The “understandable”+”exploit” category would include my personal favorite introduction, the experiment in Chapter 17. From “Thursday” to “that had been the scariest experimental result in the entire history of science” is about 900 words. This section is especially great because it does the whole “deconstruction of canon”/”reconstruction of canon” bit in one self-contained section; that pattern is one the best aspects of HPMOR but usually the setup and the payoff are dozens of chapters apart, with many so interleaved with the plot that the payoff counts as a major spoiler.
On the other hand, that section works best if you already know what P and NP and RSA cryptography are (and if you’re somehow still not too nerdy to wince at Harry’s lazy way of talking about the former); know your audience.
My kids’ favorite section is the introduction to Draco in Madam Malkin’s in Chapter 5, which IMO qualifies as “understandable”+”gobsmacking”, but it’s a bit long for you, 1500 words from “You are to get fitted for your robes, nothing else” to “poor Madam Malkin and her two poor assistants.”, and I don’t see any way to reasonably cut out a third of that without wrecking the humor.
The “understandable”+”exploit” category would include my personal favorite introduction, the experiment in Chapter 17. From “Thursday” to “that had been the scariest experimental result in the entire history of science” is about 900 words. This section is especially great because it does the whole “deconstruction of canon”/”reconstruction of canon” bit in one self-contained section; that pattern is one the best aspects of HPMOR but usually the setup and the payoff are dozens of chapters apart, with many so interleaved with the plot that the payoff counts as a major spoiler.
On the other hand, that section works best if you already know what P and NP and RSA cryptography are (and if you’re somehow still not too nerdy to wince at Harry’s lazy way of talking about the former); know your audience.
My kids’ favorite section is the introduction to Draco in Madam Malkin’s in Chapter 5, which IMO qualifies as “understandable”+”gobsmacking”, but it’s a bit long for you, 1500 words from “You are to get fitted for your robes, nothing else” to “poor Madam Malkin and her two poor assistants.”, and I don’t see any way to reasonably cut out a third of that without wrecking the humor.