74 pages • 2 hours read
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
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During Reading
Reading Questions & Paired Texts
Reading Check and Short Answer Questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.
CHAPTERS 1-5
Reading Check
1. What did Charity Burbage teach at Hogwarts?
2. What does Vernon Dursley know how to do that Dedalus Diggle finds impressive?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. Why does Harry think that he never really knew Dumbledore?
2. Why does Harry ride with Hagrid on a motorcycle instead of on a broom?
3. Why does Lupin question Harry at the Tonks’ house?
CHAPTERS 6-10
Reading Check
1. What does Dumbledore leave to Ron?
2. How does Luna recognize Harry?
3. Where do Harry, Ron, and Hermione seek shelter?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. Why does Harry have trouble looking Mrs. Weasley in the eyes?
2. Why does Harry want to talk to Bathilda Bagshot?
CHAPTERS 11-15
Reading Check
1. What does Hermione give to the man from Magical Maintenance?
2. What is embedded in Umbridge’s door?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. How does Lupin enter Grimmauld Place without being noticed by the Death Eaters?
2. Why doesn’t Hermione think that there is a Horcrux at Hogwarts?
Paired Resource
- This discussion by literary agent Donald Maass offers potential key points and questions that might be useful in leading discussion on the complexities of the mentor and the mentor-mentee relationship. (Teacher-appropriate; not student-facing without teacher guidance due to complexity and reading level)
- The information in this discussion connects to the theme Friendship and Teamwork.
- How has Harry’s relationship with mentor Dumbledore changed over time? How does the author establish greater complexity in Dumbledore’s role as a mentor in this novel?
CHAPTERS 16-20
Reading Check
1. What breaks at Godric’s Hollow?
2. What event caused Dumbledore and Grindelwald to part ways?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. Why does Hermione think that Dumbledore might have hidden the sword in Godric’s Hollow? How do she and Harry attempt to confirm its location?
2. How does Hermione react to Ron’s return? What does this reaction indicate indirectly about her feelings?
3. Why do the Death Eaters choose Voldemort’s name to be the Taboo word?
Paired Resource
“Why Political Biographies Help Us Understand History”
- This article explains the important role that biographies can play in shaping the public’s image of a person.
- It also provides elements of a good biography.
- According to this article, does Rita Skeeter’s book meet the criteria for a good biography? What criteria would you add for evaluating the worth of a biography?
CHAPTERS 21-26
Reading Check
1. What food does Xenophilius Lovegood offer to Harry, Ron, and Hermione?
2. What does Harry think is hidden inside the Snitch?
3. What does Fleur ask Ollivander to return to Aunt Muriel?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. How does Hermione disguise Harry when they are surrounded by the Snatchers?
2. Why does Griphook call Harry “a very odd wizard”? (Chapter 24)
Paired Resource
“Because I Could Not Stop For Death”
- This poem by Emily Dickinson personifies death, similar to “The Tale of the Three Brothers.”
- Shared themes include Fear of Mortality and Accepting Death.
- How do the Deathly Hallows in “The Tale of the Three Brothers” and the carriage ride in the poem symbolize different attitudes or approaches toward death?
CHAPTERS 27-31
Reading Check
1. What form does Aberforth’s Patronus take?
2. Whom does McGonagall ask Filch to find?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. How does Harry find out that there is a Horcrux at Hogwarts?
2. Why does Neville say that the Carrows won’t kill him?
3. Why do Ron and Hermione go to the Chamber of Secrets?
Paired Resource
“7 Student Protests That Made History”
- These student protests regarding climate and ecological concerns describe traits of youth activism and resistance that parallel the actions of students at Hogwarts.
- What role has youth activism played in bringing significant changes to climate concerns? What actions have the students at Hogwarts been taking to resist Voldemort’s influence, and what parallels can you draw between their actions and those of real youth activists? Why is Friendship and Teamwork important in activist movements?
CHAPTER 32-EPILOGUE
Reading Check
1. What is the password to the headmaster’s office?
2. Which of the Hallows did Grindelwald and Dumbledore consider the least important?
3. What is inside the Sorting Hat?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. What argument does Lucius Malfoy give for stopping the battle?
2. What important information does Harry give Neville in case something happens to Ron and Hermione?
3. Why does Harry surrender himself to Voldemort’s side?
4. What is the result of Harry’s drastic choice to surrender to Voldemort?
Recommended Next Reads
The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
- This is the first novel in the His Dark Materials series. This series follows a brave young girl named Lyra Belacqua on an epic journey to save her kidnapped friend and discover the truth about a mysterious substance called Dust.
- Shared themes in the series include Fear of Mortality and Accepting Death and Friendship and Teamwork.
- Shared elements include intricate worldbuilding in a fantasy universe and mature themes presented for a young adult audience.
- The Golden Compass on SuperSummary
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by Jack Thorne
- This play takes place after the events in the Epilogue. It focuses on the children of the main characters in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows but also includes the characters from the original series.
- Shared themes include Friendship and Teamwork.
- Harry Potter and the Cursed Child on SuperSummary
Reading Questions Answer Key
CHAPTERS 1-5
Reading Check
Short Answer
1. Harry thinks he never really knew Dumbledore because he was not aware of any of the information from Dumbledore’s obituary. Information relayed by Dumbledore’s childhood friend Elphias Doge is unfamiliar to Harry, and Rita Skeeter will soon release what she promises to be a shockingly revealing biography of Albus and his family. Harry never asked Dumbledore any questions about himself, so he is unsure what to think. (Chapter 2)
2. The Order thinks that Snape will have tipped off the Death Eaters that Harry feels most comfortable on a broomstick. To throw them off the trail, the Order did not want Harry riding on a broomstick. (Chapter 4)
3. Lupin questions Harry at the Tonks’ house because the Order was betrayed, and Harry could have been an imposter masquerading as the real Harry using Polyjuice potion. (Chapter 5)
CHAPTERS 6-10
Reading Check
Short Answer
1. Harry has trouble looking Mrs. Weasley in the eyes because they remind him of Ginny’s eyes. (Chapter 6)
2. Harry wants to talk to Bathilda Bagshot, whom Auntie Muriel believes to have been the source for Rita Skeeter’s book about Dumbledore and his family, to find out more about Dumbledore’s past. (Chapter 10)
CHAPTERS 11-15
Reading Check
1. Puking Pastille (Chapter 12)
2. Moody’s eye (Chapter 13)
Short Answer
1. Lupin enters Grimmauld Place by Apparating onto the top step before the front door. (Chapter 11)
2. Hermione doesn’t think that there is a Horcrux at Hogwarts because Dumbledore would have found it. (Chapter 15)
CHAPTERS 16-20
Reading Check
1. Harry’s wand (Chapter 17)
2. Ariana’s death (Chapter 18)
Short Answer
1. Hermione thinks that Dumbledore might have hidden the sword in Godric’s Hollow because it was Godric Gryffindor’s birthplace. She and Harry go to Godric’s Hollow on Christmas Eve disguised as Muggles to attempt to find Bathilda Bagshot, who might confirm the sword’s whereabouts. (Chapter 16)
2. Hermione is furious at Ron and tries to attack him, which indicates she has complicated feelings about Ron; her concern for him and her frustration with his actions compound into bitterness and manifest in striking out. When she hears about his run-in with Snatchers, however, she relents. (Chapter 19)
3. The Death Eaters choose Voldemort’s name as the Taboo word because the only people bold enough to say his name are the people in the resistance. (Chapter 20)
CHAPTERS 21-26
Reading Check
1. Freshwater Plimpy soup (Chapter 21)
2. The Resurrection Stone (Chapter 22)
3. Her tiara (Chapter 25)
Short Answer
1. Hermione disguises Harry by causing his face to swell up, rendering him unrecognizable. (Chapter 23)
2. Griphook calls Harry a “very odd wizard” because Harry buried Dobby without the use of magic. (Chapter 24)
CHAPTERS 27-31
Reading Check
1. A goat (Chapter 28)
2. Peeves (Chapter 30)
Short Answer
1. Harry experiences a vision of Voldemort finding out that the cup has been stolen, and in that vision Voldemort thinks about the location of his Horcruxes. (Chapter 27)
2. Neville thinks that the Carrows won’t kill him because they do not want to kill a pureblood wizard. (Chapter 29)
3. Ron and Hermione go to the Chamber of Secrets to get a basilisk fang because they need something to destroy the remaining Horcruxes. They do this without first revealing to Harry the objective of this mission, demonstrating their ability to take initiative and pursue the most useful role they can play in the moment. (Chapter 31)
CHAPTER 32-EPILOGUE
Reading Check
Short Answer
1. Lucius Malfoy tries to persuade Voldemort to call off the battle by suggesting that someone else might kill Harry before Voldemort has a chance to do so himself. (Chapter 32)
2. Harry tells Neville that it is crucial to kill Nagini to defeat Voldemort. (Chapter 34)
3. Voldemort kills Snape, and Harry witnesses Snape placing his memories in a flask before he dies. Harry takes the flask to the Pensieve where he learns from Snape’s memories that Snape had a special protective love for Harry’s mother Lily; that Snape spent years joined with Dumbledore in the attempt to defeat Voldemort; that part of Voldemort’s soul melded with Harry’s the night he tried to kill Harry, and that consequently, the only way for Voldemort to die is for Harry to die as well. Harry surrenders to Voldemort, sacrificing himself.
4. After Voldemort sends Harry to a strange afterlife, Dumbledore confirms that the Voldemort part of him died, but his remaining soul—fully Harry’s—is capable of returning and defeating Voldemort.
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