Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, the book that began it all – The Boy Who Lived, He Who Must Not Be Named, parseltongue, Hagrid, Hedwig, Hogwarts, the Nimbus 2000 and the golden snitch (we really could keep going) - turns 20 on the 26th June 2017 and to celebrate the occasion we’ve put together five reasons people love Harry Potter!
Hogwarts' Houses: Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Slytherin and Gryffindor
There is no one overarching reason to enjoy Harry Potter, and particularly Rowling’s books, but our first great reason for enjoying the Potter series is the house system that Rowling introduces in the Philosopher’s Stone. Do you recall that feeling of anxiety when it seemed as if Harry was to be sorted into Slytherin? The house system was something I was familiar with as a kid, but I’d never thought about the red house (Ripon for us) being particularly brave, or the green house (Durham) being particularly evil – I certainly did afterwards. And did you know that – according to Biography.com – Rowling first scrawled the house names on an aeroplane sickbag?
Hogwarts’ Classes: from Charms & Potions to Defense against the Dark Arts & Quidditch
Do you remember reading about the Hogwarts’ curriculum at the time? As a primary schooler, I was absolutely mesmerised by the range of subjects on offer – and Quidditch! basketball on broomsticks! – to the point where a friend and I wrote letters to Rowling herself (as no doubt hundreds of British kids must have) asking if we could be cast in any film version of the Philosopher’s Stone she might be planning on. We didn’t hear back from her. We were, still, first in line to buy the books at every school book fair though…
The Supporting Cast
The books were primarily told from Harry’s perspective, but we always cared about Ron and his brothers and Hermione and Hagrid and Neville and – sometimes – Seamus and the Patels because they were, typically, so well fleshed out. The books, perhaps more so than the films, were ostensibly about Harry, but Harry Potter & Ron Weasley & Hermione Grainger and [the Philosopher’s Stone] is how many of us came to care about that heroic triptych.
Grey Heroes and Villains: From Severus Snape to Sirius Black
Throughout the Harry Potter books, Rowling deftly painted vivid portraits of must-be and have-to-be good guys and bad gals, whom, on multiple occasions, turned out to be not at all what they first appeared. In the first book, we initially despised Snape and wanted the best for Quirrell only to find that Snape wasn’t that evil and not everything about Quirrell was above board – and let’s not even get onto The Grim, Lockhart, Wormtail, Mad-Eye Moody, and…
Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort
‘We’re not so different you and I’ is a phrase that has been riffed on by hundreds of thrilling tales, and it is played to a fatal conclusion in Harry Potter. When the reasons for Harry’s status as ‘The Boy Who Lived’ started to become clearer, and the bond and morals of both hero and villain began to blur our attention only became more rapt. Here, Rowling delivered a masterclass in protagonist and antagonist character development.
What do you think of our list? Do you agree with it? What would you change about it? Give us a shout on Social! And, if you've been inspired by this post, make sure to check out our exclusive Harry Potter gift ideas here !
