Book 1: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Hermione X Self Insert)

Author's Note and Acknowledgements

Before anyone asks, yes, this character is a fictionalized version of me.

I was about 6 years old when I was first introduced to the British wizard that was Harry Potter. There used to be a video store down the street from where I lived at the time, and I used to rent DVDs for the week so I could watch them on the media player we had.

The first Harry Potter film I attempted to watch was Harry Potter and the Order Of The Phoenix, released in 2007. I wasn't able to grasp the aspect of fantasy at that age, so I got confused and disinterested quickly; I had only made it about 15 minutes through the film. This was also partly because I didn't start at the beginning!

Since then, I would always say that I didn't like the Harry Potter franchise. However, that was a poor choice of words, as I merely didn't understand it. Therefore, how could I say I didn't like it if I didn't even understand what was going on?

Flash forward to October of last year. A few close friends of mine from school had gotten heavily into the franchise, and I didn't want to feel left out. On top of that, I had a dream one night where I was inserted into the Philosopher's Stone, helping Harry, Ron and Hermione on their journey to stop Professor Quirrell.

It was then that I realized, I had some catching up to do. I started reading about the series, watching clips of the films, and watching videos on YouTube regarding reviews of the films as well as several activities based off the franchise.

Then, in January of 2022, I finally sat down with those friends and hosted an online watch party for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Suffice it to say, I was completely blown away by the acting, the production, and how good of a job Chris Columbus did at directing the film.

Now here we are, on February 21, 2022. I am now 18 years old and can safely call myself a fan of the franchise! Let's just say for the record, I never wasn't a fan. It just took me 12 years to realize how much of a fan I would become.

I'd like to give a big thanks and special shoutout to my two friends Megan and John for helping me edit this work of fanfiction. Megan has seen the movies several times over, so it was only natural to bring her along. John, meanwhile, is a much bigger fan of the books than the movies. His argument is that the books contain several key events that were left out in the films. He has been pestering me to at least listen to the audiobook for Chamber of Secrets before we start working on it following Spring Break.

This book was started on December 13, 2021 and officially finished on February 19, 2022. John and I would later joke about how nobody else would have put the amount of time, effort and research into a mere fanfiction than us.

I hope you all enjoyed Book 1 of the Harry Potter Self Insert.

Dayton Cahill