Lisa Task Year 7 Narrative

1. You will read an excerpt from Chapter 5 of Harry Potter and the
Chamber of Secrets.
Here is a youtube reading
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncL4I7wMxO0
(Start at 5.40)
Here is the film
https://www.clickview.net/secondary/videos/51345358/harry-potter-and-the-
chamber-of-secrets
(Start at 21.14)
Three seconds ... two seconds ... one second ...

‘It’s gone,’ said Ron, sounding stunned. ‘The train’s left. What if

Mum and Dad can’t get back through to us? Have you got any Muggle money?’

Harry gave a hollow laugh. ‘The Dursleys haven’t given me pocket money for about six
years.’ Ron pressed his ear to the cold barrier.

‘Can’t hear a thing,’ he said tensely. ‘What’re we going to do? I don’t know how long it’ll
take Mum and Dad to get back to us.’

They looked around. People were still watching them, mainly because of Hedwig’s
continuing screeches.

‘I think we’d better go and wait by the car,’ said Harry. We’re attracting too much atten–’

‘Harry!’ said Ron, his eyes gleaming. ‘The car!’

‘What about it?’ ‘We can fly the car to Hogwarts!’

‘But I thought –’ ‘We’re stuck, right? And we’ve got to get to school, haven’t we?
And even underage wizards are allowed to use magic if it’s a real emergency, section
nineteen or something of the Restriction of Thingy ...’

Harry’s feeling of panic turned suddenly to excitement.

‘Can you fly it?’

‘No problem,’ said Ron, wheeling his trolley around to face the exit. ‘C’mon, let’s
go, if we hurry we’ll be able to follow the Hogwarts Express.’

And they marched off through the crowd of curious Muggles, out of the station and
back into the side road where the old Ford Anglia was parked.

Ron unlocked the cavernous boot with a series of taps from his wand. They heaved
their trunks back in, put Hedwig on the back seat and got into the front.

‘Check no one’s watching,’ said Ron, starting the ignition with another tap of his
wand. Harry stuck his head out of the window: traffic was rumbling along the main road
ahead, but their street was empty.

‘OK,’ he said.
 Ron pressed a tiny silver button on the dashboard. The car around them vanished
– and so did they. Harry could feel the seat vibrating beneath him, hear the engine, feel
his hands on his knees and his glasses on his nose, but for all he could see, he had
become a pair of eyeballs, floating a few feet above the ground in a dingy street full of
parked cars.

‘Let’s go,’ said Ron’s voice from his right.

The ground and the dirty buildings on either side fell away, dropping out of sight as
the car rose; in seconds, the whole of London lay, smoky and glittering, below them.

Then there was a popping noise and the car, Harry and Ron reappeared.

‘Uh oh,’ said Ron, jabbing at the Invisibility Booster. ‘It’s faulty –’

Both of them pummelled it. The car vanished. Then it flickered back again.

‘Hold on!’ Ron yelled, and he slammed his foot on the accelerator; they shot
straight into the low woolly clouds and everything turned dull and foggy.

‘Now what?’ said Harry, blinking at the solid mass of cloud pressing in on them
from all sides.

‘We need to see the train to know what direction to go in,’ said Ron.

‘Dip back down again – quickly –’

They dropped back beneath the clouds and twisted around in their seats, squinting
at the ground –

‘I can see it!’ Harry yelled. ‘Right ahead – there!’

The Hogwarts Express was streaking along below them like a scarlet snake.

‘Due north,’ said Ron, checking the compass on the dashboard.

‘OK, we’ll just have to check on it every half an hour or so. Hold on ...’ And they shot up
through the clouds. A minute later, they burst out into a blaze of sunlight.

It was a different world. The wheels of the car skimmed the sea of fluffy cloud, the sky
a bright, endless blue under the blinding white sun.

‘All we’ve got to worry about now are aeroplanes,’ said Ron. They looked at each other
and started to laugh; for a long time, they couldn’t stop.

It was as though they had been plunged into a fabulous dream. This, thought Harry,
was surely the only way to travel: past swirls and turrets of snowy cloud, in a car full of
hot, bright sunlight, with a fat pack of toffees in the glove compartment, and the
prospect of seeing Fred and George’s jealous faces when they landed smoothly and
spectacularly on the sweeping lawn in front of Hogwarts castle.

They made regular checks on the train as they flew further and further north, each dip
beneath the clouds showing them a different view. London was soon far behind them,
replaced by neat green fields which gave way in turn to wide, purplish moors, villages
with tiny toy churches and a great city alive with cars like multi-coloured ants.

Several uneventful hours later, however, Harry had to admit that some of the fun was
wearing off. The toffees had made them extremely thirsty and they had nothing to drink.
He and Ron had pulled off their jumpers, but Harry’s T-shirt was sticking to the back of his
seat and his glasses kept sliding down to the end of his sweaty nose. He had stopped
noticing the fantastic cloud shapes now, and was thinking longingly of the train miles
below, where you could buy ice-cold pumpkin juice from a trolley pushed by a plump
witch. Why hadn’t they been able to get onto platform nine and three-quarters?

‘Can’t be much further, can it?’ croaked Ron, hours later still, as the sun started to
sink into their floor of cloud, staining it a deep pink. ‘Ready for another check on the
train?’

It was still right below them, winding its way past a snowcapped mountain. It was
much darker beneath the canopy of clouds.

Ron put his foot on the accelerator and drove them upwards again, but as he did
so, the engine began to whine.

Harry and Ron exchanged nervous glances.

‘It’s probably just tired,’ said Ron. ‘It’s never been this far before ...’

And they both pretended not to notice the whining growing louder and louder as
the sky became steadily darker. Stars were blossoming in the blackness. Harry pulled his
jumper back on, trying to ignore the way the windscreen wipers were now waving feebly,
as though in protest.

‘Not far,’ said Ron, more to the car than to Harry, ‘not far now,’ and he patted the
dashboard nervously.

When they flew back beneath the clouds a little while later, they had to squint
through the darkness for a landmark they knew.

‘There!’ Harry shouted, making Ron and Hedwig jump. ‘Straight ahead!’

Silhouetted on the dark horizon, high on the cliff over the lake, stood the many
turrets and towers of Hogwarts castle.

But the car had begun to shudder and was losing speed.

‘Come on,’ Ron said cajolingly, giving the steering wheel a little shake, ‘nearly there,
come on –’

The engine groaned. Narrow jets of steam were issuing from under the bonnet. Harry
found himself gripping the edges of his seat very hard as they flew towards the lake.

The car gave a nasty wobble. Glancing out of his window, Harry saw the smooth,
black, glassy surface of the water, a mile below. Ron’s knuckles were white on the
steering wheel. The car wobbled again.

‘Come on,’ Ron muttered.

They were over the lake ... the castle was right ahead ... Ron put his foot down.

There was a loud clunk, a splutter, and the engine died completely.

‘Uh oh,’ said Ron, into the silence.

The nose of the car dropped. They were falling, gathering speed, heading straight for
the solid castle wall.

‘Noooooo!’ Ron yelled, swinging the steering wheel around; they missed the dark
stone wall by inches as the car turned in a great arc, soaring over the dark greenhouses,
then the vegetable patch and then out over the black lawns, losing height all the time.

Ron let go of the steering wheel completely and pulled his wand out of his back
pocket. ‘STOP! STOP!’ he yelled, whacking the dashboard and the windscreen, but they
were still plummeting, the ground flying up towards them ...
 ‘MIND THAT TREE!’ Harry bellowed, lunging for the steering wheel, but too late –

CRUNCH.

With an ear-splitting bang of metal on wood, they hit the thick tree trunk and
dropped to the ground with a heavy jolt. Steam was billowing from under the crumpled
bonnet; Hedwig was shrieking in terror, a golf-ball-sized lump was throbbing on Harry’s
head where he had hit the windscreen, and to his right, Ron let out a low, despairing
groan.

‘Are you OK?’ Harry said urgently.

‘My wand,’ said Ron, in a shaky voice. ‘Look at my wand.’

It had snapped, almost in two; the tip was dangling limply, held on by a few
splinters.

Harry opened his mouth to say he was sure they’d be able to mend it up at the
school, but he never even got started. At that very moment, something hit his side of the
car with the force of a charging bull, sending him lurching sideways into Ron, just as an
equally heavy blow hit the roof.

‘What’s happen–?’

Ron gasped, staring through the windscreen, and Harry looked around just in
time to see a branch as thick as a python smash into it. The tree they had hit was
attacking them. Its trunk was bent almost double, and its gnarled boughs were
pummelling every inch of the car it could reach.

‘Aaargh!’ said Ron, as another twisted limb punched a large dent into his door;
the windscreen was now trembling under a hail of blows from knuckle-like twigs and a
branch as thick as a battering ram was pounding furiously on the roof, which seemed to
be caving in –

‘Run for it!’ Ron shouted, throwing his full weight against his door, but next second
he had been knocked backwards into Harry’s lap by a vicious upper cut from another
branch.

‘We’re done for!’ he moaned, as the ceiling sagged, but suddenly the floor of the
car was vibrating – the engine had re-started.

‘Reverse!’ Harry yelled, and the car shot backwards. The tree was still trying to
hit them; they could hear its roots creaking as it almost ripped itself up, lashing out at
them as they sped out of reach.

‘That,’ panted Ron, ‘was close. Well done, car.’

The car, however, had reached the end of its tether. With two smart clunks, the
doors flew open and Harry felt his seat tip sideways: next thing he knew he was sprawled
on the damp ground. Loud thuds told him that the car was ejecting their luggage from
the boot. Hedwig’s cage flew through the air and burst open; she rose out of it with a
loud, angry screech and sped off towards the castle without a backwards look. Then,
dented, scratched and steaming, the car rumbled off into the darkness, its rear lights
blazing angrily.

‘Come back!’ Ron yelled after it, brandishing his broken wand. ‘Dad’ll kill me!’

But the car disappeared from view with one last snort from its exhaust.

‘Can you believe our luck?’ said Ron miserably, bending down to pick up Scabbers the
rat. ‘Of all the trees we could’ve hit, we had to get one that hits back.’
 He glanced over his shoulder at the ancient tree, which was still flailing its branches
threateningly.

‘Come on,’ said Harry wearily, ‘we’d better get up to the school ...’ It wasn’t at all the
triumphant arrival they had pictured. Stiff, cold and bruised, they seized the ends of their
trunks and began dragging them up the grassy slope, towards the great oak front doors.

2. Now cut and paste this story into a new document and use different colours
to identify the:

 Orientation
 The moment of foreshadowing (a minor problem)
 The major complication
 The climax
 The resolution/ending/denouement


3. Next read over this table of story phases

4. Now in your group re-read over this section and nominate the
appropriate phase
Phase
Ron put his foot on the accelerator and drove them upwards
again, but as he did so, the engine began to whine.
Harry and Ron exchanged nervous glances.

‘It’s probably just tired,’ said Ron. ‘It’s never been this far before ...’

And they both pretended not to notice the whining growing

louder and louder as the sky became steadily darker. Stars were
blossoming in the blackness. Harry pulled his jumper back on, trying
to ignore the way the windscreen wipers were now waving feebly, as
though in protest.

‘Not far,’ said Ron, more to the car than to Harry, ‘not far now,’
and he patted the dashboard nervously.

When they flew back beneath the clouds a little while later, they
had to squint through the darkness for a landmark they knew.

‘There!’ Harry shouted

making Ron and Hedwig jump

‘Straight ahead!’
Silhouetted on the dark horizon, high on the cliff over the lake, stood
the many turrets and towers of Hogwarts castle.
But the car had begun to shudder and was losing speed.

‘Come on,’ Ron said cajolingly

giving the steering wheel a little shake,
‘nearly there, come on –’
The engine groaned. Narrow jets of steam were issuing from under
the bonnet. Harry found himself gripping the edges of his seat very
hard as they flew towards the lake.
The car gave a nasty wobble. Glancing out of his window, Harry
saw the smooth, black, glassy surface of the water, a mile below.
Ron’s knuckles were white on the steering wheel. The car wobbled
again.

‘Come on,’ Ron muttered.

They were over the lake ... the castle was right ahead ... Ron put his
foot down.
There was a loud clunk, a splutter, and the engine died
completely.
‘Uh oh,’ said Ron, into the silence.
The nose of the car dropped. They were falling, gathering speed,
heading straight for the solid castle wall.

‘Noooooo!’ Ron yelled, swinging the steering wheel around; they

missed the dark stone wall by inches as the car turned in a great arc,
soaring over the dark greenhouses, then the vegetable patch and
then out over the black lawns, losing height all the time.
Ron let go of the steering wheel completely and pulled his wand
out of his back pocket. ‘STOP! STOP!’ he yelled, whacking the
dashboard and the windscreen, but they were still plummeting, the
ground flying up towards them ...
‘MIND THAT TREE!’ Harry bellowed, lunging for the steering
wheel, but too late –
CRUNCH.

With an ear-splitting bang of metal on wood, they hit the thick

 tree trunk and dropped to the ground with a heavy jolt. Steam was
billowing from under the crumpled bonnet; Hedwig was shrieking in
terror, a golf-ball-sized lump was throbbing on Harry’s head where he
had hit the windscreen, and to his right, Ron let out a low, despairing
groan.
‘Are you OK?’ Harry said urgently.
‘My wand,’ said Ron, in a shaky voice. ‘Look at my wand.’
It had snapped, almost in two; the tip was dangling limply,
held on by a few splinters.

5. Now read over these verbal groups

6. Find three examples of each verbal group in the Harry Potter excerpt.

Action verbs:

Saying verbs:

Sensing verbs:
Relating verbs:

Existing verbs:

7. Figurative Language:

In the chapter excerpt

Find a simile (a simile is when you make a comparison using ‘like’, ‘as’ or ‘than’).

Simile: ___________________________________________________________________

Find two examples of onomatopoeia (onomatopoeia is a sound word).

1.______________________________________________________________________

2._______________________________________________________________________

Find an example of personification (personification is when an object or concept is given

human qualities).

__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
________________

8. Group Writing
Imagine that you are on a journey with a friend to a holiday destination and
something mechanical goes wrong.
- Maybe you are in a car, a jet ski, a boat, an electric bike, a snowmobile, a
small plane
- Maybe you are heading to a beach up (or down) the coast
- Maybe you are heading to the snow

In your groups write this complication on the butcher paper.

Use the story phases which work well in a complication.
Use a range of verbal groups
Make an appeal to the senses using a simile, personification and onomatopoeia.

9. For homework write the ending. Try to incorporate the new skills you
have gained.