British literature summaries - 2020
Short summary - Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Joanne Rowling
VERY BRIEFLY
The brave wizard boy confronts the dark magician, the killer of his parents, and makes every effort so that the villain does not get the philosopher's stone: the death of parents should not be in vain.
The Dursleys family hate everything unusual. But one day, strange people in bright clothes began to walk the streets and discuss the Dursleys nephew - one-year-old Harry Potter. At night, wizards appear near the Dursleys' house: Professor Dumbledore, director of the Hogwarts School of Magic, and a teacher from the same school. From their conversation, it becomes clear that the wizard-parents of Harry were killed by the dark magician Voldemort, whose name everyone is afraid to pronounce, except for Dumbledore. For some reason, the villain was not able to kill the boy, Voldemort was only able to leave a scar on the child’s forehead, similar to a lightning. The director decides to put Harry on the doorstep of the Dursleys: here the child will be safe.
The boy lives ten years with his aunt and uncle. He is deprived of warmth, all attention goes to his peer cousin, a fat spoiled boy, who, according to Harry, looks like a pig in a wig. Potter is beaten by a cousin, wears old clothes after him.
Cousin's birthday is coming. The Dursleys have to take Harry to the zoo with their son and his friend. Something incredible happens there: Harry turns to the snake, and she seems to understand him. Then the glass disappears in the terrarium, and the boa crawls out. Aunt and uncle find Harry guilty of this and punish.
After some time, a lot of identical letters arrive for Harry, but his uncle does not allow his nephew to read them. He takes the family to a hut on a cliff in the middle of the sea, hoping that they will not be found here. But at midnight, on Harry's eleventh birthday, the giant Hagrid appears in the hut and brings the boy a letter: Potter is invited to study at Hogwarts.
Hagrid gives Harry an owl for his birthday - in the wizarding world they carry mail. Also, the giant and the boy buy everything necessary for the school of magic, take some bundle and money for Potter left by his parents from the bank.
On the train, Harry rides with Ron Weasley. The boys immediately become friends, and the arrogant Malfoy Draco becomes their enemy. Already at school, between Ron and Harry and the Malfoy gang, clashes constantly occur, the guys regularly violate school rules, losing points for their Gryffindor faculty. Gryffindor’s nerdy and boring Hermione Granger once accidentally becomes a member of their nightly walk around school. They barely manage to go unnoticed. Hermione is outraged:
We could all be killed ... or, even worse, expelled from school.
In his first broomstick training lesson, Harry takes to the air, violating his teacher’s prohibition. That's because the nasty Malfoy tossed the gryffindor’s pupil’s magic ball high up. Potter brilliantly manages to catch the ball. His trick is noticed by one of the professors. Harry is already thinking about the expulsion, but instead the professor defines him as a catcher in the Gryffindor Quidditch team - the catcher during the match must catch a flying ball, which is very difficult to notice.
Hermione reprimands Harry and Ron for misconduct. Ron accidentally offends the girl, saying that her absence of friends is not surprising. Hermione leaves for a long time to cry in the toilet. At this time, a giant troll appears in the school. The students were ordered to go to the dorms, but worrying about Hermione, Ron and Harry walk towards her. In that wing, they notice Professor Snape, a gloomy and unpleasant teacher, especially Harry who did not like him. The guys manage to save Hermione from the troll, for which they receive points for the faculty. Hermione Granger becomes their friend.
There are events, having survived which, one cannot help but feel sympathy for each other. And the victory over the four-meter mountain troll, undoubtedly, refers to such events.
Harry finds out that on the day he appeared in the bank before the start of the school year, there was an attempt to steal something very valuable, but the safe was empty. The boy recalls that Hagrid took some kind of package from there. Friends at school find a room with a fierce three-headed dog guarding the hatch: apparently, there is a bundle. Children suspect that Snape wants to abduct him.
In the first Quidditch match, someone tries to throw Harry off the broom, but he manages to catch the ball and bring victory to Gryffindor. The guys think that the hated Snape wants to kill Potter.
Hagrid, in a conversation about the package, makes a reservation and pronounces the name of the magician unknown to the children. After a long search, they find out that he is the creator of the philosopher's stone. So Snape’s goal is stone.
Malfoy learns that Hagrid is holding a baby dragon, although this is prohibited. Ron the dragon bites his hand, and the boy falls into the hospital wing. Harry and Hermione decide to transfer the baby to Romania through brother Ron's friends at midnight on the roof of the school. There they make their way under the invisibility cloak given by Harry to the unknown for Christmas. But the children forget her on the roof, and in the corridor they are caught by an angry professor: she has already caught Malfoy. She believes that the story of the dragon was invented by Harry to provoke Malfoy to break the rules. All violators receive punishment: they will spend the night in the Forbidden Forest, and huge points are removed from their faculties. Now Gryffindor does not become the leader of the year. All students stop talking to Harry, despite his popularity.
In the forest, Harry sees a strange creature drinking the blood of a unicorn. The boy begins to get a terrible scar on his forehead. A centaur rescues Harry from a terrible creature. He explains that only those in whom there is nothing human left to drink unicorn blood. The boy thinks that Voldemort is involved in this.
Harry repeatedly hears Snape threatening Professor Quirell, a stutter stuttering. Friends believe that Quirell learned about Snape's intention to steal a stone, but can not resist it.
Director Dumbledore is leaving for an urgent matter. Harry, Ron and Hermione feel trouble and decide to enter the hatch, where the philosopher's stone is stored. Learning from Hagrid that the dog is put to sleep by music. Harry and Hermione take turns awkwardly extracting sounds from the flute, and the guys jump into the hatch. They cope with wizard spells, but only one can reach the end. In the dungeon, Harry meets Quirell. All this time, the professor was pretending, Snape guessed about his plans. It was Quirell who tried to kill Harry during the match, released the troll and drank the blood of a unicorn. Quirell hides on the back of his head the face of Voldemort, which the professor covered with a turban.
With the help of Potter, he wants to get a stone, but cannot touch the boy: Quirell gets terrible burns. During the battle, Harry faints.
Waking up in a school hospital, the boy sees Dumbledore in front of him: the director managed to save him. The professor explains that Potter was helped by the love of his mother, who now lives in Harry himself. It is love that is unbearable for Quirell and Voldemort, it burned Quirell at the touch of a child.
Love leaves its mark ... If you are loved so deeply, even when a person who loves you dies, you still remain under his protection.
Harry learns from the director that his father and Snape were at enmity, but Potter once saved his life. That is why Snape struggled to save Harry from Quirell, wanting to repay the debt to Potter.
The Philosopher's Stone will be destroyed by its six hundred year old creator. The boy is saddened by this news, because the creator of the stone will die. Dumbledore reassures:
For a highly organized mind, death is another adventure.
At the last school banquet, friends are awarded big points for their exploits, and Gryffindor becomes the leader of the year.