Is there ever a better birthday present than an unexpected letter of acceptance from a school of wizardry, inviting you to an enchanted world beyond your wildest imagination? In 1997, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, the first book of British author J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series was published, and Harry Potter’s magical journey beings.

Harry Potter is extremely famous in the wizarding world, yet he was forced to live as an absolute nobody with the Dursleys for ten long years. What do you think is the motive behind this decision of Dumbledore’s? 

Why is Harry’s insistence on being sorted into Gryffindor significant in terms of his character development? What does this act symbolise? Do you agree that our choices make us who we are, or is it the other way around? Why?

How does Rowling play around with the similarities and connections between Harry and Voldermort to let readers find the obvious distinctions between the two? How is this more impactful than stating it directly?

What lesson did Harry take with him as he walked away from the Mirror of Erised after speaking to Dumbledore? How does it play a role in Harry’s understanding of his internal conflict? How do you think he managed to connect to his past without ‘forgetting to live’?