In a horary chart the answer is read from the relationship between two significators. The first significator is always you — the ruler of the 1st house. To find the second, you must determine which house the question belongs to. If the wrong house is chosen, then even if the chart is read correctly, the answer will be the answer to a different question.
This is why classical astrologers debate the house at length before interpreting. Is the “person on my mind” the 7th house or the 11th? Is a lost phone the 2nd house or the 3rd? This distinction is more critical than the answer itself.
Ruler of the ascendant
In every horary chart the 1st house is you. The ruler of the rising sign is your significator; its strength, position and aspects describe your situation in the matter. Questions about your body, appearance and general state at that moment also fall here.
Your own income
Earnings, savings, debt, movable goods and lost objects. Salary, raises, price and value questions are here. Lost-object questions usually use the 2nd house too — because the item is something you own.
Near surroundings and short distance
Siblings, neighbours, short trips, everyday communication and vehicles. A driver's licence, buying or selling a car and getting around town are in this house. Long travel belongs to the 9th — the distinction is not distance but the nature of the journey: familiar is 3, foreign is 9.
Roots and property
Where you live, family, parents, real estate, the deed and one's homeland. Moving, buying or selling a home and family matters fall here. In the classical tradition the 4th house also means 'the end of the matter' — how a situation will close.
Creativity and pleasure
Having children, pregnancy, dating and fun. Creative work, performance and hobbies are here too — the ground of self-expression and pleasure. Note: the 5th house describes flirtation and romance; a serious relationship and marriage belong to the 7th.
Everyday body and labour
Illness, treatment, doctors, surgery and the recovery process. Also the daily work routine and employees. A career question falls to the 10th, a question about the daily routine at work to the 6th. In health questions horary reads a tendency; it does not diagnose.
The person across from you
The most-used house in horary. A serious relationship, marriage, divorce, engagement and reconciliation fall here. Also business partners, rivals, lawsuits and lawyers — in short, everyone who is 'the other party.' The 'person on your mind' whose name you don't know is also represented by the 7th house.
Shared resources
Inheritance, insurance, a share from a partnership, loans and other people's money. If the 2nd house is your income, the 8th is the other party's — the second house counted from the 7th. In the classical tradition, transformation, crisis and endings are tied to this house too.
The door to the unknown
Abroad, visas, passports, flights and long journeys. University, academic study, law and matters of belief are here too. The common thread: the 9th house is about stepping beyond the familiar — geographically or mentally.
Your place in society
Work, profession, promotion, interviews, the boss and reputation. It is the main house for job-application questions. Also every authority figure over you — your manager, a judge, the state. Retirement and appointment questions fall here too.
The outcome you want
Friendships, social circles, groups and — in its classical name — the house of the 'good spirit': your hopes and wishes. For 'will this wish of mine come true?' questions that don't tie to a specific topic, the 11th house is used.
Unseen obstacles
Secrets, hidden enemies, things done behind your back, loneliness and every kind of confinement — a hospital stay, prison, seclusion. In the classical tradition it is the hardest house; if the significator is here, the party is hiding, blocked or unseen.
One of the most powerful techniques in classical horary is deriving houses from one another. When you ask about someone else's matter, you count that person's house as a new 1st house and count from there.
For example, if you ask about your spouse's money: your spouse is the 7th house, and their money is the second house from the 7th — that is, the 8th house. Your sibling's job? A sibling is the 3rd house, their career is the tenth from the 3rd, that is the 12th. Your mother's health? Mother is the 4th house, her health is the sixth from the 4th, that is the 9th.
5th / 7th house
Flirtation, romance and children are the 5th. A serious relationship, marriage and divorce are the 7th. "Will they date me" is 5th, "will they marry me" is 7th.
3rd / 9th house
Short, familiar travel is 3rd; long, foreign travel is 9th. A business trip from Istanbul to Bursa is 3rd; moving abroad is 9th.
6th / 10th house
The daily work routine, staff and workload are 6th. Career, title, promotion and reputation are 10th. "My workload is heavy, will it ease" is 6th; "will I get promoted" is 10th.
2nd / 8th house
Your income is 2nd, someone else's money is 8th. Salary is 2nd; inheritance, insurance and a share from a partner are 8th.
11th / 5th house
Friendship is 11th, romantic interest is 5th. "Is my friend upset with me" is 11th; "is he interested in me" is 5th or 7th.
Some questions fall to no house: “What should I do?”, “Am I lucky today?”, “Will my life get better?”. Because no second significator can be found for these, a classical Yes/No verdict cannot be produced.
In such a case the chart still says something — the state of the Moon, the ruler of the ascendant, the general atmosphere. But that is a picture, not an answer. If you want a clear answer, the question must be tied to a concrete event.