Essay --

Tyler Miller Communications Mrs. Seiler January 15, 2013 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone One dark night at Number 4, Privet Drive Albus Dumbledore, the head of a Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, meets Professor McGonagall, a teacher at Hogwarts, and Hagrid, the grounds keeper of Hogwarts, outside the Dursley home. Dumbledore tells McGonagall that Lord Voldemort, a dark wizard who was doing his best to plunge the world into darkness, has killed Mr. and Mrs. Potter and tried unsuccessfully to kill their baby son, Harry. Dumbledore leaves Harry with the only family he has the Dursleys, much to the dismay of Professor McGonagall and Hagrid, with an explanatory note in a basket in front of the Dursley home. Ten years later, the Dursley household is dominated by Dudley, the Dursleys’ son, who torments and bullies Harry. Mysterious letters begin arriving for Harry, from Professor Dumbledore. The letters begin to worry Mr. Dursley, who vainly tries to keep them from his nephew, but the letters keep arriving through literally every crack in the house. Finally, in a last ditch effort to keep the letters from reaching Harry, Mr. Dursley moves his family to a dark dismal shack in the middle of nowhere near the coast. On the eve of Harry’s eleventh birthday, Harry makes a wish and Hagrid bursts through the shack’s door and ,after giving Dudley a pig’s tail, whisks the eleven year old Harry away from his sadistic relatives. The next day, Hagrid takes Harry to London to shop for school supplies. First they go to the wizard bank, Gringotts. Followed by a shopping spree on Diagon Alley, where Harry buys his books, ingredients for potions, and, finally, a magic wand. A month later, Harry goes to the train station and catches hi... ...rised and makes him state what he sees. Harry, oddly enough, sees himself with the stone in his pocket, and at that same moment he actually feels it in his pocket. Harry tells Quirrell that he sees something else. Voldemort tells Quirrell that the boy is lying and requests to speak to Harry face to face. Voldemort ultimately, instructs Quirrell to kill Harry, but Quirrell is burned by contact with the boy. and his body begins to break down into dust. A struggle ensues and Harry passes out. When Harry awakens, he finds himself in the school’s hospital wing with Dumbledore. Dumbledore explains that he saved Harry from Quirrell just in time. He adds that he and Flamel have destroyed the stone, because they fear the stones powers are too great to exist any longer. The school year comes to an end, and Harry sadly must returns to the Dursley’s home till next year begins.