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Professors McGonagall and Moody kept them working until the very last second of their classes too, and Snape, of course, would no sooner let them play games in class than adopt Harry.

I think "no sooner let them play games in class than adopt Harry" is a metaphor here. It's implying that Snape would never let them play games in class. It's because I understand Snape hates Harry very much from the book, so we can't really expect him to adopt Harry(I think 'adopt' here means "take one into your own family and make one legally your son or daughter"). In my opinion, it can be paraphrased as "Snape would never let them play games in class just as he would never adopt Harry". Is this understand correct?

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    Since it's an explicit comparison, it's a simile rather than a metaphor. Your understanding of the meaning is correct. The implication is that neither thing would ever occur. – Gary Botnovcan Dec 20 '18 at 3:03
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Your interpretation is correct. Basically, it means:

He would adopt Harry before he let them play games in class.

no sooner is a little more subtle, because it could be "before or at the same time" instead of just before, but the idea is the same. The negation also kind of makes it stronger.

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