Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: Chapters 12–14

by J.K. Rowling
On his eleventh birthday, orphan Harry Potter learns the shocking truth: he's a wizard about to begin his education at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–4, Chapters 5–7, Chapters 8–11, Chapters 12–14, Chapters 15–17

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. drafty
    not airtight; exposed to currents of air
    While the Gryffindor common room and the Great Hall had roaring fires, the drafty corridors had become icy and a bitter wind rattled the windows in the classrooms.
  2. taunt
    harass with persistent criticism or carping
    So Malfoy, jealous and angry, had gone back to taunting Harry about having no proper family.
  3. provoke
    annoy continually or chronically
    “He was provoked, Professor Snape,” said Hagrid, sticking his huge hairy face out from behind the tree. “Malfoy was insultin’ his family.”
  4. notable
    widely known and esteemed
    He wasn’t in Great Wizards of the Twentieth Century, or Notable Magical Names of Our Time; he was missing, too, from Important Modern Magical Discoveries, and A Study of Recent Developments in Wizardry.
  5. brandish
    exhibit aggressively
    Madam Pince the librarian brandished a feather duster at him.
  6. whittle
    cut small bits or pare shavings from
    Inside was a roughly cut wooden flute. Hagrid had obviously whittled it himself.
  7. tureen
    a large deep serving dish with a cover
    Harry had never in all his life had such a Christmas dinner. A hundred fat, roast turkeys; mountains of roast and boiled potatoes; platters of chipolatas; tureens of buttered peas, silver boats of thick, rich gravy and cranberry sauce—and stacks of wizard crackers every few feet along the table.
  8. flimsy
    lacking solidity or strength
    These fantastic party favors were nothing like the feeble Muggle ones the Dursleys usually bought, with their little plastic toys and their flimsy paper hats inside.
  9. engulf
    flow over or cover completely
    Harry pulled a wizard cracker with Fred and it didn’t just bang, it went off with a blast like a cannon and engulfed them all in a cloud of blue smoke, while from the inside exploded a rear admiral’s hat and several live, white mice.
  10. embedded
    enclosed firmly in a surrounding mass
    Flaming Christmas puddings followed the turkey. Percy nearly broke his teeth on a silver Sickle embedded in his slice.
  11. luminous
    softly bright or radiant
    When Harry finally left the table, he was laden down with a stack of things out of the crackers, including a pack of non-explodable, luminous balloons, a Grow-Your-Own-Warts kit, and his own new wizard chess set.
  12. eerie
    inspiring a feeling of fear; strange and frightening
    The library was pitch-black and very eerie.
  13. ornate
    marked by complexity and richness of detail
    It was a magnificent mirror, as high as the ceiling, with an ornate gold frame, standing on two clawed feet.
  14. paisley
    a fabric with a colorful swirled pattern of curved shapes
    Harry stepped aside, but with Ron in front of the mirror, he couldn’t see his family anymore, just Ron in his paisley pajamas.
  15. transfixed
    having your attention fixated as though witchcraft
    Ron, though, was staring transfixed at his image.
  16. dampen
    lessen in force or effect
    Even the endless rain that had replaced the snow couldn’t dampen his spirits.
  17. sinister
    threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments
    Speaking quietly so that no one else would hear, Harry told the other two about Snape’s sudden, sinister desire to be a Quidditch
    referee.
  18. mystified
    totally perplexed and mixed up
    Harry and Ron barely had time to exchange mystified looks before she was dashing back, an enormous old book in her arms.
  19. elixir
    a substance believed to cure all ills
    The Stone will transform any metal into pure gold. It also produces the Elixir of Life, which will make the drinker immortal.
  20. biased
    favoring one person or side over another
    The idea of overtaking Slytherin in the House Championship was wonderful, no one had done it for seven years, but would they be allowed to, with such a biased referee?
  21. grim
    filled with melancholy and despondency
    Ron and Hermione, meanwhile, had found a place in the stands next to Neville, who couldn’t understand why they looked so grim and worried, or why they had both brought their wands to the match.
  22. scuffle
    disorderly fighting
    “Come on, Harry!” Hermione screamed, leaping onto her seat to watch as Harry sped straight at Snape—she didn’t even notice Malfoy and Ron rolling around under her seat, or the scuffles and yelps coming from the whirl of fists that was Neville, Crabbe, and Goyle.
  23. brood
    think moodily or anxiously about something
    “Nice to see you haven’t been brooding about that mirror...been keeping busy...excellent...”
  24. shifty
    characterized by insincerity or deceit; evasive
    “Jus’ lookin’,” he said, in a shifty voice that got their interest at once.
  25. inferno
    a very intense and uncontrolled fire
    “Hagrid was looking up stuff about dragons! Look at these: Dragon Species of Great Britain and Ireland; From Egg to Inferno, A Dragon Keeper’s Guide."
  26. stifling
    characterized by oppressive heat and humidity
    It was stifling hot inside. Even though it was such a warm day, there was a blazing fire in the grate.
  27. stoke
    (of a fire) stir up or tend
    He was humming merrily as he stoked the fire.
  28. trowel
    a small hand tool with a handle and metal blade
    When the bell sounded from the castle at the end of their lesson, the three of them dropped their trowels at once and hurried through the grounds to the edge of the forest.
  29. bate
    moderate or restrain; lessen the force of
    They all drew their chairs up to the table and watched with bated breath.
  30. hitch
    an unforeseen obstacle
    There was a hitch. By the next morning, Ron’s bitten hand had swollen to twice its usual size.
  31. grapple
    grip or seize, as in a wrestling match
    Forgetting that they were already invisible, they shrank into the shadows, staring at the dark outlines of two people grappling with each other ten feet away.
  32. tartan
    a crisscross design or a cloth having such a design
    Professor McGonagall, in a tartan bathrobe and a hair net, had Malfoy by the ear.
  33. detention
    a punishment in which a student must stay after school
    “Detention!” she shouted. “And twenty points from Slytherin! Wandering around in the middle of the night, how dare you—”
  34. utter
    complete
    What utter rubbish! How dare you tell such lies!
  35. harness
    an arrangement of straps for holding something to the body
    They showed Harry and Hermione the harness they’d rigged up, so they could suspend Norbert between them.
Created on Thu Jun 09 16:57:45 EDT 2022 (updated Fri Jun 10 10:59:57 EDT 2022)

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