The Hero’s Journey in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone

Author: J. K. Rowling

Time Period: 1951 CE–2000 CE

Country or Culture: England; Scotland

Genre: Myth and Fantasy

Overview

J. K. Rowling’s debut novel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, was published in Great Britain by Bloomsbury in 1997. A year later, Scholastic published an American edition, retitled Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Though the initial print run was small, the book soon soared into the ranks of best sellers and stayed on top of those lists for the next several years. Rowling’s successive novels in the series also reached the top spots in sales and popularity, and the Warner Bros. films based on the novels were similarly successful.

The Harry Potter series comprises seven titles. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone introduces readers to eleven-year-old Harry Potter, his friends, his teachers, the wizarding world, and the ultimate enemy, Lord Voldemort; his adventure in the first novel revolves around a stone that provides the elixir of life. In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (1998), Harry must save his best friend Ron’s little sister, Ginny, from a serpentine monster that has been released from a hidden chamber in the school. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (1999) introduces Sirius Black, Harry’s godfather. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2000) provides a training ground for Harry as he competes in the Triwizard Tournament and announces Voldemort’s return to power. In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2003), the war against Voldemort has begun, and one society of those who will fight against him is reunited while another is born. It is in this novel that Harry hears the prophecy that doomed his parents and forced him into the role of Voldemort’s most dangerous foe. The sixth book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2005), provides a glimpse into Voldemort’s past as the war escalates. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (2007), the final novel in the series, showcases the final battles that Harry must fight not only within himself but also with his greatest enemy.

Harry Potter is undoubtedly a hero, and it seems clear that Rowling developed his story with the hero’s journey pattern in mind. This pattern, also known as the monomyth and defined by comparative mythologist Joseph Campbell in The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949), is evident not only in each individual book but also over the course of the series. Campbell’s journey consists of three major stages (departure, initiation, and return), introduces the hero to a variety of helpers (supernatural and otherwise), and follows the hero through a series of tests and trials. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’sStone not only provides the call to adventure for the series-long journey but also depicts a self-contained journey that revolves around Harry’s entry into the wizarding world and Lord Voldemort’s first attempt at a return to power.

Summary

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone begins with a celebration among wizards throughout the United Kingdom. Lord Voldemort, the most evil wizard of all time, has been defeated. Unfortunately, Lord Voldemort’s defeat has come at a price; wizards James and Lily Potter are dead, leaving their one-year-old son, Harry, orphaned. Harry is left in the questionable care of his mother’s sister, Petunia Dursley, and her husband, Vernon.

Life with the Dursleys is not easy. Vernon is a businessman who hates anything out of the ordinary, while Petunia is a busybody who was jealous of her sister’s magical abilities. Their only child, Dudley, is a spoiled bully who makes Harry’s life miserable. Harry is made to sleep in a closet under the stairs and to wear Dudley’s old clothes. Though the Dursleys are awful to Harry throughout his time with them, perhaps the worst thing they do is hide his true nature from him. He grows up doing unexpected things, such as growing his hair back after a particularly horrible haircut and turning his teacher’s hair blue, but he does not know how he is doing these things or even that he is, in fact, doing them.

“A breeze ruffled the neat hedges of Privet Drive . . . the very last place you would expect astonishing things to happen. Harry Potter rolled over inside his blankets without waking up. . . . He couldn’t know that at this very moment, people meeting in secret all over the country were holding up their glasses and saying in hushed voices: ‘To Harry Potter—the boy who lived!’”

Right before Harry’s eleventh birthday, a letter arrives for him, but Vernon quickly confiscates it. He and Petunia are horrified by the contents, an invitation for Harry to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The Dursleys are unable to ignore the invitation, as hundreds of letters follow the first, so Vernon instead takes his family on a cross-country trek in an effort to escape the taint of magic. Just when he thinks he has found the perfect hiding spot, a shack on a rock off the coast, magic makes an undeniable appearance. At midnight on Harry’s birthday, the imposing Rubeus Hagrid knocks down the door of the shack and introduces Harry to his birthright.

Hagrid, the gamekeeper for Hogwarts, has been sent to hand-deliver Harry’s school invitation. Harry is thrilled to learn that something is finally going right in his life: he is a wizard. Since Harry’s aunt and uncle have avoided telling him about his heritage, Hagrid must relate Harry’s background. He explains that Harry’s parents were murdered by Lord Voldemort but that Harry survived and is credited with destroying Voldemort, as the evil wizard disappeared after the attack. Ignoring the Dursleys’ protests, Hagrid takes Harry on a wondrous journey to purchase his school supplies in Diagon Alley, the hidden magical district of London, where he visits wizard bank Gringotts, bookstore Flourish and Blotts, and wand shop Ollivanders. The only blot on the day, the best birthday of Harry’s life, is his brief encounter with Draco Malfoy, who will become Harry’s biggest rival at school.

A month later, Harry goes to King’s Cross Station to meet the Hogwarts Express. Struggling to find his train, he quickly realizes that he does not know how to cross the magical barrier that conceals Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. Harry asks the help of a friendly-looking woman accompanied by five red-haired children, thus meeting the Weasley family and the boy who will become his best friend, Ron Weasley, for the first time.

The journey on the Hogwarts Express begins Harry’s true immersion into the wizarding world. He realizes that he is a celebrity; nearly all of the other children have grown up knowing who Harry is—the Boy Who Lived. Harry becomes friends with Ron, and other major characters are introduced, including Hermione Granger and Neville Longbottom. Upon arrival at Hogwarts, the new students are sorted into the four school houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Harry and his new friends all join Gryffindor, a house known for its students’ bravery.

Harry’s year at school progresses as one might expect, with highs and lows depending on his schoolwork and extracurricular activities. He enjoys classes with Charms teacher Professor Flitwick and Transfiguration teacher Professor McGonagall. He hopes to be fascinated by Professor Quirrell’s Defense against the Dark Arts class, and he dreads History of Magic with boring Professor Binns, a teacher who is a ghost, and Potions with Professor Snape, who seems evil and hates Harry. He learns to fly a broom and is appointed to the position of seeker on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Adventures include a fight with a mountain troll, an encounter with a dragon, and a trip into the Forbidden Forest. Then, Harry and his friends learn of a break-in at Gringotts that occurred on the day he was there with Hagrid. He realizes that the vault that was broken into was the very same vault Hagrid had cleared.

The specific adventure of the first novel ensues as Harry, Ron, and Hermione seek information about the item that Hagrid removed from the vault for safekeeping: the Philosopher’s Stone, a magical object capable of creating an elixir of life. Harry and his friends realize that the stone is now hidden in Hogwarts, protected by enchantments created by the teachers. Harry believes Professor Snape is going to steal the stone to help Lord Voldemort return and terrorize the wizarding world once again, so at the end of the school year, the trio tackles the obstacles protecting the treasure. As they overcome these tests, Ron and Hermione are forced to remain behind, and Harry must continue on alone.

After arriving in the room where the Philosopher’s Stone is being kept, Harry learns that it is not Professor Snape but Professor Quirrell who has been aiding Voldemort in his attempted return to power. Harry outsmarts both Quirrell and Voldemort in his desire to save the stone. As a result, he triumphantly prevents Lord Voldemort from returning to physical form and ultimately helps the Gryffindors win the coveted House Cup. Harry returns to the Dursleys for the summer with a lighter heart and the knowledge that his cruel relatives do not know he is not allowed to do magic outside of school.

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