The major theme is death and dealing with death. However themes of love vs hate and good vs evil are also prominent.

The story answers the question, "What really matters?"

The Philosopher's Stone seems to be important because it promises infinite wealth and an endless lifespan. But the only person who can locate the stone is the one who wants to find it without using it - in other words, the person who knows that wealth and longevity don't really matter.

Harry believes the quest for the Philosopher's Stone is important because he needs to prevent it from falling into the hands of an evil person. But in fact the stone is never in any danger and it is not very important to the grand plot. The only real point of the quest is to test Harry himself - to find out if he has the character-qualities required to defeat Voldemort.

The obstacle course seems to test power and intelligence. But in fact any adult wizard could easily run through most of it. For eleven-year-olds, however, this is only possible with team-work, cooperation and courage. Friendship proves far more important than individual abilities.

It is a Hollywood cliche that "family matters more than anything". But one of the messages of Harry Potter is that family only matters if your family love you, and the Dursleys are not very important to anything. What matters is love - whether from family, friends or anyone else.

The conclusion of the story is that love matters more than anything because true love can conquer death. Lily Potter showed her love by dying for her son, and as a result he could not be killed. This theme will be revisited in the final volume, when Harry must die to save everyone, and as a result, his friends cannot be killed.

In the first book, the obvious Christ-figure is Lily, and in later books it will be Dumbledore; but ultimately, it will be Harry. The redemption theme is in the whole series. However, the aspect of this theme that is specific to the first book is Harry's own discovery that love can save us from all evils, and that this is what really matters. Harry and the gang have to keep the Scorcerer's Stone away from Professor Quirrel.

Harry learns the following spells in the Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone video game:

• Flipendo & Flipendo Duo - this spell knocks objects over and stuns magical creatures. He learns this spell in his first ever Defense Against the Dark Arts class.

• Alohomora - This spell unlocks doors. This also appears in the book and movie.

• Wingardium Leviosa - levitates small objects. Harry learns this in his Charms class. This also appears in the book and movie.

• Incendio - shrinks spiky bushes and stuns Venemous Tentaculas. Harry learns this in Herbology.

• Lumos - makes the tip of the wand light up. Harry learns this in his second DADA lesson. This appears in later books.

• Verdimillius - cast on invisible things to make them appear.

• Locomotor Mortis - spell used to immobilize enemies. This also appears in the book.

• Mucus Adnauseam - poisons the enemy with a serious cold. Makes spell use harder for the person hit.

Fluffy is a three-headed dog. In Greek and Roman mythology they are often called hellhounds. The chief hell hound in mythology is called Cerbeus.

In the movie, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone,Fluffy was based on a Staffordshire Bull Terrier.

309 Pages -- Scholastic First American Hardcover Edition (October 1998)

309 Pages -- Arthur A. Levine Books Library Edition (November 2003)

320 Pages -- Scholastic Trade Collectors Edition (November 2000)

320 Pages -- Scholastic 10th Anniversary Edition (September 2008)

320 Pages -- Scholastic Paperback Edition (September 1999)

422 Pages -- Thorndike Press Large Print Edition (November 1999)

Note: Philosopher's Stone (UK) has 223 pages. However, this question is about Sorcerer's Stone (US) specifically, which does not contain 223 pages.
The paperback edition has 309 pages .

Harry finally received his Hogwarts letter on the 31st July 1991, his eleventh birthday.

The first letter arrived about a week and a half previously. At first the Dursleys moved his bedroom, then Vernon took to sleeping on the doormat. When the letters still arrived he nailed the door shut, but they appeared through other means so Vernon sealed the entire house.

On the Sunday, the letters came through the fireplace. Vernon then took them to a hotel for a night - where they showed up the next morning, before finally taking them to the hut.

The first line of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is:

"Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense."

And the first line in the film is from Albus Dumbledore to a cat:

"I should have known that you would be here... Professor McGonagall."

The first Harry Potter book (and movie) is called Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

In America and a few other countries the title was changed to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone because the American publisher believed American children would not know what a Philosopher was and Sorcerer sounded more exciting.

J.K Rowling later stated that she regrets allowing the change and had see been in a stronger position at the time she would have fought against it.

The above video contains a walkthrough showing you how to defeat Lord Voldemort in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stonefor PlayStation 2.

Walkthroughs for other platforms are also available.