You're A Wizard Harry

Who here has not wanted to hear those three little words "You're a wizard", I know ever since reading Harry Potter and the Philosopher (Sorcerers)Stone (now known as PS) that I am convinced that my letter got lost in the Owl Post somewhere.  If that last sentence made any sense whatsoever then you are in the right place.  That is right people today is the first post in my Harry Potter (HP) re-read!  This will be a bit different from my usual ramblings because I am not gonna sum up the book, mostly because the few people who have not seen it, watched the movie, played the games, or visited the theme park can get the complete plot from one of the zillions of sites dedicated to the HP phenomenon.   That being said as always SPOILERS AHEAD!

First off here is a list of things I did for the PS reread.
Read the book by J.K. Rowling (It is only called the Sorcerers Stone in the US)
Watched the movie
Played the Book 1 Level on Lego Harry Potter
Went through the first book on Pottermore

All of this combined with rehashing it with my siblings, parents, Hubbin and anybody who would listen to me made for a great experience.  And now for some completely random thoughts on this book.  This is the book that made me give up my snobbish "well I don't read books just because everybody else is reading them" attitude.  I was house sitting and had run out of books (I know sounds like the start of a horror film) and picked up PS because it was there.  I remember starting on the first pages, not really expecting a whole lot and finding myself looking up and hour later realizing that it was now dark.  I promptly made myself a cup of coffee, canceled all non-essential plans and classes (this was during my college days) and tried to figure out if I could afford to call in sick to work.  This book completely drew me in.  This was my start to my great HP adventure that would grow to consume my whole family, and later my Hubbin.
I think even though this is not my absolute favorite book in the series (that would be Goblet of Fire), but I loved how it introduced this whole entire world to us, through a person who knew even less then we did.  The idea that we can exist along side all of this wonderful magic, and to watch Harry's joy and confusion (which let's be honest, we would all be feeling if we got taken to this world) really hit home with me.  I loved how everything was introduced in a practical way, and that most magic seems to have some type of purpose.  On the flip side I also love how certain wizards had a fascination with Muggle (best descriptive word ever) technology, even referring to it as magic of its own kind, reminding us that magic is all a mater of perception and while we may not be wizards, we all have our own brand of magic too. This is one of those books where you live in the world that was created, long after you have closed the covers on the pages.  This to me is the ultimate test of a good book/story.
This gets me to the other thing I love about this book.  We are not introduced to the top tier group as our guides to this madness.  We have a boy who has been

neglected and downtrodden with little to no self-esteem who is more clueless then the reader is as our hero.  Our sidekicks (though I would argue by the end of the book we end up with more hero's then sidekicks) consist of a lower middle class boy who has either perfect brothers, or class clown brothers to live up to, no easy going for our favorite red-headed best friend Ron.  He is constantly trying to stand out as outstanding at something,  yet finding it difficult to even maintain good enough.  Hermione is every kids worst nightmare, the know it all, who is not only extremely proficient at magic, but being Muggle born knows the other world as well.  Unfortunately socialization is not her strong suite, and she isn't even all that pretty (which is a smart girls saving grace in most books, ugh eyeroll).  Add to this the clumsiest boy who may have ever survived his fifth birthday (aw I love my Neville) and our guides to the wizarding world are far from perfect.  It is this humaness, these kids who react just like normal 12 year olds would react, regardless of them going to a school for magic, or a boarding school, or a public school.  The magic aspect is just one more facet to these all too human kids.

Ok moving on to some other media.  I love the movie.  The casting was sublime (seriously Maggie Smith AND Alan Rickman my life is complete) and this is what made the movie for me.  I had read the book at least twice before the first movie came out and I was very anxious because this world and especially the characters had become a major part of my life (if you were wondering just how geeky I am I think that last sentence probably summed it up nicely).  There were a few castings that did not 100% what I had in my (Mr. Weasly and Professor Quirrell being two) but on the

whole I was astounded how closely the actors matched what I saw in my head.  Of course after the first movie I had visuals in my head for all the books going forward, which usually irritates me, but since they matched so well, I could deal with it.  The trio (Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson) not only pulled of there characters wonderfully, but you could see the actual growing of a friendship that is the basis for the rest of the series.  This movie very much set the tone as far as visuals and music went so very beautiful.  I think you could tell that the author had a hand in the movie, because a lot of what made the book successful was also put into the film, you know the little things like tapping the brick, and Quirrell twitching and stammering, and even the owl that distracts Dumbledore.  You can never replace the book, but I thought this is one of the best adaptions of a book I have ever seen.  I think of all the HP movies this is my favorite, just because it is that first real glimpse of magic and awesomeness, and after it is more like returning home then it is so wondrous.

Playing the Lego Harry Potter games makes me very very very happy.  They are funny, interesting and add one more dimension to the HP universe.  My favorite things about the Lego games is that they are geared for the younger crowd so some of the more scary elements are comiced up (that is a word I promise). For instance, when they go into the woods, instead of a dead unicorn, they find a sleeping unicorn in Hagrids hut and he is helping it.  You play little episodes so it is less of a full blown story and more like vignettes.  You also get to explore a lot of places.  In the first book you see Diagon Alley, Hogwarts, The Forbidden Forest and the Quidditch Pitch.  All in all a humorous non-frustrating way to get a little HP time.

Pottermore has improved greatly from when it first launched.  It used to be kind of clunky and a wee bit confusing, but the new interface is very nice.  It still has a few glitches, and we are still missing the last three books, but they have been steadily adding to the site.  This is a great place to hang out with other HP fans and get your own Hogwarts experience.  In the first book you get to go get your wand, school supplies and get sorted into your house (I'm a Slytherin).  The artwork is gorgeous and there is a ton of extra tidbits the author has thrown in, background about certain characters, where she got some ideas, the books and myths she used in her stories.  Totally worth checking out.

Whew, you sick of my undying HP love yet?  In case you haven't figured it out.  This first book in this magical series makes me so very very happy.  The budding friendships, the first innocent look at magic before we are terrorized by the evil, the shiny newness of this world that is so different and yet so familiar. There is so much to love about this book, and I agree with the people who have declared it a classic, it sits next to my Narnia's and Lord of the Rings books on my favorites classic shelf at home.  Ok I will quit gushing now so I can go start on the next book!
Here are a few other great Harry Potter obsession sites for you to check out while reading this series.
Mark Reads Harry Potter- Follow along chapter by chapter as a guy reads HP for the first time, it is like reading it for the first time all over again, very cool and since he goes chapter by chapter you can follow along if you like.
The Harry Potter Lexicon-Pretty much the wiki of HP, a great place to look up your favorite spells, or get a handle on all of the characters.  Also great for those tricky British words for us 'Mercans.
The Leaky Cauldron-Your place for EVERYTHING HP, books, movies, games, park, news, chit-chat, debates, even issues of the Quibbler.
What is your favorite part about this first book?  How innocent do they all seem?  What part of the wizarding world would most like to visit? How much convincing would it take for me to get my husband to buy me compete sets of every cover of these books?  How geeky am I?