r/HarryPotterBooks

What do you think are some of the cool bits of foreshadowing in the series ? Or sprinkled mentions of things before they’re fleshed out. Even the small stuff. As I was reading OOtP (or HBP when they get OWL results?), Hermione is worried about her performance on Cheering charms in her OWL. Going back to Prisoner of Azkaban, she misses the class on Cheering charms (time turner confusion). ‘The Lovegoods’ were mentioned in GOF while traveling to the quidditch World Cup as being in the same area as the Weasleys.

I thought the descriptions of Fleur in the later books (post Goblet of Fire) was sad. She is shown as a dumb simpering woman who does nothing outside of being Bill’s partner. But she was a strong, confident and independent woman! She was a triwizard champion who obviously had exceptional advanced magical skills, intelligence, and courage. The later books really did not do this part of her justice. I wish they had shown her in more dangerous situations doing cool and advanced magic, maybe even alongside Tonks. Instead of being treated like an annoying and vapid character she could have been beautiful and done all those cool things, maybe eliciting some jealousy from Ginny? It would be fine to keep the dislike thread from the others. I just strongly dislike the notion that women could can be either beautiful or strong, especially since that’s not the character she started with. Yes she was underestimated in GoF but she still was a champion.

Edit: my mistake she wasn’t in OOTP (been rereading the books at a stretch one after another and I blurred them together). I agree her character development was not too bad over the span of two books, I just find it a bit cringe at the beginning but that’s also partly due to Ginny and Hermione’s view and treatment of her probably.

Rereading PS and think this quote perfectly encapsulates the trio:

“Hermione took out a list of subjects and titles she had decided to search while Ron strode off down a row of books and started pulling them off the shelves at random. Harry wandered over to the Restricted Section,” (page 198).

Any other examples you’ve found for other characters?

So at this point, Harry knows that Voldemort knows he’s hunting horcruxes. So any element of surprise is gone by keeping it secret. When he arrives back at Hogwarts he may as well tell everyone about the horcruxes and particularly the snake. Because at this point the more people that know, the better.

I only thought of this after countless read throughs

I understand his methodology…..do not show affection or favoritism, especially in efforts to throw Voldemort off…but his coldness and secrecy toward Harry had terrible repercussions, culminating in Sirius Black losing his life in the end. I remember reading and literally getting so pissed off at him!

Mine is Kings Cross from DH just so well written and gives so much closure to Dumbledores and Harry's relationship. Another one is felix felicis from HBP it's hilarious and I love how he obtains the memory

In GOF, Hermione carrying a stack of toast wrapped in a napkin and meeting Harry at the portrait hole the morning after he gets named the Triwizard Champion is such an underrated moment of solidarity and emotional intelligence. I feel like Hermione doesn't get enough credit as Harry's friend.

After about the upteenth reading of all the books it occurred to me, Snape wanted to teach the Defense Against the Dark Arts class. After about 15 years he finally get his dream job. One year of DATDA and he’s done. The curse continues just he got promoted to head master instead of leaving, and the Carrows’ took over. Is the job still jinxed? Amicus had it for less than a year, plus he made it just Dark Arts. But what happened after the battle? Was it still taught?

I've been rereading Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix for the nth time. But something about the battle in the Ministry of Magic struck me. So the scene is—

Bellatrix and Sirius had been duelling in front of the Veil of Death. Sirius lost his focus for a moment, and Bellatrix seized that chance to curse him. Now, in the book, it is explicitly written that a red spark hit Sirius in the chest. He fell gracefully through the veil and disappeared.

We know for a fact that only Avada Kedavra is the killing curse, and it is associated with green light.

So, if there wasn't any veil to fall through, would Sirius, albeit extremely injured, be alive?

Sorry in advance if this idea has already been discussed.

Update : Sorry, everyone, I meant to ask whether Sirius died because of the veil or the curse.

1. Umbridge and Filch

2. Voldy and Wormtail

I keep seeing people defend Snape as a good teacher just because he knows a lot about potions. Nah. He is actually terrible at teaching and the Half Blood Prince book makes it super obvious.

In Half Blood Prince we get Snape’s old textbook and he has rewritten a bunch of the recipes to make them way easier and better. Harry who never cared about potions suddenly does better than Hermione who has been top of the class for years just by following those notes. So Snape clearly understands the subject on a deeper level than the actual textbooks.

But when he is teaching? He walks in, writes the basic book instructions on the board, and tells everyone to get on with it. No explaining why anything works. No tips. No helping when people struggle. Nothing. If he used even a fraction of the simplified methods from his old book the whole class would have done better. We know he never did that because Hermione reads every textbook cover to cover before term starts. She would have noticed if Snape’s board instructions were different and easier. She never says anything about it across all those years.

Instead of teaching he just bullies. Neville messes up one step and Snape threatens to poison his toad. That is not teaching. That is just being an asshole. Students are supposed to make mistakes while learning. Why does he act like everyone should already be perfect the second they walk in?

Honestly what is even the point of his classes? Anyone can sit in the common room and follow the book. A teacher is supposed to explain things, correct mistakes, and make the subject clearer. Snape does the opposite. He has the knowledge but refuses to share the good versions and would rather mock people than help them. Knowledgeable does not equal good teacher.

We all know the iconic first meeting on the train in Philosopher's Stone: Harry and Ron are eating candy, Hermione walks in looking for Neville's toad, Ron attempts a fake spell, and Hermione tells him he has dirt on his nose. We tend to look at this scene through a single lens, either Hermione is a bossy know-it-all, or Harry and Ron are being mean. But if you strictly read the book text, it's actually a brilliant heartbreaking scene where three deeply vulnerable, well meaning kids completely misread each other due to a total mismatch in communication styles. More importantly, this very first interaction sets the blueprint for the group's dynamic throughout the series.

Here's a breakdown of the psychological tug of war happening in that compartment:

Hermione's bossiness is actually a defensive shield Think about neville. He's a terrified, crying 11-year-old who has lost his pet. Hermione is the only person on that train who stops to help him. While Harry internally notes she has a bossy-sounding voice, she isn't trying to dominate. As a hyper-intelligent muggle-born who most assuredly faced social isolation, she enters the room with her guard up, and it's very likely she has already faced rude students on the train while looking for Trevor. She comes off as firm because she's trying to protect Neville, not because she wants to boss Harry and Ron around.

Deconstructing the spell insult When she sees Ron with his wand out, she is genuinely excited to see magic. But when he recites Fred and George's goofy poem to turn Scabbers yellow, it fails completely. Hermione bluntly asks, "Are you sure that's a real spell? Well it's not very good is it?"

To Ron (and most people, really), this feels like an insult. He's already insecure about his hand-me-down wand and his fat old rat, so he hears, "You are bad at magic, and your family is a joke." But is that Hermione's true intention? Her logical, academic brain is just diagnosing a literal fact. She knows real spells follow precise linguistic formulas. (Honestly, Ron should know that too, coming from a wizarding family but that's another matter) She isn't mocking him; she's genuinely confused by the bizarre rhyme and is essentially asking, "Where did you get that? Someone pulled a fast one on you, because that isn't real magic."

Unfortunately, her lack of social tact turns a helpful diagnostic observation into embarrassment for Ron.

The tragedy of her bragging When she mentioned she has learned all their course books by heart, it sounds like an arrogant flex. But aligning this with her character later, it's clear she is socially tone deaf, not malicious. To her logical brain, she's trying to connect by saying, "Look, I was worried about fitting in too, but I read the books and it's going to be okay!"

We know she didn't enter the compartment just to brag but because she is eager to connect with some "authentic" wizarding children. The movie scene can cause some confusion on this front, but notice how, after her spiel, she introduces herself and asks Harry and Ron's names, as equals. She gives them both attention and doesn't treat Harry like a celebrity. She genuinely wants to know them; unfortunately, her only blueprint for interacting with the world is academic achievement.

Mission over socialization The biggest proof that she isn't there to arrogantly boast is how she leaves the first time. Right in the middle of talking about the Hogwarts houses, she abruptly cuts her own conversation short with the famous Harry potter. She remembers her mission and states, "Anyway, we better go and look for Neville's toad." Helping a kid in distress is more important to her than staying behind to entertain herself

Why Harry and Ron's reaction makes total sense One might look back and say the boys should have been nicer--if not to Hermione, then at least to Neville--but Harry and Ron are carrying massive emotional baggage of their own. At this exact moment, Hermione operates on a self-sacrificing moral code, while the boys operate on a self-serving emotional code:

Harry has suffered 10 years of abuse and neglect. For the first time in his life, he has a friend, freedom, and a pile of candy. He is fiercely guarding this fragile bubble of joy. When Neville and Hermione interrupt, Harry isn't being cruel; he's just desperate to cling to a normal kid experience, viewing Neville as a vibe killer who threatens his newfound safety.

Ron is intensely insecure about his poverty, his brothers' shadows, and how he has just embarrassed himself in front of the most famous boy in The wizarding world.

The anatomy of the misunderstanding When Hermione returns a second time and says everyone outside is acting childish, in her mind she is paying Harry and Ron a compliment by trying to say, "I chose your compartment because you two feel more mature, smart and safe."

But because Harry and Ron communicate on an emotional frequency of self-preservation, they misinterpret her entirely. When she points out the dirt on Ron's nose--an objectively helpful observation so he doesn't embarrass himself at the feast--Ron's financial and security translates it into a critique of his appearance. When she calls the other kids childish, the boys assume she is judging them too. They freeze her out, and she leaves with her feelings genuinely hurt.

This initial pair of interactions sets up a fair portion of the Trio's dynamic moving forward. This train ride isn't just a messy first impression; it introduces the exact operational loops they will repeat for the next 7 years. Hermione will continuously spot a systemic Injustice or a danger to the boys, launch into a high-intensity, righteous tirade to solve it, and sacrifice her own social comfort to do the right thing. Harry and Ron will repeatedly misread her protective love and logic as an attempt to control them, retreating into a defensive, insular huddle because they're teenagers who feel threatened.

The ultimate irony of the train scene is that all three of them actually value the exact same thing, protecting the vulnerable. Harry and Ron will literally fight monsters to save people, and Hermione is already doing it on day one.

So in the 5th book, during the OWLS, it’s shown that only the examiners oversee written exams. However, in the Pensieve when the Marauders were taking theirs, Flitwick was seen overseeing the DADA written exam.

Think this is just one of those things that JKR and her editor forgot to change or maybe policies changed over the years?

My husband and I just finished reading the Harry Potter series together, we would like another series to read together! What would your suggestion be?

The Black Family are notorious for their Pure Blood Beliefs to an extreme extent! Yet the same beliefs are also the thing that got Gaunt Family extinct heck The Most Dark Powerful Wizard in History is a literal Half-Blood despite how the Pure Bloods are often viewed as superior heck Dumbledore himself is a Half-Blood and his wildly regarded as The Most Powerful Wizard of the Modern Age quite honestly I’d love to see their reaction to Voldemort treating The Malfoys like garbage despite their Blood-Status imagine Belatrix’s father hating on Lord Voldemort so much to the point he wants him dead for being a Half-Blood and EVERYONE knows how that will turn out for them! I mean if The Malfoys even think about going against The Dark Lord himself then say goodbye to their entire bloodline would be literally irony for the rest of the family they all end up dying at The Hands of The Dark Lord himself

If the Triwizard Tasks had been a team event, which pair would put their heads together and come up with the best ways to pass all 3 rounds?

1. James & Sirius
2. Fred & George
3. Harry & Ron

So I have to imagine this has been brought up before but I’m having a hard time finding anything. Something I picked up on in the latest read through after completing Book 5.

It’s been said many times that Dumbledore trusts Snape implicitly, by others and by himself. When Dumbledore instructs Snape to teach Harry Occlumency, he loans Snape the Pensive. We know that the Pensive contains a LOT of sensitive information including the full contents of the prophecy.

So that means that prior to loaning out the Pensieve to Snape, Dumbledore either did or did not extract some of the more sensitive memories so that Snape could not access them. Assuming Dumbledore didn’t extract any memories like the prophecy, that should he sufficient proof for the readers that Dumbledore trusts Snape, right?

I have to imagine this was discussed as evidence to Snape being good during the lead up to book 7?

In the beginning harry had quite a few badass moments

1. banishing 100s of dementors in prisoner of azakaban,

2. wandless magic in order of the phoenix

3. resisting the imperious curse

But overall in the series harry was just a slightly above average wizard and won many of his battlest by sheer luck and some plot events.

My question is would you have liked harry who was exceptional at many of the magic disciplines and had been an active figher in war against voldemort rather than the whole camping adventure we got in the last book??

In the 4th book we are introduced to Unicorns in a beasts class the 4th year takes.

When introduced to the unicorns a teacher instructs that the boys are not to interact with the unicorns, because they apparently prefer to be touched by witches rather than wizards.

I’ve always wondered why is it that in the world of Harry Potter unicorns prefer to be touched by female sex individuals but avoid contact with males?

Is there any backing from actual unicorn mythology that supports it?

I used to hate reading. As a teenager, I could stretch out finishing one book for an entire year, it felt like a chore I kept putting off. Then I picked up The Philosopher’s Stone, and something just clicked. I couldn’t put it down. I was reading in the bathroom, reading in bed, finishing all 7 books with one breath.

Since then, reading (especially HP rereads) has become my passion and my escape even in the darkest of times. I genuinely can’t thank J.K. Rowling enough for that first spark.

Anyone else have the same story?

p.s it was my first non-native language book