Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Plot

Harry Potter lives with his abusive uncle and aunt, Vernon and Petunia Dursley, and their bullying son, Dudley, in the fictional English town of Little Whinging. On Harry's eleventh birthday, he learns that he is a wizard when a man named Rubeus Hagrid invites him to attend Hogwarts, a school of magic. Hagrid explains that when Harry was an infant, a Dark wizard named Voldemort murdered Harry's parents and tried to kill Harry as well. However, Voldemort's killing curse rebounded and seemingly destroyed him, leaving a lightning bolt-shaped scar on Harry's forehead.

Hagrid takes Harry to Diagon Alley, where Harry discovers he is famous among wizards. He buys a wand, an owl named Hedwig, and other school supplies. A month later, Harry takes the Hogwarts Express to Hogwarts. During the journey, he befriends Ron Weasley, a fellow first-year student. He also meets Hermione Granger and has a confrontation with Draco Malfoy. At Hogwarts, a magical Sorting Hat assigns each first-year student to a House. Harry, Ron, and Hermione are assigned to Gryffindor, although the Hat considers putting Harry in Slytherin.

Harry's skill at broomstick flying earns him a place on the Gryffindor Quidditch team as the Seeker. He develops a dislike for the Potions professor Severus Snape, who seems to hate Harry. One night, Harry and Ron discover a gigantic three-headed dog guarding a trapdoor. The two boys later save Hermione from a troll and begin a friendship with her. During Harry's first Quidditch match, his broomstick attempts to throw him off. Snape's strange behaviour during the match convinces Hermione that Snape jinxed Harry's broom. On Christmas, Harry receives an anonymous gift—his father's invisibility cloak. While using the cloak to explore the school undetected, he discovers the Mirror of Erised, which shows the viewer what they most desire. Harry sees his parents in the mirror.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione learn that the three-headed dog is guarding a magical object called the Philosopher's Stone, which grants its user immortality. A centaur named Firenze warns Harry that Voldemort is plotting to steal the Stone to restore his body. When the headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, is lured away from Hogwarts, Harry and his friends fear the theft is imminent and descend through the trapdoor to retrieve the Stone. Various obstacles force Ron and Hermione to remain behind while Harry approaches the Stone. He encounters Professor Quirrell, the Defence Against the Dark Arts instructor, who explains that he serves Voldemort and that it was he who jinxed Harry's broom; Snape was trying to save Harry during the match. Quirrell attempts to retrieve the Stone from the Mirror of Erised, but cannot figure out how. When Harry looks in the Mirror, he feels the Stone drop into his pocket. Quirrell then reveals that Voldemort has possessed his body, and shows Harry Voldemort's face on the back of his head. Quirrell attempts to seize the Stone, but his flesh burns upon contact with Harry. As Harry and Quirrell struggle, Harry's scar begins to burn, and he passes out.

Harry awakens in the school's infirmary. Dumbledore explains that Harry survived because he is protected by a magical charm that was created when his mother died trying to protect him. Quirrell's hatred and greed caused him to burn upon contact with Harry, and Voldemort abandoned him to die. Dumbledore also reveals that the Stone has been destroyed. During the school's end-of-year feast, Gryffindor is awarded the House Cup. Harry then returns to the home of the Dursleys for the summer.

Characters

• Harry Potter is an orphan whom Rowling imagined as a "scrawny, black-haired, green eyed and bespectacled boy who didn't know he was a wizard." She developed the series' story and characters to explain how Harry came to be in this situation and how his life unfolded from there. Apart from the first chapter, the events of this book take place just before and in the year following Harry's eleventh birthday. Voldemort's attack left a lightning bolt-shaped scar on Harry's forehead, which produces stabbing pains whenever Voldemort is present. Harry has a natural talent for Quidditch and became the first person in a century to get on their team in their first year.
• Ron Weasley is Harry's age, and Rowling describes him as the ultimate best friend "always there when you need him". He is freckled, red-haired, and quite tall. He grew up in a fairly large pure-blood family as the sixth born of seven children. Although his family is quite poor, they still live comfortably and happily. His loyalty and bravery in the face of a game of Wizard Chess plays a vital part in finding the Philosopher's Stone.
• Hermione Granger, the daughter of an all-Muggle family, is a bossy girl who has apparently memorised most of the textbooks before the start of term. Rowling described Hermione as a "very logical, upright, and good" character with "a lot of insecurity and a great fear of failure beneath her swottiness". Despite her nagging efforts to keep Harry and Ron out of trouble, she becomes a close friend of the two boys after they save her from a troll and her magical and analytical skills play an important role in finding the Philosopher's Stone. She has bushy brown hair and rather large front teeth.
• Neville Longbottom is a plump, diffident boy, so forgetful that his grandmother gives him a Remembrall, to remind him if he forgets something. Neville's magical abilities are weak and appeared just in time to save his life when he was eight. Despite his timidity, Neville will fight anyone after some encouragement or if he thinks it is right and important.
• Rubeus Hagrid, a half-giant nearly 12 ft tall, with tangled black hair and beard, who was expelled from Hogwarts and his wand was snapped in half (resulting in him never to use a wand again), though Professor Dumbledore let him stay on as the school's gamekeeper, a job which enables him to give lavish affection, care and even pet names (such as Norbert the dragon) on even the most dangerous of magical creatures. Hagrid is fiercely loyal to Dumbledore and quickly becomes a close friend of Harry, Ron and, later, Hermione, but his carelessness makes him unreliable.
• Professor Albus Dumbledore, a tall, thin man who wears half-moon spectacles and has silver hair and a beard that tucks into his belt, is the headmaster of Hogwarts, and thought to be the only wizard Voldemort fears. Dumbledore, while renowned for his achievements in magic, shrugs off praise, though he is aware of his own brilliance. Rowling described him as the "epitome of goodness".
• Professor Minerva McGonagall, a tall, severe-looking woman with black hair tied in a tight bun, teaches Transfiguration and is able to transform herself into a cat. She is Deputy Headmistress and Head of Gryffindor House.
• Petunia Dursley, the sister of Harry's mother Lily, is a thin woman with a long neck that she uses for spying on the neighbours. As a Muggle, she regards her magical sister as a freak and tries to pretend that she never existed.
• Vernon Dursley, the husband of Petunia Dursley, is a heavily built man whose irascible bluster covers a narrow mind and a fear of anything unusual.
• Dudley Dursley is an overweight, spoilt bully and Harry's cousin.
• Draco Malfoy is a slim, pale boy who speaks in a bored drawl. He is arrogant about his skill in Quidditch, and despises anyone who is not a pure-blood wizard and wizards who do not share his views. His parents had supported Voldemort, but changed sides after the dark wizard's disappearance, claiming they had been bewitched. Draco avoids direct confrontations and tries to get Harry and his friends into trouble.
• Oliver Wood is Harry's Quidditch captain and keeper for the Gryffindor Quidditch team.
• Professor Quirrell is a twitching, stammering, and nervous man who teaches Defence Against the Dark Arts. Reputedly he was a brilliant scholar, but his nerve was shattered by an encounter with vampires. Quirrell wears a turban to conceal the fact that he is voluntarily possessed by Voldemort, whose face appears on the back of Quirrell's head.
• Professor Severus Snape, who has a hooked nose, sallow complexion, and greasy black hair, teaches Potions, but would prefer to teach Defence Against the Dark Arts. Snape favours pupils in his own House of Slytherin, and appears to delight in humiliating those from other houses, especially Harry. Several incidents, beginning with the shooting pain in Harry's scar during the start-of-term feast, lead Harry and his friends to think Snape is aiding Voldemort.
• Argus Filch, the school caretaker who knows the school's secret passages better than anyone else except, perhaps, the Weasley twins. His cat, Mrs. Norris, aids his constant hunt for misbehaving pupils.

Other members of staff include: the dumpy Herbology teacher and Head of Hufflepuff House Professor Sprout, Professor Flitwick, the tiny and excitable Charms teacher and Head of Ravenclaw House, the soporific History of magic teacher, Professor Binns, a ghost who does not seem to have noticed his own death, and Madam Hooch, the Quidditch coach, who is strict, but a considerate and methodical teacher. The poltergeist Peeves wanders around the castle causing trouble wherever he can.

In the book, Rowling introduces an eclectic cast of characters. The first character to be introduced is Vernon Dursley, Harry's uncle. Most of the actions centre on the eponymous hero, Harry Potter, an orphan who escapes his miserable childhood with the Dursley family. Rowling imagined him as a "scrawny, black-haired, bespectacled boy who didn't know he was a wizard" and says she transferred part of her pain about losing her mother to him. During the book, Harry makes two close friends, Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger. Ron is described by Rowling as the ultimate best friend, "always there when you need him". Rowling has described Hermione as a "very logical, upright and good" character with "a lot of insecurity and a great fear of failure beneath her swottiness".

Rowling also imagined a supporting cast of adults. The headmaster of Hogwarts is the powerful, but kind wizard Albus Dumbledore, who becomes Harry's confidant. Rowling described him as "the epitome of goodness". His right hand is severe Minerva McGonagall, the friendly half-giant Rubeus Hagrid, who saved Harry from the Dursley family and the sinister Severus Snape. Professor Quirrell is also featured in the novel.

The main antagonists are Draco Malfoy, an elitist, bullying classmate, and Lord Voldemort, the most powerful evil wizard who becomes disembodied when he tries to kill baby Harry. According to a 1999 interview with Rowling, the character of Voldemort was created as a literary foil for Harry and his backstory was intentionally not fleshed-out at first:

Development, publication and reception

Development

The book, which was Rowling's debut novel, was written between approximately June 1990 and some time in 1995. In 1990, Jo Rowling, as she preferred to be known, wanted to move with her boyfriend to a flat in Manchester and in her words, "One weekend after flat hunting, I took the train back to London on my own and the idea for Harry Potter fell into my head... A scrawny, little, black-haired, bespectacled boy became more and more of a wizard to me... I began to write Philosopher's Stone that very evening. Although, the first couple of pages look nothing like the finished product." Then, Rowling's mother died and, to cope with her pain, Rowling transferred her own anguish to the orphan Harry. Rowling spent six years working on Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

Rowling sent the book to a literary agent and a publisher and then the second agent she approached spent a year trying to sell the book to publishers, most of whom thought it was too long at about 90,000 words. Barry Cunningham, who was building a portfolio of distinctive fantasies by new authors for Bloomsbury Children's Books, recommended accepting the book and the eight-year-old daughter of Bloomsbury's chief executive said it was "so much better than anything else".

After it was accepted by Bloomsbury, she obtained a grant of £8,000 from the Scottish Arts Council, which enabled her to plan the sequels.

Publication and reception in the United Kingdom

Bloomsbury accepted the book, paying Rowling a £2,500 advance and Cunningham sent proof copies to carefully chosen authors, critics and booksellers in order to obtain comments that could be quoted when the book was launched. He was less concerned about the book's length than about its author's name, since the title sounded like a boys' book to him and he believed boys preferred books by male authors. Rowling therefore adopted the pen name J. K. Rowling just before publication.

In June 1997, Bloomsbury published Philosopher's Stone with an initial print run of 500 copies in hardback, three hundred of which were distributed to libraries. Her original name, "Joanne Rowling", can be found on the copyright page of all British editions until September 1999. (The 1998 first American edition would remove reference to "Joanne" completely.) The short initial print run was standard for first novels and Cunningham hoped booksellers would read the book and recommend it to customers. Examples from this initial print run have sold for as much as US$471,000 in a 2021 Heritage auction. Thomas Taylor created the cover for the first edition.

Lindsey Fraser, who had previously supplied one of the blurb comments, wrote what is thought to be the first published review, in The Scotsman on 28 June 1997. She described Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone as "a hugely entertaining thriller" and Rowling as "a first-rate writer for children". Another early review, in The Herald, said: "I have yet to find a child who can put it down." Newspapers outside Scotland started to notice the book, with glowing reviews in The Guardian and The Sunday Times and in September 1997 Books for Keeps, a magazine that specialised in children's books, gave the novel four stars out of five. Sunday Times said: "comparisons to Dahl are, this time, justified", while The Guardian called it "a richly textured novel given lift-off by an inventive wit" and The Scotsman said it had "all the makings of a classic".

In 1997 the UK edition won a National Book Award and a gold medal in the 9- to 11-year-olds category of the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize.{{cite journal

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone won two publishing industry awards given for sales rather than literary merit, the British Book Awards Children's Book of the Year and the Booksellers' Association / Bookseller Author of the Year. By March 1999 UK editions had sold just over 300,000 copies and the story was still the UK's best-selling title in December 2001. A Braille edition was published in May 1998 by the Scottish Braille Press.

Platform , from which the Hogwarts Express left London, was commemorated in the real-life King's Cross railway station with a sign and a trolley apparently passing through the wall.

US publication and reception

Scholastic Corporation bought the US rights at the Bologna Book Fair in April 1997 for US$105,000, an unusually high sum for a children's book. Scholastic's Arthur Levine thought that "philosopher" sounded too archaic for readers and after some discussion (including the proposed title "Harry Potter and the School of Magic"), the American edition was published in September 1998 under the title Rowling suggested, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Rowling later said that she regretted this change and would have fought it if she had been in a stronger position at the time. Philip Nel has pointed out that the change lost the connection with alchemy and some other changes lost the meaning of other terms changed in translation, for example from "crumpet" to "muffin". While Rowling accepted the change from both the British English "mum" and Seamus Finnigan's Irish variant "mam" to the American variant "mom" in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, she vetoed this change in the later books, which was then reversed in later editions of Philosopher's Stone. However, Nel considered that Scholastic's translations were considerably more sensitive than most of those imposed on British English books of the time and that some other changes could be regarded as useful copyedits. Since the UK editions of early titles in the series were published months prior to the American versions, some American readers became familiar with the British English versions owing to having bought them from online retailers. Rowling gives this explanation:

At first the most prestigious reviewers ignored the book, leaving it to book trade and library publications such as Kirkus Reviews and Booklist, which examined it only by the entertainment-oriented criteria of children's fiction. However, more penetrating specialist reviews (such as one by Cooperative Children's Book Center Choices, which noted complexity, depth and consistency in the world that Rowling had built) attracted the attention of reviewers in major newspapers. Although The Boston Globe and Michael Winerip in The New York Times complained that the final chapters were the weakest part of the book, they and most other American reviewers gave glowing praise. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was generally well received by critics. The New York Times writer Michael Winerip praised the novel saying, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is as funny, moving and impressive as the story behind its writing." However he felt that the story-telling in the last few chapters was poor, and also did not appreciate characters behaving unlike themselves to advance the plot. In 1998, Publishers Weekly described the novel as "A delightful award-winning debut from an author who dances in the footsteps of P.L. Travers and Roald Dahl." --A year later, the US edition was selected as an American Library Association Notable Book, a Publishers Weekly Best Book of 1998 and a New York Public Library 1998 Best Book of the Year and won Parenting Magazine Book of the Year Award for 1998, the School Library Journal Best Book of the Year and the American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults. In 2012 it was ranked number 3 on a list of the top 100 children's novels published by School Library Journal.

In August 1999, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone topped the New York Times list of best-selling fiction and stayed near the top of the list for much of 1999 and 2000, until the New York Times split its list into children's and adult sections under pressure from other publishers who were eager to see their books given higher placings. Publishers Weekly report in December 2001 on cumulative sales of children's fiction placed Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone 19th among hardbacks (over 5 million copies) and 7th among paperbacks (over 6.6 million copies).

In May 2008, Scholastic announced the creation of a 10th Anniversary Edition of the book that was released on 1 October 2008 to mark the tenth anniversary of the original American release. For the fifteenth anniversary of the books, Scholastic re-released Sorcerer's Stone, along with the other six novels in the series, with new cover art by Kazu Kibuishi in 2013.

Translations

Main article: Harry Potter in translation

By mid-2008, official translations of the book had been published in 67 languages. By November 2017, the book had been translated into 80 languages, the 80th being Lowland Scots. In 2025, Rowling's website reported that the novel had been translated into 85 languages. Bloomsbury have published translations in Latin and in Ancient Greek, with the latter being described as "one of the most important pieces of Ancient Greek prose written in many centuries".

Style and themes

Philip Nel has drawn attention to Jane Austen's influence on Rowling, whom Rowling has admired since the age of twelve. The styles of both novelists encourage rereading, as details that appear insignificant are discovered to foreshadow important events or characters much later in the story (for example, the brief mention of Sirius Black near the beginning of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone foreshadows his importance as a major character in the third to fifth books). Like Austen's heroines, Harry often finds himself re-examining his beliefs as the books draw to a close. Also reminiscent of Austen is the lively social custom of the communal reading of letters. Furthermore, both authors satirise social behaviour and give characters names that reinforce their personalities. However, for Nel, one point of divergence between the two authors is that Rowling's humor tends towards caricature, with names resembling those found in the works of Charles Dickens. Amanda Cockrell further noted that Rowling's names invoke the dominant trait of their owners through allusions drawn from sources as varied as Roman mythology and eighteenth-century German literature. Rowling, like C. S. Lewis (author of the Narnia series), blurs the distinction between juvenile and adult fiction. Nel also noted that, like many good writers for children, Rowling combines several literary genresfantasy, young adult fiction, boarding school stories, and Bildungsroman, among others.

Some reviewers compared Philosopher's Stone to the stories of Roald Dahl, who died in 1990. Many writers since the 1970s had been hailed as his successor, but none had attained anything near his popularity with children and, in a poll conducted shortly after the launch of Philosopher's Stone, seven of the ten most popular children's books were by Dahl, including the one in top place. The only other children's author of comparable popularity in the late 1990s was an American, R. L. Stine. Some of the story elements in Philosopher's Stone resembled parts of Dahl's stories. For example, the hero of James and the Giant Peach lost his parents and had to live with a pair of unpleasant auntsone fat and one thin rather like Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, who treated Harry as a servant. However Harry Potter was a distinctive creation, able to take on the responsibilities of an adult while remaining a child inside.

Librarian Nancy Knapp and marketing professor Stephen Brown noted the liveliness and detail of descriptions, especially of shop scenes such as Diagon Alley. Tad Brennan commented that Rowling's writing resembles that of Homer: "rapid, plain, and direct in expression". Stephen King admired "the sort of playful details of which only British fantasists seem capable" and concluded that they worked because Rowling enjoys a quick giggle and then moves briskly forward.

Nicholas Tucker described the early Harry Potter books as looking back to Victorian and Edwardian children's stories: Hogwarts was an old-style boarding school in which the teachers addressed pupils formally by their surnames and were most concerned with the reputations of the houses with which they were associated; characters' personalities were plainly shown by their appearances, starting with the Dursleys; evil or malicious characters were to be crushed rather than reformed, including Argus Filch's cat Mrs Norris; and the hero, a mistreated orphan who found his true place in life, was charismatic and good at sports, but considerate and protective towards the weak. Several other commentators have noted that the books present a rigidly stratified society and include many social stereotypes. However, Karin Westerman drew parallels with 1990s Britain: a class system that was breaking down but defended by those whose power and status it upheld; the multi-ethnic composition of Hogwarts' students; the racial tensions between the various intelligent species; and school bullying.

Susan Hall wrote that there is no rule of law in the books, as the actions of Ministry of Magic officials are unconstrained by laws, accountability or any kind of legal challenge. This provides Voldemort an opportunity to offer his own horrific version of order. As a side-effect, Harry and Hermione, who were brought up in the rigidly regulated Muggle world, find solutions by thinking in ways unfamiliar to wizards. For example, Hermione notes that one obstacle to finding the Philosopher's Stone is a test of logic rather than magical power, and that most wizards have no chance of solving it.

Nel suggested that the unflattering characterisation of the dully conventional, status-conscious, materialistic Dursleys was Rowling's reaction to the family policies of the British government in the early 1990s, which treated the married heterosexual couple as the "preferred norm", at a time when the author was a single mother. Harry's relationships with adult and juvenile wizards spring from affection and loyalty. This is evident from his pleasure in being an occasional temporary member of the Weasley family, and in his treatment of first Rubeus Hagrid and later Remus Lupin and Sirius Black as father-figures.

Legacy

Sequels

The second book, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, was originally published in the UK on 2 July 1998 and later, in the US on 2 June 1999. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was then published a year later in the UK on 8 July 1999 and in the US on 8 September 1999. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was published on 8 July 2000 at the same time by Bloomsbury and Scholastic. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is the longest book in the series at 766 pages in the UK version and 870 pages in the US version. It was published worldwide in English on 21 June 2003. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was published on 16 July 2005 and sold 11 million copies in the first 24 hours of its worldwide release. The seventh and final novel, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, was published on 21 July 2007. The book sold 11 million copies within 24 hours of its release: 2.7 million copies in the UK and 8.3 million in the US.

Illustrated version

An illustrated version of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was released on 6 October 2015, with illustrations by Jim Kay. The book carries over 100 illustrations and will be followed by illustrated versions of all seven books from the series by the same artist.

Audio books

On 20 November 2015, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was released in audio book format simultaneously both in the UK and the US by Pottermore Publishing. The UK edition is narrated by Stephen Fry and the US edition is narrated by Jim Dale. On 4 November 2025, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was released as a full-cast audio edition internationally by Pottermore Publishing and Amazon's subsidiary, Audible.

Podcast version

In May 2020, a reading podcast by Spotify was created and entitled Harry Potter at Home: Readings. Each chapter is narrated by a celebrity guest from the Harry Potter and Wizarding World franchises.

Film adaptation

Main article: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film)

In 1999, Rowling sold the film rights of the first two Harry Potter books to Warner Bros. for a reported £1 million. Rowling demanded that the principal cast be kept strictly British, but allowed for the casting of Irish actors such as Richard Harris as Dumbledore and of foreign actors as characters of the same nationalities in later books. After extensive casting, filming began in September 2000 at Leavesden Film Studios and in London, with production ending in July 2001. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was released in London on 14 November 2001. Reviewers' comments were positive, as reflected by an 81% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and by a score of 65% at Metacritic, representing "generally favourable reviews".

Video games

Main article: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (PlayStation video game), Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (PC video game), Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Game Boy Advance video game), Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Game Boy Color video game), Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2003 video game)

Five independent video games by different developers were released between 2001 and 2003 by Electronic Arts, that were loosely based on the film and book:

Uses in education and business

Writers on education and business subjects have used the book as an object lesson. Writing about clinical teaching in medical schools, Jennifer Conn contrasted Snape's technical expertise with his intimidating behaviour towards students. Quidditch coach Madam Hooch on the other hand illustrated useful techniques in the teaching of physical skills, including breaking down complex actions into sequences of simple ones and helping students to avoid common errors. Joyce Fields wrote that the books illustrate four of the five main topics in a typical first-year sociology class: "sociological concepts including culture, society, and socialisation; stratification and social inequality; social institutions; and social theory".

Stephen Brown noted that the early Harry Potter books, especially Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, were a runaway success despite inadequate and poorly organised marketing. Brown advised marketing executives to be less preoccupied with rigorous statistical analyses and the "analysis, planning, implementation, and control" model of management. Instead he recommended that they should treat the stories as "a marketing masterclass", full of enticing products and brand names. For example, a real-world analogue of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans was introduced under licence in 2000 by toymaker Hasbro.

Release history

Notes

References

Works cited

References

1. (15 March 2017). "20th Century in Bite-Sized Chunks". Book Sales.
2. (5 September 2018). "Burbank Public Library offering digital copies of first 'Harry Potter' novel to recognize the book's 20th anniversary".
3. (2007). "J.K. Rowling Official Site: Biography". J. K. Rowling.
4. (20 October 1999). "Interview with J.K. Rowling".
5. (28 December 2001). "Harry Potter and Me".
6. (15 August 2004). "J.K. Rowling at the Edinburgh Book Festival". J. K. Rowling Official Site.
7. (13 July 2000). "J. K. Rowling Interview".
8. (12 October 1999). "J. K. Rowling Interview".
9. (23 October 2000). "Interview: J.K. Rowling".
10. Rowling, J. K.. (1997). "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone". Bloomsbury.
11. Riccio, Heather. (1995–2009). "Interview with JK Rowling, Author of Harry Potter". Hilary Magazine.
12. (3 July 2005). "Revealed: the eight-year-old girl who saved Harry Potter". [[The Independent]].
13. Kirk, Connie Ann. (1 January 2003). "J.K. Rowling: A Biography". Greenwood Publishing Group.
14. Lawless, John. (29 May 2005). "Nigel Newton". [[McGraw-Hill]].
15. Elisco, Lester. "The Phenomenon of Harry Potter". TomFolio.com.
16. (15 September 2014). "Harry Potter and the Mystery of the Author's Name". Princeton University.
17. (9 December 2021). "'Harry Potter' first edition sells for smashing $471,000". [[Reuters]].
18. Eccleshare, Julia. (2002). "A guide to the Harry Potter novels". Continuum International.
19. Nel, Philip. (2001). "J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter novels: a reader's guide". Continuum International.
20. "Awards". [[Arthur A. Levine Books]].
21. [https://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/bigread/top100.shtml "BBC – The Big Read"] {{webarchive. link. (31 October 2012 . BBC. April 2003, Retrieved 12 December 2013)
22. (27 March 1999). "Children's Books: Bestsellers". The Independent.
23. Jury, J.. (22 December 2001). "Harry Potter hides fall in number of books sold a downturn in book sales". The Independent.
24. Thomas, Scott. (2007). "The Making of the Potterverse: A Month-by-Month Look at Harry's First 10 Years". [[ECW Press]].
25. (17 February 2009). "Platform alteration for Hogwarts Express as King's Cross upgrade steps up a gear". [[Network Rail]].
26. (7 May 2010). "Differences in the UK and US Versions of Four Harry Potter Books". [[University of Tampere]].
27. J. K. Rowling. "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Book 1)". Amazon.com.
28. (August 2018). "Why is it Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and not the Philosopher's Stone?".
29. (1 September 2018). "The first Harry Potter book wasn't perfect, but it was magic".
30. "Meet Author J.K. Rowling". [[Scholastic Press.
31. (12 March 2001). "BBC "Red Nose Day" Online Chat Transcript". [[MuggleNet]].
32. Nel, Philip. (2004). "The ivory tower and Harry Potter". [[University of Missouri Press]].
33. Cowell, Alan. (18 October 1999). "Harry Potter and the Magic Stock; A Children's Book Series Helps Rejuvenate a British Publisher". The New York Times.
34. (2004). "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001)". Jon Haglund.
35. Winerip, Michael. (14 February 1999). "Children's Books". The New York Times.
36. (1998). "Editorial Reviews". Reed Business Information, Inc..
37. Bird, Elizabeth. (7 July 2012). "Top 100 Chapter Book Poll Results". A Fuse #8 Production. Blog. [[School Library Journal]] (blog.schoollibraryjournal.com).
38. "New York Times Best Seller Number Ones Listing Fiction By Date". Hawes Publications.
39. Beckett, Sandra L.. (2008). "Crossover Fiction". [[Taylor & Francis]].
40. Unsworth, John M.. "20th-Century American Bestsellers". [[UIUC Graduate School of Library and Information Science]].
41. (17 December 2001). "All-Time Bestselling Children's Books". [[Publishers Weekly]].
42. (20 May 2008). "Scholastic Reveals Sorcerer's Stone Anniversary Edition". [[MuggleNet]].
43. (2008). "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, 10th Anniversary Edition". A.A. Levine Books.
44. Derschowitz, Jessica. (13 February 2013). ""Harry Potter" gets new book covers for 15th anniversary". CBS Interactive Inc.
45. (13 February 2013). "Scholastic Reveals New Book Cover For 'Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone'". AOL Lifestyle.
46. Liu, Jonathan. (13 February 2013). "New Harry Potter Covers by Kazu Kibuishi".
47. (3 October 2008). "Rowling 'makes £5 every second'". BBC.
48. Dammann, Guy. (18 June 2008). "Harry Potter breaks 400m in sales". Guardian News and Media Limited.
49. (10 November 2017). "First book in Harry Potter series translated into Scots".
50. "J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter™".
51. Rowling, J. K.. (2003). "Harrius Potter et Philosophi Lapis". Bloomsbury USA Children's Books.
52. Rowling. J. K.. Bloomsbury USA Children's Books. (2004). link
53. Brennan, Tad. (7 August 2005). "J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Translated into Ancient Greek by Andrew Wilson". [[Bryn Mawr College]].
54. Cockrell, Amanda. (2004). "The ivory tower and Harry Potter". University of Missouri Press.
55. King, Stephen. (23 July 2000). "Wild About Harry". [[The New York Times]].
56. Tucker, Nicholas. (December 1999). "The Rise and Rise of Harry Potter". Children's Literature in Education.
57. Fields, Joyce W.. (2007). "''Harry Potter'', Benjamin Bloom, and the Sociological Imagination". International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education.
58. Westman, Karin E.. (2004). "The ivory tower and Harry Potter". University of Missouri Press.
59. Hall, Susan. (2003). "Reading Harry Potter". Greenwood Publishing.
60. (14 July 2007). "A Potter timeline for muggles". Toronto Star.
61. "Harry Potter: Meet J.K. Rowling". Scholastic Inc.
62. (19 July 2000). "Speed-reading after lights out". [[Guardian News and Media Limited]].
63. Harmon, Amy. (14 July 2003). "Harry Potter and the Internet Pirates". The New York Times.
64. Cassy, John. (16 January 2003). "Harry Potter and the hottest day of summer". Guardian News and Media Limited.
65. (21 December 2004). "July date for Harry Potter book". BBC.
66. (23 July 2007). "Harry Potter finale sales hit 11 m". BBC News.
67. (1 February 2007). "Rowling unveils last Potter date". BBC.
68. (23 July 2007). "Harry Potter finale sales hit 11 m". BBC.
69. "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone: Illustrated Edition". [[Bloomsbury Publishing]].
70. De Vera, Ruel S.. (6 March 2016). "Illustrated edition offers 'Harry Potter' fans a unique reading experience".
71. https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/Harry-Potter-and-the-Philosophers-Stone-Book-1-Audiobook/B017V568SY?source_code=ASSGB149080119000H&share_location=pdp
72. https://www.audible.com/pd/Harry-Potter-and-the-Sorcerers-Stone-Book-1-Audiobook/B017V4IM1G?source_code=ASSGB149080119000H&share_location=pdp
73. https://www.audible.com/pd/Harry-Potter-and-the-Philosophers-Stone-Full-Cast-Edition-Audiobook/B0F14XST77?source_code=ASSGB149080119000H&share_location=pdp
74. "Harry Potter At Home Readings".
75. (21 August 2000). "Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson bring Harry, Ron and Hermione to life for Warner Bros. Pictures' 'Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone'". Warner Brothers.
76. Schmitz, Greg Dean. "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001)". Yahoo! Movies.
77. (15 November 2001). "Potter Casts Spell at World Premiere". BBC News.
78. Linder, Brian. (17 May 2000). "Bewitched Warner Bros. Delays Potter".
79. "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001)".
80. "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone".
81. "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone for PC". [[GameRankings]].
82. "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (PC)".
83. "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone for PlayStation". GameRankings.
84. "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (PSX)".
85. "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone for Game Boy Color". GameRankings.
86. "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone for Game Boy Advance". GameRankings.
87. "Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (GBA)".
88. (15 April 2002). "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Mac)". Future Publishing Limited.
89. "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone for GameCube". GameRankings.
90. "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Cube)".
91. "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone for PlayStation 2". GameRankings.
92. "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (PS2)".
93. "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone for Xbox". GameRankings.
94. "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Xbox)".
95. Conn, Jennifer J.. (2002). "What can clinical teachers learn from ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone''?". Medical Education.
96. Brown, Stephen. (2002). "Marketing for Muggles: The Harry Potter way to higher profits". Business Horizons.
97. (11 February 2000). "Hasbro Wins Wide Range of Rights for Harry Potter from Warner Bros. Consumer Products". [[Time Warner]].
98. "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Book 1)".
99. "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Book 1)".
100. "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Book 1)".
101. "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Book 1)".
102. "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Book 1)".
103. "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Book 1)".
104. "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Book 1)".
105. "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone".
106. "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Harry Potter 1 Adult Cover)".
107. "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Harry Potter, 1)".
108. "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Harry Potter, 1)".
109. "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Illustrated Hardcover)".
110. "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone".
111. "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone".
112. (1 September 1998). "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone".
113. (1998). "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Book 1)". A.A. Levine Books.
114. (October 2000). "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone". Scholastic.
115. (1997). "Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone (mm)". Scholastic Incorporated.
116. (29 September 2008). "New cover for Sorcerer's Stone paperback edition". [[MuggleNet]].
117. (2013). "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Book 1)". Scholastic.
118. (2015). "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Book 1)". A.A. Levine Books.
119. "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Harry Potter, Book 1) (MinaLima Edition) (1)".
120. "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone British Children's Cloth Edition".
121. "Harry Potter and Philosopher's Stone".
122. "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone: Deluxe Gift Edition".
123. "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone Children's Paperback Edition".
124. "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone".
125. "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Book 1)".
126. "Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone".
127. "Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone".
128. "Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone".