

On the train to Hogwarts at platform Nine and Three Quarters, Harry meets his new friend Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger.

Everyone is amazed to meet the famous Harry Potter. On the train Harry also meets Draco Malfoy, a boy with whom he develops a distrust and hatred. At Hogwarts, the children meet Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, and Quirrell, all professors and wizards. At the opening banquet, the Sorting Hat decides in which house the children live, sorting Hermione, Neville, Ron, and Harry into Gryffindor, and Draco Malfoy into Slytherin, the house run by Snape and known to have schooled Voltemort in years past.

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Hermione busies herself with studies, Ron with chess, and Harry with learning about his family and powers. He becomes an expert flyer and is allowed to play Quidditch for Gryffindor’s team. Draco Malfoy continually tries to get the Gryffindor kids in trouble, by setting them up and dragging them away from their beds at the wrong time. One day, Ron and Harry come across a large troll and rescue Hermione from death. From then on, the threesome spies on Snape and Quirrell and seek to discover the secrets at Hogwarts.

They realize that the Sorceror’s Stone is hidden by a three-headed dog at Hogwarts and is the secret to eternal life created by Nicholas Flamel. They believe Snape is the culprit behind the evil and try to stop him from destroying Harry and Hogwarts. Meanwhile, Hagrid keeps an eye on Harry and looks out for him. They visit Hagrid and meet his new pet dragon, Norbert. Norbert causes problems for everyone, as dragons are illegal animals. The three send the dragon away to Romania under Harry’s Invisibility Cloak and are discovered out of bed doing so.

They are branded and punished with detention and stricken of fifty points each. As detention the kids must help clean up the Forbidden Forest with Hagrid. They find a unicorn slaughtered, with its blood scattered across the ground, and are frightened by an evil spirit. The good centaur Firenze flies Harry away from danger in the forest as soon as he discovers who Harry is. Harry, Ron, and Hermione discover that Voltemort tricked Hagrid into revealing the method by which to get past the three-headed dog and to the Sorcerer’s Stone.

They rush past the dog, and through the chambers to stop Voltemort from killing Harry. Ron gets everyone past the life sized Wizard’s Chess board, while Hermione breaks the riddle that allows Harry to proceed to the ultimate chamber under ground. He sees the Mirror of Erised, the same mirror that shows the hopes and dreams of the person who looks inside. He finds Quirrell in the chamber without his stutter. He admits to hosting Voltemort and trying to destroy Harry in the forest.

When his turban is removed, Harry sees a double face on top of Quirrell’s head – it is Voltemort, and he wants to use Harry to get the Stone and then kill him. Harry discovers the Stone in his pocket and tries to kill Voltemort/Quirrel until he blacks out. Harry awakens in the infirmary to Dumbledore congratulating him. He saved the Stone, Hogwarts, and his own life. Because of his bravery and that of Hermione, Ron, and Neville, Gryffindor wins the House Cup for the year. Harry must go back to the Dursleys for the summer, but looks forward to all the magic he will practice and learn in the future.