Question: When Harry visits Professor Lupin's office the first time, why does Lupin apologize for only having tea bags and not leaves? (I am American and tea is not as popular in all areas of the United States).
Question: At the end of the book, Harry's worst suspicions about Mr and Mrs Weasley had been confirmed, but what were those suspicions? Was it that they still thought that Sirius wasn't innocent?
Answer: While Uncle Vernon had been waiting for Harry to arrive, Vernon was "standing a good distance from Mr and Mrs Weasley," who were also waiting near the platform's barrier, and it's Vernon who was "eyeing them suspiciously." Vernon suspected that Molly and Arthur were of the dreaded Wizardkind, so when Molly hugged Harry on the platform, Vernon's "worst suspicions about them seemed confirmed" so he knew he was right. And we all know how Vernon hates the wizarding world.
Question: When Crookshanks seems to have eaten Scabbers, why are they blaming Hermione? Surely they don't think she set Crookshanks after Scabbers?
Answer: It is only Ron who is blaming Hermione. He has a rather excitable nature and often is at odds with Hermione, so he has jumped to the (wrong) conclusion that it was Crookshanks who must have killed Scabbers. Hermione was rightly criticized for being a bit insensitive towards Ron, which also infuriated him.
Answer: Crookshanks was Hermione's cat, after all. Why would Ron not blame her?
Question: Lupin said 'Your father and Sirius were the cleverest students in the school. Good thing too because an Animagus transformation can go horribly wrong' but how can the transformation go horribly wrong?
Chosen answer: In the same way that the Polyjuice potion can go wrong. Magic when messed with can have disastrous consequences, as shown by Professor Lockhart who ends up in St Mungo's Hospital due to a backfiring charm. If performed incorrectly, an Animagus can splinch and get stuck halfway between a human and animal. When stuck like this, the accidental magic reversal squad will be required to deal with it.
Question: What does the potion that Snape made for Lupin actually do? I know it doesn't stop him from being a werewolf forever or stop him from being a werewolf the night of the full moon.
Chosen answer: The potion allows a werewolf to retain their own mind during the transformation period, rendering them harmless. Professor Lupin usually spent the night peacefully sleeping in his office. In the book, before the potion was invented, while Lupin was a Hogwarts student, each full moon he was confined inside the Shrieking Shack. It had been specially used for that purpose.
Question: In Divination class, Harry predicts that Ron will suffer but be happy. Is this a particular reference to anything that happens later in the series? (I have read the books, so spoilers are fine).
Answer: It does not have any real reference to anything in the entire story. Neither Harry or Ron have any psychic abilities or real interest in Divination. Harry did have a psychic connection to Voldemort, but he could not predict the future. Divination is just a class they are taking as part of their Hogwarts curriculum. In the book, both were making up predictions on the spot when it was their turn because they are expected to participate in the class. Their predictions became more outlandish over time. Technically that particular prediction is accurate, but it is so generalized that it could apply to almost any character in the books.
Question: Do the dementors have personalities and souls? I thought they didn't, but in one chapter (I can't remember which at the moment), someone says that the Dementors "wanted to help."
Answer: They are sentient, therefore having at least some type of personality, and they are able to communicate with wizards. Otherwise they would be incapable of guarding Azkaban prison or take orders from the Ministry of Magic, and also from Dumbledore when they were guarding Hogwarts. It can only be assumed whether or not they have a soul.
Question: Could Professor Snape really get away with putting Neville's toad in danger (when he feeds Neville's potion to the toad at the end of class, saying that it might poison the animal)? I know that he is already a unfriendly teacher, but it seems that there would be some sort of rule against killing an animal that belongs to a student, and parents of other students might be outraged if they heard about it.
Answer: Snape would never actually poison, kill, or otherwise harm any student's pet. He was just being his usual unpleasant self to Neville and any other student not from his own school house (Slytherin). If any Hogwarts teacher actually did something like that, they would be likely be dismissed.
Question: Madam Pomfrey grimly said that Ron would live. But what did the book mean by grimly? What kind of expression did Pomfrey have on her face?
Answer: It would mean that the situation was serious and Pomfrey's expression reflected that, even though Ron was going to be all right.
Question: Why does Hermione not care about Crookshanks trying to eat Scabbers?
Answer: There's a few reasons. Hermione thinks Ron is over-reacting about it and that he is only trying to blame her for something. She's also being a bit insensitive to the situation, ignoring any real concerns Ron has. It's part of their simmering personality conflict, which they eventually overcome.
Answer: It's a jokey reference to Harry's Divination classes, where he has been studying the reading of tea leaves; in a recent class, Professor Trelawney claimed to have seen the Grim - an omen of death - in Harry's teacup, and has been regularly predicting his impending doom. By saying he's out of leaves and only has teabags, Lupin is trying to inject some humor into the situation in order to put Harry at ease, so he won't dwell on the Grim or any other death omens.
Cubs Fan ★