Contents. Harry Potter - a story of success An Online-Chat with J K Rowling. Three-Quarters. Taking a closer look at the book and the film

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1 READER

2 Contents Preface Chapter one Chapter two Chapter three Chapter four Chapter five Chapter six Chapter seven Chapter eight Chapter nine Chapter ten Chapter eleven Chapter twelve Chapter thirteen Chapter fourteen Chapter fifteen Chapter sixteen Chapter seventeen Harry Potter - a story of success An Online-Chat with J K Rowling The boy who lived The vanishing glass The letters from No One The Keeper of the Keys Diagon Alley The journey from platform Nine and Three-Quarters The Sorting Hat The Potions Master The Midnight Duel Hallowe en Quidditch The Mirror of Erised Nicolas Flamel Norbert the Norwegian Ridgeback The Forbidden Forest Through the Trapdoor The Man with two Faces Taking a closer look at the book and the film Harry Potter and the Philosopher s Stone is copyright of J.K.Rowling, 1997 The screenshots are copyright and trademark of Warner Bros., 2000 TM The cover illustration of the 1997 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. edition is copyright of Thomas Taylor, 1997 The summarized text in between the quotations from the book is copyright of H.J.Mathey after the 1997 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. edition, 2002 The chapter An Online-Chat with JK Rowling is taken from English G 2000 vol. B6 copyright of Cornelsen Verlag, 2001 The reader layout and the assignments part are copyright of H.J.Mathey, 2002 With this reader come a VHS videocassette and an S-VCDDVD which contain extracts from the movie, copyright of Warner Bos., 2000 TM, edited by H.J.Mathey, 2002

3 Preface: Harry Potter - a story of success Joanne Kathleen Rowling was born on July 31st, 1965 in Chipping Sodbury, a small town near Bristol in south-west England. Joanne Kathleen, along with her parents and sister, moved twice while she was growing up. One of their homes, she had friends next door who s last name was Potter. J K never forgot the children, or the last name, which she liked very much. Later, Mrs Rowling studied French at Exeter University to become a foreign language secretary. However, it didn t take her long to realize that being a secretary was nothing she was particularly interested in. In fact she described herself as the worst secretary ever, very disorganized, who found it very hard to remain attentive during meetings, actually writing ideas for stories instead of taking notes, as she had been instructed. At the age of 26 Mrs Rowling moved to Portugal to be an English teacher. She loved teaching English and often worked in the afternoons and evenings, so that she was free to do her writing in the mornings. It was during this period that she began working on a story about a wizard. Mrs Rowling met and married a journalist in Portugal (he was Portuguese, and their daughter, Jessica, was born in Shortly after the birth of her daughter, the marriage ended in divorce, and Mrs Rowling, along with her infant child, moved to Edinburgh in order to be near her younger sister, Di. It was during this time period that she decided to not only finish her Harry Potter wizard novel, but to have it published as well. Often she would be in restaurants, where her daughter and she could stay warm while she was writing. Mrs Rowling requested a grant from the Scottish Arts Council, which was eventually given to her, in order to complete her book. When it was finished, after several rejections, she sold the novel Harry Potter and The Philosophers Stone to the UK publisher Bloomsbury for the equivalent of about 4,000 (approximately 4,500. To maintain herself and her daughter, Mrs Rowling began working as a French teacher. After several months Arthur A Levine BooksScholastic Press bought the American rights to the first Harry Potter, and Mrs Rowling received enough money to give up teaching and write full time. Later she described this moment as the happiest of her life. After Bloomsbury Childrens Books published the book in June 1997, J K Rowling was soon recognized as a major discovery. In 1997 the book won The British Book Awards Childrens Book of the Year, and the Smarties Prize. Mrs Rowling quickly wrote a sequel, Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets, and immediately after this successful sequel a third book, Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban, was published. By the summer of 2000, Mrs Rowling had earned over 400 million dollars for her first three Harry Potter books, which were printed in 35 languages, and sold over 30 million copies. Her fourth book, entitled Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, pre-sold over one million advanced copies, with a first printing of 5.3 million. In summer 2002 everybody awaits her

4 An Online-Chat with J K Rowling J(oanne K(athleen Rowling had her books published not only in the UK but also in the USA. On 3 February 2000, classes across America went online to ask J K Rowling their burning questions about Harry Potter. Here is part of that chat.

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6 Chapter One: The boy who lived Joanne Kathleen Rowling begins her book with the description af a perfectly normal family, the Dursleys, who live at number four, Privet Drive in a perfectly ordinary English town. But apart from having everything that they want, the Dursleys also have a secret, and their greatest fear is that somebody might discover it: Mrs Dursley has got a sister, Mrs Potter, who she hasn t met for several years. In fact, Mrs Dursley pretends not to have a sister at all as Mrs Potter and her good-for-nothing husband are as undursleyish as it is possible to be. The Dursleys have a small son called Dudley and in their opinion there is no finer boy anywhere else. They know that the Potters have a son, too, which is another good reason for keeping them away as they don t want Dudley mixing with a child like that. But one dull, grey Tuesday strange things happen. When Mr Dursley goes to work he notices the first sign of something peculiar - a cat reading a map and a number of owls flying past in bright daylight. And a short time later, when stuck in a traffic jam, there suddenly seem to be a lot of strangely dressed people about. People in coloured cloaks standing together whispering excitedly. But it s only when Mr Dursley catches a few words of what they are saying that he gets alarmed. The Potters, that s right, that s what I heard - - yes, their son, Harry - When coming home Mr Dursley finds the cat, he spotted that morning, still there, now sitting motionless on his garden wall. In the following night even more strange things happen in Privet Drive:. -. ( * % ( ( *, ( * - (

7 . 0 ( * ( 1 0 ( Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall are about to continue their conversation when suddenly a low rumbling sound breaks the silence around them. As they look up, a huge motorbike falls out of the air and lands in front of them. The man on the motorbike is almost twice as tall as a normal man and at least five times as wide. His name is Hagrid and he returns from a difficult mission bringing with him a bundle of blankets with a baby boy inside. The child has got a curiously shaped cut like a bolt of lightning on his forehead and the reader learns from the conversation of Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall and Hagrid that this is little Harry Potter who has just escaped from being murdered by You-Know-Who. As his parents have been killed there is no other place for him to live than the house of the Dursleys, Mrs Dursley being his aunt. So Dumbledore walks over to the Dursleys house and lays Harry gently on the doorstep. Then he takes a letter out of his cloak, puts it inside Harry s blankets and then goes back to the other two. A few moments later they all have gone and the only thing left is a bundle of blankets on the stairs of number four... Chapter Two: The vanishing glass Nearly ten years have passed since the Dursleys woke up only to find their little nephew on the front step. Meanwhile the children are no longer babies. Dudley is a large, blond boy who is being pampered by his parents. Anyway, his room holds no sign at all that another boy lives in the house, too. 2 3*

8 4 % % Dudleys birthday is very much as all his birthdays have been before. Counting his presents he finds out that there are just thirty-six, two less than the year before. He gets red in the face and his parents, scenting danger, quickly promise him another two while taking him out to the zoo in the afternoon. Unfortunately the lady, who usually looks after Harry whenever the Dursleys take their son and his friend Piers out for the day, has broken her leg and so they must take Harry with them this time., % Harry has the best morning he s had in a long

9 where Dudley and Piers want to see huge, poisonous cobras and thick, man-crushing pythons. After Dudley has found the largest snake in the place he quickly gets annoyed when the reptile doesn t move at all. While he is walking away Harry moves in front of the tank and the snake suddenly opens its eyes. Then it winks. Harry stares but then he looks back at the snake and winks, too. They start a friendly conversation when suddenly a deafening shout behind Harry makes both of them jump. Dudley Mr Dursley Come and look at this snake You won t believe what it s doing It s Piers who has seen Harry talk to the snake , The day finishes very much as Uncle Vernon has earlier predicted: Harry is sent to his cupboard without an evening meal. Lying there on his bed he thinks how miserable those last ten years with the Dursleys have been and he dreams of some unknown relation coming to take him away. But, of course, he knows that there is no-one except the Dursleys and that he will always be that odd Potter in his baggy old clothes and broken glasses... Chapter Three: The letters from No One Weeks have passed and the summer holidays have finally come. One day in July Harry gets the post for his uncle. When picking it up from the doormat he notices that there is a bill and a postcard - and a letter for him... 1 ( :(

10 ; < * 2 5 ( 944= % So Harry isn t told about the contents of the letter. The only change for him is that Uncle Vernon offers him to move from the cupboard under the stairs into Dudleys second bedroom. When the post arrives the next morning there is another strange letter. It is addressed to Mr H. Potter, The Smallest Bedroom, 4 Privet Drive - But before Dudley or Harry can read it Uncle Vernon takes it himself and sends the boys to their bedrooms. The next morning Harry gets up very early and steals downstairs without turning on any lights. He wants to wait for the postman on the corner of Privet Drive and get the letters for number four first. But then he steps onto something big on the doormat - something alive AAAAAARRRGH Harry realises that the big thing under his feet is his uncle s face. Uncle Vernon has been lying at the foot of the front door in a sleeping bag, clearly making sure that Harry doesn t do exactly what he has been trying to do. By the time the post arrives Harry can see three letters addressed to him which his uncle immediately tears into pieces before his eyes. On Friday no fewer than twelve letters arrive for Harry. But Uncle Vernon burns them all and then gets out a hammer and nails and boards up the letter-box. On Saturday things begin to get out of hand. Twenty-four letters to Harry find their way into the house, rolled up and hidden inside each of

11 two dozen eggs that the milkman has handed Aunt Petunia through the living-room window. While Uncle Vernon makes furious telephone calls to the post and the dairy trying to find someone to complain to, Aunt Petunia shreds the letters in her food mixer. On Sunday morning thirty or forty letters come out of the fireplace like bullets. Uncle Vernon decides to leave the house with his family and minutes later they re speeding towards the motorway. By nightfall they stop outside a hotel on the outskirts of a big city... When they ve just finished breakfast next day, the owner of the hotel comes over to their table holding up a letter so they can read the address on it: Mr H. Potter Room 17 Railview Hotel Cokeworth Harry makes a grab for the letter but Uncle Vernon is quicker and gets it before Harry. After that they move on to a small rocky island out in the sea where they find shelter in a miserable little shack. As night falls, a storm blows up around them. Harry can t sleep. He knows that it is his birthday the next day and he lies watching it come nearer, wondering if the Dursleys will remember at all. ; < ( Chapter Four: The Keeper of the Keys When nobody opens the door, it is suddenly hit with such force that it swings off its hinges and lands on the floor with a crash. A giant of a man is standing in the doorway, his face almost completely hidden by a long mane of hair and a wild beard, his eyes glinting like black beetles. His name is Hagrid and he has come to congratulate Harry on his birthday. Furthermore he has a present, a large chocolate cake with Happy Birthday Harry written on it. The giant tells Harry that he is the Keeper of Keys at Hogwarts, a school of witchcraft and wizardry. He then points out that Harry is just as famous as his mum and dad have been, which Harry doesn t seem to understand. Then Hagrid pulls out a letter, addressed to Mr H. Potter, The Floor, Hut-on-the-Rock, The Sea. This time no one can prevent Harry from reading it... (, % >?>@ ( ( * A * * % 1 ( *

12 Then he gives the note to the owl and throws it out into the storm. When Uncle Vernon, ashen-faced, insists that Harry is not going to any school of witchcraft, Hagrid tells him that no Muggle will ever be able to prevent him from taking Harry to Hogwarts. And, turning to Harry, he explains that Muggles is what they call non-magic folk like the Dursleys. While talking to Hagrid Harry then finds out that he s a wizard and that his aunt and uncle have always known about it. He also learns that his parents Lily and James Potter, both of them as good a witch and wizard as can be, haven t died in a car crash but have been killed by a person called Voldemort. 0, After Hagrid has finished with his story he tells Harry that he ll be learning under the greatest Headmaster Hogwarts has ever had, Albus Dumbledore. But when Uncle Vernon points out that he s not going to pay a penny for some old fool called Albus Dumbledore to teach Harry magic tricks, Hagrid finally loses his temper. He swings his umbrella through the air to point at Dudley - there is a flash of violet light and a sound like a firecracker. And in the next second Dudley is dancing on the spot with his hands clasped over his fat bottom, howling in pain. And when turning his back to them, Harry can see a curly pig s tail poking through a hole in his trousers. After that Hagrid leaves. Chapter Five: Diagon Alley The next day Hagrid takes Harry to London. Harry, who has never been to London before, is excited but he doesn t know how to pay for all the items on the list from Hogwarts as he doesn t have any money at all. In London Hagrid takes Harry to the Leaky Cauldron, a dark and shabby-looking pub. From there it is only one step out into a courtyard where Hagrid touches the brick courtyard-wall three times with the point of his umbrella. Immediately a small hole appears growing wider and wider until they can see a cobbled street that twists and turns out of sight. This is Diagon Alley and the many shops sell things Harry has never seen in his life. But first they go to Gringotts. This is a bank run by goblins and Harry learns that his parents have left him a safe full of money there. After they have taken some money for Harry from the safe Hagrid takes a small parcel from another safe in the top-security vault. He tucks it deep inside his coat and Harry, though curious to know what is in it, knows better than to ask. Next Harry enters Madam Malkin s Robes for All Occasions to get his new Hogwarts school uniform. ( (

13 ( A A. 0 ( ,, ( ( Outside the shop Harry wants to know from Hagrid what Quidditch is. He is told that it s wizard sport - like football in the Muggle world - everyone follows Quidditch - played up in the air on broomsticks and there are four balls. He also learns that Slytherin and Hufflepuff are just two of four school houses at Hogwarts - and that not a single witch or wizard who went bad, including You-Know-Who, hasn t been in Slytherin. Then they buy Harry s school books and go to get him an owl from the Owl Emporium. Finally there is just the wand to be bought. - 1(.? B C 6 7 %

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15 ( Harry then learns from Mr Ollivander that he has once sold a wand, very similar to his, to He Who Must Not Be Named, and that it has been that wand that has given him the scar. Finally the wand is wrapped in brown paper, and after having paid seven gold Galleons Harry and Hagrid leave the shop. At the station Hagrid helps Harry on to the train that takes him back to the Dursleys, then gives him an envelope that contains the tickets for Hogwarts and soon the train pulls out of the station. Chapter Six: The journey from platform Nine and Three-Quarters Harry s last month with the Dursleys isn t fun. On the last day of August he speaks to his aunt and uncle about getting to King s Cross station where the train to Hogwarts is leaving from. After a short dispute Uncle Vernon agrees to take Harry to the station as he has got to take Dudley to a hospital in London anyway to have his pig s tail removed before he goes to Smeltings. When they reach King s Cross the next morning Uncle Vernon leaves Harry by the entrance to platforms nine and ten with a nasty grin on his face saying that platform nine and three-quarters must be somewhere in the middle, but doesn t seem to have been built yet... Harry is wondering what to do when a group of people passes just behind him, and he catches a few words of what they are saying. - packed with Muggles, of course - The speaker is a woman talking to four boys, all with flaming red hair. Harry pushes his trolley after them and watches one of the boys walking towards the ticket barrier between platforms nine and ten. He s almost there - and then, quite suddenly, he disappears. Addressing to the woman Harry learns that he has just got to walk straight at the barrier between platforms nine and ten, and that he mustn t be scared to crash into it and mustn t hesitate or stop. Harry, leaning forward on his trolley, breaks into a heavy run - the barrier is coming nearer and nearer - he closes his eyes for the crash -... But it doesn t come. Instead he finds himself standing in front of a scarlet steam engine waiting at a platform packed with people. A sign overhead says Hogwarts Express, 11 o clock. Harry fights his way through the crowds and finally finds an empty compartment near the end of the train. As the train begins to move, the door of the compartment slides open and the youngest red-headed boy comes in. His name is Ron Weasley and like Harry he s one of the first-years at Hogwarts. While the train is speeding past fields full of cows and sheep they re having some sweets Harry has bought from a woman with a trolley who goes along the compartments. = 6. = - 6., 6.

16 =6 3 = Then the compartment door slides open and a boy and a girl come in. They are Neville Longbottom and Hermione Granger and they re looking for Neville s toad. But Ron and Harry haven t seen the animal and so, after a short talk, Hermione and Neville leave again. A few minutes later the door slides open again, but it isn t Neville or Hermione this time. Three boys enter and Harry recognises one of them at once: it is the pale boy from Madam Malkin s robe shop. - 6 * ( ( = ( (, ( 2 == - ( 2 6 * = * 6. == * * = * 6 ( * * = = Meanwhile the train has slowed down and has finally stopped. Hagrid s standing on the

17 platform waiting for the first-years. In the dark they follow him down a narrow steep path until they come to a lake. High atop on a mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, is a vast castle with many turrets and towers - Hogwarts. A fleet of little boats is ready to take them across the water. On the other side they walk up a flight of steps and crowd around the huge, oak front door. Hagrid knocks three times on the castle door and it swings open at once... Chapter Seven: The Sorting Hat They are welcomed by a tall, black-haired witch with a stern face. It is Professor McGonagall and she tells the first-years that they are going to be sorted into their houses next. This ceremony is one of the most important at Hogwarts and the houses are something like the children s families within the school. They have classes with their house, sleep in their house dormitory and spend their free time in their house common room. The four houses at Hogwarts are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. While the children are at Hogwarts, their triumphs earns their houses points, while any rule-breaking loses house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the House Cup, which is a great honour. A few minutes later the new students have to form a line and then they walk through a pair of double doors into the Great Hall. 1 * % ( * -, * * = ; <.6 3

18 Then the sorting ceremony begins. Professor McGonagall calls the first-years by their names. One after the other they step forward, sit on the stool and put on the hat. And each time, after a moment s pause, the hat shouts the name of the house the student is sorted into. Hermione Granger is sorted into Gryffindor as well as is Ron Weasley. Neville Longbottom, the boy who has lost his toad, is sorted into Gryffindor, too. When Malfoy puts on the hat it doesn t even take a second until it shouts Slytherin Malfoy goes to join his friends Crabbe and Goyle who have been sorted into Slytherin before, looking pleased with himself. There aren t many people left now. 3 5 * 3 After the ceremony Albus Dumbledore welcomes the new students. And then the plates on the tables are suddenly piled with food. While eating Harry looks at the High Table and watches Hagrid drinking, Professor McGonagall talking to Professor Dumbledore, and Professor Quirrel, in his absurd turban, talking to a teacher with black hair, a hooked nose and sallow skin. Then it happens very suddenly. The hook-nosed teacher looks past Professor Quirrel s turban straight into Harry s eyes - and a sharp, hot pain shoots across the scar on Harry s forehead. The pain goes as quickly as it has come. Harry asks Percy Weasley who the teacher with the black hair is. He is told that it is Professor Snape, a teacher of Potions, who knows a lot about the Dark Arts. After the meal the first-years are told that they are not allowed into the forest - and, what is more, that the right-hand side of third-floor corridor is out of bounds to everyone, who does not wish to die a most painful death. Later in the evening the students leave the Hall because it is bedtime. The Gryffindor first-years follow Percy into the marble staircase. 6 * % 1

19 Chapter Eight: The Potions Master The next morning Harry has got to concentrate on finding his way to classes. There are a hundred and forty-two staircases at Hogwarts: wide ones, narrow ones, some that lead somewhere different on a Friday and some with a vanishing step halfway up you have to remember to jump. Then there are doors that don t open unless you ask politely, or tickle them in exactly the right place, and doors that aren t really doors at all, but solid walls just pretending. It is also very hard to remember where anything is, because it all seems to move around a lot. The people in the portraits visit each other and after some time Harry is convinced that even the coats of armour can walk. And then there are the lessons themselves. Harry quickly finds out that there is a lot more to magic than just waving your wand and saying a few funny words. The students have to study the night skies through their telescopes and learn the names of the stars and the movements of the planets. They have to study Herbology, with a dumpy little witch called Professor Sprout, where they learn what all the strange plants and fungi are used for. The most boring lesson is History of Magic, which is taught by a ghost. Professor McGonagall is again different. The moment the students have sat down in her class she gives them a warning telling them what to do and what to refrain from. Transfiguration, she says, is some most complex and dangerous magic, and anyone messing around in her class will leave and not come back. By way of contrast, Professor Quirrel s lessons on Defence Against the Dark Arts turn out to be a bit of a joke. His classroom smells strongly of garlic, which everyone says is to ward off a vampire he s met in Romania and is afraid of coming back to get him these days. His turban, he tells the students, has been given to him by an African prince for getting rid of a troublesome zombie, but the Weasley twins insist that it is stuffed full of garlic as well, so that Quirrel is protected wherever he goes. On Friday the Gryffindors are having lessons together with the Slytherins. Professor Snape who teaches Potions is Head of Slytherin house and he is said to always favour them. While Harry and Ron are sitting at the breakfast-table Hedwig drops a note on Harry s plate. It s a letter from Hagrid who invites Harry for a cup of tea in the afternoon. Harry scribbles Yes, please, see you later on the back of the note and sends Hedwig off again. The Potions lesson turns out to be the worst thing that has happened to Harry so far. He quickly gets the idea that Professor Snape dislikes him. - ( 6 * ( * ( = * 3

20 = 9,, ( 6 * - (. % % 7. 9, % - * As the lesson continues things grow even worse for the Gryffindors. Neville somehow manages to melt Seamus s cauldron into a twisted blob and their potion is sweeping across the stone floor, burning holes in people s shoes. Within seconds, the whole class is standing on their stools while Neville, who has been drenched in the potion when the cauldron has collapsed, moans in pain as red boils spring all over his arms and legs. Snape blames Harry for not having told Neville to add the quills and takes another point from the Gryffindors. As they climb the steps out of the dungeon an hour later, Harry s spirits are low. He has lost two points for Gryffindor - why does Snape hate him so much? In the afternoon he and Ron go to visit Hagrid. When Hagrid hears about Snape s lesson he tells Harry not to worry because Snape likes hardly any of the students. A few moments later Harry picks up a piece of paper from under the table. It is a cutting from the Daily Prophet and it says that there has been a break-in at Gringotts on 31 July. But nothing has been stolen as the vault that has been searched by the thieves has been emptied before. Harry immediately remembers having been at Gringotts on that very day, and he s sure that it has been Hagrid who has emptied the vault by taking out the little package. On their way home Harry asks himself where the mysterious packet is now and he wonders if Hagrid knows something about Professor Snape he doesn t want to tell him. Chapter Nine: The Midnight Duel Within the following weeks Harry finds out that Draco Malfoy is even worse than Dudley. Still, having only Potions with the Slytherins, there is not much contact with him. But then a notice tells the Gryffindors that they are having flying lessons together with the Slytherins. Harry, who has been looking forward to learning to fly, feels desperate as he has never

21 been sitting on a broomstick whilst Malfoy is said to be some kind of an expert in flying. When the Gryffindors arrive for their first flying lesson the Slytherins are already there, and so are twenty broomsticks lying in neat lines on the ground. Then their teacher, Madam Hooch, arrives. She has short, grey hair and yellow eyes like a hawk. First the students have to stick out their hands over their brooms and say Up. Harry s broom jumps into his hand at once as does Malfoy s. Hermione Granger s simply rolls over on the ground and Neville s doesn t move at all. Next Madam Hooch shows them how to mount their brooms without sliding off the end. Harry is delighted when she tells Malfoy he has been doing it wrong for years. When the students are told to rise a few feet Neville, nervous and frightened of being left on the ground, pushes off hard and rises straight up like a cork shot out of a bottle - twelve feet - twenty feet. Then he slips sideways off the broom and - WHAM - lies, face down, on the grass while his broomstick is still rising higher and higher and then disappears towards the Forbidden Forest and out of sight. Madam Hooch bends over Neville with her face as white as his. She immediately sees that Neville s broken his wrist and turns to the class telling the students not to move while she s taking the boy to the hospital. Before she leaves she warns them that anyone touching his broom will be out of Hogwarts before they can say Quidditch. Seconds later Malfoy suddenly snatches something out of the grass. It is a Remembrall Neville has got from his grandma as a present and which he has obviously lost while falling off his broom. When Harry asks Malfoy to give it to him, Draco smiles nastily and takes off on his broomstick. Harry mounts his broom and - ignoring Hermione who reminds him of Madam Hooch having told them not to move - rises high up in the air. When Malfoy sees Harry coming nearer and nearer he throws the Remembrall high up in the air. When it starts to fall back Harry races behind it, stretches out his hand and - a foot from the ground catches it, just in time to pull his broom straight. Then he gently lands on the grass with the Remembrall safely in his hand. HARRY POTTER His heart sinks as Professor McGonagall comes running towards them. She is furious and asks Harry to follow her at once. As they walk towards the castle Harry catches sight of Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle s triumphant faces. He wants to say something to defend himself but there seems to be something wrong with his voice. He s done it. Not even two weeks. He s sure he will be packing his bags in ten minutes. On the way Professor McGonagall doesn t speak a word but stops outside a classroom and asks a fifth-year boy called Wood to join them. Then she takes the two boys to an empty classroom. In there, she tells Wood that she has found him a Seeker. Harry doesn t have a clue what is going on. However, he feels he isn t going to be expelled at all. 4 A * ( * 9 6. ( *

22 A At dinner time Ron can t believe what Harry tells him as there has never been a first-year Quidditch-player before. But no-one except the members of the Gryffindor team must know about it and so Ron must promise not to tell a word. When Malfoy appears some time later there is a short dispute between himself and Harry at the end of which they agree to meet for a wizard s duel at midnight -. At half past eleven Harry and Ron put on their dressing-gowns, take their wands and creep down the spiral staircase. In the Gryffindor common room they meet Hermione Granger who wants to prevent them from going. But they just ignore her and leave by the hole behind the portrait of the Fat Lady. Hermione, not giving up that easily, follows them. She blames them not to care about Gryffindor but only to care about themselves. But when the boys tell her to go away she can t return to the Gryffindor common room because the Fat Lady has gone on a night-time visit and the painting is empty. So there is no other way than joining the boys on their way to the trophy room where the duel will take place. But suddenly they hear a noise - some sort of snuffling. It is Neville who has been lying on the floor fast asleep. He has forgotten his password and can t get back to the Gryffindor rooms. As he doesn t want to be laft back alone he decides to join the other three. They all hurry forward and speed up the staircase to the trophy room. Malfoy hasn t arrived yet but there is a noise in the room next door that makes them jump. It is Filch, the caretaker, speaking to his cat, Mrs Norris. Immediately the children begin to creep down a long gallery full of suits of armour. When Neville suddenly breaks into a run he slips and crashes into a suit of armour. The noise is enough to wake the whole castle. They run as fast as they can, down one corridor, then another, through a tapestry, along a hidden passageway until they arrive at a classroom of which they know that it is miles away from the trophy room. But then Peeves, the poltergeist, appears shouting STUDENTS OUT OF BED STUDENTS IN THE CORRIDOR They can hear Filch coming nearer and feel that it is the end as they re standing in front of a closed door with no other way to escape. But Hermione grabs Harry s wand, taps the lock and whispers Alohomora The door swings open and in the last moment they disappear before Filch arrives %. 7 % 7 % %..

23 Minutes later they find themselves back in the Gryffindor common room asking themselves why a monstrous animal like that is kept at Hogwarts. Only Hermione has noticed that the dog has been standing on a trapdoor and she is convinced that the beast is guarding something. Harry is immediately reminded of the little packet Hagrid has taken from Gringotts, and he s sure he s found out where it is now. Chapter Ten: Hallowe en Next day Malfoy and his friends can t believe their eyes when they see that Harry hasn t been expelled and is still at Hogwarts. Even worse, when the owls flood into the Great Hall bringing the post, everyone s attention is caught by a long thin package carried by six large owls dropping it right in front of Harry. When Harry opens the letter attached to it, it says: = A ( ( * On the way back to their rooms they meet Malfoy and his friends, and Ron can t resist telling them that Harry has got a new Nimbus They are really pleased when they see the look of horror on Malfoy s face and his obvious rage and confusion. When they meet Hermione a moment later, her only comment is that this must be the reward for breaking the rules before she marches away with her nose in the air. In the evening Harry meets Oliver Wood at the Quidditch pitch. He is carrying a large wooden case under his arm. When he opens it Harry can see four balls of different size inside. Then Wood explains the Quidditch rules to him. = A 6 6, A 6 A A. 6 A % 0 0 * 6 0 A - 0 A,,

24 6 A A 6 A, * 6 A A % A few minutes later Wood and Harry are in the air practising with a golf ball. After half an hour it is too dark to carry on and so they return to the castle Harry being happy and Wood being delighted as the practise has turned out to be a success. On Hallowe en they start learning to make objects fly. Professor Flitwick puts the class into pairs to practise. Ron is to be working with Hermione Granger and it is hard to tell which of them is angrier about this. They all get a feather and are supposed to send it skyways. It is very difficult and they re all having great problems. When Ron is waving his arms like a windmill shouting Wingardium Leviosa nothing happens at all and Hermione explains that he s saying it wrong. Even worse for Ron, when she tries, the feather slowly rises off the desk and hovers about four feet above their heads. After the lesson Ron is in a bad temper and it s just when he s telling Harry that she s a nightmare that Hermione walks past them. Hermione doesn t turn up for the next lesson and isn t seen all afternoon. Someone says that she has been seen crying in the girls toilets. When the students assemble for the Hallowe en feast, Professor Quirrel suddenly comes sprinting into the Hall, terror on his face. Troll - in the dungeons - thought you should know. Then he sinks to the floor in a dead faint. Immediately the students are sent to their houses. Harry and Ron decide to go to the girls toilet and warn Hermione. But on their way they meet a horrible creature, twelve feet tall, its skin a dull, granite grey with a small head on a huge body. The troll steps into the girls toilet and a second later they hear a high scream coming from it - Hermione When the two boys pull the door of the girls toilet open and run inside Hermione Granger is shrinking against the wall opposite, looking as if she is going to faint. The troll is advancing on

25 her, knocking the sinks off the wall as it goes. Within the next few moments Harry and Ron manage to confuse the troll so that it stops a few feet from Hermione. Then Harry takes a great jump and manages to fasten his arms around the troll s neck from behind. He then sticks his wand up its nose. The troll, furious with pain, tries to give him a terrible blow with his club but Ron pulls out his own wand and shouts the first spell that comes into his mind: Wingardium Leviosa The club suddenly flies out of the troll s hand, rises high up into the air - and then drops onto its owner s head. The troll falls on its face and Harry gets back to his feet. A moment later Professor McGonagall comes bursting into the room, closely followed by Snape and Quirrell. She s very angry and wants to know why the children aren t in their dormitories. Before Harry can say a word Hermione points out that it has been all her fault as she has been trying to deal with the troll all by herself and that it is only thanks to the boys that she s still alive. Harry is speechless as Hermione is the last person to do anything against the rules - and now she is pretending she has, just to get him and Ron out of trouble. From that moment on, Hermione Granger becomes their friend. Chapter Eleven: Quidditch One day in November Harry observes Snape and Filch in the staff room. Snape is holding his robes above his knees while Filch is handing him bandages to dress one of his legs which is bloody and mangled. How can you keep your eyes on all three heads at once? he hears Snape saying. Harry tries to shut the door quietly but they notice him and Snape, getting angry, shouts at him to leave the room immediately. Now Harry is sure that Professor Snape has tried to get past the three-headed dog in the room on the third floor and that he is after whatever the dog is guarding. By eleven o clock the next morning the whole school is out in the stands around the Quidditch pitch. It is Harry s first match and he s so nervous that he fears his knees may give way. Madam Hooch is refereeing and she starts the match with a loud blast on her silver whistle. The match turns out to be rather hard and some time later Harry is seriously fouled and nearly killed by Flint, one of the Slytherin players (, = = 9 = =

26 (., A 6 = 7 A = 2 = 3. * After the match Harry, Ron and Hermione meet in Hagrid s hut for a cup of tea. They try to explain that it has been Snape who has been cursing Harry s broomstick, but Hagrid doesn t believe them. Even when they tell him that they think Snape has tried to get past the threeheaded dog, they only learn from Hagrid that the dog is his and that he has lent him to Dumbledore to guard the -. And that s all they can get out of Hagrid, who is convinced that no Hogwarts teacher ever would try to steal it and that it all is a matter between Professor Dumbledore and Nicolas Flamel. Chapter Twelve: The Mirror of Erised In the December holidays, Harry doesn t go back to Privet Drive for Christmas. He doesn t feel sorry for himself at all as to his opinion this is probably the best Christmas in his life. The Hall looks spectacular with holly and mistletoe hung all around the walls and no fewer than twelve Christmas trees are standing around the room, some sparkling with tiny icicles, some glittering with hundreds of candles. Since the day of the Quidditch match the children have been trying to find out about that mysterious Nicolas Flamel but without success. On Christmas Day Harry wakes up in the morning only to find a small pile of packages at the foot of his bed - Christmas presents He opens the parcels and besides a fifty-pence piece from Aunt Petunia, some Chocolate Frogs from Hermione and a hand-knitted green sweater from Ron s mum, there is something fluid and silvery grey slithering to the floor. When he picks the shiny, silvery cloth off the floor, it is strange to the touch, like water woven into material. Ron immediately realises that this is an Invisibility Cloak, and when Harry throws it around his shoulders he indeed vanishes. With the cloak there is a note that reads: Your father left this in my possession before he died. It is time it was returned to you. Use it well. A Very Merry Christmas. No signature...

27 Never in his life has Harry seen a Christmas like that at Hogwarts. All along the tables there are wizard crackers - not the Muggle ones the Dursleys usually buy, with their little plastic toys and paper hats. Harry pulls a wizard cracker with Fred and it doesn t just bang, it goes off with a blast like a cannon and engulfs them in a cloud of blue smoke, while from the inside explodes an admiral s hat and several live, white mice. Flaming Christmas puddings follow the turkey - and when Harry finally leaves the table, he s laden with things out of the crackers including a new wizard chess set. At night, Harry can t sleep. He always thinks of the mysterious Invisibility Cloak. Then he leans over the side of his bed and pulls the Cloak out from under it % =. 6 In the library, Harry must realise that finding out about Flamel isn t as easy as he has thought. When he finally opens a large black and silver volume that has caught his eye, a piercing shriek splits the silence - the book is sceaming Harry stumbles backwards and knocks over his lamp, which goes out at once. He hears footsteps coming down the corridor - putting the shrieking book back on the shelf, he almost runs into Filch who is standing in the doorway. Slipping under Filch s outstretched arms he races up the corridor, the book s shrieks still ringing in his ears. He comes to a sudden halt in front of a tall suit of armour, not recognizing where he is at all. =. =. 6 Harry backs away as silently as possible and then - an open door He squeezes through, trying not to move it - and the two walk straight past without taking any notice of him. It is a few seconds before Harry notices anything about the room he has hidden in. It looks like a disused classroom, but against the wall facing him is something that doesn t look as if it belongs there, something that looks as if someone has put it there to keep it out of the way. It is a magnificent mirror, as high as the ceiling, with an ornate gold frame and an inscription around the top: Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi.

28 7 ( After some time Harry tears away his eyes from his mother s face and hurries from the room. Next morning, he tells Ron about the mirror and in the night after they go there again together both hiding under the Cloak. In the room they run to the mirror - and there they are again, Harry s mother and father. But Ron doesn t see anyone but himself in the mirror. Just himself - but he looks different - he looks older - and he s Head Boy holding the House Cup and the Quidditch Cup - he s Quidditch Captain, too A sudden noise outside in the corridor puts an end to their excursion and they hurry back to their dormitory. The third night Harry finds his way to the mirror-room more quickly than before. He sits down in front of the mirror - and there is nothing to stop him staying there all night with his family. Nothing at all... But then a voice from behind turns his insides to ice. So - back again, Harry? When Harry turns round he sees Albus Dumbledore sitting on one of the desks by the wall. ( 4 = ( 4 9 ( 4 % = ( ( 6

29 Chapter Thirteen: Nicolas Flamel Harry does not go to look for the Mirror of Erised again. When, by the end of the holidays, Hermione comes back he still hasn t found out anything about Nicolas Flamel. Once term has started, Harry has no time to care about it, because Quidditch practice has started again and there are rumours that Snape s refereeing this time. When Harry tells Ron and Hermione, they suggest to him not to play but to pretend or really to break his leg. But Harry can t as there is no reserve Seeker on the team. Then Neville comes hopping into the room with legs stuck together and tells them that Malfoy has tried the Leg-Locker Curse on him. While Hermione performs the counter-curse, Harry pulls out a Chocolate Frog from his pocket and gives it to Neville. As Neville is walking away, Harry looks at the Famous Wizard card. It is Dumbledore again. Suddenly he gasps, staring at the back of the card, and then looks up at Ron and Hermione , * >D8E. 3 Hermione jumps up and sprints up the stairs to the girls dormitory. A moment later she s back with a book she has got out of the library some weeks before. She starts turning the pages until at last she has found what she is looking for. She pushes the book towards Harry and Ron, and they read: 49 (. (. % ; < Now they know what the dog on the third floor is guarding And it is only because Dumbledore and Flamel are friends that it has been moved out of Gringotts and is kept safe there. Now they also know why Snape s after it. Anyone would want it. As the Quidditch match comes nearer, Harry becomes more and more nervous. He doesn t know whether he is imagining it or not, but he seems to keep running into Snape wherever he goes. Even worse, Snape s lessons are turning into a sort of weekly torture, Snape being so horrible to Harry. Perhaps he knows that they ve found out about the Philosopher s Stone? Harry has sometimes the horrible feeling that Snape can read minds. Next afternoon they all go for the Quidditch match. Ron and Hermione find a place in the stands. They ve secretly practised the Leg-Locker Curse and they re willing to use it on Snape if he shows any sign of wanting to hurt Harry. The whole school is there to watch, and even Dumbledore has come. Perhaps that s the reason why Snape is looking so angry when the teams march on to the pitch. As the match is proceeding, it becomes clear that he favours the Hufflepuff team. But then Harry suddenly speeds straight at Snape, shoots past him on his broomstick and rises his arm in triumph, the Snitch clasped in his hand. The game s over and never before has the Snitch been caught so quickly. As the victorious Gryffindors are walking back to the changing room, Snape spits bitterly on the ground... When Harry is leaving the changing room later, he notices a hooded figure coming down the front front steps of the castle.

30 Snape?... Clearly not wanting to be seen it walks as fast as possible towards the Forbidden Forest. Harry jumps back on his Nimbus Two Thousand and follows Snape who enters the Forest at a run. When Harry hears voices below him, he lands noiselessly in a tree and climbs carefully along one of its branches. Below, in a shadowy clearing, stands Snape, but he isn t alone. Quirrell is there, too. Harry tries to catch what they are saying. - A A 5 A % Harry returns to the castle and tells the others what he has seen. Now he s sure that Snape s trying to force Quirrell to help him get the Philosopher s Stone. Chapter Fourteen: Norbert the Norwegian Ridgeback In the weeks that follow Quirrell seems to be getting paler and thinner, but it doesn t look as though Snape has cracked him yet. Every time Harry and his friends pass the third-floor corridor, they press their ears to the door to check that Fluffy is still growling inside. Unfortunately the teachers pile so much homework on them that the Easter holidays aren t nearly as much fun as the Christmas ones. Ron and Harry are spending most of their free time with Hermione in the library, trying to get through all the extra work. One day they meet Hagrid in the library hiding something behind his back. After he has left, they find out that he has been looking up books about dragons. When they knock on the door of his hut an hour later, they re surprised to find all the curtains closed. Hagrid doesn t want to let them in at all, and it is only when they mention Fluffy and the Philosopher s Stone that he gives in to them. Inside, he tells them that he s convinced Professor Snape has helped Dumbledore to protect the stone, not tried to steal it. He also points out that it is only himself and Dumbledore who know how to get past Fluffy. Shortly after, they find out that Hagrid is keeping the huge, black egg of a dragon in his hut, and he admits that he s won it when playing a game of cards with a stranger at a local pub in the village. At breakfast time next day they receive a message from Hagrid. He has written only two words: It s hatching. The three friends decide to go straight down to Hagrid s hut during morning break. Hagrid greets them exitedly and shows them the egg lying on the table with deep cracks in it and funny noises coming from it. Then the egg splits open and the baby dragon flops on to the table. But suddenly the colour in Hagrid s face

31 turns pale and he rushes to the window. Someone has been looking through a gap in the curtains and when they run to open the front door, there is no doubt that it is Malfoy who is disappearing in the distance. Something about the smile on Malfoy s face during the next week makes Harry, Ron and Hermione very nervous. The spend most of their free time with Hagrid who is happy with the dragon he has called Norbert. Meanwhile the dragon has grown to a considerable size and they are sure it will only take a fortnight until the hut is too small to keep him in any longer. After a long debate Hagrid agrees that it is best to contact Ron s brother Charlie who studies dragons in Romania and ask him to take care of Norbert and later put him back in the wild. The following week Hedwig delivers Charlie s answer in which he asks them to send the dragon over to him with some friends who are planning a visit. As the whole matter is an illegal one, they must get the Ridgeback up the tallest tower of Hogwarts at midnight on the following Saturday so that he can be taken away in the dark. When the night has come, Harry and Hermione smuggle Norbert into the castle using Harry s Invisibility Cloak. Ron doesn t join them as he has been bitten by Norbert the day before and is lying in hospital. Midnight is coming nearer as they carry the dragon along the dark corridors and up the staircases. When they re nearly there, a sudden movement in front of them makes them stop. They see Professor McGonagall holding Malfoy by the ear shouting Wandering about in the middle of the night, how dare you - twenty points from Slytherin He tries to explain that he has been waiting for Harry coming with a dragon, but she doesn t believe him a word. So the three friends are able to proceed to the top of the tower and deliver Norbert to Charlie s friends. On their way back down the spiral staircase they feel great relief at having got rid of him. But as they step into the corridor at the foot of the stairs, they run straight into Filch. 6 Chapter Fifteen: The Forbidden Forest Filch takes them down to the study on the first floor where they have to sit and wait. When Professor McGonagall enters the room, she s leading Neville who has been trying to find Harry in order to warn him of Malfoy. She thinks that Harry and his friends have tried to get Malfoy into trouble by feeding him some story about a dragon and that poor Neville as well has heard the story and has believed it, too. She is disappointed and angry and takes fifty points each from Gryffindor before sending them all to their dormitories. That s the end A hundred and fifty points lost - that puts Gryffindor in last place. In one night, they feel, they ve ruined any chance for winning the House Cup. From being one of the most popular and admired people at school, Harry is suddenly the most hated. Wherever he goes, people point at him and insult him. So he decides not to interfere any more in anything that doesn t concern him. But then, about a week before the exams, when walking back from the library one afternoon, he suddenly hears voices from a classroom up ahead. When he comes nearer, he recognises Quirrell s voice. Next second, Quirrell comes hurrying out of the room without taking any notice of Harry. When Harry looks into the classroom, it is empty, but a door stands open at the other end - Snape must just have left the room. Harry runs back to the library to tell the others that Snape s done it - that he has finally cracked Quirrell. Ron and Hermione propose to inform Dumbledore, but Harry is sure that no-one will believe them as long as they don t have any proof.

32 Next morning, notes are delivered to each of them at the breakfast table. They are all the same: they are asked to meet Mr Filch in the Entrance Hall at eleven o clock that night. That s when their detention will take place. In the furore over the points they ve lost for Gryffindor, they have forgotten they still have detentions to do At eleven o clock that night Harry, Neville and Hermione go downstairs to the entrance hall where Filch and Malfoy are already waiting... - = (. % Then Hagrid comes out of the dark carrying his large crossbow and arrows over his shoulder. (. 3 * 3 (, Hagrid asks them to follow him to the edge of the Forest. Holding up his lamp he shows them some silvery stuff shining on the ground and explains to them that it is unicorn blood and that they will have to find the poor animal to put it out of its misery. Then he devides the children into two groups, Malfoy, Neville and his dog Fang making up the first and Harry, Hermione and himself the second one. In the Forest they go different ways, walking in silence, their eyes on the ground. Suddenly there is something slithering over the dead leaves nearby: it sounds like a cloak trailing along the ground. They walk on slowly, listening for the faintest sound. Then something definitely moves in front of them, and into the clearing ahead comes - is it a man, or a horse? To the waist, a man, with red hair and beard, but below that is a horse s body with a long, reddish tail. Harry and Hermione s jaws drop. The strange creature is Ronan, the centaur. He greets them, but doesn t give Hagrid any

33 answer to his enquiry about the hurt unicorn except that Mars is unusually bright that night. Minutes later, a second centaur arrives, but he as well doesn t help Hagrid with his enquiries. So they continue their way, Hagrid muttering to himself that no-one ever gets a straight answer out of a centaur. They ve just passed a bend in the path when they see red sparks - the others are in trouble Hagrid tells them to stay and wait where they are before he rushes away. The minutes drag by. At last, Hagrid returns, Malfoy, Neville and Fang with him. Hagrid is furious. Malfoy, it seems, has grabbed Neville from behind for a joke. Then Neville has panicked and sent up the sparks. They change groups and this time Harry is setting off into the heart of the Forest with Malfoy and Fang. After some time they see something bright on the ground in front of them. It is the unicorn and it is dead. Suddenly a slithering sound makes them freeze where they stand. Then, out of the shadows, a hooded figure comes crawling across the ground. The figure reaches the unicorn and begins to drink its blood. Malfoy lets out a terrible scream and runs away - so does Fang. The hooded figure rises its head and swifts towards Harry, who suddenly feels a terrible pain piercing his head as though his scar is on fire. Half-blinded he steps backwards. He hears the sound of hooves behind him and then falls to his knees. When he looks up again after a minute or two, the figure s gone and a centaur is standing over him; not one of those he has met before - this one looks younger with white-blond hair.. 6 % (., =., 3 3., %. =.,., -. Harry doesn t have a clue what is going on, but then he learns from the young centaur that drinking the blood of a unicorn keeps you alive, even if you re an inch from death. But this is at a terrible price. Having slain something pure and defenseless to save yourself you are having but a half life, a cursed life, from the moment the blood touches your lips.., (

34 Seconds later Hermione and Hagrid arrive and that s when the centaur leaves into the depths of the Forest. Back in the common room Harry finds Ron fast asleep. He wakes him up and tells him everything. He s sure now that Snape wants the Stone for Voldemort and not just to get rich. When Harry goes to bed and pulls back his sheets, he finds the Invisibility Cloak underneath them with a note pinned to it: Just in case. Chapter Sixteen: Through the Trapdoor Exams come and Harry does the best he can, trying to ignore the pain in his head which has been there ever since his trip into the Forest. Ron and Hermione don t seem as worried about Voldemort and the Stone as Harry, but that maybe because they haven t seen what he has seen in the Forest. Finally it s done - the exams are over, but still the scar on Harry s forehead keeps hurting him - it is like a warning of something dangerous to come... = They hurry and find Hagrid sitting ouside his house. He s a bit puzzled when the children want to know everything about the stranger he has got the dragon s egg from, but finally he tells them the details... ( ( The children dash away like a flash of lightning. Now that the stranger knows how to calm Fluffy down they feel the Stone is no longer safe. They must inform Dumbledore. But Professor Dumbledore has left Hogwarts for the Ministry of Magic. So they decide that Hermione will have an eye on Professor Snape while Harry and Ron are returning to the common room. But only a short time later Hermione turns up and tells them that Snape has gone somewhere and that she doesn t know where. Harry decides to go and get the Stone in the night. He s convinced that Voldemort will return as soon as he s got the Stone from Snape. So the children make up their minds to go together and use the Invisibility Cloak. After dinner they meet in the common room. But before they can hide under the Invisibility

35 Cloak, a voice from the corner of the room asks them what they re doing. It is Neville Longbottom who suspects them going out and who fears that Gryffindor will be in trouble again if they re caught. He doesn t give in until finally Hermione steps forward raising her wand and pointing at him. Petrificus Totalus - Neville s arms snap to his sides the legs springing together. He then falls flat on the ground, stiff as a board. They leave him lying motionless on the floor - and a few minutes later they are there, outside the third-floor corridor - and find the door of the secret room already open. As they enter, Fluffy is silently listening to the sound of a harp at its feet. They re sure Snape has left it there. Harry puts Hagrid s flute to his lips and blows. It isn t really a tune, but the the dog s eyes close and within seconds it s fast asleep. The children slip out of the Cloak and creep towards the trapdoor Harry still playing. They lower themselves through the hole in the floor and let go. They land on something soft. 9 = = = 3 3 After a moment of thinking Hermione waves her wand and sends a jet of blue flames at the plant. In a matter of seconds, the two boys feel it loosening its grip and they re able to pull free. They walk down a stone passageway until there is a light ahead. At the end of the passageway they see before them a brilliantly lit chamber which is full of small, bright birds, fluttering all around the room. They run across the room, only to find the door on the other side locked. But then they realise that the birds aren t birds at all but winged keys. Suddenly they know they have to catch the key for the door first. Each of them takes one of the broomsticks standing in a corner of the room and then they kick off into the air. Not for nothing, Harry has been the youngest Seeker in a century. After a minute he notices a large silver key that has a bent wing, as if it has already been caught and stuffed roughly into the key hole. A moment later they ve got it and unlock the door. The next chamber is so dark that they can t see anything at all. But as they step into it, light suddenly floods the room to reveal an astonishing sight. They are standing on the edge of a huge chessboard, behind the black chessmen, which are all taller than they are and carved from what looks like black stone. Facing them, way across the chamber, are the white pieces. Ron immediately realises that they will have to play their way across the room. When he walks up to a black knight and puts his hand out to touch the knight s horse, the stone springs to life. =

36 = % =. = % = Harry s knees are trembling - what if they lose? But the first real shock comes when their other knight is taken after a few moments. The white queen smashes him to the floor and drags him off the board, where he lies quite still, face down. Every time one of their men is lost, the white pieces show no mercy. Soon there is a huddle of limp black players slumped along the wall. When the game comes to an end Ron realises that the only way to finish it successfully is if he is being taken. Not listening to Hermione and Harry who try to prevent him from moving on Ron steps forward. Immediately the white queen strucks him around his head with her stone arm and he crashes to the floor. Then she drags him to one side. Hermione screams but stays on her square while Harry moves three spaces to the left. Then the white king takes off his crown and throws it at Harry s feet. They have won. The chessmen part and bow, leaving the door ahead clear. With one last desperate look back at Ron, Harry and Hermione pass through the door and up the next passageway. They reach another door and Harry pushes it open. On the floor in front of them, they see a troll even larger than the one they have tackled, out cold with a bloody lump on his head. Glad that they needn t fight it they carefully step over its massive legs. When they pull open the next door, there is nothing frightening in there, just a table with seven differently shaped bottles standing on it in a line. But as they step forward a purple fire springs up behind them and at the same instant, black flames shoot up in the doorway leading onwards. They re trapped Hermione picks up a roll of paper lying next to the bottles and Harry reads what is written on it: , 7.

37 Hermione lets out a great sigh and smiles as she realises that the puzzle in front of them is no magic but logic. Seven bottles: three are poison; two are wine; one will get them safely through the black fire and one will get them back through the purple. After a minute s walking up and down the line of the bottles she points at the smallest. She s says it will get them towards the stone. But as there is hardly one swallow in it, one of them has to stay behind. Harry asks Hermione to go back, get Ron and then go straight to Dumbledore. She picks a bottle from the right end of the line, takes a long drink and walks straight back through the purple fire. Then Harry takes the smallest bottle and drains it in one gulp. It is as though ice is flooding his body. He walks forward - then he is on the other side of the black flames, in the last chamber. There is already someone there - but it isn t Snape. It isn t even Voldemort. Chapter Seventeen: The Man with two Faces It is - Quirrell 3 A ( A % A ( * A - A. * Quirrell snaps his fingers and ropes spring out of thin air and wrap themselves around Harry. He then turns round and it s only now that Harry realises that the Mirror of Erised is standing behind Quirrell. Quirrell starts examining the frame obviously looking for something. All Harry can think of is to keep him talking and not concentrating on the Mirror.. A ( 9 5 A ( - A

38 . A, Qirrell then explains to Harry how he has got to know Voldemort and that Voldemort is with him wherever he goes. He also admits that it has been him who has failed to steal the Stone from Gringotts. Meanwhile Harry tries to get in front of the Mirror. What he wants more than anything in the world is to find the Stone before Quirrell does. So if he looks into the Mirror he should see himself finding it. When Quirrell, after a moment, asks his master for help to find out how the Mirror works, to Harry s horror, a voice answers, and the voice seems to come from Quirrell himself. Use the boy Quirrell claps his hands and the ropes binding Harry fall off. Then he drags him in front of the Mirror and forces him to look into it and to tell him what he sees. When Harry looks into the Mirror he sees his reflection putting its hand into its pocket and pulling out a blood-red stone. Then it puts the Stone back into its pocket - and as it does so, Harry feels something heavy drop into his real pocket. Somehow - incredibly - he has got the Stone. Quirrell impatiently repeats his question and Harry tells him that he has seen himself shaking hands with Dumbledore having won the House Cup for Gryffindor. But suddenly there is the high voice again. It says it wants to speak to Harry... face to face. Harry can t move a muscle. He watches Quirrell unwrapping his turban without having the slightest idea what is going on. When the turban falls away, Quirrell turns slowly on the spot. And where there should be the back of his head, there is a face, the most terrible face Harry has ever seen. It is chalk white with glaring red eyes and slits for nostrils, like a snake. ( 2 A = 3 A =3 5 4 F 4 ( 3 A 7 7 A A, 34F4( 3 5 A

39 A ( 3 A 3 5 A A =* 3 A 1A A A A A ( ( A When Harry regains consciousness a pair of glasses are glinting just above him. He blinks and the smiling face of Albus Dumbledore swims into view above him. Then Harry remembers. The Stone Quirrell - he has got the Stone. But Dumbledore calms him down and assures him that Quirrell doesn t have the Stone. When Harry looks around him he realises he is in the hospital wing and next to him is a table piled with sweets from his friends and admirers. Dumbledore tells him that the whole school knows what has happened and that Professor Quirrell has not managed to take the Stone from him, because he, Dumbledore has arrived in time to prevent it. It has also been Dumbledore who has pulled Quirrell off Harry in time. Harry learns that Dumbledore and his friend Nicolas Flamel have agreed to destroy the Stone - and have already done so. He s also told that Voldemort has left Quirrell to die and is still out there somewhere, perhaps looking for another body to share... and that, not being truly alive, he cannot be killed... Then Harry asks Dumbledore why Quirrel hasn t been able to touch him. 5 A 5. A A ( (. (

40 49 ( % When Dumbledore has left Harry, Ron and Hermione are let in. They tell Harry how they returned to the Entrance Hall only to run into Dumbledore who already seemed to know about everything. In fact they re now sure that everything has been planned by Dumbledore and that he has let Harry and his friends make their enquiries - teaching them enough to help instead of stopping them. The next day is the end-of-year feast. After a good night s sleep Harry is nearly back to normal and is allowed to take part in the festivities. The points are all in, and although Slytherin has won, the children can at least look forward to the great meal. But before Harry leaves the hospital wing there is another visitor for him. It s Hagrid and he s desperate as he knows that it has been his fault that Harry has almost died because he has told the stranger how to get past Fluffy. And all that for a dragon egg Harry stops him sobbing and asks him to cheer up as they have saved the Stone after all - and Voldemort won t be able to use it any more. Later, in the Great Hall Dumbledore makes it clear that there are some further points to be awarded because the recent events haven t been taken into account yet. The Slytherins smiles fade a little as Dumbledore continues. First he awards Ron Weasley fifty points for the best game of chess Hogwarts has seen in many years. Then it s another fifty points to Hermione Granger for the use of cool logic in the face of fire. Third - to Harry Potter - sixty points for outstanding courage. A storm of cheering and stamping breaks out as Gryffindor now has four hundred and seventy-two points - exactly the same as Slytherin. But Dumbledore has not yet finished. With a smile in his face he finally awards another ten points to Neville Longbottom who has shown a great deal of bravery when standing up to his friends and trying to stop them leaving the Gryffindor common room. And that s the end of it - Gryffindor has won the House Cup. Harry watches Snape shaking Professor McGonagall s hand, with a horrible forced smile. Then their eyes meet and Harry knows at once that Snape s feelings towards him haven t changed. Anyway, it s the best evening of Harry s life and he knows that he will never ever forget it. The exam results turn out to be much better than everyone has thought. Everybody has passed, even Goyle, who is almost as stupid as mean as Ron always says. And suddenly their wardrobes are empty and their trunks are packed - it s time for the holidays. They board the Hogwarts Express - and finally pull into platform nine and three-quarters at King s Cross Station. Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia and Dudley are already waiting for Harry as Mrs Weasley is for Ron. = The end