n  “It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.”n

This book was as enchanting as it was to 11 year old me when my sister put Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone in my hands and told me I simply have to read this series.

Harry Potter meant so much to me as a kid as it did to millions of others. It was a magical world I could fall into and experience Harry's amazing adventures with him. I read them over and over and it took me many years to finally come out of my Harry Potter bubble and realize that there are other books for me to read and love as well.

I haven't done a reread since I was 16 so it has been 7 years since I've read any of the HP books.

I'm sure you all know how this story goes but bare with me as this will officially be the first time I review this book.




Harry Potter lives with his horrible aunt, uncle and cousin (the Dursleys). Forced to sleep in the small room under the staircase, he is reminded everyday of his life that he is nothing more than an ordinary boy and an inconvenience. No matter what the Dursleys say, strange and inexplicable things always seem to happen to and around Harry.



And though his uncle and aunt try to stop events from unfolding, one day a giant stranger arrives at their door to finally tell Harry the truth about who he really is and to invite him to attend the prestigious, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.



But even in the magical world Harry is not ordinary. He is the boy who lived. The boy who the dark sorcerer, Lord Voldemort, failed to kill and who's impossible survival caused Voldemort to vanish.



Life at Hogwarts is great, Harry has finally found a place he belongs. But his wonderful life at Hogwarts is disrupted when Harry and friends, Ron and Hermione, stumble upon clues to strange happenings that they simply cannot ignore. Something important is being kept safe at Hogwarts, but our trio know that it won't be safe for long and take it upon themselves to investigate and stop it from falling into evil hands.




I was a bit surprised by how short the chapters are and how fast the plot moved. As a kid it seemed so much longer, but I should have expected that now that I am a faster reader.

i think everyone has that one book that made you fall in love with reading, one book that opened your eyes to a world beyond the one in which you live, one book that burrowed itself inside your heart and became a part of you, one book that will forever feel like coming home every time you read it.

i know im not original when i say harry potter is that one book (and series) for me, but this is what got me into reading. it gave me a childhood far more magical and imaginative than i could have ever asked for. the series taught me the value of empathy, that courage comes in many different forms, the importance of having and being a true friend, that love is the greatest power above all, and most importantly, it taught me to believe in magic. i would not be who i am today without this book and i love that stories have the power to do that, to change lives for the better.

i owe so much to this little book that became such a massive part of my life. and to think it all started with a young boy who lived under the stairs. <3

↠ 5 stars

¡La de veces que yo he releído Harry Potter y me sigue gustando tanto como la primera vez! Ahora, el haber releído el libro en inglés, cosa que nunca había hecho, y en su versión ilustrada me tiene alucinando, de verdad. Cosas tan pequeñas como los acentos de los personajes y algunas palabras escritas en su versión británica y no americana me enamoraron <3.

Sigo pensando que nunca es tarde para leer Harry Potter, o incluso para releerlo. Esta historia me trajo muchísimos recuerdos de la época en la que me sabía el nombre de cada capítulo, de cada personaje y de cada punto y cada coma que aparecía en sus páginas... Recordé cómo esperábamos súper impacientes cada nuevo libro, cada película, porque queríamos saber más de las aventuras de Harry, queríamos volver a ese mundo mágico lejos de los Muggles, queríamos volver a Hogwarts.

Releyendo este libro entiendo por qué Harry logró crearse un espacio en mi corazón y por qué nunca se va a ir de allí tenga la edad que tenga.

Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home

I'm not going to comment on the literary shortcomings of this book, the cliches, the painfully long narrative, the fact that the characters will not think about an issue for months, but then suddenly it becomes important again. Smarter people than me have already said all this.

What bothers me about the Harry Potter universe is its characterization of magic. Why is magic so easy in the Harry Potter universe? It's only moderately a matter of skill to use magic. Magic is mostly saying the correct word with the correct intonation and the correct flourish of the wand and boom! you've done something magical. If it were only for small things I don't think this would bother me so much, but the same works for more serious things, like killing someone.

There is so much that is contrary to logic (and I don't mean science, I mean how reasonable people would behave) in the magic of Harry Potter that it drives me crazy. Why is the magical world so separated from the real world? What is their interaction? If magic works in the muggle world, what is preventing someone like Voldemort from completely taking over the muggle world? What is preventing any character from killing any other character by simpling saying the killing curse at any time? Human decency? Obviously there are a lot of characters in the books that don't have any. This never made any sense to me.

I would like to draw a comparison with (and I'm sure people on a site about reading books will crucify me for mentioning TV, which is obviously incapable of being an art form) Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In Buffy, every time you use magic, you pay for it. For little things, like floating a pencil, you pay for it in concentration, and maybe a little physical energy, but not more than going for a walk. However, the more you take, the more you have to give back in one form or another. The show is not always entirely consistent on this, but the idea makes sense. To bring someone back from the dead, you have to kill something else, or pay some other kind of price. If you want to kill someone, there is a physical price, a mental price. Nothing is free. In Harry Potter, it seems like everything is free.

It's always put me off, and every time a fan tries to explain to me why I'm wrong it sounds like a deus ex machina, or just a plain old stretch.

Also, quidditch is the most pointless sport ever created. Only in 1 game out of 1000 does anything 99% of the action matter to the outcome of the game. Only the seeker and the bludgers mean anything.

I LOVE Harry Potter, fantastic start to the series.

Reread December 2014 for #HarryXmasToYou

There are SO MANY foreshadowing things I never noticed before! Like the centaurs talking about the innocent being the first to die? And just so many things just mentioned that come up later, the dragon in Gringotts, Dittany, Sirius Black, Etc.
There's also a lot of things I've forgotten weren't in the movie, which is crazy! But so good. I love it just as much IF NOT EVEN MORE.

Reread for #HarryXmasToYou 2017

Thing I got emotional about this time because I forgot about it: Hagrid gathering pictures from people who knew Harry’s parents for the scrapbook. SO EMO. I ALSO STILL LOVE THIS BOOK. And the illustrated edition is BEAUTIFUL

(A-) 83% | Very Good
Notes: An effortless enchantment, it's lush with warmth and lore: seeded well, it casts a spell, and leaves you wanting more.

*Check out progress updates for detailed commentary:

Progress updates:

01/11/2020 - Preamble

(1) After nearly 9 months, I finally finished all five "A Song of Ice and Fire" audiobooks, I was going to run a poll on what I should listen to next but, c'mon, let's be real.
(2) I decided on the Stephen Fry version over Jim Dale simply because I can't abide by "Sorcerer's Stone." It's "Philosopher's Stone" for me or no stones at all!

01/12/2020 - 9%

(1) "People in cloaks! Mr. Dursley couldn't bear people who dressed in funny clothes – the getups you saw on young people!"
- With the movies, it's easy to forget that everyday wizard attire involves brightly colored cloaks and pointy hats.
(2) McGonagall: "There will be books written about Harry – every child in our world will know his name!"

01/13/2020 - 16%

(1) Harry gets Dudley's second room, which seems very much like the Room of Requirement. It's used to hide Dudley's disused and broken things, but now functions as a bedroom.
(2) If this snake was bred in captivity, and doesn't often speak to humans, how does it speak Portuguese? I suppose there's some Parseltongue iteration of Portuguese.

01/14/2020 - 23%

(1) Hagrid: "'The gold ones are Galleons,' he explained. 'Seventeen silver Sickles to a Galleon and twenty-nine Knuts to a Sickle.'"
- It's interesting that despite UK decimalization, wizards still use a kind of £sd currency. They're sort of American that way: resisting metric.
(2) A knut is a wizard penny, I presume after King Cnut the Great.

01/15/2020 - 34%

(1) Harry: "What are Slytherin and Hufflepuff?"
Hagrid: "School houses. There's four. Everyone says Hufflepuff are a lot o' duffers, but–"
Harry: "I bet I'm in Hufflepuff," said Harry gloomily."
- Hufflepuff does sound like it's for stoners.
(2) Ron's both shocked and impressed that Harry said "Voldemort." Sort of like cursing, uttering his name.

01/16/2020 - 43%

(1) "Hermione almost ran to the stool and jammed the hat eagerly on her head. 'GRYFFINDOR!' shouted the hat. Ron groaned."
- And thus begins our enemies-to-lovers romance.
(2) "Ickle" must be Britishism of Britishisms. I've only ever seen it in "Harry Potter" books.
(3) Hope my GIFs are well-received. Let me know if they ever get annoying.

01/17/2020 - 55%

(1) "The students all hated [Filch], and it was the dearest ambition of many to give Mrs. Norris a good kick."
- Well, as long as they don't actually kick the cat.
(2) Re: Football: "Ron couldn't see what was exciting about a game with only one ball where no one was allowed to fly."
- I dislike soccer for separate, non-magical, reasons.

01/18/2020 - 62%

(1) Ron saves Hermione from the troll. When it comes to Hermione, Harry's invariably placid, it's always fireworks with Ron.
(2) Before I knew better, I used to think "Hermione" was pronounced "hermy-won."
(3) "Ron was fascinated by the fifty pence. 'Weird!' he said, 'What a shape! This is money?'"
- I guess heptagons aren't common among wizards.

01/19/2020 - 69%

(1) The problem with the library's "restricted section" is that anyone can go there. Just keep them locked in a separate room, there must be hundreds of those available.
(2) Remembralls are about as useful as tying string around your finger.
(3) Harry: "How did you know – ?"
Dumbledore: "I don't need a cloak to become invisible."
- Totally pwned!

01/20/2020 - 73%

(1) “Ron and Hermione [were] playing chess. Chess was the only thing Hermione ever lost at, something Harry and Ron thought was very good for her.”
- I agree, it keeps her humble and open to suggestions.
- It’s good for Ron too, having something he’s best at.
(2) I love how openly biased teachers are toward their houses. It makes them more human.

01/21/2020 - 77%

(1) Ron and Neville fist fight Malfoy, Crabbe & Goyle. If you ask me, Malfoy's Ron's nemesis not Harry's.
(2) "Hermione... had started drawing up study schedules and color coding all her notes. Harry and Ron wouldn't have minded, but she kept nagging them to do the same."
- Pressuring idiosyncrasies is weird... like making friends dress like you.

01/22/2020 - 84%

(1) Filch: "Hang you by your wrists... I've got the chains still in my office, keep 'em well oiled in case they're ever needed."
- Not an awful idea, motives aside. Manacles can be handy.
(2) "Snape made them all nervous... while they tried to remember how to make a Forgetfulness potion."
- Trick question! Potion fumes might cause them to forget!

01/23/2020 - 90%

(1) The difference between J.K. Rowling and Rick Riordan is that Rowling plays the long game, building scenes toward the climax. Whereas Riordan plays in short bursts, ping-ponging from one mini-quest to another. Here, for example, Ron being best at chess, Hagrid giving Harry a flute, Peeves being scared of the Bloody Baron, etc., all pay-off at the climax.

01/24/2020 - 90%

(1) Dumbledore: "Call him Voldemort, Harry. Always use the proper name for things. Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself."
- Wonder why Dumbledore doesn't give this advice to everyone? Surely people would listen.
(2) Lost in the narrative is that Harry kills a guy. Literally kills him with the power of love... it's a curious thing.

Why oh why haven't I re-read this before? That was the best nostalgia train ride of my life.
________________________

This? This is everything.
I wouldn't even be on here if I hadn't decided to randomly buy "that book with the cool-looking cover" all those long, long years ago— and for that, I thank you deeply and eternally, Miss Rowling.

Rereading for the 3rd time for the group read.

Once upon a time, there was a 10th grader named Khanh who didn't get along with people very well. She wasn't an outcast in school, and all the bullying and teasing stopped with the commencement of high school, but she had always been a bookworm and has generally preferred the company of her own thoughts.



Lunchtime had always been dedicated not to eating, but to sitting in the library, browsing through books.

(Not to worry, she got her nutrition in 5th period in the form of a giant 6-inch M&M studded cookie and a package of Sour Patch Kids and/or a package of Reese's Pieces. Ah, the effortless metabolism of youth.)

One day, there were shiny new books on her school library's "New Releases" shelf. Harry Potter, books 1 through 3. She had heard of the books before, of course, since they were a constant presence on the NYT bestsellers list, but she had always avoided them, thinking of them as children's novels.

At the grand age of 14, surely she was too old for a little kid's fantasy novel. She had read the Outlander series earlier that year, after all. And it had sex in it. SEX! She didn't really quite understand everything in the book, but the point is, she had read them. Surely, at 14, Khanh was ready for more mature novels.

And that did not include Harry Potter. Harry Potter is 11. Khanh is 14. There is a vast difference in their ages. Khanh was a teenager, dammit.

But the Harry Potter books were new. Brand new. They were shiny, they had never been touched by another reader. And Khanh was tempted.

She picked up the first book in the series: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

The end.

Or rather, the beginning.

Third Re-read of the series, and this time I read the illustrated edition, which was pure magic. On to the next one!

********************************
Original Review:

I read this book a couple of years ago and, for some unknown reason, never continued on. It was just as wonderfully magical as I remembered, a breath of fresh air during what is usually a stressful time of year for me. I have yet to find a story that feels so pure and childlike that appeals to such a broad range of people. There’s something for everyone here; whether you are 10 or 100, Hogwarts is a place you can escape to and enjoy hearty adventures that you won’t find elsewhere.

I truly love all of the characters and feel the entire cast is well done, but my personal favorites are the Weasley twins, Hagrid, and Professor McGonnall. While I’ve seen all the movies and know the general storyline, I’m really excited to experience the story “first hand” and see what all was left out from the films. I’m also intrigued to find out more about each house, especially the ones that took a backseat in this story. Not sure if I can say anything that hasn’t been said before, but I loved it!

Buddy read with Sam of Clues and Reviews!

Lo que daría por leer este libro devuelta sin saber absolutamente nada del mundo de Harry Potter
Qué maravilla

Idk how to rate this, it’s so nostalgic I love it

This was so much fun reading this in French! I was a bit anxious from at first if I would be able to understand everything, but it turned out fine.




And the funny thing is that after all these years I find it extremely stupid how Gryffindor (or Gryffondor) won in the end.

I loved how some things were called differently in French, very interesting!
Here are few to mention.
Poudlard
Madame Guipure
Drago Malefoy
Neville Londubat
Severus Rogue
Gryffondor
Poufsouffle
Serdaigle
Serpentard