This chapter is about Harry’s first Quidditch match, and also gives the reader much more detail about the sport, as well as the school happenings.

It was really lucky that Harry now had Hermione as a friend. He didn’t know how he’d have gotten through all his homework without her, what with all the last-minute Quidditch practice Wood was making them do. She had also lent him Quidditch Through the Ages, which turned out to be a very interesting read.

This is a running theme throughout the books that is missing from the films – Hermoine doing Harry’s (and Ron’s) homework for them. The relationship between the three seems a bit smoother as well, with Hermoine more relaxed about the occasional rule-breaking.

There’s more of the history of Quidditch given as Harry learns about the sport and how to play it in the middle of all of his intensive training. He’s with Ron and Hermoine in the courtyard where Hermoine has conjured a magical fire for them to stay warm with, when Snape wanders up and makes up a rule to take points from Gryffindor and take the book Quidditch Through the Ages from Harry. The three notice Snape is limping pretty bad.

Later on, Harry decides he wants the book back and gets up his nerve to ask Snape for it. He goes to the staffroom…

Perhaps Snape had left the book in there? It was worth a try. He pushed the door ajar and peered inside – and a horrible scene met his eyes.
Snape and Filch were inside, alone. Snape was holding his robes above his knees. One of his legs was bloody and mangled. Filch was handing Snape bandages.
“Blasted thing,” Snape was saying. “How are you supposed to keep your eyes on all three heads at once?

Harry is spotted, and he does ask for the book back, but Snape screams at him to get out. When Harry gets back to Hermoine and Ron, he tells them what he saw and comes to the conclusion that Snape was trying to get past the three-headed dog on Halloween and let the troll in as a diversion. The three of them wonder what the dog is guarding.

The morning before his first Quidditch match, Harry is unable to east anything.

Ron and Hermione joined Neville, Seamus, and Dean the West Ham fan up in the top row. As a surprise for Harry, they had painted a large banner on one of the sheets Scabbers had ruined. It said Potter for President, and Dean, who was good at drawing, had done a large Gryffindor lion underneath. Then Hermione had performed a tricky little charm so that the paint flashed different colors.

There’s a good deal more here about Quidditch, both the events of the day leading up to the match and the match itself. In the locker room, Harry and his teammates get a pep talk from Oliver Wood. Once they are out on the pitch, Madam Hooch, who is the referee for the game, cautions them to play a fair game, and seems to be delivering it more to the Slytherin players than anyone else.

Lee Jordan does the commentary for the match, and it’s pretty funny how many times he is scolded for his comments. His commentary is largely the description of the match itself with cuts to what’s happening in the stands as Hagrid joins Ron and Hermoine who are watching Harry.

“Can’t have,” Hagrid said, his voice shaking. “Can’t nothing interfere with a broomstick except powerful Dark magic — no kid could do that to a Nimbus Two Thousand.”

Or I’m sure every Quidditch match would be dogged by curses, charms, and other magic during the match.

It took perhaps thirty seconds for Snape to realize that he was on fire. A sudden yelp told her she had done her job. Scooping the fire off him into a little jar in her pocket, she scrambled back along the row — Snape would never know what had happened.

And that is how Hermoine got away with setting a teacher on fire.

The scene with Harry, Ron and Hermoine in Hagrid’s hut after the match is where they learn about the truth behind the three-headed dog. They try to fill Hagrid in on what they know: Snape trying to curse Harry’s broom and Snape being injured trying to get past the dog on Halloween. Hagrid pooh-pooh’s their assertions and nearly gives up all of the secrets about what’s being guarded. The scene is depicted quite well and accurate in the film.

Previous chapter (link): Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s (Philosopher’s) Stone Chapter 10: Halloween

Next chapter (link): Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s (Philosopher’s) Stone Chapter 12: The Mirror of Erised