I am writing a Hogwarts Professor Substack post on the ‘Pregnancy Traps’ that run through Rowling’s work from Harry Potter to Cormoran Strike. What better chapter to choose, then, for our Sunday quiz questions, Half-Blood Prince edition, than the chapter in which Harry dives into the Pensieve with Dumbledore via Bob Ogden’s memory to meet Merope Gaunt and read about her love for the muggle Tom Riddle?
It’s the ‘Pregnancy Trap’ that failed — and which gave the world the psychopathic Lord Voldemort. Enjoy!
Chapter 10: The House of Gaunt
- True/False? On his way to his first private lesson with Dumbledore, Harry saw and hid from Professor Trelawney.
- What was the password to Dumbledore’s office?
- What object did Dumbledore use to store his memories?
- True/False? After Dumbledore could not open a crystal memory-storage bottle, Harry pulled out the cork for him.
- In Bob Ogden’s memory, what was nailed to the Gaunts’ door?
- What two objects did Mr. Gaunt show Bob Ogden?
- What was the name of Tom Riddle Senior’s lady friend?
- Who was Voldemort’s mother?
- What object from the Gaunts’ house did Dumbledore wear?
- Who repaired the pot that Merope broke?
Essay Prompt/Discussion Topic: Merope’s Pregnancy Trap is actually her second move to win Tom Riddle, Sr’s love. The first thing she does, according to Dumbledore’s best guess at least, is brew a potent love potion and enchant him with it. It is only, again per Dumbledore’s speculation, when she elects to release him from the potion’s effect (in the hope that their marriage and her being ‘with child’ will win him over) that the Pregnancy Trap is sprung — and fails. How does Merope Gaunt’s love potion resemble and differ in intention and effect from the ones used by Molly Weasley and Romilda Vane?
Answers: 1. True (195) 2. Acid pops (196) 3. The Pensieve (198) 4. False: Dumbledore used his wand (199) 5. A snake (201) 6. Slytherin’s locket and the black stone ring (207) 7. Cecilia (209) 8. Merope Gaunt (112) 9. The black stone ring (215) 10. Ogden (205)
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