Alas, its extraordinary success may have built my expectations way too high. Its potential comes across, but I did not think the first volume explained the phenomenon of Harry Potter to me. I am not surprised it did well, but I don't think it blew everything else out of the water either, though it certainly did by sales, influence and adoration. 
 What charms seduced so many? They can speak for themselves, I suppose, but among my guesses is Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry itself. Also, Rowling's setting, a mix of our ordinary world and a magical one which is hidden from us, is as appealing in this story as it is in others. Maybe I'm forgetting how much of a departure it was from the hacks riffing off Tolkien. Rowling included familiar elements like trolls, invisibility cloaks, and schoolyard bullies but other elements like Quidditch give the whole thing a new zest. 
 For me though, Hermione had more personality than either Ron or Harry. Maybe we get to know Harry better in the other volumes but I never felt like I got to know him here. Some of the other characters were okay and I can see that the whole cast probably builds up and grows on readers. 
 Still, the instant success stuns me some. Its "final battle" was amateurishly understated, if I may be so bold (view spoiler)[Harry actually gets knocked out so readers don't see what happened! (hide spoiler)]. Also, the Philosopher's Stone mystery/adventure begins so late that the novel somehow seems proportionally off, unbalanced, and is less suspenseful because of it, don't you think?