Sentence #23

When positioned in contrast to the erudite Ravenclaws students, audacious and intrepid Gryffindor students, and the iconoclastic Slytherin students, Hufflepuff students seemed at most credulous in the gradation of student houses at Hogwarts. They were castigated for their cowardice but never appreciated for having such epicures in their midst such as the legendary Hufflepuff ghost, the Fat Friar. While no one disagreed that Hufflepuff's argument in terms of bravery was quiescent when compared to Gryffindor, the argument about Hufflepuff students' desultory interests was attenuated and deemed as precipitate when people actually studied the genius of founder, Helga Hufflepuff. Helga and other Hufflepuff students' seemingly reticent nature was, in fact, a dilatory measure in order to display humility and kindness to other students. When amalgamated with Hufflepuff students' tough and honest work-ethic, people should begin to see the honor that being a Hufflepuff carries.



erudite: learned; scholarly; bookish
audacious: fearless and daring
intrepid: fearless; resolutely courageous
iconoclast: one who opposes established beliefs, customs and institutions
credulous: too trusting; gullible
gradation: process occurring by regular degrees or stages; variation in color
castigate: to punish or criticize harshly
epicure: person with refined taste in food and wine
quiescent: motionless
desultory: jumping from one thing to another; disconnected
attenuate: to reduce in force or degree; weaken
precipitate: to throw violently or bring about abruptly; lacking deliberation
dilatory: intended to delay
amalgamate: to combine; to mix together

Sentence #22

Nobody acted circumspect or reticent when presented with Mrs. Weasley's cooking. On the contrary, they would act querulous and lack deference if they were not the first in line to try her delicious food. Even though waiting in line meant forestalling the scrumptious concoctions, those waiting in line husbanded their energy so they may later propitiate their appetite. When the food reached their mouth, all the recipients' gastronomical cavities were very plastic which enervated all other senses except the sense of taste. Listless and melancholy when all the food had disappeared, all guests at the Weasley kitchen glibly recited numerous elegies and dirges remembering the food while it lasted. But how was such a beautiful meal to be reincarnated? All members of the table, even dilettantes such as Hermione's cat Crookshanks, partook in a machination to encourage Mrs. Weasley to cook more...muahahaha.


circumspect: cautious; aware of potential consequences
reticent: silent; reserved
querulous: inclined to complain; irritable
deference: respect; courtesy
forestall: to prevent or delay; anticipate
husband: to manage economically; to use sparingly
propitiate: to conciliate; to appease
plastic: able to be molded, altered or bent
enervate: to reduce in strength
listless: lacking energy and enthusiasm
glib: fluent in an insincere manner; offhand; casual
elegy: a sorrowful poem or speech
dirge: a funeral hymn or mournful speech
dilettante: someone with an amateurish and superficial interest in a topic
machination: plot or scheme

Sentence #21

Charlie Weasley and Hagrid both had an obstinate panache about them: they loved dragons. Not only did they not believe that dragons' molting was the most noisome smell in the world (as do most individuals), but they also thought it a euphony when dragons cried in a surly crescendo. Living with such convoluted creatures developed a sense of obdurate confidence and plebeian manners in these gentlemen, who mitigated the fears of novice dragon tenders by convincing them that dragons were not the typical misanthropes that people thought them to be. While most people consider dragons' mere presence to be an opprobrium, Charlie and Hagrid's unconditional love for these creatures gradually rarefied most peoples' intolerance. At least in Romania where Charlie lives, whenever a dragon is insulted in public, it has now become an exigent feature of society to respond with the neologism: "Dragons are hawt, and you're not...burrrrn".



obstinate: stubborn; unyielding
panache: flamboyance or dash in style and action; verve
molt: to shed hair, skin, or an outer layer periodically
noisome: stinking; putrid
surly: rude and bad-tempered
crescendo: steadily increasing in volume or force
euphony: pleasant, harmonious sound
convoluted: intricate and complicated
obdurate: hardened in feeling; resistant to persuasion
plebeian: crude or coarse; characteristic of commoners
mitigate: to soften; to lessen
neophyte: novice; beginner
misanthrope: a person who dislikes others
opprobrium: public disgrace
rarefy: to make thinner or sparser
exigent: urgent; requiring immediate action
neologism: new word or expression

Sentence #20

Rita Skeeter's journalistic chicanery was hardly estimable in the eyes of educated Daily Prophet readers. In fact, most of these readers repudiated her work, believing her intentions to be inimical and her work as inchoate garbage. By eulogizing certain individuals such as Harry Potter and, in fact overpraising them through her panegyric, Rita obviated the need for others' criticism: she was destroying her own career in the long-run. Rita attempted to aggrandize her own self, garnering in her address book the names of numerous celebrities and famous people, but in reality she occluded and desiccated from her own life the potential of probity and well-deserved, meaningful work. When eventually faced with a beetle-licious life, Rita found herself in such an impasse that she had no choice but to change her bombastic ways.



chicanery: deception by means of craft or guile
estimable: admirable
repudiate: to reject the validity of
inimical: hostile; unfriendly
inchoate: not fully formed; disorganized
eulogy: speech in praise of someone
panegyric: elaborate praise; formal hymn of praise
obviate: to prevent; to make unnecessary
aggrandize: to increase in power, influence, and reputation
garner: to gather and store
occlude: to stop up; prevent the passage of
desiccate: to dry out thoroughly
probity: complete honesty and integrity
impasse: blocked path; dilemma with no solution
bombastic: pompous in speech and manner

Sentence #19

Harry failed at learning how to control his mind which his enemy filled with his evil mirth and malediction. Harry lumbered to Snape's office, overwrought at his inability to combat these negative thoughts through Snape's lessons. Snape, well-meaning at heart but slimy in person, attempted to foment Harry's urgency but tired him out out even more, leaving Harry in a state of utter lassitude. Angered at Snape's inability to placate Harry's concerns, Harry deemed Occlumency lessons onerous and a waste of time and he jettisoned them for good.



mirth: frivolity; gaiety; laughter
malediction: a curse; a wish of evil upon another
lumber: to move slowly and awkwardly
overwrought: agitated; overdone
foment: to arouse or incite
lassitude: a state of diminished energy
placate: to soothe or pacify
onerous: troublesome and oppressive; burdensome
jettison: to discard; to get rid of as unnecessary or encumbering

Sentence #18

Even while the prodigal Dudley nettles Harry with his nominally funny jokes and attacks, Harry generally acts phlegmatic and perfunctory, pretending to study for Potions. He responds to his cousin in a politic manner by prevaricating that nothing his cousin does will ever seriously get to him.



prodigal: lavish or wasteful
nettle: to irritate
nominal: existing in name only; negligible
phlegmatic: calm and unemotional in temperament
perfunctory: done in a routine way; indifferent
politic (adj): shrewd and practical in managing or dealing with things; diplomatic
prevaricate: to lie or deviate from the truth

Sentence #17

At the end of their journey, Harry and Voldemort had both become restive to meet their ostensible fate. Each devised a strategem in his mind believing in its sublime nature to overcome the other. Little did each of them know that they were beginning to show taciturn aloofness from their friends due to the stress involved in being the victor. Their emotional stability and receptiveness to their peers had become opaque, and when anyone wanted to come close, sometimes they would respond with tirades. While the novels show Harry as a paragon of goodness and heroism and highlight Voldemort's salient evilness, it is an irony how similar these two seemingly divergent personalities really are.



restive: impatient, uneasy, or restless
ostensible: apparent
stratagem: trick designed to deceive an enemy
sublime: lofty or grand
taciturn: silent; not talkative
opaque: impossible to see through; preventing the passage of light
tirade: long, harsh speech or verbal attack
salient: prominent; of notable significance
paragon: model of excellence and perfection