The first Harry Potter movie, The Sorcerer's Stone, opens with Minerva McGonagall and Hagrid watching Professor Albus Dumbledore drop off the infant Harry on his aunt's doorstep at Privet Drive. McGonagall looks worried and Hagrid sheds tears while Dumbledore ensures them the boy is better off at the Dursleys until he's ready.
On Harry's eleventh birthday, Hagrid collects him from the hut-on-the-rock and tells him about his magical ancestry. He helps the young wizard become familiar with the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Dumbledore, and so forth. The first Harry Potter movie is a wonderful introduction to the Wizarding World, as reflected through the quotes below.
10 McGonagall's Opinion On The Dursleys
One of the best Hogwarts professors, Minerva McGonagall is introduced in her Animagus form, tabby cat, in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. She's been watching Petunia and Vernon Dursley all day and asks Dumbledore if it's wise to leave the infant with non-magic people who don't seem to be particularly pleasant:
"They're the worst sort of Muggles imaginable!"
Dumbledore explains that Lily's older sister, Petunia, and her husband are the only family Harry has. He's made the decision regarding infant Harry's years ahead, and he expects McGonagall to have faith in him.
9 The Fame Of The Boy Who Lived
McGonagall holds the infant Harry in high regard, as he's the boy who the Dark Lord, Voldemort couldn't kill. The Dark Lord had turned up at Potters' home at Godric's Hollow the night before and killed them. Harry survived the Killing Curse due to the power of his mother's loving sacrifice. McGonagall correctly predicts that Harry will become an instant legend:
"There won't be a child in our world who doesn't know his name."
While the Dark Lord vanquished, Harry Potter became "The Boy Who Lived." He was destined for great things and had already earned a high status in the Wizarding World. He had awed witches and wizards and had gained celebrity status.
8 Vernon Dursley On Magic
Harry lives miserably at Aunt Petunia's house. He's confined to the cupboard under the stairs most of the time, and on no account gets the love and affection that Dudley Dursley does.
The Dursleys take a trip to a zoo on Dudley's eleventh birthday and Harry is warned to be on his best behavior. At the zoo, the Parselmouth Harry inadvertently aids in a Burmese python's escape. Dudley, meanwhile, falls and is trapped in its tank. Harry is punished for this zoo incident, and when he swears the enclosure glass vanished and reappeared like magic, Vernon flies into a rage, exclaiming:
"There's no such thing as magic!"
7 Talking To A Snake
Harry feels sorry for the python's state. He utters a few words, still unaware that he has the ability to talk to snakes. Quite obviously the python understands, raises its head, and proceeds to maintain eye contact with Harry. Harry is amazed at the unusual turn of events and asks the python if it talks to people often. The python shakes its head, leaving Harry awed. He apologizes for how stunned he is, explaining:
"It's just...I've never talked to a snake before."
Harry's ability to speak Parseltongue comes to the fore in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. When Ron and Hermione tell him he's a Parselmouth, he admits to accidentally setting a python on his cousin Dudley at the zoo once. The Chamber of Secrets reveals that Lord Voldemort, a Parselmouth, intentionally passed this ability on to Harry when he attacked him in 1981.
6 Harry Learns His Origins
After acquiring his wand, Harry realizes the one who scarred his forehead is who killed his parents. Hagrid educates him, saying not all wizards are good, and explains how a wizard went bad a few years ago.
While Hagrid hesitates to name this Dark wizard at first, eventually he utters the name, Voldemort. He tells him how the Dark Lord killed anyone who stood up to him, except for Harry. Lily and James Potter's infant survived Voldemort's Killing Curse as a baby but was left with a forehead scar in the shape of a lightning bolt. Hagrid informs Harry that the mark on his forehead isn't ordinary as it comes from being touched by an evil curse. Understandably, Harry is surprised:
"Me? Voldemort tried to kill me?"
5 The Hogwarts Express Sweet Trolley
While Harry Potter lore is dark, complex, and layered, the first Harry Potter movie is light-hearted in comparison. It emphasizes the themes of heroism and explores childhood innocence. Ron and Harry share a compartment on the Hogwarts Express and get into a conversation. When the trolley passes by, Harry tells the kind lady:
"We'll take the lot!"
Harry buys tons of sweets and shares them with Ron. He purchases items such as Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, and Chocolate Frogs, and the two bond over their magical feast.
4 "Are You Sure That's A Real Spell?"
On the train, the duo is interrupted by a girl who comes looking for Neville's lost toad. She first watches Ron trying to cast a spell he learned from his brother:
"Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow, turn this stupid, fat rat yellow!"
Nothing happens and, unimpressed, the girl lets herself into the compartment, saying:
"Are you sure that's a real spell? Well, it's not very good, is it? Of course, I've only tried a few simple ones myself, but they've all worked for me. For example: Oculus Reparo."
Sticking out her wand, she fixes Harry's glasses using the "Oculus Reparo" spell. She introduces herself as Hermione Granger (Emma Watson), after realizing the boy sitting right opposite to her is Harry Potter. It will still be time before the trio becomes inseparable and achieves high levels of success at Hogwarts. Hermione, of course, is a bright young witch and one of the smartest students in her class.
3 Snape's Potions Introduction
In his first Potions lesson, the Potions master, Severus Snape exhibits traits of a cold-hearted person. He lacks sympathy and affection for his pupils and interrogates Harry in a manner that indicates his prejudice toward him. Still, the way he describes the art of potion-making is quite poetic:
"I can teach you how to bewitch the mind and ensnare the senses. I can tell you how to bottle fame, brew glory, and even put a stopper in death.
Snape narrows his eyes when speaking to Harry, calls him Hogwarts' "new celebrity" and proceeds to ask him a few difficult questions. When Harry fails to answer all three questions, and suggests he ask an eager Hermione, Snape deducts five points from Gryffindor for the boy's cheek.
2 Levi-OH-sa
Hermione delivers this classic quote in Professor Flitwick's class. She tries to teach Ron the correct pronunciation of "Wingardium Leviosa," and it doesn't sit well with him, especially with her superior tone:
"It's Levi-OH-sa, not Levio-SAH."
While Flitwick teaches his students the "swish and flick" wrist movement and tells them to enunciate the spells properly, Ron does neither. Hermione levitates her feather, and Seamus Finnigan sets fire to his feather with his wand, leaving the class stunned.
1 Hermione Goes To Bed
This is another one of Hermione's classic Harry Potter quotes, and she delivers it right after the trio runs into trouble on the third-floor corridor of Hogwarts Castle. At the Start-of-Term Feast, Dumbledore informs students that the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds.
Of course, the trio accidentally ends up in the forbidden area of the third floor and Hermione uses "Alohomora" to unlock the door on the corridor in a bid to avoid getting caught. They encounter a three-headed dog, and Hermione is the only one who notices it's standing on a trapdoor and guarding something. The trio run for their lives, at the end of this misadventure, she gives the boys an earful before heading back to her dorm:
"Now, if you two don't mind, I'm going to bed, before either of you come up with another clever idea to get us killed, or worse, expelled!"