Harry Potter Read-Along Update
Maxwell Shadow
October 2016
As the new school year was drawing near, in the depths of the Dungeons, a small group of excited Slytherins were preparing to re-read their favourite book in the Harry Potter series. The first book where things got a little bit complicated and a little more grown up. A book which was a sign of things to come and in which we meet some of my personal favourite characters. It is fair to say that, although we had enjoyed re-reading Philosopher’s Stone and Chamber of Secrets, for us it had been leading up to this book. So with enthusiasm we were pleased to launch the Harry Potter Read-Along in a revamped format. New chapters are now looked at each week, rather than each month. Trivia questions are posted daily with 24 hours to send in your answers. The discussion thread now earns you scales just for participating.
Well we are now at the end of our second month and have reached chapter 9. If you haven’t joined us yet I can safely say you have missed out on quite a bit. But don’t worry; it’s not the end of the world! You are still more than welcome to join us at any point in the Read-Along, and you also have the opportunity to still earn scales on tasks which have passed. Just pop over to the Dungeons and join us in our busy little forum where you will find all the tasks, trivia and discussions from the past, as well as activities where you can still earn yourself some scales. If you still need some convincing, here are some highlights from the first eight chapters:
Chapter 1 – Owl Post
For Harry’s birthday there were many fabulous gift suggestions for the Boy Who Lived including some friendly (a book about the History of Quidditch from Polaris) and some not so friendly (A box of Dungbombs from Arianna). Well I’m not sure what you expected from Slytherin! We also discovered that if we won the Daily Prophet Grand Prize Galleon Draw, most of us would spend the winnings travelling, although Bianca would go on a shopping spree with her sister as a top priority.
Chapter 2 – Aunt Marge’s Big Mistake
We have a cunning bunch visiting the Dungeons so it wasn’t all that surprising that between us we came up with many ways to get the Dursleys to sign Harry’s permission form. I think my favourite if-all-else-fails suggestion was Scarlet’s idea to get Hedwig to “scratch out something that’ll look like Uncle Vernon’s signature.” Genius!
Chapter 3 – The Knight Bus
This is the chapter that really brought the discussion thread to life and the comments were pretty unanimous that the book version of the Knight Bus was much better than the film version. Polaris said “it just seems more magical” while Tarma raised the question “How much driving does Ernie Prang actually do?” A really interesting discussion and well worth a read – feel free to add your thoughts in the thread!
Chapter 4 – The Leaky Cauldron
If it’s new and interesting magical creatures you’re after look no further than task 1. From Claudette’s “Andean Alparu” from the alpine mountains to Arianna’s “Scaly Mime,” which resembles a tiny T-Rex which can talk. We really are a creative bunch!
Chapter 5 – The Dementor
Possibly my favourite discussion topic ever for task 1 of this chapter: What type of chocolate do you prefer? I just had to jump straight in to this one with my current favourite chocolate flavour combination of “dark chocolate and sea salt.” I know that Amy appreciated my suggestion and is now almost as hooked as I am! If you’re into baking then I recommend you check out Arianna’s recipe for Caramel Fudge which looks so good and at the same time so bad!
Chapter 6 – Talons and Tea Leaves
In this chapter we turned our hands to Divination by looking at the tea leaves of our friends, family and classmates and while I feel we learnt a lot in task 1, it was task 2 that got the most enthusiastic response, especially from Tarma… If you’ve ever wondered what her reaction would be to coming face to face with a Hippogriff then wonder no more: “OMG a HIPPOGRIFF. Oh please oh please oh please may I may I.” She even accused me of being sensible… The cheek of it!
Chapter 7 – The Boggart in the Wardrobe
As well as gathering ingredients for the Shrinking Solution (I think Scarlet needs to look at the list from Snape again!), visitors to the Dungeons shared their stories about when strength in numbers was a good idea. We’re still accepting submissions in this thread for a few more days if you’ve got an interesting story to tell.
Chapter 8 – Flight of the Fat Lady
Which shop would you the most upset about missing out on if you didn’t get to go to Hogsmeade? For most of us it seemed to be a trip to the Three Broomsticks. Tarma was planning to sit by the fire and people watch, Scarlet wanted to eavesdrop on the interesting stories being shared and I just wanted to watch the world go by whilst sipping on a Butterbeer.
The Read-Along continues in the Dungeons with new tasks, trivia and discussion topics each week. All students and staff are welcome, regardless of their house, and everyone who participates gets to earn scales. If you earn enough you could win a shiny award at the end of the year as well as having lots of fun along the way. I hope to see you there soon!
As the new school year was drawing near, in the depths of the Dungeons, a small group of excited Slytherins were preparing to re-read their favourite book in the Harry Potter series. The first book where things got a little bit complicated and a little more grown up. A book which was a sign of things to come and in which we meet some of my personal favourite characters. It is fair to say that, although we had enjoyed re-reading Philosopher’s Stone and Chamber of Secrets, for us it had been leading up to this book. So with enthusiasm we were pleased to launch the Harry Potter Read-Along in a revamped format. New chapters are now looked at each week, rather than each month. Trivia questions are posted daily with 24 hours to send in your answers. The discussion thread now earns you scales just for participating.
Well we are now at the end of our second month and have reached chapter 9. If you haven’t joined us yet I can safely say you have missed out on quite a bit. But don’t worry; it’s not the end of the world! You are still more than welcome to join us at any point in the Read-Along, and you also have the opportunity to still earn scales on tasks which have passed. Just pop over to the Dungeons and join us in our busy little forum where you will find all the tasks, trivia and discussions from the past, as well as activities where you can still earn yourself some scales. If you still need some convincing, here are some highlights from the first eight chapters:
Chapter 1 – Owl Post
For Harry’s birthday there were many fabulous gift suggestions for the Boy Who Lived including some friendly (a book about the History of Quidditch from Polaris) and some not so friendly (A box of Dungbombs from Arianna). Well I’m not sure what you expected from Slytherin! We also discovered that if we won the Daily Prophet Grand Prize Galleon Draw, most of us would spend the winnings travelling, although Bianca would go on a shopping spree with her sister as a top priority.
Chapter 2 – Aunt Marge’s Big Mistake
We have a cunning bunch visiting the Dungeons so it wasn’t all that surprising that between us we came up with many ways to get the Dursleys to sign Harry’s permission form. I think my favourite if-all-else-fails suggestion was Scarlet’s idea to get Hedwig to “scratch out something that’ll look like Uncle Vernon’s signature.” Genius!
Chapter 3 – The Knight Bus
This is the chapter that really brought the discussion thread to life and the comments were pretty unanimous that the book version of the Knight Bus was much better than the film version. Polaris said “it just seems more magical” while Tarma raised the question “How much driving does Ernie Prang actually do?” A really interesting discussion and well worth a read – feel free to add your thoughts in the thread!
Chapter 4 – The Leaky Cauldron
If it’s new and interesting magical creatures you’re after look no further than task 1. From Claudette’s “Andean Alparu” from the alpine mountains to Arianna’s “Scaly Mime,” which resembles a tiny T-Rex which can talk. We really are a creative bunch!
Chapter 5 – The Dementor
Possibly my favourite discussion topic ever for task 1 of this chapter: What type of chocolate do you prefer? I just had to jump straight in to this one with my current favourite chocolate flavour combination of “dark chocolate and sea salt.” I know that Amy appreciated my suggestion and is now almost as hooked as I am! If you’re into baking then I recommend you check out Arianna’s recipe for Caramel Fudge which looks so good and at the same time so bad!
Chapter 6 – Talons and Tea Leaves
In this chapter we turned our hands to Divination by looking at the tea leaves of our friends, family and classmates and while I feel we learnt a lot in task 1, it was task 2 that got the most enthusiastic response, especially from Tarma… If you’ve ever wondered what her reaction would be to coming face to face with a Hippogriff then wonder no more: “OMG a HIPPOGRIFF. Oh please oh please oh please may I may I.” She even accused me of being sensible… The cheek of it!
Chapter 7 – The Boggart in the Wardrobe
As well as gathering ingredients for the Shrinking Solution (I think Scarlet needs to look at the list from Snape again!), visitors to the Dungeons shared their stories about when strength in numbers was a good idea. We’re still accepting submissions in this thread for a few more days if you’ve got an interesting story to tell.
Chapter 8 – Flight of the Fat Lady
Which shop would you the most upset about missing out on if you didn’t get to go to Hogsmeade? For most of us it seemed to be a trip to the Three Broomsticks. Tarma was planning to sit by the fire and people watch, Scarlet wanted to eavesdrop on the interesting stories being shared and I just wanted to watch the world go by whilst sipping on a Butterbeer.
The Read-Along continues in the Dungeons with new tasks, trivia and discussion topics each week. All students and staff are welcome, regardless of their house, and everyone who participates gets to earn scales. If you earn enough you could win a shiny award at the end of the year as well as having lots of fun along the way. I hope to see you there soon!