Harry Potter and the First Time Readers

Chapter 13 - Mad-Eye Moody

Q1 - Would you want to squeeze the pus out of a bubotuber?

Q2 - Which lesson would you rather go to—care of magical creatures or herbology?

• You are preoccupied, my dear. My Inner Eye sees past your brave face to the troubled soul within. And I regret to say that your worries are not baseless. I see difficult times ahead for you, alas... most difficult... I fear the thing you dread will indeed come to pass... and perhaps sooner than you think.”

Q3 - What do you think Trelawney is talking about here?

• “I was saying, my dear, that you were clearly born under the baleful influence of Saturn,” said Professor Trelawney, a faint note of resentment in her voice at the fact that he had obviously not been hanging on her words. “Born under — what, sorry?” said Harry. “Saturn, dear, the planet Saturn!” said Professor Trelawney, sounding definitely irritated that he wasn’t riveted by this news. “I was saying that Saturn was surely in a position of power in the heavens at the moment of your birth... Your dark hair... your mean stature... tragic losses so young in life... I think I am right in saying, my dear, that you were born in midwinter?” “No,” said Harry, “I was born in July.”

Q4 - Trelawney is wrong.

• “Oh, professor, look! I think I’ve got an unaspected planet! Oooh, which one’s that, Professor?” “It’s Uranus, my dear,” said Professor Trelawney peering down at the chart. “Can I have a look at Uranus, too, Lavender?” said Ron.

Q5 - Do you still like Rita Skeeter? Do you think her portrayal of Moody is accurate? (A handshake from attempted murder)

• “Professor Moody!” said a shicked voice. Professor McGonagall was coing down the marble staircase with her arms full of books. “Hello, Professor McGonagall,” said Moody calmly bounding the ferret still higher. “What — what are you doing?” said Professor McGonagall, her eyes following the bouncing ferrets progress through the air. “Teaching,” said Moody. “Teach — Moody, is that a student?” shrieked Professor McGonagall, the books spilling out of her arms.

Q6 - What do you think of Moody?

Chapter 14 - The Unforgivable Curses

• “So...do any of you know which curses are most heavily punished by wizarding law?”

Q1 - Should Moody be teaching them these things?

Q2 - Thoughts on the imperious curse?

• “Some job for the Ministry, trying to sort out who was being forced to act, and who was acting of their own free will?”

Q3 - How do you think the ministry did this?

• Hermione’s hand flew into the air again and so, to Harry’s slight surprise, did Neville’s...Neville looked surprised at his own daring. “Yes?” said Moody, his magical eye rolling over to fix on Neville. “There’s one — the Cruciatus Curse,” said Neville, in a small but very distinct voice. Moody was looking very intently at Neville, this time with both eyes. “Your name’s Longbottom?” he said, his magical eye swooping down to check the register again.

Q4 - Thoughts on the Cruciatus Curse?

• “Not nice,” he said calmly. “Not pleasant. And there’s no counter-curse. There’s no blocking it. Only one known person has ever survived it, and he’s sitting right in front of me.”

Q5 - What are your thoughts on the killing curse?

Q6 - What do you think this means to Harry to know?

Q7 - Do you side with the students in thinking this was a good lesson, or with Harry and Hermione?

• “You’ve got to know. It seems harsh, maybe, but you’ve got to know. No point pretending.

Q8 - What do you think about Neville?

• “No—that sounds like we’re accusing him. Got to be careful...”

Q9 - What are Fred and George up to?

Q10 - What do you think of Harry and Ron’s predictions, and what would you predict about yourself?

• “You’re treasurer, Ron. I got you a collecting tin upstairs — and Harry, you’re secretary, so you might want to write down everything I’m saying now, as a record of our first meeting.”

Q11 - Why is Harry such a bad pet owner?

Q12 - Do you think Sirius coming back is a good thing?

• The dormitory was completely silent, and, had he been less preoccupied, Harry would have realized that the absence of Neville’s usual snores meant that he was not the only one lying awake.

Q13 - Why is Neville awake?

Chapter 11 - Aboard the Hogwarts Express

Q1 - How do you like the name Mad-Eye?

• Mrs Weasley took a piece of buttered toast from a stack on the kitchen table, put it into the fire tongs and transferred it into Mr Diggory’s mouth.

Q2 - have you guys ever had a mountain pie?

• “Your father thinks very highly of Mad-Eye Moody,” said Mrs Weasley sternly. “Yeah, well Dad collects plugs, doesn’t he?” said Fred quietly, as Mrs Weasley left the room. “Birds of a feather.”

Q3 - Which is your favorite Weasley?

Q4 - What is your favorite part of the books?

Q5 - You don’t know a ton about Durmstrang and Beauxbatons, but which would you rather go to?

• “But Hogwarts is hidden,” said Hermione, in surprise, “Everyone who’s read Hogwarts: A History, anyway.” “Just you, then,” said Ron.
• “If a Muggle looks at it, all they see is a moldering old ruin with a sign over the entrance saying DANGER, DO NOT ENTER, UNSAFE.”

Q6 - Is this sign keeping you out?

Q7 - What do you think of the summoning charm?

Q8 - Would you wear Ron’s robes?

Chapter 12 - The Triwizard Tournament

Q1 - Do you like Peeves?

Q2 - What’s the best prank you ever pulled?

• “Now slip me snug around your ears, I've never yet been wrong, I’ll have a look inside your mind and tell you where you belong!”

Q3 - Thoughts on Dennis Creevey?

• “There are house-elves here?” she said....”Certainly,” said Nearly Headless Nick, looking surprised at her reaction. “The largest number in any dwelling in Britain, I believe. Over a hundred.”

Q4 - What are your thoughts on Hogwarts having house elves?

• A man stood in the doorway, leaning upon a long staff, shrouded in a black traveling cloak. Every head in the Great Hall swiveled toward the stranger, suddenly brightly illuminated by a fork of lightning that flashed across the ceiling. He lowered his hood, shook out a long mane of grizzled, dark gray hair, then began to walk up toward the teachers' table. A dull clunk echoed through the Hall on his every other step. He reached the end of the top table, turned right, and limped heavily toward Dumbledore. Another flash of lightning crossed the ceiling. Hermione gasped. The lightning had thrown the man's face into sharp relief, and it was a face unlike any Harry had ever seen. It looked as though it had been carved out of weathered wood by someone who had only the vaguest idea of what human faces are supposed to look like, and was none too skilled with a chisel. Every inch of skin seemed to be scarred. The mouth looked like a diagonal gash, and a large chunk of the nose was missing. But it was the man's eyes that made him frightening. One of them was small, dark, and beady. The other was large, round as a coin, and a vivid, electric blue. The blue eye was moving ceaselessly, without blinking, and was rolling up, down, and from side to side, quite independently of the normal eye - and then it rolled right over, pointing into the back of the man's head, so that all they could see was whiteness.

Q5 - Is this her best description of someone that she’s given so far?

• “It is my pleasure to inform you that the Triwizard tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year.” “You’re joking!” said Fred Weasley loudly. The tension that had filled the hall every since Moody’s arrival suddenly broke. Nearly everyone laughed, and Dumbledore chuckled appreciatively. “I am not joking, Mr Weasley.” he said, “though, now that you mention is, I did hear an excellent one over the summer about a troll, a hag, and a leprechaun who all go into a bar —” Professor McGonagall cleared her throat loudly.

Q6 - What are your thoughts on the Triwizard Tournament and what do you think they’ll have to do in it?

Q7 - Neville falls through a trap step...why does Hogwarts have these?

Chapter 6 - The Portkey

INTRO - Character impressions in your mind.

• Harry felt as though he had barely lain down to sleep in Ron’s room when he was being shaken awake by Mrs Weasley.

Q1 - Is this the worst feeling ever? Non-snow days? What is the worst feeling as a kid?

Q2 - You need a license to Apparate? Do you think anything else should require a license in the magical world?

Q3 - What’s the earliest you’ve ever woken up?

• [Portkeys are] objects that are used to transport wizards from one spot to another at a prearranged time.

Q4 - Would you rather travel by broom, apparition, or portkey?

Q5 - Amos Diggory works for the department of the regulation and control of magical creatures...did he vote yes to killing buckbeak?

• “I’m sure Harry’d say the same, wouldn’t you, eh? One falls off his broom, one stays on, you don’t need to be a genius to tell which one’s the better flier.”

Q6 - How do you like Amos and Cedric?

Q7 - Thoughts on the wizarding world spreading trash around the planet in the form of portkeys?

Chapter 7 - Bagman and Crouch

Q1 - If you had to hide a quidditch world cup game, how would you do it?

• “Been having a lot of trouble with him. Needs a Memory Charm ten times a day to keep him happy. And Ludo Bagman’s not helping. Trotting around talking about Bludgers and Quaffles at the top of his voice, not a worry about anti-Muggle security.”

Q2 - How should they deal with Mr Roberts...should some Muggles just be able to know about Wizards?

• “Always the same.” said Mr Weasley, smiling, “we can’t resist showing off when we get together.”

Q3 - How do you like the magic of expanding something like the tent into being massive inside?

• It was only just dawning on Harry how many witches and wizards there must be in the world; he had never really thought much about those in other countries.

Q4 - How large do you figure the wizarding world is?

Q5 - There’s a description of all sorts of other witches and wizards here, if you could travel to see magic from any other country in the world, where would you go visit?

• “I’m not putting them on [referring to the trousers],” said Old Archie in indignation. “I like a healthy breeze around my privates, thanks.”
• Harry laughed but didn’t voice the amazement he felt at hearing about other Wizarding schools. He supposed, now that he saw representatives of so many nationalities in the campsite, that he had been stupid never to realize that Hogwarts couldn’t be the only one.
• “That’s Bode and Croaker...they’re unspeakables.” “They’re what?” “From the department of mysteries, top secret, no idea what they get up to.”

Q6 - What do you think they do in the Department of Mysteries?

Q7 - How do you like Bagman and Crouch? Which do you like more?

• “Ali Bashir’s on the warpath. He wants a word with you about your embargo on flying carpets.” Mr Weasley heaved a deep sigh. “I sent him an owl about that just last week. If I’ve told him once I’ve told him a hundred times: carpets are defined as a Muggle Artifact by the Registry of Proscribed Charmable Objects, but will he listen?”

Q8 - Broom or Carpet?

• A sense of excitement rose like a palpable cloud over the campsite as the afternoon wore on. By dusk, the still summer air itself seemed to be quivering with anticipation, and as darkness spread like a curtain over the thousands of waiting wizards, the last vestiges of pretense disappeared: the Ministry seemed to have bowed to the inevitable and stopped fighting the signs of blatant magic now breaking out everywhere.

Q9 - Harry gets Ron omnioculars...is he cheap for saying he won’t get anything for him for Christmas?

• And then a deep, booming gong sounded somewhere beyond the woods, and, at once, green and red lanterns blazed into life in the trees, lighting a path to the pitch.

Chapter 8 - The Quidditch World Cup

• “Ah, sir,” said Winky, shaking her head, “ah, sir, meaning no disrespect, sir, but I is not sure you did Dobby a favor, sir, when you is setting him free.”

Q1 - What do you think of House Elves? Should they be set free?

Q2 - Do you think it’s cruel to have a house elf sit at the booth who is afraid of heights just to save a seat?

• She would have been nice looking if she hadn’t been wearing a look that suggested there was a nasty smell under her nose.

Q3 - What are your thoughts on the Veela and the Leprechauns?

Q4 - What would the American mascot be?

Q5 - What do you think of Victor Krum?

Q6 - Would you want to go to this game?

Q7 - Was Krum an idiot for ending the game when th...

Chapter 18 - Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs

• “They’ve — got — a — right — to — know — everything.” Lupin panted, still trying to restrain Black. “Ron’s kept him as a pet! There are parts of it even I don’t understand! And Harry — you owe Harry the truth, Sirius!” Black stopped struggling, though his hollowed eyes were still fixed on Scabbers, who was clamped tightly under Ron’s bitten, scratched and bleeding hands. “All right, then,” said Black, without taking his eyes off the rat. “Tell them whatever you like. But make it quick, Remus. I want to commit the murder I was imprisoned for...”

Q1 - Who is right here? Lupin for waiting, or Black for wanting to kill Peter first?

Q2 - Why didn’t Scabbers try to escape earlier on?

• “Because ... because people would know if Peter Pettigrew had been an Animagus. We did Animagi in class with Professor McGonagall. And I looked them up when I did my homework - the Ministry keeps tabs on witches and wizards who can become animals; there's a register showing what animal they become, and their markings and things...and I went and looked Professor Mcgonagall up on the register, and there have only been seven Animagi this century, and pettigrews name wasn’t on the list.”

Q3 - I ask again, what would you be if you could be an Animagus?

• “It seemed impossible that I would be able to come to Hogwarts. Other parents weren't likely to want their children exposed to me. But then Dumbledore became Headmaster and he was sympathetic.”
• REDDIT - alphaWLFgang1 - So if we were looking at it from that perspective then I’d be a Nebelung Cat (according to Wizarding World) But, I mean if I had to choose I’d want to be something that could fly. So like an Eagle or maybe a Hippogriff would be sick too if that’s even possible? I’d want to fly or swim! So maybe a shark? I’d want to be an animal that can either fly/swim under water. I’d want to fly so I can travel faster places and swim because I love the water.

Q4 - Was Dumbledore right to let Lupin come to school?

Q5 - Why does Hogwarts have such a rag-tag bunch of teachers?

• “Now, my three friends could hardly fail to notice that I disappeared once a month. I made up all sorts of stories. I told them my mother was ill, and that I had to go home to see her...I was terrified they would desert me the moment they found out what I was. But of course, they, like you, Hermione, worked out the truth and they didn’t desert me at all. Instead they did something for me that would make my transformations the best times of my life. They became animagi.”

Q6 - Do you know and understand how truly difficult it is to become an Animagus?

Q7 - What was the craziest/most dangerous thing you’ve done in your life?

Q8 - Have you ever put someone else’s life in danger?

• “Sirius thought it would be — er — amusing, to tell Snape all he had to do was prod the knot on the tree-trunk with a long stick, and he’d be able to get in after me. Well, of course, Snape tried it — if he’d got as far as this house, he’d have met a fully grown werewolf — but your father, who’d heard what Sirius had done, went after Snape and pulled him back, at great risk to his life.”

Q9 - Do you have any sympathy for Snape?

Chapter 19 - The Servant of Lord Voldemort

• “YOU'RE PATHETIC!” Harry yelled. “JUST BECAUSE THEY MADE A FOOL OF YOU AT SCHOOL YOU WON'T EVEN LISTEN _” “SILENCE! I WILL NOT BE SPOKEN TO LIKE THAT!' Snape shrieked, looking madder than ever. "Like father, like son, Potter! I have just saved your neck, you should be thanking me on bended knee! You would have been well served if he'd killed you! You'd have died like your father, too arrogant to believe you might be mistaken in Black. Now get out of the way or I will make you.”

Q1 - What do you think of both Harry and Snape’s statements?

Q2 - Were they right to attack a teacher?

• "Harry I as good as killed them; he croaked. I persuaded Lily and James to change to Peter at the last moment, persuaded them to use him as Secret Keeper instead of me ... I'm to blame, I know it ... the night they died, I'd arranged to check on Peter, make sure he was still safe, but when I arrived at his hiding place, he'd gone. Yet there was no sign of a struggle. It didn't feel right. I was scared. I set out for your parents' house straight away. And when I saw their house, destroyed, and their bodies - I realized what Peter must have done. What I'd done. His voice broke. He turned away.”

Q3 - What do you think of this whole story so far?

Q4 - Do you get the secret keeper thing still?

• Harry remembered what Mr Weasley had told Mrs Weasley. “The guards say he's been talking in his sleep .... always the same words... "He's at Hogwarts.” “It was as if some...