Fact and Fiction

Anyone who reads Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone knows that the events contained within the book are fictitious because magic does not exist. Harry Potter doesn’t believe in magic, either, until he learns the truth. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone details Harry Potter’s journey toward adulthood through his perceptions of various fictions and realities. As Harry matures, he learns how to see the world and the people in it as they truly are.

Growing up, Harry has no reason to believe in magic. He never considers its existence until Hagrid tells him he is a wizard. On the other hand, the Dursley’s are aware of the magical world and pretend that it doesn’t exist, insisting that they can “put a stop to that rubbish” (53). The Dursley’s preferred ignorance of their magical reality is a rejection of the truth. Their ignorance can be attributed to their fear of the unknown and their desire to live within their safe bubble, believing that Harry’s parents “asked for all they got, getting mixed up with those wizarding types” (56). Harry is able and willing to accept the truth that is the world of wizardry and magic, showing a sense of maturity his Aunt and Uncle lack. With the revelation of the wizarding world, Harry learns the truth about his parents’ deaths and the reason for “every odd thing that had ever made his aunt and uncle furious with him” (58). Although Harry is still a child, his maturity, in some ways, exceeds that of the Dursley’s because he can see the world as it truly is: magical.

The Mirror of Erised helps Harry learn to accept the truth. The mirror shows Harry his greatest desire; it shows Harry visions of his dead family that he never had the opportunity to meet. The mirror provides an alternate reality, a fiction, in which Harry’s family is still alive. At first, Harry obsesses over the mirror that distracts him from his reality, proving to be an obstacle to his growth as a person. Instead of trying to figure out the mystery of Flamel, Harry “had only one thought in his head, which was to get back in front of that mirror” (212). Harry seeks to transform his greatest desire into his reality, despite the impossibility of resurrecting the dead. Eventually, Harry realizes that he cannot live in the fiction that the Mirror of Erised writes for him and learns to accept his reality. Harry eventually puts his desire behind him in order to save the Stone from Quirrell and Voldemort (291). Harry’s ability to move on, to not wallow in what could have been, and to accept the truth, once again demonstrates how he matures as a character.

Professors Snape and Quirrell prove to be one of Harry’s greatest conflicts with fact and fiction. Upon his arrival at Hogwarts, Harry and his friends believe Snape to be the epitome of evil, the bully who threatens Quirrell into divulging how to find the sorcerer’s stone. In a twist, Quirrell turns out to be the ultimate evil, colluding with Voldemort, and Snape is the reluctant savior (289). Snape’s ability to simultaneously protect and hate Harry “made his head pound” (300). Snape’s morality is an unexpected nuance in the duality Harry constructs in his mind about good and evil. Snape’s layered motivations serve as an example for Harry, once again showing him that reality is more complicated than it first appears. Although Harry learns a lot about fiction and reality over the course of the novel, he still has room to grow when it comes to seeing people for who they really are.