Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: Chapter 5
Mark True statements with a “T” and False statements with an “F” on your tally sheets at home. I will post T/F Answers tomorrow with responses to discussion point posts and my own thoughts if there aren’t any of yours to which I can respond! Please don’t post your answers to anything except the Discussion Points after the True/False Quiz. If you disagree with my answers tomorrow, please do send me an explanation about where I went wrong. Click on the Category “Chapter Quiz” in the right column for previous quizzes and discussion points.
1. _____ Chapter Five, The Dementor, begins in The Leaky Caudron. Percy is angry with Ron and vice versa.
2. _____ The Weasley’s, Haryy, and Hermione travel to King’s Cross Station using the Knight Bus.
3. _____ Mr. Weasley takes Harry aside at Platform 9 ¾ to tell him about Sirius Black – and to ask him not to go looking for Sirius Black.
4. _____ Harry, Ron, and Hermione ride in a train compartment with Professor Lupin.
5. _____ Harry’s Sneakoscope goes off in his bags on the train.
6. _____ Hermione keeps Crookshanks in his traveling basket because Ron freaks out about the cat eyeing Scabbers, his pet rat.
7. _____ Draco Malfoy and friends stop by the train compartment and Professor Lupin tells them off for teasing Ron about his poor family. Ron swears he isn’t taking “any crap from Malfoy” this year.
8. _____ The Dementor attacks Harry, who passes out, but Ron and Hermione are able to close the compartment door to keep them safe.
9. _____ Professor Lupin gives everyone chocolate, Draco makes a big deal out of the fact that Harry passed out, and Professor McGonagall has a meeting with Harry to discuss the Dementor attack.
10. _____ Dumbledore welcomes two new teachers to the faculty at the Sorting Feast – and Professor Snape seems very upset that Hagrid has been appointed the Care of Magical Creatures teacher.
Discussion Points: Please tell me what you think about (a) Echoes and differences with the King’s Cross departures and train rides of the two previous books, Stone and Chamber, (b) the most interesting elements in this chapter when viewed in the Deathly Hallows rear-view mirror; and (c) the importance of the way Prisoner of Azkaban‘s Hogwarts adventure opens in understanding the meaning of Prisoner and the series as a whole. Note the importance of Lupin’s introduction with the Dementors as well as King’s Cross and what it represents as a transition place.
1.T, 2.F, 3.T, 4.T, 5.T,
6.F, 7.F, 8.F, 9.T/F, 10.F
The tricky one here is #9. Harry is not by himself with Professor MacGonagall but with Hermione making the statement both true and false.
Discussion Point (a): The echoes are the train, riding with Ron and Hermione, the confrontation of sorts with Malfoy, and the cart of goodies and the opening of school, which, though with different characters, feels very much like an old friend after two years. The differences are a sleeping teacher traveling with students (never again; are we to assume Lupin is there to protect Harry on Dumbledore’s orders?) and an attack by the Dementors on the train. There is a lot going on in this chapter, so much so that the Sorting is covered in little more than a perfunctory paragraph. Note the new password to Gryffindor House: Fortuna Major, the name of Jupiter in astrological circles. Teasing out the meaning of that alone could take some time…
(b) In the DH rear-view mirror, I’m struck by two things. First, Snape’s hatred of Lupin, the living reminder of the Marauders and the painful events of his adolescence that continue to define his life choices. Next, Hagrid’s gratitude to Ron, Hermione, and Harry for Dumbledore appointing him as Care of Magical Creatures teacher. I had forgotten that the trio had cleared Hagrid’s name in Chamber by revealing that it was Tom Riddle, Jr., had been responsible for opening it years ago. We forget (or at least I did!) that Hagrid, like Dobby, believed and loved Harry which trust resulted in his freedom.
(c) The importance of the trip to Hogwarts and the Sorting Feast in Prisoner is meeting the Dementors. Even Dumbledore is concerned and uncharacteristically grave in his opening remarks about not sneaking out of school under Invisibility Cloaks. The gothic quality of the story is ratcheted up quite a few notches via Harry’s experience of these soul suckers on the train. The cuddly and misunderstood werewolf is, in comparison, a postmodern gesture to the excluded.