In Rowling’s novel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, the author follows the standard path of Campbell’s monomyth, initiating the protagonist, Harry Potter, into a new reality in which he must assume the archetypal role of hero. Through Harry’s discovery of a magical world and his call to adventure, his encounter with supportive supernatural forces and crossing of those thresholds that mark the path of the hero quest, and his completion of trials and acquisition of important self-knowledge transform Harry from an
unremarkable child into Campbell’s mythic hero. 

Every monomyth, whether a heady spiritual creation myth or a well-worn folk tale, follows what Campbell terms “the nuclear unit of the monomyth”: The Hero is separated from the familiar world, passes into a supernatural realm, and returns a master of both (30). In Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, Rowling creates a sharp dichotomy between the world of the Dursleys and the supernatural world of Hogwarts. Privet drive, with its suburban landscape and English middle class residents, epitomizes for the western reader the world of common day. Conversely, Rowling’s use of recognizable supernatural figures creates a realm of fantasy and possibility at Hogwartz. Harry, who suffers under the Dursleys’ refusal to acknowledge all things abnormal, remains during his childhood entirely ignorant of this fantastic reality, and, by extension, his own true nature. This state is common to the monomythic hero, and Campbell holds that for the protagonist’s journey to begin, there must be a “call to adventure” and an “awakening of the self” by a “herald” (50). On the days leading up to his eleventh birthday, the numerous letters delivered by post owls constitute an attempt to communicate this call to Harry. It is Hagrid, however, who becomes the herald described by Campbell. From the moment of his sudden appearance, he becomes a catalyst for Harry’s awakening.  Despite the Dursleys’ vigorous protests, Hagrid explains Harry’s magical origins, tells him the truth about his parents’ deaths at the hands of Lord Voldemort, and hands him his letter of acceptance from Hogwarts. The effects on Harry’s psyche are immediate: “Something very painful was going on in Harry’s mind…he saw again the blinding flash of green light, more clearly than he had ever remembered it before – and he remembered something else…a high,cold, cruel laugh” (Rowling 46). Harry has been awakened and called to adventure, and must now pass into the supernatural realm. 

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Having accepted the call to adventure, and standing before the imposing thresholds that mark the protagonist’s path through the world of magic, “the first encounter of the hero-journey is with a protective figure…who provides the adventurer with amulets against the…forces he is about to pass” (Campbell 69). Rowling follows this pattern, supplying Harry with two supportive supernatural aids: Hagrid and Dumbledore. The former accompanies Harry on his first foray into the magical realm and facilitates his purchase of those supplies listed in his acceptance letter. After Harry has entered Hogwarts, Hagrid continues to provide counsel and rock cakes from his groundskeeper’s hut. The latter, Dumbledore, remains throughout the novel a mysterious character; Harry meets him for the first time at the end of his trials. He does, however, provide Harry with the invisibility cloak, explains to him the secret of the Mirror of Erised, and seems to observe his progress without involving himself directly. In Harry’s own words, Dumbledore’s role is to permit him to “face Voldemort if [he can]” (Rowling 219). After the hero has found support in the realm of the supernatural, he must cross those thresholds that have been placed between himself and the object of his quest. The hero’s adventure is, for Campbell, “always and everywhere a passage beyond the veil of the known into the unknown…instead of conquering or conciliating the power of the threshold, [the hero] is swallowed” (82-90). Rowling structures her narrative with three clearly delineated thresholds: Diagon Alley, Station 9 ¾, and the third floor corridor’s trapdoor. As Harry encounters and overcomes each of these portals, he is swallowed up
and emerges with a greater understanding of himself. Diagon Alley introduces the him to the wizarding world that he has inherited from his parents, Station 9 ¾ forces him to relinquish his doubts and quite literally run towards what seems to be an solid wall, and the trapdoor leads the way to the trials Harry must overcome if he is to protect the denizens of both the magical and mundane worlds.

Finally, having traversed, with the help of supernatural allies, the thresholds to the supernatural realm, the hero must survive a succession of challenges and emerge with self-knowledge (Campbell 97). Harry’s trials take the form of those obstacles and enchantments devised by the professors of Hogwarts to protect the philosopher’s stone. During this part Harry’s journey, Rowling alludes to a number of monomythic adventures undertaken in classical Greek mythology.  For example, the three-headed dog who guards the trapdoor, Fluffy, bears a striking resemblance to Cerberus, the monstrous three-headed dog that defends the gate to Hades in Greek tradition. Like Fluffy, “Cerberus may growl [but] the power of song can tame his rage” (Bulfinch 196). While Harry remains the chief character during his adventures, the assistance of his two companions, Ron and Hermione, call to mind the helpers that accompany the classic hero in numerous Greek myths. In the myth if the Golden Fleece, for example, Orpheus uses his musical talent to calm a terrible storm (158), and Medea, Jason’s sorceress bride, provides Jason with a protective charm for the trials given him by Aeetes, the holder of the Golden  Fleece (131). Without the aid of his companions, Jason would have surely failed in his quest. In The Philosopher’s Stone, Ron’s aptitude for Wizard’s Chess allows him to solve McGonagall’s challenge, and Hermione is able to decipher Snape’s potion riddle through her  “use of cool logic in the face of fire” (Rowling 221). Harry’s lack of skill at chess and his hatred of potions suggest that he would have been able to overcome these trials without the help of his friends. Once the hero has completed these tasks, he is, in Campbellian tradition, rewarded with important self-knowledge. While Harry’s encounter with Voldemort leaves him with more questions than answers, he discovers that the dark lord sought to kill him the night his parents died, that his mother perished protecting him, and that her love for him saved his life and “left its own mark” that will “protect [him] forever” (216). With his new self-knowledge, Harry will undoubtedly “fight what seems a losing battle next time” so that Voldemort will “never return to power” (Rowling 216). He has become the Campbellian hero. 

And so, J.K Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone imitates the structure of the Campbellian monomyth, initiating Harry into a newly discovered realm and awakening him to his true nature, supplying him with supernatural forces that help him cross fantastic thresholds, and by rewarding his victory over trials with important self-knowledge. With the Harry Potter series, Rowling succeeds in reinventing and revitalising the hero’s tale, initiating a new generation of young readers to the power of the monomythic story. 
 
Works Cited

Bulfinch, Thomas. Bulfinch’s Mythology. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 19–
Campbell, Joseph. The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Princeton. New Jersey: Princeton
University Press, 1968.
Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. London, England: Bloomsbury,
1997.