Sequence of note | ‘Yer a wizard, Harry’ from Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was helmed by Chris Columbus.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was a delight. Yes, it may have strayed a bit from the JK Rowling book, but being the first of the lot to be adapted into a feature film, the magical spirit of the movie was intact. And in the movie’s first instance of magic, we (as well as Harry) are introduced to what kind of powers the titular character has in his possession. The full scope of how big things could get if he accompanies the kind-hearted giant Rubeus Hagrid on a tiny adventure is shown to us in great detail.

But this is not the only reason why I always gravitate towards this sequence whenever there is any mention of the Harry Potter film franchise. If you would recall, the scene is significant as it is also the first time that Harry learns of his past and gets an idea about the weight of the burden he is to carry in years to come.

Despite bearing such hefty information, what is disarming about the sequence is that it is a simple one. There is no dramatics involved (more than what is necessary at least), and the turn of events ultimately builds up to Hagrid’s simple statement — “Yer a wizard, Harry.”

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And in the midst of this great tension, we see that only one person is unperturbed by what is transpiring — the greedy Dudley Dursley, who continues to chomp on Harry’s birthday cake, unaware of his surroundings.

Sequence of note | Masaan | Love Actually | Taxi Driver | Tamasha | La La Land | Swades | 96: Trisha tells a story | Rang De Basanti’s ‘Koi Future Nai’ | Inglourious Basterds’ strudel scene | Delhi 6’s Dil Gira Dafatan | The eerie conversation from Get Out

Blending innocence, and its loss simultaneously — the ‘Yer a wizard Harry’ sequence ushers us into the engaging and magnificent world created by JK Rowling.