Harry Potter and the First Time Readers

Chapter 8 - The Potions Master

Q1 - If you had a scar, where would you want it and what would you want it of?

Q2 - Do you think Harry is going to get married? If so, do you think he’d marry any of the people who were introduced in the book so far?

• At the start-of-term Banquet, Harry had got the idea that Professor Snape disliked him. By the end of the first Potions lesson, he knew he’d been wrong. Snape didn’t dislike Harry — he hated him.

Q3 - Do you think there’s any reason why Snape would hate Harry or is just one of those let-me-pick-a-student-to-be-mean-to-on-the-first-day kind of thing?

Q4 - Is Fang a boar or a dog?

Q5 - First impression of McGonagall and Snape?

Chapter 9 - The Midnight Duel

• Harry had never believed he would meet a boy he hated more than Dudley, but that was before he met Draco Malfoy.

Q1 - Would you like to have a remembrall?

Q2 - So far in the Hogwarts experience, what event/class would you be most excited for and why?

• WHAM! — a thus and a nasty crack and Neville lay, face down, on the grass in a heap. His broomstick was still rising higher and higher and started to drift lazily toward the Forbidden Forest and out of sight.

Q3 - Was it Nevilles issue for falling off his broom or was it his broomstick?

• Harry saw, as though in slow motion, the ball rise up in the air and then start to fall. He leant forward and pointed his broom handle down — next second he was gathering speed in a steep dive, racing the ball — wind whistled in his ears, mingles with the screams of people watching — he stretched out his hand — a foot from the ground he caught it, just in time to pull his broom straight, and he toppled gently on to the grass with the Remembrall clutched safely in his hand.

Q4 - What did you initially think was going to happen to Harry after McGonagall caught him flying?

• “Wood?” Thought Harry, bewildered; was Wood a cane she was going to use on him?

Q5 - Is it a bit too early to make Harry Seeker after one nice catch of a Remembrall?

Q6 - Would you like to learn how to fly on a broom?

• “And what if I wave my wand and nothing happens?” “Throw it away and punch him on the nose,” Ron suggested.

Q7 - What are your thoughts on Draco Malfoy?

• “What do they think they’re doing, keeping a thing like that locked up in a school?” Ron said finally.

Q8 - Is Hogwarts really safe...like really?

Q9 - Does Steak and Kidney pie actually sound good?

Chapter 10 - Hallowe’en

Q1 - Is it shady that McG has bought a Nimbus Two Thousand — the current best broomstick in the world — for Harry?

• “Potter’s been sent a broomstick, Professor,” said Malfoy quickly. “Yes, yes, that’s right,” said Professor Flitwick, beaming at Harry. “Professor McGonagall told me all about the special circumstances, Potter. And what Model is it?” “A Nimbus Two Thousand, sir,” said Harry, fighting not to laugh at the look of horror on Malfoy’s face. “And it’s really thanks to Malfoy here that I’ve got it,” he added.

Q2 - Is the Snitch worth too many points?

• Ron looked still more awkward at this [news Hermione was crying and wanted to be left alone], but a moment later they had entered the Great Hall, where the Hallowe’en decorations put Hermione out of their minds.

Q3 - What position would you want to play in Quidditch?

Q4 - Theories on how on earth someone could smuggle a troll into the castle?

Q5 - Why didn’t Hermione tell the truth?

Q6 - Is five points a little too skimpy for two first years taking on a mountain troll and winning?

Q7 - The point system at Hogwarts seems absolutely arbitrary, do you think there is a rule book for the point system?

• But from that moment on, Hermione Granger became their friend. There are some things you can’t share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them.

Chapter 2 - The Scar

• No, the thing that was bothering Harry was that the last time his scar had hurt him, it had been because Voldemort had been close by... but Voldemort couldn’t be here, now...the idea of Voldemort lurking in Privet Drive was absurd, impossible...

Q1 - Why do you think Harry’s scar hurts whenever things like that happen?

Q2 - Do you think Voldemort knows where Harry lives, and would he ever attack the house?

• As far as he knew, he was the only living person to have survived a curse like Voldemort’s.

Q3 - Do you think there is anyone else alive or even dead who has survived a curse like Voldemorts?

Q4 - If you had to choose a bird to deliver mail to you, which bird are you picking?

Chapter 3 - The Invitation

• The school nurse had seen what Aunt Petunia's eyes – so sharp when it came to spotting fingerprints on her gleaming walls, and in observing the comings and goings of the neighbors – simply refused to see: that, far from needing extra nourishment, Dudley had reached roughly the size and weight of a young killer whale.

Q1 - What are your thoughts on Dudley?

Q2 - So far in this series, if there is a character who is irredeemable, who would it be?

Q3 - Is it animal abuse to keep sending Errol to deliver your mail?

Q4 - What do you normally eat for breakfast?

• “Look at this,” he growled. He held up the envelope in which Mrs Weasley’s letter had come, and Harry had to fight down a laugh. Every bit of the letter was covered in stamps except for a square inch on the front, into which Mrs Weasley had squeezed the Dursleys’ address in minute writing.

Q5 - Who do you think is going to win the Quidditch World Cup?

• A slight spasm crossed Uncle Vernon's large purple face. The mustache bristled. Harry thought he knew what was going on behind the mustache: a furious battle as two of Uncle Vernon's most fundamental instincts came into conflict. Allowing Harry to go would make Harry happy, something Uncle Vernon had struggled against for thirteen years. On the other hand, allowing Harry to disappear to the Weasleys' for the rest of the summer would get rid of him two weeks earlier than anyone could have hoped, and Uncle Vernon hated having Harry in the house. To give himself thinking time, it seemed, he looked down at Mrs. Weasley's letter again.
• “If they say yes, send Pig back with your answer pronto, and we’ll come get you at five o’clock on Sunday. If they say no, send Pig back pronto and we’ll come get you at five o’clock on Sunday anyway.”

Q6 - Harry eats his birthday cake...how long can he hide birthday cake under his floorboards before it starts to get moldy and inedible?

• He was going to the Quidditch World Cup. It was hard, just not, to feel worried about anything — even Lord Voldemort.

Q7 - Should Harry be more worried about Lord Voldemort and his scar?

Chapter 4 - Back to the Burrow

Q1 - Thoughts on the Dursley’s nerve and annoyance in the beginning of this chapter?

Q2 - Are the Weasleys wrong for being so late?

Q3 - Is the Floo Network a normal practice...to show up in someone's living room just unannounced?

• The electric fireplace shot across the room as the boarded-up fireplace burst outwards, expelling Mr Weasley, Fred, George, and Ron in a cloud of loose chippings.

Q4 - What are your feelings on all of this happening?

• Indeed, from the tone of his voice when he next spoke, Harry was quite sure that Mr Weasley thought Dudley was quite as mad as the Dursleys thought he was, except that Mr Weasley felt sympathy rather than fear.

Q5 - What do you think of the idea of having sympathy on people who are different from you? What should you do?

Q6 - What is the rudest anyone has ever acted toward you?

Q7 - Petunia in particular seems very terrified of magic, why do you think that she is?

Chapter 5 - Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes

Q1 - Would you rather work with dragons or work at gringotts?

• “It isn’t funny!” Mr Weasley shouted. “That sort of behavior seriously undermines wizard-muggle relations! I spend half my life campaigning against the mistreatment of Muggles, and my own sons —”

Q2 - What is the Wizard perception of Muggles?

Q3 - What do you think the of Fred and George’s inventions?

Q4 - What else do you think they’d make, or that you would make, if you were making a joke shop for wizards?

• “A report for the Department of International Magical Cooperation,” said Percy smugly. “We're trying to standardize cauldron thickness. Some of these foreign imports are just a shade too thin — leakages have been increasing at a rate of almost three percent a year —”

Q5 - Wh...

Chapter 15 - The Forbidden Forest

• It was the first time Hermione has ever failed to answer a teacher’s question. She was staring at her slippers, as still as a statue.

Q1 - Do you really think McGonagall has never heard of four students out of bed before?

Q2 - At this point in the book were you convinced Snape was the main assailant to Quirrel? Would you have bet 12 sorcerer’s stones?

Q3 - Is a punishment of going in the forbidden forest too extreme for any students?

• “I want fang,” said Malfoy quickly, looking at Fang’s long teeth. “All right, but I warn yeh, he’s a coward,” said Hagrid.

Q4 - Is it weird that Hagrid goes by Hagrid and not Ruebeus?

• “Always the innocent are the first victims,” he said, “So it has been for ages past, so it is now.”
• Yet again, Ronan took a while to answer. At last, he said, “The Forest hides many secrets.”

Q5 - How much do you think Centaurs know?

• “The planets have been read wrongly before now, even by centaurs. I hope this is one of those times.”

Chapter 16 - Through the Trapdoor

Q1 - Do you think you could make a pineapple tapdance across the classroom?

• “I think it’s a warning...it means danger’s coming.”
• “Neville will play quidditch for England before Hagrid lets Dumbledore down.”

Q2 - What do you think Dumbledore does on a day to day basis?

• “You can’t!” said Hermione. “After what McGonagall and Snape have said? You’ll be expelled!” “SO WHAT?” Harry shouted. “Don’t you understand? If Snape gets hold of the Stone, Voldemort’s coming back!
• “I’ll use the Invisibility Cloak,” said Harry. “It’s just lucky I got it back.” “But will it cover all three of us?” said Ron.
• “I won’t let you do it,” he said, hurrying to stand in front of the portrait hole. “I’ll — I’ll fight you.” He took a step forward and Neville dropped Trevor the toad, who leapt out of sight. “Go on then, try and hit me!” said Neville, raising his fists, “I’m ready!”

Q3 - What are your thoughts on Neville?

• “HAVE YOU GONE MAD?” Ron bellowed. “ARE YOU A WITCH OR NOT?”

Q4 - What do you think was the level of difficulty for that chess game?

• “But Harry — What if You-Know-Who’s with him?” “Well — I was lucky once, wasn’t I?” said Harry, pointing at his scar. “I might get lucky again.” Hermione’s lip trembled and she suddenly dashed at Harry and threw her arms around him. “Hermione!” “Harry — you’re a great wizard, you know.” “I’m not as good as you,” said Harry, very embarrassed, as she let go of him.
• “Harry took a deep breath and picked up the smallest bottle. He turned to face the black flames. “Here I come,” he said and he drained the little bottle in one gulp.

Q5 - Which was your favorite test?

Q6 - If you could add a test to the group, what would you do?

Chapter 17 - The Man With Two Faces

Q1 - When you first read this, did you expect that it was going to be Quirrell?

• “He was at Hogwarts with your father, didn’t you know? They loathed each other. But he never wanted you dead”
• “There is no good and evil, there is only power, and those too weak to seek it.”

Q2 - What do you think Voldemort is at this moment?

• “How touching...” it hissed. “I always value bravery...Yes, boy, your parents were brave...I linked your father first and he put up a courageous fight...but your mother needn’t have died...she was trying to protect you...Now give me the stone, unless you want her to have died in vain.”
• And other voices, maybe in Harry’s own head, crying, “Harry! Harry!”
• “What happened down in the dungeons between you and Professor Quirrel is a complete secret, so, naturally, the whole school knows.”

Q3 - How much elixir do you really think the Flamels have stored?

Q4 - Thoughts on Dumbledore?

• “To one as young as you, I’m sure it seems incredible, but to Nicholas and Perenelle, it really is like going to bed after a very, very long day. After all, to the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.”

Q5 - What do you think Dumbledore means when he says the above quote?

• “The truth,” Dumbledore sighed. “It is a beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with great caution.”
• “Your mother died to save you. If there is one thing Voldemort cannot understand, it is love. He didn’t realize that love as powerful as your mother’s for you leaves it’s own mark. Not a scar, no visible sign...to have been loved so deeply, even though the person who loved us is gone, will give us some protection for ever. It is in your very skin.”

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