All right, considering what happened in the sixth book, I wonder, DO WE REALLY NEED THE FIRST BOOK???? So he got used to the wizarding world, but he really didn't do anything IMPORTANT. So he rescued the sorcerer's stone, it doesn't make too much of an impact on the rest of the series.

Time line of what IS important in the rest of the books:

2: Destroys a Hocrux, and finds out what Voldemort's name WAS(I'm warning you, people who haven't finished the sixth book, reading any farther is BAD)
3: Learns Patronus, meets his godfather, and get the details from dementors and his defense against the dark arts teacher
4: Learns who the Death Eaters are, and the three Unforgivable Curses.
5: Finds the prophecy, and learns why Voldemort is after him and a bunch of stuff he didn't even know he wanted to know
6: Explores Voldemort's past, finds out what Hocruxes are and how many he needs to find.

1: NOTHING IMPORTANT.



Point:

BUT GINNY wouldn't be in the first book, therefore not serving the purpose of the ending of the story. If she were possibly made Ron's twin, that wouldn't work since there's all ready Fred and George. Fred, George or Percy wouldn't write in a diary, and Hermione was petrified for most of the book. Ginny coulkd be set a year OLDER, but that would seem lame because it would seem better if Harry saved a littler girl rather than an older girl.

The first book serves a little purpose actually, by letting Ginny grow up a year so she could serve a purpose. But does Ginny HAVE to serve a purpose? Could she be substituted with Cho Chang??? Therefore showing that Cho CHang does have a relation in Harry Potter, instead of just coming out of the blue in the third book? But with the fourth book, she wouldn't have gone with Cedric in the Yule Ball if Harry asked her, because Harry would've saved her life. Therefore not creating a relantionship with him because she wouldn't have been close to Cedric if Harry went to the ball with her, but the Yule Ball might create a relantionship, but they wouldn't break up, Cedric being the reason they broke up, and Harry wouldn't start going out with Ginny, then break up with Ginny.

But this serves as a purpose with the seventh book, WHY????

Someone help me, I don't get this. I guess the first book would serve as a purpose to the rest of the series, important even though you didn't know it. Does anyone have a different idea????

well there wouldn't be a Harry Potter series of novels if the first book didn't came to existence. its where the story started. it has the biggest purpose of all.

I know it has a big purpose


But what if the second book was CONVERTED to the first, therefore giving something important for Harry to do, but as you can see from I think the first line of my points, Ginny wouldn't be there.


Just thinking about the books since I'm seeing the movie today and I'm SUPER excited....

your forgetting alot of things in the books!! like in the 4th one, Cedric dies!!!
in the 5th one, Sirius dies!! and in the 6th one, (most important of all..) DUMBLEDORE dies!! (so sad.. :()

Well, as others have said, you DID leave out a lot of stuff; however, I'm not going to get into that. I'm going to tell you WHY the first book is absolutely necessary to the series. (Besides the fact that if it didn't exist, neither would the series.)

The first book was the upward climb. You can't have a rollercoaster unless you go up that first hill to gain momentum. You can't just throw a character into these situations without setting it up first. If Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone didn't exist, we would know almost nothing about Harry. We wouldn't know his motivations, fears, or history. We wouldn't know what the heck Hogwarts is. We wouldn't know how Harry, Ron, and Hermione met up. We wouldn't know what had happened to cause so much animosity between certain characters. We wouldn't know exactly what had happened to Harry and his parents until much later. Without the first book, there would be a LOT of holes in the storyline. I could mention many more things, but that would take up too much time and space. Hopefully, this will get my point across sufficiently.

Perhaps you should just appreciate the hard work J.K. Rowling put into writing it. Writing a book isn't exactly the easiest thing in the world. It takes a lot of time and work. She wrote the book for specific purposes, so maybe you should just enjoy it. IMHO, it's one of the best books in the series. Just because it doesn't SEEM important doesn't mean that it isn't. The most subtle importantness (Is that a word? Whatever.) is the most important of all.

Ah, well, I hope you see my perspective on this. It would make me really happy if nobody flames me or gives bad rep....

:cat1:

The books all have clues in them as to what will happen next. As in the first book,it never said that Harry woke up after Hagrid delivered him to the Dursley's. As to the theory that it is all a dream.

I never thought of that! (suspense music)

I definately think we needed the 1st book, b/c like others have said, it introduces us to Harry and his life in general. It first shows us Hogwarts and what goes on there. While, I'll admit that the whole "finding the sorcerer's stone thing" isn't exactly crucial to the series, it creates a reason for this introductary (sp?) book.

Some of my friends started the series not too long ago and I told them to definately read the first one.

WhiteTiger/PeepsBunny, I totally agree with you, that whether or not you think the 1st book is necessary, you still have to remember how much work Rowling put into it :)

I know this is a bit random, but I think that Dumbledore ORDERED Snape to kill him, so that Snape would be there to help Harry in the final battle.

The books all have clues in them as to what will happen next. As in the first book,it never said that Harry woke up after Hagrid delivered him to the Dursley's. As to the theory that it is all a dream.

That was actually my theory, that in the seventh book You-Know-Who finally kills Harry, and at that moment he wakes up where he wakes up thinking it was a dream (with Hagrid). And it ends there, and we don't know what happens. lol xD

First book is very importent. Without it, we wouldn't know who anyone is, any of Harry's past, his personality, Hogwarts, or anything really!

I think that the first book is important because it gives you the explanation of events leading up to this point that have an impact on the rest of the story.

Fact:RON LIKES HERMIONE!

All stories have exposition. Book one is just Exposition. It sets up the whole world for the reader, making it very clear what was to come in the later books. And it serves this purpose...

It established everything you neede to know about Harry Potter's Universe but were afraid to ask. If anyone has a question for me like, "What's it about?" I say read Philosopher's Stone. It is a quick read and draws you intothis world through a child's eyes. As he gets older and more complex so do the stories.

So it's purpose is the same as all the others. To tell the story of Harry Potter.

The first book in every series is an introductory book.Without the first one,the plot for the rest of the books would have been destroyed.;)