“Harry Potter and the Philosopher`s Stone”
“Harry Potter and the Philosopher`s Stone” is the first book in the Harry Potter series written by J.K. Rowling.
It was published 30 June 1997 by Bloomsbury in London. It has been also made into a film of the same name. This is also the most popular of the books in terms of number sold: an estimated 120 million copies worldwide. As of January 2008, the book is number twelve on the best selling book list of all time, and is the third best-selling non-religious, non-political work of fiction of all time.
It is the tale of Harry Potter, an ordinary 11-year-old boy.Young Harry Potter has to lead a hard life: His parents have died in a car crash when he was still a baby, and he is being brought up by his Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia. The Dursleys let him live in the small chamber under the stairs, and treat him badly. His fat cousin Dudley, the Dursley's real son, keeps bothering Harry all the time.
On his eleventh birthday, Harry Potter finally receives a mysterious letter from a certain Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.The letter is telling him that he is chosen as one of the future students.
Hagrid, the gigantic man who brought the letter, finally introduces Harry into the real circumstances of his life: His parents were a wizard and a witch, they were killed by the evil wizard Voldemort protecting him.
Harry still has a lightning-shaped scar on his forehead from that event. Since he survived the attack as a baby, and also deprived Voldemort from his powers, he has been famous in the wizarding world ever since. At Hogwarts, Harry meets his teachers, and becomes friends with Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. The three of them accidentally find out that the master, Severus Snape, seems to plot on stealing something that is guarded by a three-headed dog.
They take it on themselves to find out what Snape is up to. Their quest for the truth leads across many obstacles.
Fluffy, the three-headed monster dog and quite some tasks one has to overcome to get to the guarded object.
In 2001 a film based on the book was released. After becoming the highest grossing film in the UK it went on to earn $ 976.5 million, making it the second highest grossing film in history at the time.
As of 2008, it is the fourth highest-grossing film of all-time, behind Titanic, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.
The success of the series and its tie-in merchandise, have led the Harry Potter brand to be valued at $15 billion and J. K. Rowling becoming the UK's richest woman, thought to be worth more than one billion US dollars.
In October 1998, Warner Brothers purchased the film rights to the first two novels for a seven-figure sum. A film version of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was released on 16 November 2001, and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets on 15 November 2002. Both were directed by Chris Columbus. Daniel Radcliffe acts a role of Harry Potter.
Harry Potter series includes 7 novels: