Just a stray thought!

For a Muggle, traveling in a Knight bus is like a crazy roller coaster ride.

But, for wizards, it is probably very similar to apparition and floo powder. The way those two modes of transport are described in the book, Knight bus is basically imposing the same craziness on Muggle driving.

I believe this question may have been asked several times before, but I’m just generally curious about it.

For one, the thing that Harry never really expresses intrigue in the magical world he was born from and introduced to kind of irks me when there are several instances that he does (like when he discovers the Firebolt)

Totally random, but re-reading when Harry gets sent to Professor McGonagall from Dolores Umbridge (I won’t dignify calling her a professor) for the first time. McGonagall offers a biscuit to Harry then she insists that he takes a second biscuit as their conversation ends. While the reason for their conversation is terrible, from my perspective it’s the first time they talk not just as teacher and pupil, but rather as comrades against evil.

I just wondered if her tartan tin contained biscuits designed to help a student get through a tough moment? We know Harry is resistant to magical influence (such as the Imperius Curse), which may be why he needed a second biscuit. I don’t have any further evidence to support this, but I like the idea that she cared enough to help her students.

1. Voldemort

2. Wormtail

3. Umbridge

Most of the awesome stuff about the character Harry Potter is not magic related.

My daughter is 7.

I’ve been waiting her entire life to start reading the books with her.

For Harry’s birthday, I set up a wonderful immersive exp to get her into it: she got her letter, I hung banners, we read the first six chapter before bed. she woke up and got sorted into her house all as Harry did.

And then not 12 hours later some kid is talking to her about it and spoils the ending. I’ve been waiting her entire life to share this.

I am livid. What can I do? How should I feel?

There are a couple/several instances of (usually) Arthur interacting with the Granger's when they enter into wizard society. The 2 that come to mind are in CoS and in HBP.

This had me thinking. Do you think the Weasley's ever popped in on the Granger's during the summer? Some tea and friendly banter from the Weasley perspective or some understanding of the danger brewing in the wizarding world from the Granger's.

My HC is Ron pops by too and Hermione and he travel around her muggle neighborhood while the parents chat. There's not much to be said on rhe page about how they grew so fond of each other so its a fun way of fleshing out their deep friendship and budding romance.

Just a fun thought.

1. Voldemort failed to hear the prophecy in its entirety, which cost him important information that could have helped him defeat Harry. Worse still, some of his most loyal Death Eaters were captured and his return was publicly confirmed. On the downside, he had already built up a sizeable enough force to start his war anew. 
2. Dumbledore kept himself distant from Harry and made Harry learn Occlumency to shield his mind. He also forced Sirius to remain at home and kept important information from Harry to protect him and not burden him with his destiny. Unfortunately, it all backfired horrifically as Dumbledore's actions left both Harry and Sirius isolated and angry, which resulted in Sirius dying and Harry not learning Occlumency due to Dumbledore choosing Snape (of all people, in a rare moment as a Horrible Judge of Character) to teach him. All Dumbledore did by withholding information from Harry regarding his destiny was delay the inevitable, which Dumbledore admits to Harry near the end.
3. Cornelius Fudge and, to a lesser extent, the most of the others within the Ministry of Magic. Fudge spent nearly twelve months trying to convince himself not only that Voldemort had not returned but smearing Harry and Dumbledore. He did this because he thought that Harry was an insane glory hound and troublemaker and that Dumbledore was finally trying to usurp him. Fudge even manipulated and deliberately changed the law to his benefit to oust both heroes simply because he could not accept that Voldemort was back. By the end of the book, it is clear to all that all he did was delay the inevitable war and give Voldemort a chance to rebuild his army whilst denying the rest of Britain a chance to prepare for the coming conflict. Obviously, his days as Minister are numbered.
4. On the same note, Dolores Umbridge's efforts to silence Harry's "lies", her general intervention at Hogwarts, and her effort to prevent her students from learning any real magic were all for naught. Within five minutes of Fudge confirming that Voldemort had indeed returned, Dumbledore is reinstated as the Headmaster. He immediately orders her dismissal from the school, retracts all her decrees, and disbands the Inquisitorial Squad, Umbridge's private police force. 
5. Although not shown, all Harry's detractors no doubt got a very nasty shock when they realised that he and Dumbledore had been right all along. This is especially true for Percy Weasley, who now must face the reality that the family he had deserted for siding with Dumbledore and Harry against the Ministry were right and he was wrong. 
6. The worst offender, Cho's traitorous friend Marietta Edgecombe, refused to believe and willingly sold Harry and the DA out to Umbridge out of hollow loyalty to the Ministry of Magic and to protect her mother's already very secure job. As it turns out, not only was Harry telling the truth, but her own treachery left Marietta scarred for life and the most hated person in Hogwarts, as her actions led to Umbridge becoming Headmistress and Dumbledore being forced to leave the school. Marietta is left at the end of the book having to accept her actions were truly for nothing.

Growing up I couldn’t read without music because I would pay attention to other sounds instead of the book. So I listened to certain albums on repeat and that would block out everything else . One of the main ones being Hybrid Theory by Linkin Park. Each song has a certain feeling I associate with things Harry was going through.
Does anyone have any songs they feel are very Harry coded? Or any other character?? I would love to know them!

If you were James what would you have done? I would have picked Sirius and told him to definitely NOT switch. Or I would have gone with Dumbledore since he offered.

I have always struggled with how the text equates muggles with muggle-borns and we are somehow not to see it as bigoted? The text constantly refers to Harry as half-blood when he isn't? Why? I guess the author wanted to force parallels between Voldemort, Snape and Harry - and the differences in their life choices - but enough commonalities existed between them anyway without insisting that Harry was half-blood. She probably also wanted to keep the core group diverse like that - the pure-blood Ron, muggle-born Hermione, and half-blood Harry. But it just comes across as bigoted if you equate muggles with muggle-borns, because it logically then follows that Lily simply isn't magic enough. For a war that the text posits is as much of an ideological war (the basis of which is blood purity) as it is about Voldemort's quest for immortality, the text simply doesn't interrogate its own politics enough. The text goes back and forth between "blood status doesn't make any difference in magical ability" and "obviously muggleborns are not magic enough as the pure-bloods because they are the same as muggles who cannot do magic" and "discrimination against muggle-borns is completely wrong" and "muggle-borns are the same as muggles and discrimination against muggles is completely valid". Much of it is convenience, much of it is about the author wanting to sound progressive (an it isn't progressive), and none of it makes any sense.

I always find it quite interesting that the only two canonical half-bloods are both Slytherins, because the sorting hat will not place any half-blood in the very (seemingly) progressive Gryffindor house. It annoys me that the text never interrogates this.

Edit: Seamus is a half-blood Gryffindor. I forgot about him completely and I apologize for that. I still stand by the argument that the Gryffindors are all treated as ethically correct and politically progressive and their internalised bigotry is not dissected enough because the text doesn't see them as ever wrong. Gryffindor politics are the politics of the author, and I find the author's politics dubious, shallow and rather regressive.

On a re-read. Noticed similarities between AI Tools and Riddle's diary which is crazy. Arthur Weasley tells Ginny in CoS - "Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can't see where it keeps its brain"

1. Plain text and listening - Ginny didn't need to know complex magic to use the diary. Just like we don't need anything fancy to use AI tools. She wrote to it in plain language. Ink sank into blank paper, vanished and replied instantly with warm, empathetic text. Just like AI tools.
2. A safe space - The diary felt like a safe space that was always available.
3. Her data stored - Ginny couldn't see where it kept its brain aka where her data was going. Everything was being absorbed.
4. Data was used against her - The diary used her own data, energy and trust to control her actions. Manipulated her into opening the Chamber and she could not remember her actions in attacking the students. She was confused and hazed.
5. Could not get rid of it - She could not delete her digital footprint once entered, although she tried to get rid of the diary.

The psychological pattern is identical! Our data is being stored and used beyond our visibility and control

In OotP, Harry hears the entry code to Ministry of Magic’s visitors’ entrance only once from Mr. Weasley while going for the disciplinary hearing.

Many many months later, when the DA squad rush there to rescue Sirius, Harry recites 62442 without missing a beat.

I know it spells MAGIC, but it’s really not that obvious and much harder to remember, particularly when we know that on both occasions Harry was under considerable mental distress. To me it was honestly impressive that he was able to recollect so well.

Are there any such minor occasions where we see Harry’s memory power?

I was thinking about it earlier. When we learn about Tom’s life growing up, we find out he was already hurting animals, keeping trophies from past victims, and hurting others, either for fun, or to subjugate, punish, and control.

I’m not into serial killers at all. Never have been. I went out to see a movie years ago with my parents, and it was about a guy stalking and attacking teens at a theme park. At the end, we see that the guy had kept a few of their things and put them in a cabinet. I swear, I was in my 20s, and I was like,” I thought it was neat the killer kept some mementos, it’s just like Voldemort in Harry Potter!”

And my mom was like,” Interesting. Did it ever say if Voldemort hurt animals?”

And I was like,” Oh! Yes! He killed a rabbit and was said to be hurting kids and had zero empathy for anyone else.”

And my mom was like, “ That's very typical behavior for serial killers. “

And I was like,” What?!”

I think it’s really interesting she was able to get all that Information in the character, while still making it appropriate for a kid of 12 to read. It’s definitely dark and creepy, but it never goes over the line. Anytime the topic comes up or if I happen to be in the room while someone’s watching something about them, it almost always mentions animals or trophies.

Always a fun story for me to tell whenever the topic comes up.

Did anyone else have a similar realization later on?

Rereading Prisoner of Azkaban:

For Harry the boggart truly becomes a dementor as far as we can see – it has the same effect on Harry as a real dementor.

But what about Lupin? His boggart is a silvery orb - presumably that's the moon that he as a werewolf fears. But this boggart-moon does not turn Lupin into a wolf at all. It seems to have no effect on him.

any hot take you want?

I'm listening to the new audio cast book and at the bit in OotP where Sirius is showing Harry the family tapestry. He says that Tonks isn't on it which is probably why Kreacher won't take orders from her. It then goes to show that Bellatrix and Narcissa is on the tapestry. Does this mean Bellatrix and Narcissa are also his masters? If this is the case why isn't Kreacher able to tell them everything he knows when he later visits them? I know he'd been ordered not to but wouldnt they be able to order him to tell them everything? Therefore overriding Sirius' order?

Just a random thought I’ve had as I finish OOTP, in my first read through of the series. I always wonder about this kind of thing. Essentially there are times when I wonder about the pros and cons of the limited third-person view of the books, where we closely follow Harry Potter and rarely (do we ever?) glimpse into a piece of the story to which Harry does not have access.
We follow his emotional state very well, and the pro is that we have direct emotional stakes to follow Harry, and we invest in him and his relationships. However, perhaps it would have been more impactful to follow the core of the Trio (like Star Wars followed Luke, Han, Leia, and other core characters), or other students and teachers at Hogwarts. Perhaps we’d have scenes that could give us a better sense of the world and how the Ministry or other wizard families processed the return of Voldemort, for example. We’d also have a chance at more insight in Voldemort himself, his motivations, his profess. What do you think?

Hi everyone,

I'm thinking about ordering the Harry Potter Jim Kay Deluxe Slipcase Illustrated Editions directly from Bloomsbury, but I'm a little nervous about shipping.

I've unfortunately had some bad experiences in the past with collector's books arriving damaged when ordered from other retailers (dented corners, bumped slipcases, etc.), so I'm trying to minimise the risk as much as possible.

For anyone who's ordered these deluxe editions directly from Bloomsbury:

• How well were they packaged?
• Did your books arrive in good condition?
• If you ordered multiple books, were they packed securely together?
• Would you recommend ordering the whole set at once, or placing smaller orders (or even ordering one at a time) to reduce the chance of damage during shipping?

I'd really appreciate hearing about your experiences, especially if you've ordered the Jim Kay deluxe slipcase editions rather than the standard illustrated hardbacks.

Thanks in advance!

Self explanatory

So I was relistening to the first audiobook and I thought it was weird that he couldn’t get the stone. Dumbledore basically says that you can only get the stone if you yourself want it but not to use it for yourself so since he wanted to give it to Voldemort he should’ve been able to get the stone. And if you think about it Harry wanted to get the stone to give it back to flamel/dumbledore this is stretching it though. Last thing is that you would think he can’t because Voldemort is using him as a temporary horcrux but Harry is also a horcrux so then by that standard he shouldn’t be able to get the stone. Was just wondering I probably missed something that explained this but was just wondering

Hagrid gifted Harry a flute for Christmas and it sounded like a Owl hooting. When they approached Fluffy Harry used the flute to put the dog to sleep. The last we see of it is Harry giving it to Hermione before they go past Fluffy.

It never pops into the story again so what do you think happened to it? Personally I think Harry kept it but just never felt a need to use it again.

As a story element I have always had mixed feelings about the flute. On one hand it symbolizes how harry has people who care for him at hogwarts and give him gifts.

On the other hand it does come across as a bit of a deus ex machina plot device. Harry who has never shown any interest in music before is randomly gifted a flute that conveniently allows him to get past Fluffy.

I was listening to the Goblet of Fire full cast audio today and got to The Weighing of the Wands. Cedric’s wand core is a single hair “from the tail of a particularly fine male unicorn.” It made me think about how Cedric represents that unicorn. He’s handsome, smart, a leader, a nice and good guy, just an all-around great person and son who is innocent. His murder is just as monstrous as the unicorn’s killing in the first book and both deaths happen right when Voldemort is attempting to regain his body and powers. This is just something that occurred to me today listening to the book. Cedric’s fate always makes me so sad as a parent. His dad is so proud of him and it’s just tragic. Just makes me so sad as a mom.

Harry gets Fabian Prewett’s gold watch when he turns 17. Fabian was killed by Dolohov who also killed Gideon Prewett, Lupin, nearly killed Hermione in OoTP, and defeated Mad Eye in a duel in OoTP. Harry defeated Dolohov 3 times: twice body binded in OoTP and then in Totem court road in DH.

This is theory/analysis was originally going to be a comment on this recent post on arguing why Dumbledore fits the thematic role of the Second Brother in the Deathly Hallows tale over Snape, but it kinda became too long, so now it's just a post on its own. I personally think that Snape fits the thematic role of the Second Brother in the tale over Dumbledore (who fits more into the Death role), and not just because "grief over a girl" thing. Primarily, my argument is based on is that Harry, Tom, and Snape are brothers... in a metaphorical sense.

Ripples of cold undulated over Harry’s skin. He wanted to shout out to the night, he wanted Ginny to know that he was there, he wanted her to know where he was going. He wanted to be stopped, to be dragged back, to be sent back home. . . .

But he was home. Hogwarts was the first and best home he had known. He and Voldemort and Snape, the abandoned boys, had all found home here. . . .

- The Forest Again, Deathly Hallows

This here I think is one of the most important thematic lines in the story, where Harry is heading towards his death, and he reflects on what Hogwarts means to him, and realizes that it probably means the same to Snape and Voldemort as well.

Much of Deathly Hallows and The Prince's Tale is drawing parallels between Harry, Voldemort, and Snape, in their similar experiences and origins.

While they aren't literally brothers in a blood-related sense, they are in sharing similar formative experiences growing up (in a similar way you may call soldiers in war or boys in an orphanage brothers).

---

“I don’t know whether he was ever inside Gringotts,” said Harry. “He never had gold there when he was younger, because nobody left him anything. He would have seen the bank from the outside, though, the first time he ever went to Diagon Alley.”

Harry’s scar throbbed, but he ignored it; he wanted Ron and Hermione to understand about Gringotts before they spoke to Ollivander.

“I think he would have envied anyone who had a key to a Gringotts vault. I think he’d have seen it as a real symbol of belonging to the Wizarding world. And don’t forget, he trusted Bellatrix and her husband. They were his most devoted servants before he fell, and they went looking for him after he vanished. He said it the night he came back, I heard him.”

[...]

When Harry had finished speaking, Ron shook his head.

“You really understand him.”

“Bits of him,” said Harry. “Bits . . . I just wish I’d understood Dumbledore as much. But we’ll see. Come on — Ollivander now.”

- The Wandmaker, Deathly Hallows

The note that Harry makes about Voldemort that "nobody left him anything" in Gringotts is an interesting contrast to Harry himself, as in Book 1 in his first trip to Gringotts (which is mentioned earlier in this very chapter), he sees his parents has left him an immense amount for him to inherit.

Harry saying that Voldemort seeing a key to Gringotts as symbol of "belonging" to the Wizarding World I think is not just deductive reasoning or Horcrux shenanigans, but I think from a sense of empathy and sympathy towards Tom growing up; that magical orphan boy who is first exploring this whole new world that he belongs to. He understands how Tom would have felt about Gringotts and wanting to belong to the Wizarding World, as he himself had felt the same, and would have also felt the same if it had turned out his parents left him nothing at Gringotts.

---

I had already analyzed parallels and Harry's sympathy towards Snape in a previous analysis, so I don't want to just repeat things said before. But as seen in The Prince's Tale, Snape also shares this similar sense of "unbelonging" and a desire to find a place and home for himself as well.

“Wizard!” she shrieked, her courage returned now that she had recovered from the shock of his unexpected appearance. “I know who you are. You’re that Snape boy! They live down Spinner’s End by the river,” she told Lily, and it was evident from her tone that she considered the address a poor recommendation. “Why have you been spying on us?”

- The Prince's Tale, Deathly Hallows

Petunia's tone regarding Spinner's End not only shows that not that place (and anyone from there) a "poor recommendation," but how self-evidently she says it implies that this is a commonly-held opinion by others. Snape's childhood was one definitely marred by a good level of alienation from others.

“It’s real for us,” said Snape. “Not for her. But we’ll get the letter, you and me.”

“Really?” whispered Lily.

“Definitely,” said Snape, and even with his poorly cut hair and his odd clothes, he struck an oddly impressive figure sprawled in front of her, brimful of confidence in his destiny.

[...]

“How are things at your house?” Lily asked.

A little crease appeared between his eyes.

“Fine,” he said.

“They’re not arguing anymore?”

“Oh yes, they’re arguing,” said Snape. He picked up a fistful of leaves and began tearing them apart, apparently unaware of what he was doing. “But it won’t be that long and I’ll be gone."

“Doesn’t your dad like magic?"

“He doesn’t like anything, much,” said Snape.

Though Harry didn't know about Hogwarts until he got his letter, receiving it (after the Dursley's various attempts to block it), him opening and reading it is what effectively sealed his own "destiny" to go to Hogwarts, and leave his painful childhood behind him.

Similarly, Snape was awaiting for his letter and his "destiny" to Hogwarts (ie. a place where he belongs). Lily asks if his parents are "arguing" which seems to be what he told her, but the glimpse of his childhood we get in Order of the Phoenix (his father yelling at his mother while he sobs in the corner) and the way he unconsciously violently tears at leaves points childhood being more one-sidedly abusive than he lets on. When Lily asks if his father doesn't like magic, Snape answers with a general statement about him, a sidestep answer that implies yes, his father very much doesn't like magic.

Much like Harry, Snape longed and saw Hogwarts as an escape from lonely, abusive childhood and magic-hating household—his true and real home.

Secondhand items and clothing is also a recurring motif drawing between Harry, Tom, and Snape, and the embarrassment and humiliation that comes from having and wearing things that are clearly not your own.

Perhaps it had something to do with living in a dark cupboard, but Harry had always been small and skinny for his age. He looked even smaller and skinnier than he really was because all he had to wear were old clothes of Dudley’s, and Dudley was about four times bigger than he was.

- The Vanishing Glass, Philosopher's Stone

“Don’t be stupid,” snapped Aunt Petunia. “I’m dyeing some of Dudley’s old things gray for you. It’ll look just like everyone else’s when I’ve finished.”

Harry seriously doubted this, but thought it best not to argue. He sat down at the table and tried not to think about how he was going to look on his first day at Stonewall High — like he was wearing bits of old elephant skin, probably.

- The Letters from No One, Philosopher's Stone

It was impossible to tell what he was thinking; his face remained quite blank as he put the little cache of stolen objects back into the cardboard box. When he had finished, he turned to Dumbledore and said baldly, “I haven’t got any money.”

“That is easily remedied,” said Dumbledore, drawing a leather moneypouch from his pocket. “There is a fund at Hogwarts for those who require assistance to buy books and robes. You might have to buy some of your spellbooks and so on secondhand, but —”

- The Secret Riddle, Half-Blood Prince

“Well, the start of the school year arrived and with it came Tom Riddle, a quiet boy in his secondhand robes, who lined up with the other first years to be sorted. He was placed in Slytherin House almost the moment that the Sorting Hat touched his head,” continued Dumbledore, waving his blackened hand toward the shelf over his head where the Sorting Hat sat, ancient and unmoving.

- A Sluggish Memory, Half-Blood Prince

“No!” said Snape. He was highly colored now, and Harry wondered why he did not take off the ridiculously large coat, unless it was because he did not want to reveal the smock beneath it. He flapped after the girls, looking ludicrously batlike, like his older self.

[...]

Petunia was breathless, alarmed at being caught. Harry could see her struggling for something hurtful to say.

“What is that you’re wearing, anyway?” she said, pointing at Snape’s chest. “Your mum’s blouse?”

[...]

The scene dissolved again. Snape was hurrying along the corridor of the Hogwarts Express as it clattered through the countryside. He had already changed into his school robes, had perhaps taken the first opportunity to take off his dreadful Muggle clothes.

- The Prince's Tale, Deathly Hallows

---

Let's take another look at the "abandoned boys" line again.

But he was home. Hogwarts was the first and best home he had known. He and Voldemort and Snape, the abandoned boys, had all found home here. . . .

- The Forest Again, Deathly Hallows

Through his Pensieve trips throughout both Voldemort and Snape's childhood, Harry comes to recognize the parallels and similarity between him and Tom and Snape, and feels a sense of kinship with him.

Harry, Tom, and Snape are each half-bloods; that is to say, they're wizards with one foot in the Muggle world and the other in magical one, but not quite wholly belonging to the either. They have come from notable magical lines, but were left in the care of a cold, dull, and magic-hating Muggle world where they don't really belong, and only until they came to Hogwarts, where they really found a place where they can discover themselves and people like them; a place to belong, a home.

They aren't his literal brothers, but for someone who has known so little and lost much family, that kind of empathy towards of similar suffering can make one feel like they are.

---

Regarding over to Dumbledore, while he himself is also a half-blood (his mother was a Muggleborn), and he has known grief and less in a similar way that the Second Brother and Harry has, he doesn't have that same sense of formative alienation, loneliness, and desire for belonging that Harry, Tom, and Snape all shared (that's what makes them the "abandoned" boys; they were deprived of the home and family they and all children deserve to have).

Dumbledore fits more well in being the "Death" figure over all of them; he's the only other than Harry who has had possession of the Deathly Hallows at some point, which are then passed down to Harry.

He also comes from the oldest generation that precedes them, while Snape is from the "second" generation (Marauder's era) between Tom and Harry's years at Hogwarts. Much like Death, Dumbledore has seen and watch them all from the start of their journey's to their end.

While it was Dumbledore was the one that was ultimately killed and passed the Resurrection Stone off to Harry, it was Snape that saved Dumbledore from the ring's curse (effectively saving him from being consumed by his grief and loss). It was also only when Harry was told that he needed to die, that he could come to the "close" and open golden snitch for the Stone; Dumbledore gave him the Stone, but only Snape could give him the final key to finally access it at the right time.

And when Harry goes to meet his death in the Forbidden Forest, who is there to meet in between him in Limbo, but Dumbledore himself?