Harry Potter Read-Along Part 2

Little Lion: I think that when the sorting hat is describing the houses, it's a bit unfair when it describes Slytherin. When Harry is thinking about Slytherin and looks over at their table, he thinks that they look like a nasty group when they're just acting like the rest of the houses are during the sorting. All of the houses got new people but most of the people that they mentioned all went to Gryffindor and I think that the other

houses should have more people to go to them too.

Harry and Ron say that they don't like Snape when he's just doing his usual teaching in his usual way. They think that he perosnally hates them when he's just grumpy toward everybody and favors his own house, just like the other professors do, because that's his house.

Peeves isn't very important in the books but he's in there and I think one of the bad things about the movies is that Peeves isn't there when he should be. Peeves points out a lot of stuff and he's very funny.  Sometimes he's the one to tell people that Harry was awake and out of bed when really he was just going to make a trick of it.

[Little Lion is Hufflepuff.  I'm sure you knew that with her sense of loyalty (her sister is Slytherin) and justice. FYI, she got a Cedric Diggory Lego minifigure when we were at Legoland last weekend, which I want because, to me, that's Edward Cullen as a wizard. :D  She won't share him with me, however. We have about half of the new collection.]

Enemy of the heir, beware. Little Lion is bravely standing in front of the actual Chamber of Secrets at the Warner Brothers Studio tour in London.

Dr. Bookworm: I remember so many scenes from the film so well as I've watched this first movie so many times that it's hard to differentiate from the novel.  I really think that this is the reason why it took me so long to read this book!  In any case, I do love all the details that J.K. Rowling puts throughout the novel and I love that the first film sticks so closely to the book. 

In the Sorting Hat scene (moreso in the film versus novel), I'm torn if Harry should really have been sorted into Slytherin.  Though I think the Sorting Hat is just giving him a hard time, and I assume that his words are for Harry only.  Do you think Harry should have been Slytherin? Mini Me is a Slytherin and a staunch advocate of her house being seen as more than most see it as. It seems that I (like Harry) have been biased from the start from what Hagrid says about the houses to Harry.  It's his first impression, so it lasts. Plus it doesn't hurt that Malfoy is Slytherin so of course Harry doesn't want to be in that house. DO NOT SAY TO MINI ME THAT SLYTHERIN IS EVIL UNLESS YOU ARE PREPARED TO HEAR HER PERFECTED RANT AND DEBATE.

Harry has some foreboding dreams in chapter seven that make sense for what happens later on in the novel with Quirrell (and later in the series with Scabbers and Snape).  I guess Quirrell's turban AKA Voldemort was telling Harry to transfer to Slytherin.  Why? Can you even transfer? In some ways I wish I was reading the novels "fresh" without influence from seeing the films. But, in all honesty, I'm not sure I would have enjoyed them as much twenty years ago.  Or even ten years ago.  I love hearing my girls' passion and enthusiasm for the series and that adds to the enjoyment for me.

Speaking of Snape....sigh, Snape.  This is the other problem that I know the rest of the series already because I read Snape differently than intended. Alan Rickman did an amazing job, and I've heard that he knew information (from Rowling herself) that determined how he played the character.  When he died several years ago, I had to inform Mini Me before school because I wanted her to know before her friends told her.  They mourned for him that day. It is interesting to see how Snape targets Potter right away and wants to humiliate him in Potions class. BTW, the potions classroom at WB Studios London tour was amazing but I don't feel like I got a proper picture as it was separated by a railing so we couldn't go up close.

I also adore the fact that Hagrid acts as a surrogate for Harry and looks out for him and sends him owl mail when he doesn't get any.  And that he gets gifted his Nimbus 2000 too (from Professor McGonagall). Not to mention the invisibility cloak! (from a mysterious person) There are definitely people watching out for Harry, which is wonderful considering his time with the Dursleys.

I feel like Rowling wrote this first book like a screenplay, an action one at that. One of my professors in college was also a screenwriter and I remember him saying that there should be a plot change/action every third page or so (or something like that).  Rowling definitely keeps the action moving in this middle section from Quidditch to Fluffy to the troll that enabled Ron and Harry to become friends with Hermione. And then there's the ever-changing stairs at Hogwarts and forbidden room to keep things interesting as well. Lots of imagination and world-building and I can see why Harry Potter won the hearts of so many from the get-go. 450 million copies and counting.

"We could have been killed—or worse, expelled." ~ Hermione

Would you be friends with Hermione?

[Apologies for the late post. The third post will go up soon. When I make a deadline for myself on the blog, it tends to pass due to work, life, motherhood. Scroll down for trivia questions.]

Mini Me in front of the Mirror of Erised at the the WB Studio tour in London. Yes, it's hard to take any pictures without someone else getting in there because it was very crowded!

Tell Dr. Bookworm! Trivia Questions, Part 2

Questions to think about: If you had an invisibility cloak, what would you use it for? What would you see in the Mirror of Erised? Have you ever had an unexpected friend like Hermione?  Would you be friends with a know-it-all rule-follower like Hermione?  (I WAS just like Hermione when I was younger! Though I wish I wasn't such a know-it-all back then.)

Mini Me and I tried to make these questions relate more to the first book, with the exception of the horcrux question, but I had to add that one because I hinted at it from last time. Let me know your answers in the comments, or if you prefer to keep them secret, please feel free to email me here.

Trivia Questions, Part 2:

1. What are the seven horcruxes?

2. List 10 people who have taught at Hogwarts during the book series.

3. What do bowtruckles eat?

4. What does the Mirror of Erised show you?

5. What does it mean when a Rememberall turns red?

6. What instrument can Hagrid play?

7. What is Harry Potter's favorite dessert?

Part One of our read-along, including trivia questions can be found here.

Contest rules: if you're under 18, you need permission from your parents (with a valid email address that I will not sell or distribute).  All entries will be entered into a raffle for the prizes which include HP-related bookmarks, stickers, pins, and book editions etc.  The GRAND PRIZE will be an official Universal Studios House hoodie or sweatshirt (retail value $65).  You need to tell me which house you're in, of course.  Only open to U.S. residents. The contest is not sponsored or affiliated with Instagram, Warner Brothers, Universal Studios, or J.K. Rowling. It's sponsored by me.  :D Limit two entries per person per HP read-along post (six total). Contest questions/answers will be judged at the discretion of the Bookworm family. Contest closes on Sept 10, 2018 at midnight PST. (Please note that I've extended the deadline since I'm late in posting part 2.)

Phew! To enter, comment on Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's/Philosopher's Stone below.  For a bonus entry, answer our contest questions.  If you'd rather email me your answers or comments, please do so here.

ETA: Our grand prize winner was randomly drawn on Sept. 11, 2018 and is N.H. Since he is in Gryffindor, he won an official Universal Studios Gryffindor hoodie. Congrats, N!