Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

From Harry Potter - Wiki on Neoseeker

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is the first book of the seven book Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. The book was later published as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in the United States. This was because the American producers didn't think that kids would understand what a philosopher is, so they changed it to Sorcerer.

Publishment Details

• First published in Great Britain on July 1, 1997 by Bloomsbury Publising PLC.
  

• Published in the United States of America on September 1, 1998 by Scholastic Books.
  

• Total of 107 million copies sold worldwide.
  

Dedication

For Jessica, who loves stories,
For Anne, who loved them too;
And for Di, who heard this one first.

Plot Overview

Harry Potter is a seemingly normal eleven-year-old boy, but is actually a wizard and the lone survivor of a devastating attack on his family by a dark wizard called Lord Voldemort. Voldemort killed Harry's parents, but was unable to kill baby Harry, all but destroyed himself in the process. Harry was taken to live in an ordinary household with the Dursleys: his Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, and cousin Dudley.

The Dursleys are strongly opposed to magic, and Harry is given the impression that his parents simply died in a car accident, and that he is just an ordinary boy. But on his eleventh birthday, Harry learns from an enormous, mysterious stranger that he is actually a famous wizard. Harry is invited to begin attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where he begins to learn magic and make new friends and indeed enemies among the Hogwarts students and staff.

But a plot is brewing. Voldemort plans to regain his power and former self by stealing the Philosopher's Stone, which grants immortality to its owner. Harry and his best friends, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, discover the plot and seek to prevent the theft of the stone. They must overcome many obstacles, including getting past a vicious three-headed dog and playing a deadly life-sized game of Wizard's Chess, to try to stop Lord Voldemort from getting the stone.

Awards

Appearance

Cover Art

Statistics

• Word Count
  

Narrated by Jim Dale

Chapter Synopsis

Retrieved from "http://harrypotter.neoseeker.com/wiki/Harry_Potter_and_the_Philosopher%27s_Stone"

Related Forum Threads

Sorceror's Stone/Philosopher's Stone?? - last post by Nancydective @ Jul 23, 09
Philosophers stone ps2, How can I kill Prof. Quirell? - last post @ Mar 29, 09
Harry Potter and the philosophers stone - last post by pokemon person @ May 29, 09

Related Forums

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Forum

Category: Main Books

Major portions of this page were written by: Demonfurby