In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Harry, an orphan,
lives with the Dursleys, his horrible aunt and uncle, and
their abominable son, Dudley.
One day just before
his eleventh birthday, an owl tries to deliver a mysterious
letter the first of a sequence of events that end in Harry
meeting a giant man named Hagrid. Hagrid explains Harry's
history to him: When he was a baby, the Dark wizard, Lord
Voldemort, attacked and killed his parents in an attempt to
kill Harry; but the only mark on Harry was a mysterious
lightning-bolt scar on his forehead.
Now he has been
invited to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and
Wizardry, where the headmaster is the great wizard Albus
Dumbledore. Harry visits Diagon Alley to get his school
supplies, especially his very own wand. To get to school, he
takes the Hogwarts Express from platform nine and
three-quarters at King's Cross Station. On the train, he
meets two fellow students who will become his closest
friends: Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger.
Harry is
assigned to Gryffindor House at Hogwarts, and soon becomes
the youngest-ever Seeker on the House Quidditch team. He
also studies Potions with Professor Severus Snape, who
displays a deep and abiding dislike for Harry, and Defense
Against the Dark Arts with nervous Professor Quirrell; he
and his friends defeat a mountain troll, help Hagrid raise a
dragon, and explore the wonderful, fascinating world of
Hogwarts.
But all events lead irrevocably toward a
second encounter with Lord Voldemort, who seeks an object of
legend known as the Sorcerer's Stone.