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Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
(aka: Harry Potter And The Sorcerers Stone)

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Examples from the film go here.


  • Hagrid righteously terrorizing the Dursleys after he finds out that they've been lying to Harry for nearly a decade is one of the most satisfying things ever after the continuous abuse Harry's been put through.
    • Hagrid bending Vernon's gun "into a knot as if it had been made of rubber" and throwing it out of his reach.
    • Also funny in the movie, as Hagrid just give a 'you're kidding, right?' expression to Vernon before calling him a "great prune" — and just bending the gun upwards and it fires and knocks a hole in the ceiling. He doesn't even look like he's putting effort into it; it's showing how much like rubber it was to his touch.
    • "Never. Insult. Albus Dumbledore. In front of me." Hagrid is described as "thundering"; he's an eleven-foot tall giant, so imagine how loud this must be!
  • It’s implied Hedwig intentionally left dead mice in Harry’s bedroom so the Dursleys wouldn’t bother him.
  • What is one of the reasons why the Sorting Hat puts Harry in Gryffindor? Harry defies the hat by refusing Slytherin and wanting anything else. Brave, to defy a Sorting Hat who's never been wrong.
  • Three first-year students take on a fully-grown mountain troll and not only survive but defeat the troll.
    • Immediately afterward, Hermione saves the boys from being punished by not only lying to the teachers but also willingly making herself look like a rule breaker, telling them that she thought she could handle the troll herself and went looking for it to defeat it and the boys came in to save her (in reality, the troll found her by chance and the boys broke the rules to rescue her). Considering the fact that she was not only at these boys' throats for much of the book but considers being punished for rule-breaking to be worse than dying, this was a pretty gutsy move on her part.
  • Later, those same three first-year wizards take on an obstacle course designed by their teachers and beat it.
  • Snape reversing Quirrell's hex.
  • Ron. Chess match. Big Damn Hero.
  • Hermione saving Harry's ass by setting Snape's robes on fire. In truth, Hermione saved him by accidentally knocking over Quirrell on the way, who was enchanting Harry's broom. Snape was chanting the counterspell.
    • This becomes incredibly hilarious when you remember Hermione is twelve. Quirrel is a full-grown adult - for her to be able to knock him over, she must be either moving incredibly fast... or this twelve-year-old, big-toothed, bushy-haired girl is obscenely strong for her age.
  • Harry's first Quidditch match against Slytherin. For context, Snape bullied Harry for supposedly being just a celebrity with no real talent and arrogant like his dad, even though he was actually very kind to others. Harry was afraid that other students saw him this way too, and wanted to prove that he was actually good at something. When the game itself starts, not only does Harry manage to hold onto his broom when Snape or rather, Quirrel jinxes it, but he wins the game in amazing fashion by diving and catching the Golden Snitch in his mouth. With the whole school witnessing this skilful display, Harry is very happy at not just having won the game but that others now see he's more than just a famous name.
    • Also, as pictured below, in the film it's even better. Harry catches the Golden Snitch while balancing on his broomstick like a tightrope. James Potter would be proud.
    • And there's more to it! In the second match against Hufflepuff, Snape is acting as referee, putting Harry and the rest of the Gryffindor team at a disadvantage. spoiler So what does Harry do? Catch the Golden Snitch in school record time (specifically, he caught it less than 5 minutes into the game), sweeping the game right from under Hufflepuff's and Snape's feet!
  • Hagrid putting Draco Malfoy in his place when the latter refuses to go into the Forbidden Forest for detention. After Malfoy earlier insulted Hagrid in front of Harry, it's incredibly satisfying.
    Hagrid: Yeh've done wrong and now yeh've got ter pay for it.
    Malfoy: But this is servant's stuff, it's not for students to do. I thought we'd be copying lines or something. If my father knew I was doing this, he'd—
    Hagrid: —tell yer that's how it's done at Hogwarts. Copyin' lines! What good's that ter anyone? Yeh’ll do summat useful or yeh’ll get out. If yeh think yer father’d rather you were expelled, then get back off ter the castle an’ pack. Go on!
  • Firenze saving Harry from Voldemort in the forest. For context, Voldemort is a very powerful dark wizard, whose spirit can put someone in a coma by flying through them, and Firenze is a centaur who, as far as we know, has no magic. Firenze makes Voldemort flee with his tail between the leg, just by threatening him with violence.
  • Dumbledore's scene in the hospital wing with Harry.
  • Neville — the class klutz — standing up to his friends to protect the honour of his House. His only friends. It gets more awesome when you realize that Lupin and even Dumbledore, in similar situations, didn't have the courage to do what Neville does in his first year. And, this act ends up giving Gryffindor enough House Points to win the House Cup. That proved that the Sorting Hat was right to insist that Neville belonged in Gryffindor and not Hufflepuff like Neville wanted.
    • This turns out to be Foreshadowing of the final book, where he openly defies Voldemort himself!
  • Neville also jumping into the fray when Ron fought Malfoy. Neville took on the two physically strongest first years, at the same time and he held his own against the two long enough for Ron to give Malfoy a black eye.
    • Bear in mind, he's eleven years old, it's highly doubtful he even knows how to throw a punch, and he still willingly jumps into the fray with two bigger kids!
  • The poke of death!
  • Lily's sacrifice. Voldemort wasn't even going to kill her in the first place, but she offered herself instead of her son, got killed first, and essentially defeated Voldemort by protecting her son.
  • "I think I can tell the wrong sort for myself, thanks."
  • Harry frightening Peeves away by impersonating the Bloody Baron.
  • Fred and George enchanting snowballs to fly at the back of Quirrell's head. They were basically throwing snowballs in Voldemort's face.
  • Neville cries after becoming the victim of another prank by Malfoy. Ron tells Neville to stand up to him, and remember that "you're worth twelve of him." Neville repeats this in Malfoy's face, albeit with a slight stutter. Malfoy laughs it off, but it's the beginning of a climb up a slope of courage that will end magnificently in their seventh year.
  • The end of the book: Harry tells Hermione he plans on spending the summer getting back at Dudley for the 10 years of bullying.

Alternative Title(s): Harry Potter And The Sorcerers Stone

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