Even Muggles find way to Harry’s Hogwarts home
by Michael Kraft, entertainment editor

    The Harry Potter phenomenon has been sweeping the nation. Harry, the central character of a series of books by author J.K. Rowling, is a young wizard, and the books chronicle his adventures with magic and sorcery.

    Rowling’s characters came to life this weekend in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, the screen adaptation of the book of the same name.

    With a Steven Kloves screenplay that sticks to the book faithfully and direction by Chris Columbus of Home Alone fame, the film is a delightful romp into the mythical world of Potter.

    The film opens with baby Harry being delivered to his Aunt Petunia (Fiona Shaw) and Uncle Vernon Dursley (Richard Griffiths) by the giant Hagrid (Robbie Coltrane), Professor McGonagall (Maggie Smith) and Albus Dumbledore (Richard Harris), headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

    They agree that he should be with family, even if they are “muggles” (non-magical people) since Harry’s parents were killed, leaving him an orphan.

    Fast forward 11 years, and it is soon obvious where Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) sits on the totem pole—low, maybe even buried in the ground. His aunt and uncle are horrid people, showering their overweight, spoiled, rude, vicious, mean, evil, foul-tempered son with everything and making Harry the slave of the house. He cooks, cleans and sleeps under the stairs in a cupboard. They obviously hate Harry, but they never say why.

    One day a mysterious letter arrives for Harry from the Hogwarts Academy. Vernon tears up it and all subsequent letters until the flood of paper gets so massive the family moves into a stone shack on an island in the middle of a lake.

    One night, Hagrid reappears to hand-deliver another letter to Harry. In the ensuing conversation, Harry learns that he is a Wizard and has been accepted to Hogwarts.

    Harry and Hagrid travel to London to pick up Harry’s “school supplies.” After this, he boards a train (an adventure in itself) and sets off to Hogwarts. On the train, he meets Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) and Hermione Granger (Emma Watson), and the three become quick friends.

    At Hogwarts, the three friends are put into the Gryffindor House, a sort of fraternity. The other Houses are Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and the latently sinister Slytherin.

    Hagrid tells Harry that Voldemort, an evil wizard, had killed his parents. No one speaks his name out of fear. He tried to kill Harry as well, but the love of Harry’s mother prevented that. However, Harry was left permanently scarred on his forehead, and the scar irritates him in the presence of evil.

    The scar gets particularly riled up when Harry encounters evil-looking Professor Snape (Alan Rickman), the professor of potions.

Appearances can be deceiving, but Snape likes to dabble in the “Dark Arts,” so Harry is suspicious.

    One day Harry, Ron and Hermione wander up to the forbidden third floor and encounter Fluffy, a huge three-headed dog guarding a trap door. After finding out from the incredibly loose-lipped Hagrid that the trapdoor leads to a huge secret, the trio discover that the secret is the Sorcerer’s Stone

, a magical device that gives its bearer unlimited life and power.
    After successfully battling a troll, the children notice injuries on Snape’s legs and figure that he set-up the troll as a diversion, went for the stone but was stopped by Fluffy.

    The children don’t like Snape, and during the game of Quidditch, Hermione stops Snape from casting a spell on Harry and killing him.

    From here the adventures get better and better, and I recommend seeing the film for yourself.

    Columbus does a great job with shots and pacing, with few wasted moments.

    The performances are great. Radcliffe, a newcomer to the acting scene, not only resembles the fictional character but truly brings him to life. Radcliffe, Grint and Watson are a great trio, and the casting department scored by putting these unknowns on the screen.

    Coltrane is hilarious as the blabbermouth Hagrid, and Rickman was wonderful as the slippery Professor Snape. He always plays the perfect bad guy, and here he is at his slimy best, oozing and dripping evil.

    Perfectly cast, Maggie Smith is excellent as the stern professor and deputy headmistress.

    The other performers all do spectacular jobs of making Potter’s fantasy world rich and believable.

    The only two downsides of the film are minor, but noticeable. The film is apparently so faithful to the book it occasionally bogs down. The second and far more glaring drawback is the film’s length. At two-and-a-half hours, it’s a haul after drinking a Texas-sized cola, and children and parents alike were up and down the whole time.

    I wasn’t a fan of and didn’t really “get” the Harry Potter craze for a long time, but the film was so good I may be stopping at a library on the way home today.