Harry Potter and the First Time Readers

Chapter 16 - Professor Trelawney’s Prediction

• Even Fred and George Weasley had been spotted working.

Q1 - What do you think differentiates between a charm and a spell?

• Their second from last exam, on Thursday morning, was Defense Against the Dark Arts. Professor Lupin had compiled the most unusual exam any of them had ever taken; a sort of obstacle course outside in the sun, where they had to wade across a deep padding pool containing a Grindylow, cross a series of potholes full of Red Caps, squish their way across a patch of marsh, ignoring the misleading directions from a Hinkypunk, then climb into an old trunk and battle with a new Boggart.

Q2 - Which of professor Lupins final exam obstacles would trip you up?

• “Hermione!” said Lupin, startled. “What's the matter?” “P-P-Professor McGonagall!” Hermione gasped, pointing into the trunk. “Sh-she said I'd failed everything!”

Q3 - If you had to make up a prediction, what would you say?

• Her eyes started to roll. Harry stood there in a panic. She looked as though she was about to have some sort of seizure. He hesitated, thinking of running to the hospital wing - and then Professor Trelawney spoke again, in the same harsh voice, quite unlike her own: “The Dark Lord lies alone and friendless, abandoned by his followers. His servant has been chained these twelve years. Tonight, before midnight, the servant will break free and set out to rejoin his master. The Dark Lord will rise again with his servant's aid, greater and more terrible than ever before. Tonight ... before midnight .. the servant will set out ... to rejoin … his master.”

Q4 - What are your thoughts about this prediction?

Q5 - Is Trelawney a true seer?

• Hermione didn’t wait for the rest of his sentence; she strode across the room, pushed the fat lady’s portrait open and vanished from sight.

Q6 - Has Hermione changed at all from this book to the previous two?

• “Ron, I - I don’t believe it - it’s Scabbers!”
• There was a jumble of indistinct male voices, a silence and then, without warning, the unmistakable swish and thud of an ax.

Chapter 17 - Cat, Rat, and Dog

• But before they could cover themselves again, before they could even catch their breath, they heard the soft pounding of gigantic paws. Something was bounding towards them out of the dark -an enormous, pale-eyed, jet-black dog. Harry reached for his wand, but too late the dog had made an enormous leap and its front paws hit him on the chest. He keeled over backwards in a whirl of hair; he felt its hot breath, saw inch-long teeth.

Q1 - What is the worst injury you’ve had?

Q2 -  If your best friend was in the most haunted place in the world, would you go rescue them?

• Harry and Hermione dashed across to him. 'Ron- are you OK?' Where's the dog?' "Not a dog; Ron moaned. His teeth were gritted with pain. 'Harry, it's a trap -' What 'He's the dog…. he's an Animagus. Ron was staring over Harry's shoulder. Harry wheeled around. With a snap, the man in the shadows closed the door behind them. A mass of filthy, matted hair hung to his elbows. If eyes hadn't been shining out of the deep, dark sockets, he might have been a corpse. The waxy skin was stretched so tightly over the bones of his face, it looked like a skull. His yellow teeth were bared in a grin. It was Sirius black.

Q3 - Did you suspect the dog was Sirius black?

• “If you want to kill Harry, you'll have to kill us, too!” he said fiercely, though the effort of standing up had drained him of still more color, and he swayed slightly as he spoke.

Q3 - How has Ron’s character progressed over these books?

• Harry raised the wand. Now was the moment to do it. Now was the moment to avenge his mother and father. He was going to kill Black. He had to kill Black. This was his chance..

Q4 - Is Harry’s anger justified here? 

Q5 - Why is Black being so unclear here?

• Then lupin spoke, in an odd voice, a voice that shook with some suppressed emotion. “Where is he, Sirius?” Harry looked quickly at Lupin. He didn't understand what Lupin meant. Who was Lupin talking about? He turned to look at Black again. Black's face was quite expressionless. For a few seconds, he didn't move at all. Then, very slowly, he raised his empty hand, and pointed straight at Ron. Mystified, Harry glanced around at Ron, who looked bewildered. “But then .. Lupin muttered, staring at Black so intently it seemed he was trying to read his mind. Why hasn't he shown himself before now? Unless - Lupin's eyes suddenly widened, as though he was seeing something beyond Black, something none of the rest could see, unless he was the one ... unless you switched. without telling me?” Very slowly, his sunken gaze never leaving Lupin's face. Black nodded.

Q6 - Do you understand what they are talking about here?

• Her voice wavering out of control, and all the time you've been his friend!' You're wrong,' said Lupin. I haven't been Sirius's friend for twelve years, but I am now ... let me explain. 'NO!' Hermione screamed, Harry, don't trust him, he's been helping Black get into the castle, he wants you dead too - he's a werewolf!” What's my rat got to do with anything?' "That's not a rat.' croaked Sirius Black suddenly. 'What d'you mean of course he's a rat - No, he's not;' said Lupin quietly. 'He's a wizard.' An Animagus, said Black, 'by the name of Peter Pettigrew.

Chapter 11 - The Firebolt

• He stopped on a picture of his parents’ wedding day. There was his father waving up at him, beaming, the untidy black hair Harry had inherited standing up in all directions. There was his mother, alight with happiness, arm in arm with his dad. And there…that must be him. Their best man…Harry had never given him a thought before.
• A hatred such as he had never known before was coursing through Harry like poison. 

Q1 - How do you feel after letting it stew, that Harry is the godson of Sirius Black?

• Harry looked at them. They didn’t seem to understand at all. “D'you know what I see and hear every time a dementor gets too near me?' Ron and Hermione shook their heads, looking apprehensive. 'I can hear my mum screaming and pleading with Voldemort. And if you'd heard your mum screaming like that, just about to be killed, you wouldn't forget it in a hurry. And if you found out someone who was supposed to be a friend of hers betrayed her and sent Voldemort after her —”

Q2 - What would you say to Harry in this moment?

• “Hey, Harry —” Ron gave a great whoop of laughter, “Malfoy! Wait till he sees you on this! He’ll be sick as a pig! This is an international-standard broom, this is!”

Q3 - Do you think Sneakoscopes can gauge animal mischief?

Q4 - Why are Ron and Hermione staying for Christmas holidays?

• “Certainly I knew, Minerva,” she said quietly. “But one does not parade the fact that one is All-Knowing. I frequently act as though I am not possessed of the Inner Eye, so as not to make others nervous.” “That explains a great deal,” said Professor McGonagall tartly.

Q5 - Who sent Harry the firebolt?

Chapter 12 - The Patronus

• Harry knew Hermione had meant well, but that didn’t stop him being angry with her.

PREDICTION #11 - Short lifelines for Harry’s palm.

Q1 - Why is Lupin always sick?

• “The Patronus is a kind of positive force, a projection of the very thing that the Dementor feeds upon — hope, happiness, the desire to survive — but it cannot feel despair, as real humans can, so the Dementors can’t hurt it.”

Q2 - Which memory would you pick to cast your Patronus?

• “I heard my dad,” Harry mumbled. “That’s the first time I’ve heard him — he tried to take on Voldemort himself, to give my mum time to run for it…”
• “Professor Lupin?” he said. “If you knew my dad, you must’ve known Sirius Black as well.” Lupin turned very quickly. “What gives you that idea?” he said sharply. “Nothing — I mean, I just knew they were friends at Hogwarts, too…” Lupin's face relaxed. “Yes, I knew him,” he said shortly. “Or I thought I did.”

Q3 - Do you think Lupin and Sirius Black are working together in any way?

• “They clamp their jaws upon the mouth of the victim and — suck out his soul.” Harry accidentally spat out a bit of butterbeer. “What — they kill —?” “Oh, no,” said Lupin. “Much worse than that. You can exist without your soul, you know, as long as your brain and heart are still working. But you’ll have no sense of self anymore, no memory, no … anything. There is no chance of recovery. You’ll just — exist. As an empty shell. And your soul is gone forever…lost.”

Q4 - What are your thoughts on the Dementor’s kiss?

• Harry sat stunned for a moment at the idea of someone having their soul sucked out through their mouth. But then he thought of Black. “He deserves it,” he said suddenly. “You think so?” said Lupin lightly. “Do you really think anyone deserves that?”

Q5 - Do you think anyone deserves the Dementor’s kiss?

DRINK FOR SCABBERS!

Q6 - Do you think Hermione was right to tattle about the broom?

Chapter 13 - Gryffindor Versus Ravenclaw

• “He bit Goyle for us once!” Ron said miserably. “Remember, Harry?” “Yeah, that’s true,” said Harry. “His finest hour,” said Fred.

Q1 - Would you like to play Quidditch?

Q2 - How incompetent is Madam Hooch?

• She smiled at Harry as the teams faced each other behind their captains, and he felt a slight jolt in the region of his stomach that he didn’t think had anything to do with nerves.

Q3 - How would you coach quidditch to make sure your team won? Are there any kind of Moneyball situations with Quidditch?

Q4 - Who’s side do you take in the friendship battle: Ron or Hermione?

Q5 - Do you think Harry’s dream meant anything?

• “Professor, I woke up and Sirius Black was standing over me, holding a knife!” Professor McGonagall stared at him. “Don’t be ridiculous, Weasley.”

Q6 - How is Sirius Black getting in the castle so easily?

Chapter 14 - Snape’s Grudge

Q1 - What should the procedure be after Sirius Black has been caught sneaking into Hogwarts again?

Q2 - Why hadn’t Sirius killed Ron and then gone to Harry?

• “But I gotta tell yeh, I thought you two’d value yer friend more’n broomsticks or rats. Tha’s all.”
• Ron had to hold onto the fence to keep himself standing, he was laughing so hard.

Q3 - What is the hardest you have ever laughed?

• “So, everyone from the Minister of Magic downwards has been trying to keep famous Harry Potter safe from Sirius Black. But famous Harry Potter is a law unto himself. Let the ordinary people worry about his safety! Famous Harry Potter goes where he wants to, with no thought for the consequences.”

Q4 - Does Snape have a point about Harry here?

• “I told you to shut up about my dad!” Harry yelled. “I know the truth, all right? He saved your life! Dumbledore told me! You wouldn’t even be here if it weren't for my dad!” Snape's sallow skin had gone the color of sour milk. “And did the Headmaster tell you the circumstances in which your father saved my life?” he whispered. “Or did he consider the details too unpleasant for precious Potter’s delicate ears?”

Q5 - What do you think of Snape and James Potter?

Q6 - Who do you think made the Marauders Map?

• Your parents gave their lives to keep you alive, Harry. A poor way to repay them — by gambling their sacrifice for a bag of magic tricks.”

Chapter 15 - The Quidditch Final

• “There’ll be an appeal, though, there always is. Only I can’t see any hope…nothing will have changed.” “Yeah it will,” said Ron fiercely. “You won’t have to do all the work alone this time, Hermione. I’ll help.” Hermione flung her arms around Ron’s neck and broke down completely. Ron, looking quite terrified, patted her very awkwardly on the top of the head. Finally, Hermione drew away.

Q1 - Do you think Ron and Hermione or Harry and Hermione are a better couple?

• Harry and Ron both made furious moves toward Malfoy, but Hermione got there first — SMACK! She had slapped Malfoy around the face with all the strength she could muster.

Q2 - How do we like aggressive Hermione?

• “Fine!” she repeated swinging the bag over her shoulder and almost knocking Ron off his chair, “I give up! I’m leaving!” And to the whole class’s amazement, Hermione strode over to the trapdoor, kicked it open, and climbed down the ladder out of sight.

PREDICTION - ONE WILL LEAVE THE NUMBER FOREVER!

Q3 - What do you think is the deal with Crookshanks and the grim?

• The Gryffindor crowd were screaming themselves hoarse — Gryffindor were sixty points in the lead, and if Harry caught the snitch now, the cup was theirs.

Q4 - How bad of a seeker is Malfoy?

Q5 - Do you guys like quidditch now?

Chapter 8 - Flight of the Fat Lady

Q1 - How do you think the Fat Lady feels that she is just known as the Fat Lady?

• “Well, look at it logically,” said Hermione turning to the rest of the group. “I mean, Binky didn’t even die today, did he, Lavender just got the news today —” Lavender wailed loudly, “—and she can’t have been dreading it, because it’s come as a real shock—” “Don’t mind Hermione, Lavender,” said Ron loudly, “she doesn’t think other people’s pets matter very much.”

Q2 - Is Hermione a good pet owner?

Q3 - If you started a magical shop in Hogsmeade, what would it be?

• He thought for a moment of telling Lupin about the dog he’d seen in Magnolia Crescent but decided not to. He didn’t want Lupin to think he was a coward.

Q4 - What is this potion that Snape gives Lupin?

Q5 - How is fearing fear most wise?

• “He got very angry when she wouldn’t let him in, you see.” Peeves flipped over, and grinned at Dumbledore from between his own legs. “Nasty tempers he’s got, that Sirius Black.”

Q6 - How good is the end of this chapter?!

Chapter 9 - Grim Defeat

Q1 - Should the students be sent home after Sirius Black got in the castle?

• “Have you any theories as to how he got in, Professor?” asked Snape. Harry raised his head very slightly off his arm to free his other ear. “Many, Severus, each of them as unlikely as the next.”

Q2 - How do you think Sirius got in the castle?

• Harry knew she was deeply interested in the Gryffindor team’s prospects.

Q3 - Is it alarming that McGonnagal chooses Madam Hooch to oversee the practices?

• “You are easily satisfied. Lupin is hardy over-taxing you — I would expect first-years to be able to deal with Red Caps and Grindylows. Today we shall discuss — werewolves.”

Q4 - If you had to fight a werewolf, how do you think you’d defeat it?

• “This is the second time you have spoken out of turn, Miss Granger,” said Snape coolly. “Five more points from Gryffindor for being an insufferable know-it-all.”

Q5 - Why is Snape so mean?

• “Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry!” “Stand aside, you silly girl…stand aside, now…” “Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead—”

Q6 - What is this that Harry heard during the dementor attack?

Q7 - Do you think Harry will be a bad seeker now he doesn’t have a good broom?

Chapter 10 - The Marauder’s Map

• Madam Pomfrey insisted on keeping Harry in the hospital wing for the rest of the weekend. He didn’t argue or complain, but he wouldn’t let her throw away the shattered remains of his Nimbus Two Thousand. He knew he was being stupid, knew that the Nimbus was beyond repair, but Harry couldn’t help it; he felt as though he’d lost one of his best friends.

Q1 - Is Harry being extreme by saying he’d lost one of his friends?

• Ron finally cracked, flinging a large, slippery crocodile heart at Malfoy, which hit him in the face and caused Snape to take fifty points from Gryffindor.

Q2 - 50!?

• “The dementors affect you worse than the others because there are horrors in your past that the others don’t have.”...”Dementors are among the foulest creatures that walk this earth. They infest the darkest, filthiest places, they glory in decay and despair, they drain peace, hope and happiness out of the air around them. Even muggles feel their presence, though they can’t see them. Get too near a Dementor and every good feeling, every happy memory, will be sucked out of you. If it can, the Dementor will feed on you long enough to reduce you to something like itself — soulless and evil. You’ll be left with nothing but the worst experiences of your life. And the worst that has happened to you, Harry, is enough to make anyone fall off their broom. You have nothing to feel ashamed of.”

Q3 - What are your thoughts on Dementors and the Azkaban Prison?

• “This little beauty’s taught us more than all the teachers in the school.”

Q4 - Where do you think the map came from?

Q5 - Is Harry irresponsible for going to Hogsmeade?

Q6 - What is apparition?

• “Never saw one without the other, did you? The number of times I had them in here — ooh, they used to make me laugh. Quite the double act, Sirius Black and James Potter!”

Q7 - Does James and Sirius being best friends make Sirius that much worse for going to the dark side?

• “An immensely complex spell,” he said squeakily, “involving the magical concealment of a secret inside a single, living soul. The information is hidden inside the chosen person, or Secret-Keeper, and is henceforth impossible to find – unless, of course, the Secret-Keeper chooses to divulge it.”

Q8 - What do you think about Sirius being Harry’s godfather?

Q9 - What do you think of the Fidelius Charm?

• “You know most of the prisoners in there sit muttering to themselves in the dark, there’s no sense in them…but I was shocked at how normal Black seemed. He spoke quite rationally to me. It was unnerving. You’d have thought he was merely bored…Yes, I was astounded at how little effect the Dementors seemed to be having on him.”

Q10 - What do you think about Peter Pettigrew?

Q11 - How do you feel after hearing this story?

Chapter 6 - Talons and Tea Leaves

• “Dad had to go out to Azkaban one time, remember, Fred? And he said it was the worst place he’d ever been. He came back all weak and shaking…They suck the happiness out of a place, Dementors. Most of the prisoners go mad in there.”

Q1 - What do you think of Dementors sucking the happiness out of a place?

• “How’re you supposed to be in three classes at once?” “Don’t be silly,” said Hermione shortly. “Of course, I won’t be in three classes at once.”

Q2 - Do you think Hermione could handle the workload of three classes at once?

Q3 - Would you want to take a Divination class?

PREDICTION #1 - Neville's Grandma is Ill.

PREDICTION #2 - Parvati must beware a red-haired man.

PREDICTION #3 - February will bring the flu…she will lose her voice.

PREDICTION #4 - By Easter one of them will leave forever.

PREDICTION #5 - Lavender’s dread will happen Friday the sixteenth of October.

PREDICTION #6 - Neville breaking the pink cup. HAPPENED

Q4 - What are your thoughts on Trelawney?

• When Harry and Ron had had their teacups filled, they went back to their table and tried to drink the scalding tea quickly.

Q5 - Can you drink scalding hot tea/coffee?

• “Right, you’ve got a wonky sort of cross,” he said, consulting Unfogging the Future. “That means you’re going to have ‘trials and suffering’ — sorry about that — but there’s a thing that could be the sun. Hang on, that means ‘great happiness’ .. so you’re going to suffer but be very happy…”

PREDICTION #7 - Harry has a deadly enemy.

PREDICTION #8 - The club…an attack.

PREDICTION #9 - The skull…danger in his path.

PREDICTION #10 - The grim…an omen of death.

• “You’ll forgive me for saying so, my dear, but I perceive very little aura around you. Very little receptivity to the resonances of the future.”

PREDICTION #11 - Neville will be late to the next class.

• He hardly heard what Professor McGonagall was telling them about Animagi (wizards who could transform at will into animals), and wasn’t even watching when she transformed herself in front of their eyes into a tabby cat with spectacle markings around her eyes…”Really what’s gotten into you all today? … Not that it matters, but that’s the first time my transformation’s not gotten applause from a class.”
• “There is no need to tell me any more, Miss Granger. Tell me, which of you will be dying this year?”
• “I shall not conceal from you that I have very little patience with it [Divination]. True Seers are very rare, and Professor Trelawney…”

Q6 - Thoughts on McGonagall's thoughts on Trelawney?

Q7 - What do you think about Animagi?

Q8 - If you were part of the Magical World, would you be more like Ron or Hermione with superstitions and grims?

Q9 - Should Hagrid have left a note with the students for how they should open their books?

Q10 - Would you want to ride a broomstick or a Hippogriff?

• “No one?” said Hagrid with a pleading look. “I’ll do it,” said Harry.

Q11 - Is Hagrid a good teacher?

Q12 - Is Sirius Black that serious that Hagrid is upset at the trio for visiting him in the dark?

Chapter 7 - The Boggart in the Wardrobe

Q1 - Have you ever milked an injury?

Q2 - Would you be good at potions?

• “Have you heard? Daily Prophet this morning — they reckon Sirius Black’s been sighted…Not too far from here.”

Q3 - Do you think the Ministry of Magic should have someone in the 911 Dispatch office? Or do you think they can bug certain words…like Sirius Black?

• “Of course, if it was me,” he said quietly, “I’d have done something before now. I wouldn’t be staying in school like a good boy, I’d be out there looking for him.” “What are you talking about, Malfoy?” said Ron roughly. “Don’t you know, Potter?”

Q4 - What doesn’t Harry know that Malfoy knows about Sirius Black?

Q5 - What is wrong with Snape to be testing on Neville’s toad?

Q6 - How do you think Hermione is taking all these classes?

• “Good afternoon,” he said, “Would you please put all your books back in your bags. Today will be a practical lesson. You will only need your wands.”
• …”when their old teacher brought pixies…” LONG LIVE LOCKHART!
• “I was hoping that Neville would assist me with the first stage of the operation,” he said, “and I am sure he will perform it admirably.”

Q7 - What are your first thoughts on Lupin?

Q8 - What would the Boggart take shape if you confronted it? (aka, what frightens you?)

• “It’s always best to have company when you’re dealing with a Boggart.”
• “I would like all of you to take a moment now to think of the thing that scares you most, and imagine how you might force it to look comical?”

Q9 - How would you change your biggest fear into something humorous?

Q10 - What is Lupin afraid of?

• “What would it have been for you?” said Ron, sniggering. “A piece of homework that only got nine out of ten?”

Chapter 1 - Owl Post

• Harry Potter was a highly unusual boy in many ways. For one thing, he hated the summer holidays more than any other time of year. For another, he really wanted to do his homework, but was forced to do it in secret, in the dead of night. And he also happened to be a wizard.

Q1 - Wendelin the Weird is so named because she liked to be burned, if you had a title to your name, what do you think it would be?

Q2 - Why haven’t wizards adopted ballpoint pens yet?

• For years, Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon had hoped that if they kept Harry as downtrodden as possible, they would be able to squash the magic out of him. To their fury, they had been unsuccessful.
• Harry sat down on his bed, grabbed Errol’s package, ripped off the brown paper and discovered a present wrapped in gold, and his first ever birthday card.

Q3 - Do you think the grand prize was fixed so that the Weasleys could win after what happened to them last year?

Q4 - Would you want a pocket Sneakoscope?

Q5 - Did you guys get really into the go-back-to-school countdown and sales and stuff?

• At that moment, Harry Potter felt just like everyone else: glad, for the first time in his life, that it was his birthday.

Chapter 2 - Aunt Marge’s Big Mistake

Q1 - Have you ever, in your town, heard about a prisoner escaping or some serious crime happening?

Q2 - Have you ever called someone Aunt or Uncle who isn’t really your relative?

Q3 - Do you think Harry’s strategy of threatening his Uncle to forget the school name in order to get his permission form signed is the right way to go about it?

• Aunt Marge loved criticizing him, so the untidier he looked, the happier she would be.
• Harry was bursting to say that he’d rather live in an orphanage than with the Dursleys, but the thought of the Hogsmeade form stopped him.

Q4 - Would you rather live in an orphanage or with the Dursleys?

Q5 - Why do you think Vernon made Harry sit there with Marge at the dinner table?

• “It all comes down to blood, as I was saying the other day. Bad blood will out. Now, I’m saying nothing against your family, Petunia” — she patted Aunt Petunia’s bony hand with her shovel-like one, “but your sister was a bad egg. They turn up in the best families. Then she ran off with a wastrel and here’s the result right in front of us.”

POD NOTE: Danny mentioned Harry was sure to run away soon if he didn’t end up going to Hogwarts.

Chapter 3 - The Knight Bus

Q1 - What do you think Harry saw that was “very big, with wide, gleaming eyes…like a dog, but massive?”

• “That man!” Harry said, forgetting his troubles for a moment. “He was on the Muggle news!” Stanley turned to the front page and chuckled. “Sirius Black,” he said, nodding, “Course ‘e was on the Muggle news, Neville. Where you been?”

Q2 - Where have we seen Sirius Black before in this book?

Q3 - Why do you think Sirius Black murdered 13 people with one curse?

• “Laughed,” said Stan, “Jus’ stood there an’ laughed. An’ when reinforcements from the Ministry of Magic got there, ‘e went wiv ‘em quiet as anyfink. Still laughing ‘is ‘ead off. Cos ‘e’s mad, inee, Ern? Inee mad?”

Q4 - How do you think a wizard or witch could escape from a magical prison?

Q5 - Why did Fudge come to see Harry?

Chapter 4 - The Leaky Cauldron

Q1 - Why do you think Florean Fortescue is giving Harry free sundaes every half-hour?

Q2 - Which of Harry’s two new classes (Care of Magical Creatures or Divination) sounds more interesting?

Q3 - Would you want a pet rat or a cat?

Q4 - Who is your favorite of the Weasleys?

• “...makes no sense not to tell him” Mr Weasley was saying heatedly. “Harry’s got a right to know. I’ve tried to tell Fudge, but he insists on treating Harry like a child. He’s thirteen years old and—” “Arthur, the truth would terrify him!”

Q5 - Why do you think Sirius Black wants to murder Harry?

Chapter 5 - The Dementor

• They headed down to breakfast, where Mr Weasley was reading the front page of the Daily Prophet with a furrowed brow and Mrs Weasley was telling Hermione and Ginny about a Love Potion she made as a young girl. All three of them were rather giggly.

Q1-  Do you think Mrs Weasley gave the love potion to Mr Weasley?

• “Harry, I knew you were, well, made of stronger stuff than Fudge seems to think, and I’m obviously pleased that you’re not scared, but —”
• “Harry, swear to me you won’t go looking for Black.”... “Why would I go looking for someone who wants to kill me?” said Harry blankly.

Q2 - Why does Mr Weasley give Harry this advice to not go looking for Black?

Q3 - Would you ever want to visit the Honeydukes and the Shrieking Shack?

Q4 - Why would a building be more haunted than other buildings?

• And then, from far away, he heard screaming, terrible, terrified, pleading screams. He wanted to help whoever it was, he tried to move his arm, but couldn’t…a thick white fog was swirling around him, inside him.

Q5 - What are your thoughts on Dementors?

Q6 - What do you think Hermione and McGonagall talked about?

• “It is not the nature of a Dementor to understand pleading or excuses.”

Q7 - Do you think Hagrid will be a good teacher?

• Harry climbed the spiral stairs with no thought in his head except how glad he was to be back. They reached their familiar, circular dormitory with its five four-poster beds and Harry, looking around, felt he was home at last.

Why can't we just follow the butterflies? So join Jon, Jenn, Danny, and Kristen as they talk over the movie version of the Chamber of Secrets. They talk over some theories about what will happen, impressions of the characters, and best and worst book to movie changes.

Chapter Fifteen - Aragog

Q1 - Who do you think would be the best person thus far to replace Dumbledore as headmaster?

• “Let me at him,” Ron growled, as Harry and Dean hung onto his arms. “I don’t care, I don’t need my wand, I’m going to kill him with my bare hands—”

Q2 - Is it irresponsible for Harry to leave the cloak at Hagrids because he doesn’t think he’ll need it.

Q3 - What animal do you hate or that creeps you out more than any other?

• “And you … you didn’t come from the Chamber of Secrets?” said Harry, who could feel cold sweat on his forehead.
• “The thing that lives in the castle,” said Aragog, “is an ancient creature we spiders fear above all others. Well do I remember how I pleaded with Hagrid to let me go, when I sensed the beast moving about the school.”
• Even as he reached for his wand, Harry knew it was no good, there were too many of them, but as he tried to stand, ready to die fighting, a loud, long note sounded, and a blaze of light flamed through the hollow.

Q4 - At this point, who do you think had opened the Chamber?

Chapter Sixteen - The Chamber of Secrets

• Harry looked down at the pair of white rabbits he was supposed to be turning into slippers.

Q1 - What was Percy doing? Just kidding…

Q2 - Do we condone tearing out pages from old library books?

• “The heir of Slytherin,” said professor McGonagal, who was very white, “left another message. Right underneath the first one. Her skeleton will lie in the Chamber forever.” Professor Flitwick burst into tears. “Who is it?” said Madam Hooch, who had sunk, weak-kneed into a chair. “Which student?” “Ginny Weasley,” said Professor McGonagall. Harry felt Ron slide silently down onto the wardrobe floor beside him.

Q3 - Should they wait for another night to send the students home or should they send the students home immediately?

Q4 - Did you know Lockhart was a fraud from the beginning?

Q5 - Why did Dumbledore hire him?

• “No idea,” said Myrtle in hushed tones. “I just remember seeing a pair of great big yellow eyes. My whole body sort of seized up, and then I was floating away…” She looked dreamily back at Harry. “And then I came back again. I was determined to haunt Olive Hornby, you see. Oh she was sorry she’d ever laughed at my glasses.”

Chapter Seventeen - The Heir of Slytherin

• A tall, black-haired boy was leaning against the nearest pillar, watching. He was strangely blurred around the edges, as though Harry was looking at him through a misted window. But there was no mistaking him. “Tom — Tom Riddle?”

Q1 - Did you suspect Tom Riddle?

• “Haven’t I already told you,” said Riddle quietly, “that killing mudbloods doesn’t matter to me any more? For many months now, my new target has been — you.”

Q2 - What is your impression of Tom Riddle?

• “No one knows why you lost your powers when you attacked me,” said Harry abruptly. “I don’t know myself. But I know why you couldn’t kill me. Because my mother died to save me. My common Muggle-born mother.”

Q3 - How do you think Voldermort lost his powers?

Q4 - How do you think Tom concealed himself in the diary? How does that magic work?

Chapter Eighteen - Dobby’s Reward

Q1 - What do you think of the Tom Riddle backstory?

• “Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can’t see its brain.”

Q2 - 200 points a piece for Gryffindor?!

Q3 - What do you think about Voldermort giving some of his powers over to Harry? 

• “It is our choices that make us what we are, far more than our abilities.”

Q4 - How much of a tool is Lucious Malfoy?

Q5 - Do you think it’s irresponsible for Dumbledore to let Harry have the diary back?

Q6 - What do we think of Dobby?

• Collective yays when Dobby is a free house elf.

Q7 - Is Elf magic as powerful as wizard magic?

• “Harry Potter is greater by far than Dobby ever knew.”

Chapter Eleven - The Dueling Club

• “So Dobby stopped us getting on the train and broke your arm…” He shook his head. “You know what, Harry? If he doesn’t stop trying to save your life he’s going to kill you.”

Q1 - At this stage of their schooling, which Wizard or Witch would you want to duel and which would you not want to duel?

• “Scared?” muttered Malfoy, so that Lockhart couldn’t hear him. “You wish,” said Harry out of the corner of his mouth.

Q2 - If you could talk to any animal, which one would you choose?

Q3 - Do you think Harry is Slytherin’s descendant?

• “No one knows how he survived that attack by You-Know-Who. I mean to say, he was only a baby when it happened. He should have been blasted into Smithereens. Only a really powerful Dark wizard could have survived a curse like that.” He dropped his voice until it was barely more than a whisper, and said, “That’s probably why You-Know-Who wanted to kill him in the first place. Didn’t want another Dark Lord competing with him.”

Q4 - Do you think Ernie is right here?

Q5 - What do you think a blood-sucking Bugbear is?

Q6 - Why are the students getting petrified rather than killed?

Chapter Twelve - The Polyjuice Potion

• “Fawkes is a Phoenix, Harry. Phoenixes burst into flame when it is time for them to die and are reborn from the ashes. Watch him…”

Q1 - Would you want to have a Phoenix as a pet?

Q2 - Should Harry have confided in Dumbledore?

• No one, not even someone dreading taking Polyjuice Potion later, could fail to enjoy Christmas dinner at Hogwarts.

Q3 - Which character would you want to impersonate for an hour after taking some polyjuice?

Q4 - What do you think Draco’s parents are doing that is keeping Draco at Hogwarts for the holidays?

• Mr Weasley was unavailable for comment, although his wife told reporters to clear off or she’d set the family ghoul on them.
• “And Father won’t tell me anything about the last time the Chamber was opened, either. Of course, it was fifty years ago, so it was before his time, but he knows all about it, and he says that it was all kept quiet and it’ll look suspicious if I know too much about it.”

Q5 - Theories on who opened it the first time?

Chapter 13 - The Very Secret Diary

• “Let’s all throw books at Myrtle, because she can’t feel it! Ten points if you can get it through her stomach! Fifty points if it goes through her head!”

Q1 - Is Myrtle quoting from the official counting book for the point system of Hogwarts?

Q2 - Do you think ghosts can die?

• “Because Filch made me polish his shield about fifty times in detention,” said Ron resentfully. “That was the one I burped slugs all over. If you’d wiped slime off a name for an hour, you’d remember it too.”

Q3 - What do you think T.M. Riddle’s special services to the school award was for?

• “He sounds like Percy,” said Ron, wrinkling his nose in disgust. “Prefect, Head Boy — probably top of every class.” “You say that like it’s a bad thing,” said Hermione, in a slightly hurt voice.
• Snape was looking as though the first person to ask him for a Love Potion would be force-fed poison.

Q4 - You ever get a valentine?

• “It was Hagrid, Ron. Hagrid opened the Chamber of Secrets fifty years ago.”

Q5 - How do you think Hagrid opened the Chamber?

Chapter 14 - Cornelius Fudge

• And if, as a boy, Hagrid had heard that a monster was hidden somewhere in the castle, Harry was sure he’d have gone to any lengths for a glimpse of it.

Q1 - Do you think Hagrid’s love for misunderstood creatures is endearing or foolish?

• In the end, he chose the same new subjects as Ron, feeling that if he was rubbish at them, at least he’d have someone friendly to help him.
• “Yet again, Cornelius, I tell you that taking Hagrid away will not help in the slightest,” said Dumbledore. His bluey eyes were full of a fire that Harry had never seen before.

Q2 - What are your first thoughts of Fudge?

• “Take him away, an’ the Muggle-borns won’ stand a chance! There’ll be killings next!”
• “However,” said Dumbledore, speaking very slowly and clearly, so that none of them could miss a word, “you will find that I will only truly have left the school when none here are loyal to me. You will also find that help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it.”

Q3 - What do you think Dumbledore means?

Chapter Six - Gilderoy Lockhart

• “You’d better open it, Ron,“ said Neville, in a timid whisper. “It’ll be worse if you don’t. My gran sent me one once, and I ignored it and —” he gulped, “it was horrible.”

Q1 - What do you think Gran’s howler was about? And do you like the idea of howlers?

• At least the Howler had done one thing: Hermione seemed to think they had now been punished enough and was being perfectly friendly again.

Q2 - Thoughts on Lockhart?

• I mean, a few people have heard of you, haven’t they? All that business with He Who Must Not Be Named!” He glanced at the lightning scar on Harry’s forehead. “I know, I know, it’s not quite as good as winning Witch Weekly’s Most Charming Smile Award five times in a row, as I have — but it’s a start, Harry, it’s a start.”

Q3 - In their first Herbology lesson, Hermione won twenty points in twenty seconds by answering two questions correctly, yet Ron and Harry won a collective 5 points for defeating a fully grown mountain troll.

• “My name was down for Eton, you know, I can’t tell you how glad I am I came here instead. Of course mother was slightly disappointed, but since I made her read Lockhart’s books I think she’s begun to see how useful it’ll be to have a fully trained wizard in the family…”

Q4 - What do you think happens to the animals the students transfigure into objects?

Q5 - Thoughts on Colin Creevey?

Q6 - Do you think Harry should sell signed pictures and give the money to the Weasley family?

• I clearly state in chapter twelve that my ideal birthday gift would be harmony between all magic and non-magic peoples — though I wouldn’t say no to a large bottle of Ogden’s Old Firewhisky.”

Q7 - Do you think Lockhart is a good wizard?

Chapter 7 - Mudbloods and Murmurs

Q1 - Do we like captain Oliver Wood, or is he a bit much?

Q2 - How much of Quidditch do you think is skill vs. the equipment you buy?

• “At least no one on the Gryffindor team had to buy their way in,” said Hermione sharply. “They got in on pure talent.” The smug look on Malfoy’s face flickered. “No one asked your opinion, you filthy little Mudblood,” he spat.

Q3 - Should it be legal for a father to buy an entire team racing brooms?

• “If one word of it was true, I’ll eat my kettle.”

Q4 - Do you think anything Lockhart says is true?

Q5 - Why do you think Dumbledore hired Lockhart?

• Mudblooks is a really foul name for someone who was Muggle-born — you know, non-magic parents. There are some wizards — like Malfoy’s family — who think they’re better than everyone else because they’re what people call pure-blood.”

Q6 - Do you have any theories on how Hagrid got expelled?

Q7 - At the end of the chapter what do you think the voice was/came from?

Q8 - What is the best/worst reason you ever got detention?

Chapter 8 - The Deathday Party

• Ginny Weasley, who had been looking peaky, was bullied into taking some by Percy.
• “You’d think that getting hit forty-five times in the neck with a blunt axe would qualify you to join the headless hunt.”

Q1 - What do you think Nick did to warrant getting hit 45 times with an axe in the neck?

Q2 - Do you think there should be some regulation against turning your wife into a Yak with kwikspell?

• “That vanishing cabinet was extremely valuable!” he was saying gleefully to Mrs Norris. “We’ll have Peeves out this time, my sweet.”

Q3 - What do you think a vanishing cabinet is? 

Q4 - Have you ever felt like you walked through a ghost?

Q5 - Would you rather go to a deathday party or a Halloween feast?

• And then Harry heard it. “...rip…tear…kill…” It was the same voice, the same cold, murderous voice he had heard in Lockhart’s office.

Q6 - What do you think this voice is?

Q7 - What do you think “Enemies of the Heir, Beware” means?

Chapter 9 - The Writing on the Wall

• “You,” he screeched, “You! You’ve murdered my cat! You’ve killed her! I’ll kill you! I’ll —” 

Q1 - Is murdering someone for murdering you pet an appropriate response?

• “If I might speak, Headmaster,” said Snape from the shadows, and Harry’s sense of foreboding increased; he was sure nothing Snape was going to say was going to do him any good. “Potter and his friends may have simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time,” he said.

Q2 - Why did Snape defend the trio?

• “We weren’t hungry,” said Ron loudly, as his stomach gave a huge rumble.

Q3 - Why doesn’t Harry just tell the truth of what he heard?

• “I personally feel he should be taken off Gryffindor Quidditch team until he is ready to be honest.” “Really, Severus,” said Professor McGonagall sharply. 

Q4 - Is Ron showing bias when he is offended at mudblood, but sniggers at Squib?

Q5 - The clock chimed midnight after the meeting with Dumbledore…was the feast going till 11:30?

• When Filch wasn’t guarding the scene of the crime, he was skulking red-eyed through the corridors, lunging out at unsuspecting students and trying to put them in detention for things like ‘breathing loudly’ and ‘looking happy.’”

Q6 - Do you think the chamber exists? Where do you think it is? And what do you think the monster is?

Q7 - How cruel are Fred and George for turning baby Ron’s Teddy bear into a spider?

Q8 - Thoughts on Moaning Myrtle?

Q9 - How does Myrtle, who is a ghost, splash water all over the bathroom?

• Ghosts can pass through solid objects without causing damage to themselves or the material, but create disturbances in water, fire and air. The temperature drops in the immediate vicinity of a ghost, an effect intensified if many congregate in the same place. Their appearance can also turn flames blue. Should part or all of a ghost pass through a living creature, the latter will experience a freezing sensation as though they have been plunged into ice-cold water.

Q10 - Who would you transform into if you had a little bit of polyjuice potion?

• “Oh, come on, no teachers going to fall for that,” said Ron. “They’d have to be really thick…”

Chapter Ten - The Rogue Bludger

• “Homework: compose a poem about my defeat of the Wagga Wagga werewolf! Signed copies of Magical Me to the author of the best one!”

Q1 - Lockhart's signature is loopy, do you think a person's signature tells a lot about them?

• “I’m drinking nothing with Crabbe’s toenails in it…”
• “I never thought I’d see the day when you’d be persuading us to break rules,” said Ron, “All right, we’ll do it. But not toenails, OK?”
• “It’ll be down to you, Harry, to show them that a Seeker has to have something more than a rich father. Get to that Snitch before Malfoy or die trying, Harry, because we’ve got to win today, we’ve got to.” “So no pressure, Harry,” said Fred, winking at him.

Q2 - How incompetent is Madam Hooch? (maybe a leading question…)

Q3 - Should this Quidditch match have been called off?

Q4 - Have you ever broken a bone?

• “This, sir?” said dobby, plucking at the pillowcase. “Tis a mark of the house-elf’s enslavement, sir. Dobby can only be freed if his masters present him with clothes, sir. The family is careful not to pass Dobby even a sock, sir. For then he would be free to leave their house for ever.”
• “If he knew what he means to us, to the lowly, the enslaved, us dregs of the magical world! Dobby remembers how it was when He Who Must Not Be Named was at the height of his power, sir! We house-elves were treated like vermin, sir…Of course Dobby is still treated like that, sir. But Mostly life has improved for my kind since you triumphed over He Who Must Not Be Named. Harry Potter survived, and the Dark Lord’s power was broken, and it was a new dawn, sir, and Harry Potter shone like a beacon of hope for those of us who thought the dark days would never end, sir.”

Q5 - What is Dobby’s deal?

• “If Albus hadn’t been on the way downstairs for hot chocolate, who knows what might have…”

Q6 - You think Dumbledore was really getting hot chocolate?

• “The question is not who,” said Dumbledore, his eyes on Colin. “The question is, how…”

Q7 - What does he mean?

Chapter 1 - The Worst Birthday

• “I want more bacon” “There’s more in the frying pan, sweetums,” said Aunt Petunia, turning misty eyes on her massive son.

Q1 - Has your opinion of the Dursley’s changed at all?

• Harry stared from his purple-faced uncle to his pale aunt, who was trying to heave Dudley to his feet.

Q2 - Why do you think Vernon is purple and Petunia is pale?

Q3 - Why do you think Harry wants the Dursley’s to recognize his birthday?

Q4 - Are you a birthday person or not?

• Aunt Petunia knew he hadn’t really done magic, but he still had to duck as she aimed a heavy blow at his head with the soapy frying pan.

Chapter 2 - Dobby’s Warning

Q1 - First thoughts on Dobby?

• “Dobby has heard of your greatness, sir, but of your goodness, Dobby never knew.”

Q2 - Where do you think Dobby came from?

Q3 - Do you think a wizards word is more binding than a muggles? Why didn’t Harry just say you have my word and lie to Dobby?

• See why I’ve got to go back to Hogwarts? It’s the only place I’ve got — well, I think I’ve got friends.

Q4 - When was the last time you wrote and mailed a hand-written letter to someone?

• Harry, whose insides were aching with hunger, jumped off his bed and seized it. The soup was stone cold, but he drank half of it in one gulp. Then he crossed the room to Hedwig's cage and tipped the soggy vegetables at the bottom of the bowl into her empty food tray. She ruffled her feathers and gave him a look of deep disgust.

Q5 - What is Harry thinking and feeling at this moment?

Chapter 3 - The Burrow

Q1 - How do we like the Weasley’s rescuing Harry?

• A lot of wizards think it’s a waste of time, knowing this sort of Muggle trick, but we feel they’re skills worth learning, even if they are a bit slow.”

Q2 - From the little you know of the characters, what do you think their professions will be?

Q3 - Do you think Harry forgetting Hedwig makes him a bad pet owner?

Q4 - If you could bewitch any object in your house, what would you do and why?

• Mrs Weasley was marching across the yard, scattering chickens, and for a short, plump, kind-faced woman, it was remarkable how much she looked like a saber tooth tiger.

Q5 - Does de-gnoming a garden sound fun?

Q6 - Do you think you’ve ever been the victim of a shrinking door key?

• “Bless them, they’ll go to any lengths to ignore magic, even if it’s staring them in the face.”
• “Your sons flew that car to Harry’s house and back last night!” shouted Mrs Weasley. “What have you got to say about that, eh?” “Did you really?” said Mr Weasley eagerly. “Did it go alright? I-I mean,” he faltered, as sparks flew from Mrs Weasley’s eyes, “That was very wrong. Boys — very wrong indeed.”

Q7 - How do you like Mr and Mrs Weasley?

Q8 - How do you like the Burrow?

Chapter 4 - At Flourish and Blotts

• Life at the burrow was as different as possible from life in Privet Drive.
• What Harry found most unusual about life at Ron’s. However, wasn’t the talking mirror or the clanking ghoul: it was the fact that everybody there seemed to like him.

Q1 - What book sounds most interesting from the second-year reading list:

• The Standard Book of Spells
• Break with a Banshee
• Gadding with Ghouls
• Holidays with Hags
• Travels with Trolls
• Voyages with Vampires
• Wanderings with Werewolves
• Year with the Yeti

Q2 - Why doesn’t Harry at least try to give the Weasley’s a bit of money?

Q3 - Would you ever want to go shopping in Borgin and Burkes?

Q4 - First impressions of Mr Malfoy?

Q5 - Did you catch the diagonally and nocturnally?

Q6 - Why do you think Wizards don’t use ball point pens?

• “We have a very different idea of what disgraces the name of wizard, Malfoy,” he said.

Chapter Five - The Whomping Willow

• The end of the summer holidays came too quickly for Harry’s liking. He was looking forward to getting back to Hogwarts, but his month at The Burrow had been the happiest of his life.

Q1 - What do you think are the contents of Ginny’s diary?

Q2 - How dumb are Ron and Harry for not just waiting?

Q3 - Why would they plant a tree at Hogwarts that could kill a student? No safer place than Hogwarts…

• “Or he might have been sacked!” said Ron enthusiastically, “I mean everyone hates him—” “Or maybe,” said a very cold voice right behind them, “he’s waiting to hear why you two didn’t arrive on the school train.”

Q4 - Given the option, would you want to fly to Hogwarts in the car, or would you rather take the train? What other way would you want to get to the castle?

• “So,” he said softly, “the train isn’t good enough for the famous Harry Potter and his faithful sidekick Weasley. Wanted to arrive with a bang, did we, boys?”
• Professor McGonagall gave him a piercing look, but he was sure she had almost smiled.