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CHAPTER 17: THE MAN WITH TWO FACES
SUMMARY
The tasks of the previous chapter have lead Harry to his final destination. However as we learn, he’s not alone. It’s immediately revealed the culprit is Professor Quirrell: the stuttering, stumbling DADA professor a ruse to distract everyone from his true mission.
Quirrell admits to trying to kill Harry during the Quidditch match but was stopped by Hermione’s setting Snape’s robes on fire. Harry also learns that Snape was trying to protect him from Quirrell’s interference, not curse him and also the same reason he refereed the following match. However, Dumbledore’s appearance prevented any future attempts on Harry’s life.
Quirrell then binds Harry magically with ropes and stares before the Mirror of Erised, trying to figure out it’s purpose. Harry, meanwhile, is trying to move in front of it to see how to stop him, but the ropes prevent it. A voice tells Quirrell to “use the boy” and he unleashes Harry to stand before the mirror. Harry wishes silently to find the stone so Quirrell can’t get to it and the mirror shows him reaching into his pocket and pulling out the small red stone and dropping it back in. The real Harry feels the stone’s weight drop into his pocket. However, he tells Quirrell he sees himself shaking hands with Dumbledore and winning the house cup for Gryffindor in an attempt to throw him off. The unidentified voice coming from near Quirrell says, “He lies, he lies” and orders Quirrell to let “him” speak face to face. Quirrell unwinds his turban and another face is reveals on the backside of the professor’s head:
Harry would have screamed, but he couldn’t make a sound. Where there should have been a back to Quirrell’s head, there was a face, the most terrible face Harry had ever seen. It was chalk white with glaring eyes and slits for nostrils, like a snake.
–SS, p. 293
The face, what remains of Voldemort, reveals to Harry that he must share another’s body but the unicorn blood strengthened him and with the Elixir of Life he will be able to create a new body and demands the stone in Harry’s pocket. Harry rebels and Voldemort orders Quirrell to attack. Only every time Quirrell touches Harry’s skin he develops burns on his body. Harry soon realizes this and makes an effort to keep touching Quirrell, all the while the pain in Harry’s head originating from his scar is blinding him in pain. Eventually Harry succumbs to blackness.
When Harry wakes up he’s in the hospital wing, staring into the smiling face of Dumbledore. Dumbledore reassures Harry that he’d arrived in time and Quirrell is dead and the Stone is destroyed. When Harry expresses concern over Nicholas Flamel, Dumbledore informs Harry that Flamel has enough Elixir to set his affairs in order and is ready to pass on to the “next great adventure”.
Harry asks Dumbledore if he will tell him the truth about a number of things. The first is why Voldemort was after him as a baby and didn’t need to kill his mother. Dumbledore refuses to answer and promises him some day he will be ready to hear the truth, just not today. He then asks why Quirrell couldn’t touch him and it’s revealed that Harry’s mother’s love protected him and told Harry “it’s in your very skin.” Dumbledore also admits that he sent the invisibility cloak to Harry after his father left it in his possession. Additionally, he told Harry the reason Snape dislikes him is because of his history with Harry’s dad, but that his father also saved his life at one time. And finally, he reveals to Harry that the reason he was able to find the Stone was because Harry wanted to find the stone and not use it. Anyone who wanted it for personal reasons would have been unable to get it.
After Dumbledore’s departure, Ron and Hermione are allowed in to visit and discuss Harry’s suspicion that Dumbledore wanted Harry to go after the Stone. Hermione is outraged but Ron thinks the man is a genius. They are soon, though, kicked out of the wing by Madame Pomfrey.
The next day Harry is released from the Hospital Wing and permitted to go to the end of year feast. Slytherin colors are everywhere, having had the most house points. Before the feast begins, though, Dumbledore announces a change in house points. He awards Ron and Hermione each fifty points for their work in saving the Stone and Harry sixty points. Gryffindor is now tied with Slytherin, however Dumbledore awards an additional ten points to Neville for standing up to his friends. As a result, Gryffindor wins the house cup.
The next day exam results are given and they all passed on to second year, despite their worry. The students pack their trunks and head off to the Hogwarts Express. Ron invites both Hermione and Harry over during the summer and eventually they make their way through the ticket barrier. Mrs. Weasley talks to a unfriendly Vernon Dursley and Harry thanks her for her gifts. The trio say their final goodbyes and Harry reveals that his family doesn’t know he can’t do magic at home and hopes to have fun that summer teasing Dudley.
ANALYSIS
It’s Not Who You Think It Is
When Harry walks through he final door in the quest to protect the Sorcerer’s Stone, it is not Snape who is standing there. Throughout the book, Harry, and the readers, are led to believe that if it looks like a duck and walks like a duck then it’s a duck. We were given a character who is mean and unfair to students, has questionable hygiene, surly, wears black, is referred to many times as a “bat”, and is just an all around unpleasant person. He’s unquestionably the one and only suspect on Harry’s radar. However, we discover that what we assume isn’t what always is. Instead, Harry encounters the cowardly, stuttering Professor Quirrell attempting to steal the Stone. In many media, this red herring would have had my eyes rolling. I know I often feel cheated when this type of plot device is utilized, but it works here. Unlike TV shows that often pull this bait and switch, it feels authentic. In rereading, you discover that J. K. Rowling at no point has lied to the reader. We take the opinion of an eleven year old at face value and trust everything he thinks and sees, but then realize that maybe that isn’t the wisest thing to do. It’s a lesson for both Harry and the readers that evil comes in many forms and we must examine all the evidence before jumping to conclusions.
The Final Showdown
We are at the climax of the story. This is what Harry’s spying, obsession, and preparation has lead to. RG goes into the monomyth better than anyone so I’ll let her handle the technical terms on that score. But we have reached the zenith in our tale.
We noted in the beginning that the first chapter doesn’t begin with the beginning of the story. We enter at a midway point of sorts. Voldemort was at the height of his power and somehow by the actions of a baby is destroyed. No body to be found. We know not how or why or even if he’s still alive. But as we all know, no body usually equals no death. So as a reader it’s not shocking that Harry’s final battle is with some parasitic version of Voldemort himself. Using Quirrell as a host, he seeks out the power of the Sorcerer’s Stone to regain a corporeal form and return to the prominence that he once held.
“He is with me wherever I go,” said Quirrell quietly. “I met him when I traveled around the world. A foolish young man I was then, full of ridiculous ideas about good and evil. Lord Voldemort showed me how wrong I was. There is no good and evil, there is only power, and those too weak to see it…”
–SS, p. 291
This concept that power is the only thing that matters is a hallmark of numerous philosophers, politicians, tyrants throughout history. It permeates our tv shows, too. But in Harry’s world, Voldemort has no concept of love, empathy, compassion, or even evil I’d argue as it’s the flipside of goodness. He knows power. He yearn for it and seeks it out for his own twisted philosophies. There is no thought of the greater good, no empathy for humanity. As we like to chant with Once, nobody thinks about the peasants. He cares for nothing but himself and basically ascending to a deity status. Quirrell, young and impressionable is sucked into this philosophy, like many followers of cultish leaders. Voldemort will stop at nothing to achieve his goals. There is no line to cross
Conversely we have Dumbledore, the only one Voldemort was ever afraid of. We know now that Dumbledore is considered essentially a living legend. He’s so well respected that he could be Minister of Magic if he wanted. He is the most gifted wizard in generations and yet he chooses to spend his time as a Headmaster at a school, helping form the youth of the Wizarding world into productive witches and wizards. Quite the opposite of Voldemort’s goals.
Then we have Harry, he’s thrust into this position at such a young age. And he rises to the challenge. He has a small amount of magical knowledge, two faithful friends who will do anything for him, and already this strong sense of right and wrong. He cares nothing for Voldemort’s ramblings. He just knows that he must be stopped even if he has to do it himself. He has the makings of a great leader, despite not wanting to be pushed into that role. Harry doesn’t go into the situation for honor or glory. He goes because it’s the right thing to do. It’s not even a choice, it just is.
Although it may seem that Voldemort is unstoppable in the face of a little boy with minimal training, Harry is successful. We discover Voldemort is not infallible. His inability to love or recognize it’s power has brought him down for a second time. Even when seeing the physical manifestation in the form of Quirrell’s burns, he continues to press which in return causes his host’s death and regresses his plans, delaying his return once again.
FORSHADOWING
“Well…Voldemort said that he only killed my mother because she tried to stop him from killing me. But why would he want to kill me in the first place?”
Dumbledore signed very deeply this time.
“Alas, the first thing you ask me, I cannot tell you. Not today. No now. You will know, one day…put it from your mind for now, Harry. When you are older…I know you hate to hear this…when you are ready, you will know.”
–SS, p. 299
The million dollar question, Harry. We all wanted to know this answer.
Discussion Questions
1. How did you feel the first time you read the story when it was revealed that Professor Quirrell was the perpetrator and not Professor Snape?
2. How would you handle the answer Dumbledore gave on why Voldemort was after him as a baby if you were Harry? Would you have accepted it and moved on like Harry did?
3. By the end, we discover that Harry, Ron and Hermione suspect Dumbledore of setting them up to protect the Stone and that he “taught us just enough to help.” What do you think of Dumbledore’s teaching style? Ignoring real life consequences, was it a viable option considering what Harry will have to do in the future?
[adrotate group="5"]Keeper of Rumplestiltskin's and Neal's spears and war paint and crystal ball.
Excellent analysis Jo! Man, can’t believe we made it through one book already.
Also, why am I sitting here crying over a book I’ve read at least 10 times?? (It’s when Hagrid gives Harry the photo album. GAH. Right through the heart, that moment).
Unlike TV shows that often pull this bait and switch, it feels authentic. In rereading, you discover that J. K. Rowling at no point has lied to the reader. We take the opinion of an eleven year old at face value and trust everything he thinks and sees, but then realize that maybe that isn’t the wisest thing to do. It’s a lesson for both Harry and the readers that evil comes in many forms and we must examine all the evidence before jumping to conclusions.
Yes, well said. We talked about confirmation bias a few pages back. Once Snape is seen as the Black Hat of the current novel, every piece of “evidence” no matter how shaky is seen as evidence for what is already confirmed in the trio’s head: Snape is bad. Snape is trying to steal the stone. But you’re right; at no point did JKR lie. That is something that has really stood out to me in this first book upon re-reading.
This is what Harry’s spying, obsession, and preparation has lead to. RG goes into the monomyth better than anyone so I’ll let her handle the technical terms on that score. But we have reached the zenith in our tale.
Congrats, Harry Potter! You’ve reached the end of your Quest and have obtained the Object!
I talk a lot about archetypes but they aren’t always people; sometimes we use the word tropes to describe a common and reoccurring motif in literature/media. There are archetypical tropes and “The Quest” is one of them. The Heroes Journey is the journey the Hero goes on from start to finish of his narrative, and often embeded in that journey is a quest that ultimately leads him to a katabasis and anabasis (coming up from the Underworld).
So, if books 1-7 are really the entirety of Harry’s Hero Journey, then each individual book can be seen as an individual quest. And that’s really what the heroes journey is: the Hero goes on a Quest to obtain an Object and along the way is aided by a Supernatural Guide and must face the Villain who represents Death and his heroism is tied to conquering said Villain/Death. That’s…it’s. That’s the heroes journey in a broad nutshell. There are nuances and stages and side adventures, but the nitty gritty is just that.
This final chapter is the end of Harry’s first quest, to find the Sorcerer’s Stone.
Using Quirrell as a host, he seeks out the power of the Sorcerer’s Stone to regain a corporeal form and return to the prominence that he once held.
Using Quirrell in the manner he does, also shows that Voldemort is more than just ruthless, he’s a sociopath. He has absolutely no feelings of guilt, regret, compassion, or tender feelings toward his followers and the people he uses on a daily basis for *his* end goals. Voldemort has that unique charisma that sociopaths and cult leaders so often have where he can make someone feel like they are the most important person in the inner circle, but the truth is that the Cult Leader (Voldemort) couldn’t care less about Quirrell. The professor is a means to an end, if the end isn’t going to be met, then Voldemort will gladly quit his presence.
I think at some point, maybe a few books down the road?, we should talk about whether or not Voldemort deserves any pity. (probably around book 6…lol). Is he a victim of circumstance? Do the actions of the villains negate any and all sympathy we might feel once we get the fleshed out story? To put this in OUAT terms: did episodes like “Desperate Souls” “The Stable Boy” “The Miller’s Daughter” cause you to change your stance on the villains and does the same apply to Voldemort? Is he capable of garnering sympathy from the reader?
1. How did you feel the first time you read the story when it was revealed that Professor Quirrell was the perpetrator and not Professor Snape?
So, I was about 11 when HP: SS came out. Now, with all the humility I can muster, I was a reasonably intelligent 11 year old, but I was surprised. Everything about Snape screams classic Black Hat (the man is even dressed in black for pity’s sake). Not only did JKR build Snape to look suspicious, but she built Quirrell to be anything but. Not only is he more timid than Snape, but she gave him certain characteristics that instantly garner sympathy: his fear of the Dark Arts (and also laced with irony given that he’s the DADA teacher), his stutter is a big one because any sort of developmental or handicap issue almost always illicit sympathy from the audience (*cough* giving Peasant! Rumple a limp *cough*).
2. How would you handle the answer Dumbledore gave on why Voldemort was after him as a baby if you were Harry? Would you have accepted it and moved on like Harry did?
Ooof. I don’t know, honestly. If Dumbldore had just saved my life like he had for Harry, then yeah, probably. But it would nag at me. Constantly.
3. By the end, we discover that Harry, Ron and Hermione suspect Dumbledore of setting them up to protect the Stone and that he “taught us just enough to help.” What do you think of Dumbledore’s teaching style? Ignoring real life consequences, was it a viable option considering what Harry will have to do in the future?
And we’re basically back to the one of the big questions I asked in the very first chapter: Does Dumbledore make the right decisions? There are lessons to be learned in life, and Harry as The Hero, must learn them. From a cosmic standpoint, then Dumbledore’s actions aren’t really the egregious simply because that’s what Harry has to go through; if the hero’s quest was easy, then everyone could do it and heroes are supposed to exceptional.
BUT…oh gosh, BUT…there are moments when I am reminded that Harry’s an 11 year old with almost no magical training. Like when all he can do is grip Quirrell/Voldemort and hope that it’s enough. He doesn’t use a wand or powerful spells. He’s not Dumbledore who can come charging in; he just has his hope that touch will be enough. And what if it hadn’t been. Dumbledore even admits that he feared that he had lost Harry for a short moment. The kid almost *died.* He’s in a coma for three days! Harry doesn’t resent Dumbledore for this because Harry seems to understand his own archetype even without all the information Dumbledore will later provide but still…11 year old, alone, against a great evil.
Moments that made me cry
Jo and I were talking about this the other night; I’ve read this book countless times (as has she and probably all of us) yet it doesn’t change the fact that I get really teary eyed at certain moments in this final chapter.
–Dumbledore explaining the power of love
–Hagrid and the photos
–Dumbledore awarding Harry 60 points for sheer bravery.
–Harry, Ron and Hermione crossing the barrier TOGETHER. The little boy who went through his liminal place alone, without a family, friendless, and absolutely afraid, crosses back into the mundane world with two best friends, a new home at Hogwarts, and having faced Death Itself. *cue me bawling*
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"I admit I don’t remember crying with this particular book before, others but not this one. But I have cried multiple times throughout this reread. This chapter especially. All the moments RG said. When Harry is touching Quirrell because he knows it’s hurting him, I don’t know…it just affected me. Then when Dumbledore explained about his mother’s love being infused into his skin. Even awarding the house points. Hermione cries, Ron’s embarassed, and Neville is confused. So perfect and true to their characters and I felt for all of them. And then the album. Thanks, Hagrid. I did not need the salty liquid extruding from eyes.
And now I’ll answer my own questions
1. How did you feel the first time you read the story when it was revealed that Professor Quirrell was the perpetrator and not Professor Snape?
I was in my early 20s when I began reading the series. I went in with the thinking it was just a “children’s series”. I read the book with that frame of mind. So when I turned the page and it was Quirrell I was really shocked. Just stunned. That was the turning point for me from this being a “good read” to a “must read”. I also convinced my mother to read the books, too. She was very intelligent, well read, and loved mysteries. I remember her saying this was one of the few books she’d read that she’d never guessed the villain and she immediately reread the book looking for clues. She declared JKR a genius. She only got to read the first four books before she passed away, but I think she’d have loved how the series evolved and ended.
Back to my question, like I said in my analysis. It felt organic. On rereading it all fits. You can see the attention to detail JKR gave in her world building. She gave each of her characters a complete biography before writing and it shows. That meticulous detail is the reason millions love this series. It’s also a reason I criticize Once so much now. Yes, it’s a TV show and a different medium, but attention to world building is essential to fantasy and if you cross or move parameters I feel lied to and lose faith in the story. Something I’ve never felt JKR does and the reason the bait and switch of Quirrell as the villain instead of Snape is successful.
2. How would you handle the answer Dumbledore gave on why Voldemort was after him as a baby if you were Harry? Would you have accepted it and moved on like Harry did?
One of my learning styles is I often have to learn “why” to learn “how”. My parents used to get annoyed because I’d constantly ask why and was extremely curious. I didn’t care that a radio worked by plugging it in and turning the dial, I needed to open it up with a screwdriver and see it’s parts even if I didn’t know what I was looking at. So I probably wouldn’t have been happy with Dumbledore’s delaying of answering Harry’s questions. I would have been more obsessed with that question than actually fighting off evil and Voldemort. I also hyperfocus on certain things so I a fear that question would be something I’d be obsessed with. Thankfully, I’m not a heroin fighting villains in a book 😛
3. By the end, we discover that Harry, Ron and Hermione suspect Dumbledore of setting them up to protect the Stone and that he “taught us just enough to help.” What do you think of Dumbledore’s teaching style? Ignoring real life consequences, was it a viable option considering what Harry will have to do in the future?
I have been very critical of Dumbledore in my rereading. His motivations, his methods. But with this ending, I can see both sides of it. I can see that Dumbledore needs to prepare Harry for the impossible task ahead. He needs for Harry to develop the skills to do what he needs to do in the end. We have to realize that Dumbledore’s human, too. He’s seen so much life, experienced so much, but then he’s tasked with preparing this young boy for something that nobody should have to do. It couldn’t have been easy on him.
But then like RG said, I remember that Harry is just eleven years old. He doesn’t have the wizarding background knowledge that wizarding children like Ron even has. He was a sheltered, bullied child and thrust into this new world. He has one school year of instruction in his belt and can transfigure matchsticks and make simple potions. Not skills that necessarily transfer over to defeating the most evil wizard in modern history. I think in the end, Harry did what he needed to do. He is not an ordinary boy. He’s not an ordinary wizard. He is our hero.
Keeper of Rumplestiltskin's and Neal's spears and war paint and crystal ball.
1. How did you feel the first time you read the story when it was revealed that Professor Quirrell was the perpetrator and not Professor Snape?
I was young when I first read the book, but I seem to recall being surprised. I suspected Snape right along with Ron, Harry and Hermione. To learn that Professor Quirrell had two faces was grotesque and morbidly fascinating to my my pre-adolescent imagination. I remember being on edge, my heart pounding as I read the book late at night with a flashlight way after my bedtime.
2. How would you handle the answer Dumbledore gave on why Voldemort was after him as a baby if you were Harry? Would you have accepted it and moved on like Harry did?
Did Harry move on? I mean, he did for the present, but he doesn’t let that question go as we’ll read in upcoming books. As for me, no, I wouldn’t have been able to let go easily; I’m like a dog with a bone. Of course, it might’ve been different at age 11.
3. By the end, we discover that Harry, Ron and Hermione suspect Dumbledore of setting them up to protect the Stone and that he “taught us just enough to help.” What do you think of Dumbledore’s teaching style? Ignoring real life consequences, was it a viable option considering what Harry will have to do in the future?
Part of me is aghast that any person of authority would let a child do the work of a trained adult. However, the other side of me knows that Dumbledore already knew about the kind of deep protective magic that Lily’s sacrifice embued upon Harry, so I am actually inclined to give Dumbledore more of a break,and I doubt he was ever actually gone from Hogwarts either. His meeting at the Ministry was fabricated. He probably was just hanging around in his office waiting for the right moment to swoop in and save the day. He pretty much had to let Harry stand up to Voldemort for the reason of preparing him for a deeper sacrifice later on. The fact that Harry put his life on the line at eleven-years-old confirms in Dumbledore’s mind that Harry is capable.
"That’s how you know you’ve really got a home. When you leave it, there’s this feeling that you can’t shake. You just miss it." Neal Cassidy
I went in with the thinking it was just a “children’s series”.
There are a lot of impacts JKR and her series had on our popular culture landscape, but I think one of the biggest is that she redefined what “children’s books” even mean because outside of “fantasy” I don’t know how to classify these series. I’m actually going to be talking about this quite a bit in the retrospective, but it’s very hard to pin down JRK’s work in terms of age and type.
To learn that Professor Quirrell had two faces was grotesque and morbidly fascinating to my my pre-adolescent imagination
Yes the two head thing is rather disturbing. I forgot to bring this up earlier, but I think JKR’s inspiration for the two headed being was Janus, a Roman god. He was the god of beginnings and ends, particularly conflict…so war and peace, essentially. Given that this is the beginning of Harry and Voldemort’s war, it’s appropriate.
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone: A Retrospective
“What a year it has been! Hopefully your heads are all a little fuller than they were.”
Re-reading the Harry Potter series can be difficult; because you have already read the series at least once, it is easy to want to skim the first book and get to the meatier and longer books. However, re-reading the first book has allowed us to delve deeply into themes and questions that encompass not only the entire series but the larger world. What is the nature of heroism? How does racism affect our choices? What is good? What is evil? How much free will do we have and how much does fate factor in? All these questions have been tossed around quite a bit over the past 25 forum pages and 17 chapters of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. When I take a look back at everything we’ve discussed, there is one thought that creeps up time and time again: Harry Potter is not children’s literature.
The Harry Potter series could easily be seen a children’s series. The three main characters are all under the age of 13 for a few books, and only ever briefly adults. They go to school; they learn in a classroom; they experiment with authority and power and sexuality. The trio of Harry, Hermione and Ron grow and develop from wide-eyed youths into world-weary teens who have seen too much. The Harry we met in book one is not the Harry we will know by the end of the series. In other words, the Harry Potter series has many of the hallmarks of a bildungsroman, or a coming of age story. It would be easy—too easy—to say that Harry Potter is a series for youngsters about learning how to navigate their own world, even if that world is not magical, just as the protagonist learns to find his own place in his world. The first book alone has valuable life lessons such as learning to deal with prejudices, class structure, jealousy, making decisions, managing school away from family and teamwork. All of those concepts are ones we teach children in their developmental years in order to create useful members of society. The series, then, could be seen as a didactic tool we use to educate youths with lessons that adults already know.
Here’s the rub, though: Harry Potter elevates these matters to an adult setting and does it all with a dark underpinning. There is an interview I read with JKR once where she responded to the idea that her series got much darker the more she wrote. Her answer? Her series starts off with a double homicide. How much darker could it really get? The conflicts I listed above are not just for the children, lessons they learn from smart and reasonable adults, as they move through Hogwarts. Often times they are characteristics that our adult characters still have.
Voldemort, of course, represents hatred and prejudice on a large and adult scale. His vitriol toward anyone who does not follow him, his prejudices in other words, cause devastation the world over. In our re-read, many of us have realized how disturbed we are by several of Dumbledore’s actions, be it leaving Harry on the Dursley’s doorstep or sending Harry into face Quirrell on his own, with little magical training. We’ve discussed that while Voldemort is the true face of evil, Petunia Dursley’s actions in the first novel are beyond reprehensible and re-reading with intensity has really shown us just how abusive she was to young Harry. We’ve also looked at Snape’s teaching methods and how his underwhelming approach to his students extends to more than just his hatred of Harry. It’s rather amazing that anyone passed Potions! We’ve seen Hagrid be incredibly negligent, even when it’s coupled with intense compassion. In JKR’s world the adults are not towering figures of perfection who must pass down handy dandy morals to the still developing youngsters; they are flawed, irresponsible, and sometimes a little frightening.
JKR’s world as presented in the first book is altogether magical. Staircases move, paintings talk, and ghosts eat dinner with students. But it’s also very realistic. It never feels fantastical to the point of being disconnected to our real world; instead it feels like a world that you’re being let in on for the first time in your life, as if you could really get an owl inviting you to Hogwarts. This feeling of the world being real is aided by everything I just said above; had the adults been too perfect and too stand-up, then everything would feel a little less real. We may have been young when we first sat down and read HP: SS (well, most of us) but we knew at that age that adults were flawed creatures and JKR takes plenty of opportunities to show that.
How do we characterize JKR’s first book, then? It’s not really children’s literature, and while it might be considered young adult, the themes within are darker and more cosmic than something you’d find in your typical young adult novel until recently and the rise of the distopia young adult novel, often keeps the danger or turmoil to a personal level and does not infringe on society. For example, while I love all of John Green’s works, his characters struggle internally far more than with the outside world and never face any sort of cosmic threat. The threat is to their identity and while happily ever after is not guaranteed, it is assure that the world will go on regardless of what decisions the protagonists make. With JKR, even here at the end of the first book, the world is weighted by the knowledge that Voldemort has only been delayed. Harry’s identity will be explored over the years, but it will be by facing down threats that are not only against him, but the world at large.
The first book is not without questions, of course. We’ve had many spirited debates over Dumbledore’s actions and the Sorting Hat. The latter proved very tricky to navigate because some of us still don’t think it’s the best system. There is also the matter of free will and fate and whether or not the Trio were brought together by sheer dumb luck or if something more cosmic had a hand. These questions are of a universal type; they speak to the reader and the way we each individually view the world through our rose colored (and not so rose colored) and subjective gaze. JKR sets up all these conflicts in the first book about Dumbledore and even the Hat but, unlike other children’s literature, does not seek to answer them by novel’s end. In fact, I get the feeling we’re going to be debating these exact same issues for the next six books, with no resolution.
As we move forward, more questions will arise and probably more debates. I’m still not sure how to classify Harry Potter but there’s one thing for sure; it’s a series that wants to be talked about. JKR sets up delicious and meaty questions that are not easy to answer, either for Harry or for us! The world of Harry Potter isn’t easy. But…neither is our real world. Magical though it may be, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone gives the reader to think about their own mundane world and the lives they are choosing to live.
Conversation Questions
1) How would you classify Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone?
2) Thinking about the series as a whole, where do you rank HP: SS?
3) What do you think of JKR’s writing in this first book? Does it suffer from being her first published work?
4) What surprised or shocked you the most in re-read of book 1?
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"Great work, RG. I’m really glad we went through with this. It forces you to slow down and examine things in a way you never looked at it before. Like you said, it’s easy to skip over to get to the juicy stuff. I admit, myself, that I picked up Deathly Hallows are read parts of it because of reading SS. But there is a joy in reading the story again after a long break from it. We’ve all probably reread the series and watched the movies, but it had been a while since I’d picked up the books. It gives a new perspective on the story.
1) How would you classify Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone?
I would still classify this book as Children’s Literature, at least the first three stories. Yes, it has adult themes and “opens with a double homocide” but I don’t know where people get the idea that the Children’s Literature category is all sunshine and rainbows. Roald Dahl, who I’ve talked about many times in relation to J. K. Rowling, had a particularly macabre bent to his writings. In Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Charlie lives in abject poverty and lives on the verge of starvation. James and the Giant Peach opens with James’s parents being killed by a rhinoceros at the London Zoo. Even the beloved (and first real novel I ever read) Charlotte’s Web is a story about preventing the main character’s slaughter and ends in the death of a friend. I truly believe this novel in particular does belong in the Children’s Literature category.
One of the genius aspects about J. K. Rowling’s writings and the Harry Potter series is as Harry ages his world expands, the concepts become more complex, and the reading level and book length increases. The reader ages with the series. I look at the series as a set of concentric circle, the center is Sorcerer’s Stone and each book expands on the base that the previous book provides.
Later entries into the series, starting with GoF and up I would move to the YA category. I will admit in general I’m not a fan of YA literature, or at least the current trend. I know most of you here adore it and it’s become a huge genre that adults also read, but dystopian, futuristic stories have never been my cup of tea. But on the whole, Harry Potter is one of those things that defy categorization. It attracts fans of various genres and a vast array of ages.
2) Thinking about the series as a whole, where do you rank HP: SS?
It’s really hard to rank the books for me as a whole from 1 to 7 in terms of favorites because it’s a continuing story. Whatever book I’m reading at the time I think, “Oh, I love this one, why don’t I read it more often.” I really don’t know if I have a least favorite, although I do adore Chamber of Secrets, which often makes the bottom of people’s rankings.
3) What do you think of JKR’s writing in this first book? Does it suffer from being her first published work?
I actually don’t think it suffers, at least for me. I only read the series as an adult so I go in thinking this story is from the point of view of an eleven year old boy. As I mentioned in the previous question at this age his world is smaller. So I don’t mind that with the introductory novel. I actually have more problems with later entries to the series and the need for better editing (e.g. bloated OotP, dragging plot lines in HBP, never ending camping trip in DH)
4) What surprised or shocked you the most in re-read of book 1?
I was surprised at how much more I despised Petunia Dursley. I’ve always disliked her but she is particularly mean and nasty when studied in the vast context of the whole series.
I’m feeling new things for Dumbledore, too. I ended the series initially with feeling a bit betrayed by his maneuvering. He has a bit of a Machiavellian bent to his actions, which were revealed in the latter part of the series. But rereading, I’m understanding more of the reasons why he did what he did. I might not agree, but I’m understanding better. It couldn’t have been easy for him, either. He’s becoming more layered than the flat characterization of a wise guiding wizard I originally perceived him to be.
And finally I’m always surprised at how much a smart aleck and snarky Harry really is. He is the Chosen One, the Boy Who Lived, but he’s also really funny in his own way. The twins have their outrageous humor, Ron is a comic relief, but Harry has this sarcastic humor that is hilarious in his own right. Something the movies never captured. I like reading those times when his humor shines through.
Keeper of Rumplestiltskin's and Neal's spears and war paint and crystal ball.
1) How would you classify Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone?
I completely agree with Jo on this one. While I wouldn’t consider the series “children’s books” necessarily, I would consider the first 3 books appropriate for young readers, but smart and well written enough for adults to enjoy. I love how the books grow just as Harry does, and become more complex and darker as the series develops. But you also can’t really skip the first 3 books either, because details from them become important later one.
2) Thinking about the series as a whole, where do you rank HP: SS?
I do the same thing too Jo! Apparently Jo and I share a brain when it comes to HP (except for Percy). My favorites change as I read the series, but I usually put Sorcerers Stone at around 4 or 5. It’s the beginning, and it still fills me with the same wonder and excitement every time. I started reading the books at a much older age because well, I’m older than you guys. I think books 1-3 were out already and I devoured them in a matter of weeks. The Quirrel reveal definitely made me realize that this wasn’t just a series for kids. And as someone who lives in Florida who has an annual pass to Universal Studios, there is NOTHING like walking through the brick wall into Diagon Alley and hearing the music swell. You feel just as Harry did and it literally makes me cry every single time.
3) What do you think of JKR’s writing in this first book? Does it suffer from being her first published work?
I don’t think it suffers, but just as the books feel like they grow with Harry (and you as you read them), I think that JKR definitely grew up with them too. It’s helpful that our main characters are 11, so the style doesn’t seem too out of place, while if it were written about a 16 year old, it may have felt a little juvenile or at least not as strong.
4) What surprised or shocked you the most in re-read of book 1?
Like Jo, again, I was really surprised by how much rereading in this way made me really really hate Petunia. I also loved looking at it from a literary perspective in terms of themes and symbolism. It’s not that I didn’t know they were there, but I always just read the books without looking for much deeper meaning. I guess I was very much the general audience reader, as opposed to super fandom analyzing everything because all the things. So this has been really really fun to read the series in a different way, even if it makes me cry at things I’ve generally been able to read without having that sort of extreme reaction (after having read it numerous times, trust me I did the first time). I can’t wait to get started on Book 2!
Keeper of the Cheshire Cat’s smile, Baelfire’s sword, Snow’s backpack, Robin Hood’s bow, Ariel’s purse, Ariel’s smile, Henry’s heart, Belle’s shoe collection
I have a lot to respond to, but I think instead I’ll answer my own questions as a way to respond. 🙂
1) How would you classify Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone?
Obviously I have issues calling HP:SS children’s literature. I agree with Jo that “children’s lit” is not all sunshine and daises but I do think there is a difference between what is easily classified as kid lit and HP. Dahl is a great example of darker kids lit, but I think the major difference is that while the protagonists in the book are very down on their luck (poor, hungry, abused) their mortal lives are never in true danger. Charlie (from, “and the Chocolate Factory) might be dirt poor, but his family loves him, truly. He has the good bits of life even if it’s a struggle. His life is never really in danger; there is no looming threat of death via another person. James (from “and the giant peach”) has abusive aunts and he is, like Charlie, poor, and in his case miserable but I never felt like his aunts were going to do him deathly harm. With Harry, there is a real (very real) sense that his mortal life is in danger for all 7 books. Because there is that “will he die or not” tension, I have issues calling it kid lit because while there is drama and angst in kid lit, there is a lack of death tension that permeates so much of Harry’s life.
2) Thinking about the series as a whole, where do you rank HP: SS?
Gosh, I don’t know why I asked this…cause I don’t know. It’s probably closer to the bottom than the top. It was interesting going back and re-reading for this project because while I obviously did fall in love with the series when I was growing up, SS does show that this is JKR’s first ever novel and there is a bit of a juvenile quality to her writing; less detail, less introspection.
Which brings me to…
3) What do you think of JKR’s writing in this first book? Does it suffer from being her first published work?
Like I said, her writing in this book isn’t as rich as it will become. But that’s perfectly fine; writers are supposed to get better. JKR did a great job building the HP world in the first book, but her descriptions and her dialogue and her action sequences get better as the series moves forward. Her writing is very “first time author” in this book. It doesn’t suffer from it, but it’s easy to point to how she got better.
4) What surprised or shocked you the most in re-read of book 1?
Dumbledore. I still love him, but re-reading the first book in a very long time (and I think my first time since I finished book 7) really opened my eyes to how tricksy he can be.
Petunia, also. She really is a piece of work. It takes me being an adult to really see it now. I always disliked her but now I really see how terrible she is.
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"1) How would you classify Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone?
For young adults (teenagers versus children’s lit)
2) Thinking about the series as a whole, where do you rank HP: SS?
Probably somewhere in the middle.
3) What do you think of JKR’s writing in this first book? Does it suffer from being her first published work?
It is a bit juvenile in some places, though still entertaining enough to captivate adults.
4) What surprised or shocked you the most in re-read of book 1?
How much Albus Dumbledore took a hands-off approach and to what end. Like Harry, I knew Albus Dumbledore wanted Harry to find the sorcerer’s stone, but I didn’t know the greater reason the first time I read it. Upon the re-reading, it’s a bit chilling to know what Dumbledore is asking of a boy.
"That’s how you know you’ve really got a home. When you leave it, there’s this feeling that you can’t shake. You just miss it." Neal Cassidy
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