Harry potter and the philosopher’s stone — An insight
So I have watched the harry potter series a lot of times. I binge-watched the complete series recently in the summers just before reading the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. But then some of friends told me that the story in the original novels is quite different and a LOT of details are missed in the movie. So, I took kindle unlimited subscription and started with the very first book Harry Potter and Philosopher’s Stone.
So the first thing I noticed different was the name. I remembered seeing the name Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone but well the book was Harry Potter and Philosopher’s stone. After a quick google search, I found that it also recommends the movie as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Even on amazon prime video the movie is listed as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.
So now I started reading the book and trust me it was VERY different from the movie. Now I will list all the changes I found out in the book one by one. I will also add snapshots of the book for you to read !
- In the first scene when Albus Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall and Hagrid are at Privet Drive to leave young Harry at doorsteps of the Dursley’s — The worst muggles imaginable, in the movie it was a simple scene Hagrid bringing Harry and they all leaving him there with a letter to the Dursley’s but in the book there was a dialogue between McGonagall and Dumbledore which caught my attention. You can read it from the below snapshot of the book.
2. In the movie when we have the first glimpse of our most loved and fierce wizard it was quite simple scene, Harry’s Aunt Petunia waking him up and then big fat Dudley going up and down over the stairs which was spilling dust over Potter and then he coming out of the cupboard and cooking breakfast for all and being scolded for non sense things. But in the book this was quite different. The scene starts with Aunt Petunia waking up Harry and it also tells about Harry dreaming of a flying motorbike. And then he was instructed to cook bacon by his Aunt with a warning not burn them but in the movie what to cook for breakfast was not specified. This whole conversation was going on when Harry was still in the cupboard while in movie it was happening when he was inside the kitchen. Also afterwards in the book he looks for his sock and finds spider on them which he pulls off and it was also mentioned that he was used to spiders in cupboard but nothing of this sort was mentioned in the movie.
3. After Hagrid delivered the Hogwarts Letter to Harry in the secluded light house they can be seen directly walking in the street next to the Leaking Cauldron and then on their way to Diagon Alley but according to the book when Hagrid arrives at the night after having some “fun” with the Dursleys he sleeps on the sofa and next morning harry wakes up seeing an owl dropping newspaper for Hagrid and then starting to tap its beak on Hagrid’s coat until Hagrid told Harry to pay him five Knuts (the small bronze ones) and then they pack their things and went out and Hagrid told Harry that he came flying but since he now got Harry he cannot use the magic so they uses the boat to cross the sea and then they walked to the station and boarded a train to London. Hagrid sat on the train taking up two seats and knitting something which looked like Canary-yellow circus tent. The Passers-by were staring at Hagrid a lot. And then Hagrid asks to take out the things he needed. Now in the movie Harry tells about only One standard size 2 Pewter Cauldron, and either an Owl, Cat or a Toad but in the book the whole list of essentials for a first year wizard was present which can be seen in the screenshot below.
You will be amazed to find that one of the text book was Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander.
4. In the scene when Harry has boarded the Hogwarts Express from the platform 9¾ of the King’s Cross Station and is sitting with Ron having bought a lot of the things from the smiling dimpled woman and eating Chocolate Frogs which contains card of a famous witch or wizard. Harry finds the card of Dumbledore. In the movie the scene is now completed but in the book there is more to the card. Harry turns over the card and starts reading :
Albus Dumbledore, currently Headmaster of Hogwarts. Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern time, Professor Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon’s blood and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel. Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and tenpin bowling.
Now many of you guys who have followed the Harry Potter realm properly must know who Grindelwald is. I was astonished to see his reference this early in the series.
5. In the movie when Harry and Ron were still on Hogwarts Express and Ron was going to change the Scrabber’s colour and Hermoine walks in looking for Neville’s toad. She just slams Ron for his trick not working and then fixes Harry’s spectacles. She then advices them to change as they all will be reaching soon and then just leaves. But in the book after Hermoine got to know about Harry she tells that she had read everything about him and also that he is mentioned in Modern Magical History and The Rise and the Fall of the Dark Arts and The Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century. She also talks a bit about they both knowing which house they will be in and then talking about how she would like to be in Gryffindor but Ravenclaw will also work. And then she leaves advising them to change. After this Harry and Ron talks and Ron tells Harry how everyone from his family was in Gryffindor and Harry enquired about the two of his brothers who completed their school. Now Ron tells Harry that :
Chalie’s in Romania studying dragons and Bills in Africa doing something to do with Gringotts.
We all know that the Charlie’s reference will have a comeback in the Goblet of Fire 😜
6. There were some differences in the sorting ceremony too. The grand hall was more elaborated in the book. Also in the movie Dumbledore gives the start-of-the-term notices before the sorting ceremony begins but in the book it was done after the ceremony. Also, in the book before the sorting began the sorting hat sing a song, which is as follows :
