10 Magical Firsts in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

Hogwarts. I would forfeit my laptop forever if it meant going off to the magical boarding school of Hogwarts for even a day. In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone you’ll travel to wizarding-world shopping mecca Diagon Alley for school supplies including a cauldron and a letter-carrying owl (forget the Trapper-Keeper and #2 pencils). You’ll watch as Harry is paired with his wand, because “the wand chooses the wizard.” Then you’ll head to Platform 9 3/4 at King’s Cross Station, to board the Hogwarts Express. And the best is yet to come: Hogwarts, England’s premiere magical school, is a place of wonders. Students (and readers) enjoy feasts in the Great Hall, under the enchanted ceiling; Potions class with Professor Snape in the dungeons; Herbology in the greenhouses with Professor Sprout; and, of course, life under the eye of headmaster Albus Dumbledore, one of the most fascinating wizards in fiction.
Magic. Magic is objectively awesome, and the fact that I can’t do it still pains me. I want to turn teacups into pigs! I want to levitate feathers! I want to fly on a Nimbus 2000 racing broom! You’ll long for Harry’s professors to teach you how to make fire, fix glasses, and unlock doors with nothing but a wand made of hawthorn wood with a phoenix-feather core.
Harry Potter. Harry is the greatest children’s protagonist of our time. He’s generous and brave and just snarky enough to have survived his terrible upbringing at the hands of uncaring relatives with his humanity and sense of humor intact. He’s the child all of us wish we could’ve been at the tender age of 11, and he grows into a hero we’d be happy to be at any age.
Professor McGonagall. Transfiguration professor and Gryffindor house head Minerva McGonagall is without flaw. She has a wry sense of humor, she cares nothing for nonsense, and she can turn herself into a cat. She’s one of Hogwarts’ staunchest supporters, and everyone’s dream stern-but-wonderful teacher.
Enchantment at every turn. From the get go, you should assume every object you encounter at Hogwarts has some degree of consciousness, from the Chocolate Frogs to the moving portraits to the staircases that can’t be relied upon to be where you left them. Among other magical moments, Hogwarts first-years are introduced to life at school by the ancient, sentient Sorting Hat, a grubby enchanted being of sorts that looks into their minds and places them in the house they’re best suited to, from brave Gryffindor to brainy Ravenclaw to steadfast Hufflepuff to cunning Slytherin.

The power of friendship. The power of friendship has been explored by kids’ books and movies ranging from Toy Story to Aesop’s Fables. But it’s not until you live through the trials and tribulations of Harry, Ron, and Hermione over the course of seven wonderful books (and a script!) that you truly understand how friend connections can feel as real and moving on the page as they do in life.
Voldemort. He’s the most villainous villain to ever villain. He starts as a distant bogeyman, is elevated to a rumor, then unfolds into a full-out threat over the course of seven books. By the time you meet him in his fully restored form, you’ll be as terrified as the rest of the wizarding world to face He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.
Harsh realities. Though it’s read and beloved by all ages, Sorcerer’s Stone is a children’s book. And like all the best children’s books, it explores dark themes through appropriate-for-all-ages storytelling. From the off-page deaths of Harry’s parents to the sacrifice of his mother that allowed him to live to the truly death-defying feats the trio of Harry, Ron, and Hermione enact deep in the bowels of Hogwarts, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone is full of unforgettable and moving moments.
Quidditch. At last, a sport for book nerds! Following in his late father’s footsteps, Harry becomes one of the all-time youngest seekers in the sport after displaying great flying talent his first year at school. Quidditch is a marvelously chaotic pursuit that basically involves flying around on broomsticks throwing balls at each other. At least once per game, someone is forced to look death in the face. It’s a good time.
The first step in an incredible journey. Let me reiterate: if you’ve never read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, you are the luckiest reader in the bookstore. You don’t yet know what twists Harry’s journey is going to take, the beloved characters you have yet to meet—and the beloved characters who are marked for death. There are clues, sure, but the only way to fully appreciate everything Sorcerer’s Stone sets in motion is to read the rest of the books and then turn right back around and start rereading, like a grizzled veteran who has Seen Too Much. That’s not to say it’s all doom and gloom, because it’s not: it’s doom and gloom and love light and joy and magic, and it broke my heart but in the best possible way.
That is why Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone means so much to an entire generation, and that is why I’m always on the lookout for a genie or wizard or bridge troll who will use magic to make me forget the entire book so I can experience it all over again as if for the first time. Know anyone who fits the bill? Put me in touch. I am completely serious.