One of the key moments of each book is the “Dumbledore Denouement” – the final conversation, after the story’s climax, in which Dumbledore and Harry have a little chat about what happened.  

Here’s a little assignment for Day 5 of Sorcerer’s Stone Week.  With the knowledge of Dumbledore’s backstory in mind, go back and re-read the few pages of chapter 17 of Sorcerer’s Stone which comprise this final conversation with Harry after the battle over the stone.  

What strikes you about this conversation now?  How do you read it differently than when you first read it?  What new meanings do Dumbledore’s words take on, if any?  What was Rowling really trying to accomplish with Dumbledore in these pages?  Maybe a better question: What was Dumbledore really trying to accomplish with Harry in these few pages?

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It seemed pretty evident in the first book that Severus Snape was going to be an intriguing character.  This is a post dedicated to the greasy potions master.  Several questions for consideration and comment:

• In what clever ways did Rowling set up the Snape plot in book one?  
• Any Snape foreshadowing that you missed in the discussion from Day 2?
• Reflect on your initial encounter with the character of Snape in reading book one for the first time compared with how you read him in book one now.
• Anything else you want to discuss concerning Snape in Sorcerer’s Stone.

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Today is the “official” 10th anniversary of the U.S. release of the first Harry Potter book. Scholastic is celebrating with a cover-to-cover day. The book is being read cover to cover from the seat in New York City from which J.K. Rowling read last year.

Keep up with the whole day here!

Also, today is the “official” release date of the 10th anniversary edition of Sorcerer’s Stone (though many got their copies early).

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Foreshadowing is when an author drops subtle hints or clues about something coming later in the story.  Rowling did a lot of this, and she’s brilliant at it.  And of course, there’s plenty of foreshadowing in Sorcerer’s Stone.  Day 2 discussion focuses on Rowling’s use of foreshadowing in the first novel, and it’s a simple discussion starter:

Now that you’ve got the knowledge of all seven books, where do you see clever foreshadowing in Book 1?  What’s your favorite foreshadowing from the first book?  What things from the first book have taken on new and enhanced meaning since the release of Deathly Hallows?

One of my favorites is Sirius’s motorbike – a device which seemed so innocuous in book one, but which ended up belonging to one of the key players in the story and being the means of magical escape from Privet Drive for book 7.  Think about Rowling’s parallelism here: Sirius’s bike brings Harry to 4 Privet Drive for the beginning of his 7 years there, and it takes him away at the end of his 7 years there.

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Today, we begin our celebration of the 10 year anniversary of the release of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in the U.S.  The book was unfortunately renamed for publication in the U.S. (originally titled Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone – sadly, this eliminated one of the first concrete alchemical references, at least in the U.S. editions).  While it’s my practice here at The Hog’s Head to use the book’s original name, I’ll be using the U.S. name for just this week, since it’s a specific celebration of the U.S. release.

There will be lots of fun discussion this week, but this intro post is sort of a free-for-all discussion.  Tell us about your experience with the first Harry Potter book.  Favorite quotes?  Favorite moments?  Did you start reading it when it was released, or did you come to the series later in the game?  

I was given a copy of the first book back when I was, for religious reasons which I now consider quite silly, opposed to even reading the books.  Begrudgingly, I gave it a try, but I set it down after a chapter or two; I was determined not to like it.  Probably a year later, I decided to watch the movie.  Enough of the book’s magic had been translated onto the screen to convince me to re-read the books, and I flew through the five that were available at the time.

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Leaky is reporting that the 10th anniversary edition of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone has (accidentally?) been shipped to some who have pre-ordered it.  

Any Hog’s Head patrons have their copy yet? 

Kind of frustrating that some will be able to examine the new material before others.  Either way, we’ll still be having Sorcerer’s Stone Week, starting on the day the book is “officially” released.

Pre-order your copy today.  Hey, you might get it before the rest of us.

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Great giveaway this month – Sorcerer’s Stone 10th Anniversary Edition!  We had so much fun with the caption contest last time, let’s do it again.  Once all entries are in, we’ll have everyone vote on the winner (and this time, we’ll do an in-post poll to vote.)  The winner will have their very own copy of the 10th Anniversary Edition of Sorcerer’s Stone pre-ordered for them by The Hog’s Head from Amazon.com (and you’ll receive it just in time to participate in Sorcerer’s Stone Week!)  Deadline for entry is 11pm (EST) on Tuesday, September 16.  The vote will be posted by midnight of the 16th and will close at midnight on September 17.  To enter, simply put your caption for this photo in the comments for this post.  Good luck!.  

Photo from Portus 2008; this is me and Penny of HP Progs on the Portus Podcasting Panel (click to enlarge):

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by Johnny

From the Scholastic press release:

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, the first book in J.K. Rowling’s phenomenally best-selling series, will be released in a special anniversary edition on September 23, 2008. The book, published by Scholastic, will feature exclusive bonus material from J.K. Rowling as well as new cover art and a four-color frontispiece by Mary Grandpré.

The special anniversary cover of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (Scholastic/Arthur A. Levine; $30.00) depicts 11-year-old Harry looking into the Mirror of Erised, which Harry comes across in his first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and learns that the mirror shows you what you most desire.

“It’s a real treat for me to get another chance to visually bring Harry back to his fans in not only a new scene, but in a new light,” said American illustrator of the Harry Potter books, Mary Grandpré. “Going back to draw the first cover for the anniversary edition was an opportunity for me to show another side of Harry… a vulnerable side. Having come to know and love Harry the way we all have, after experiencing the whole series, I think we can appreciate him even more on an emotional level.”

In my opinion this new cover is better than the old one, but what strikes my attention is the bonus material from J.K. Rowling. You can explore the cover art in more detail at Scholastic’s website.

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Back to the beginning; the beginning of the artistic process; new beginning for the website

This is a short episode crammed into a really heavy schedule for me. More, better episodes coming soon.

You can subscribe to the Hog’s Head PubCast through iTunes, and VOTE for The Hog’s Head for the month of February at Podcast Alley.

Pub Menu

• Joseph Pearce: Tolkien: Man and Myth
• Richard L. Purtill: J.R.R. Tolkien: Myth, Morality, and Religion

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I’ve finished a Philosopher’s Stone re-read.  Some things about the book have bugged me at every re-read (I still love the book, of course).  Before I could post on it, the Eating Words blog hit the first thing that bugged me, and a good conversation as resulted.  Check out the conversation here.

I’m moving on to Chamber tomorrow.

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