harry potter theory thread

[rubah]

wow, I never realized this before, I always just listened to the 'flight of death' meaning behind 'voldemort' but it almost seems impossibly obvious that it should really be 'steal from death'

I mean horcruxes, right? JKR introduces Death as an animate character in the tales of Beedle the Bard in both the BtB book and in book 7, so he's clearly someone you could metaphorically steal from. and he takes away death's ability to take his life, stealing it.

just wanted to get that off my chest!

[The Man]

I don't think I follow you. Where are you getting "flight of death" and "steal from death" from? are you translating the word horcrux from some language I don't know about?

I should probably actually read Beedle.

edit: oh never mind I just realised you're translating "Vol de mort." Duh. I should l2french.

[rubah]

yeah, seriously.

also, What's In a Name? -- Now Updated For Book 6! (http://www.theninemuses.net/hp/v.html)

[The Man]

I had no idea so much Potter information was out there on the web. I mean, I should have, but it never really occurred to me to even check. This thread also somehow led me to a search on either Google or Wikipedia which led me to this huge collection of JKR interviews (http://www.accio-quote.org), though certain parts of the site don't seem to have been updated in awhile.

[rubah]

you should look up the interview with the leaky cauldron about the "scottish book"

[Kes]

I used to be in that fandom like whoa. *reminisces*

But no, really, some of the theories out there are absolute crack, and then some of them are better than the book.

Also, Snape is a vampire.

[rubah]

I have a couple more now!

1) how come sirius was able to get his head into the gryffindor fireplace. Actually no, why wasn't the Gryffindor fireplace watched when he was known to be on the loose?

Then, why was he able. It seems foolish to place so many wards on a school and BAM someone can just come in the fireplace.

1.a) Imagine McGonagall a married witch. Her husband (idk Thomas McGonagall or something) waits for her to come back from school every night (through the fireplace in her office obviously) and mends her tartan robes while she sips a brandy and regales him with the latest school gossip.
(okay, so this was just me imagining, but ARE all the professors so chaste?!)

2) the spells are latin because of some influx of magic development during the Height of the Roman Empire. Obviously spells do not have to be latin (see Point Me, waddiwasi, riddikulus) Perhaps enough 'major' spells were perfected then (discovered, whatever) and then whatever came later was just named in Latin because those people were stuck up prigs that wanted to stick to "form".

Misc A) Lupin forgot to tell Fake-Moody that his class also studied vampires. ?!!!!!!?!?!?!?!

[Del Murder]

I wonder what would happen if Future Esthar got into the Harry Potter series.

[Moon Rabbits]

I wonder what would happen if Future Esthar got into the Harry Potter series.

Something terrible. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/End_of_the_world)

[blackmage_nuke]

I have a couple more now!

1) how come sirius was able to get his head into the gryffindor fireplace. Actually no, why wasn't the Gryffindor fireplace watched when he was known to be on the loose?

Then, why was he able. It seems foolish to place so many wards on a school and BAM someone can just come in the fireplace.


Dumbledore knew he wasnt a bad guy after book 3 so he didnt have as much security on the fireplaces, he does not appear in the fireplace in the third book to my knowledge.

[Del Murder]

Yeah but then couldn't Voldemort just pop up there? It was always something I wondered too.

[blackmage_nuke]

Maybe dumbledore set up a special network so it only connects to Grimmauld place so dumbledore could communicate with Sirius.

[rubah]

Sirius didn't do it from Grimmauld Place, he broke into a wizard home in Hogsmeade

[Kes]

Yeah but then couldn't Voldemort just pop up there? It was always something I wondered too.

Sirius just used it for communication, there may have been a ward on it just like the whole apparating thing? I vaguely remember* Lupin using it to get into Filch's office, but that could be limited to intraschool travel.

As for Voldemort just waltzing in, I imagine that's kind of like walking through someone's back door in the wizarding world and Voldemort didn't want to risk it under Dumbledore as headmaster.



*I can't access my books at this very moment.

[Heath]

I was under the impression that at least prior to book five, Voldemort was in no state to go waltzing in anywhere and least of all Hogwarts because he considered Dumbledore to be the only wizard who could match him. Before the last book, Voldemort always has his actions carried out by his own agents.

As for the fireplace thing itself, I don't know, I just figured that Sirius had found someway to distract the surveillance or something or that they simply keeping only certain fireplaces under watch, discounting the Hogsmeade house because it didn't belong to Black. No idea how to explain the lack of watch on the Gryffindor fireplace though.

[rubah]

no, I guess voldemort wasn't, and he didn't have any of his loyal servants back (the death eaters that were free were probably too complacent to really think about causing evil), but was this still the case during elevent+ years prior?

[Bunny]

I have a theory!

Harry Potter sucks

[rubah]

Here's an Oldie but Goodie:
how come harry can see the thestrals at the beginning of his fifth year but not at the end of his fourth?

(protip: he looks at hermione who has the carriages behind her and still doesn't see them at the end of GoF, I believe)

[scrumpleberry]

I think Rowling answered that one. I think that she said that it's the understanding and acceptance and realisation of death and he'd had time to think about it over the summer. I'd say she was just bluffing to cover an error, but she does plan pretty hard you know.

[blackmage_nuke]

In the logic potion puzzle in the philosophers stone, Quirrell would have had to pass before Harry and Hermione. So why did they not just drink the potion which had already been drunken out of? And if it was a magically refiling potion then there would be no reason for Hermione to stay back.

[champagne supernova]

In the logic potion puzzle in the philosophers stone, Quirrell would have had to pass before Harry and Hermione. So why did they not just drink the potion which had already been drunken out of? And if it was a magically refiling potion then there would be no reason for Hermione to stay back.

And he would have had to have beaten the chess-set. Looking at the destructive nature of the game, why were there still enough pieces? Why wasn't there any chess dust on the floor? It's a giant conspiracy!

EDIT: Off the topic - why does James Bond always have the right accessories for the job? And how come he never gets back and gives Q a few that he didn't really use? I mean, what are the chances that he'll need to use every single toy!

[blackmage_nuke]

Sorry to bump a thread but here's a good one -

In the 6th book when Harry and Dumbledore are in the cave harry tries to summon the Horcrux from the middle of the lake by using "Accio Horcrux" and then it tries to escape but then something tries to stop it. However we later find out that the locket in the basin was a fake and wasn't a Horcrux so in theory when he said "Accio Horcrux" it shouldn't have done anything. Unless the 'fake' locket was a Horcrux and Voldemort is still alive!!

[rubah]

I just flipped to that part, p 561 US, and it doesn't say it was the horcrux that tried to move. I think it was more likely a guard spell voldemort had left. It said it was something large, and pale shooting out of the water, none of which describe a locket. An inferius, maybe?

[blackmage_nuke]

I assumed the inferius were stopping the horcrux as it was being summoned.

[Gwawr]

In regards to the Gryffindor fireplace, why WOULD they be keeping watch on it? Sirius had defected to the Death Eaters (so they thought), so why would be be all that bothered about visiting his old common room?

And before anyone says "to get Harry", what would be the point of looking through the fireplace? All it would do is alert Harry to his proximity and make him easier to find. Sirius would have had nothing to gain through the fireplace access, therefore why watch it?

[blackmage_nuke]

Alright someone explain this to me. Why did Barty Crouch Junior go through all the trouble of putting Harry through the Triwizard tournament? Was it just so he would get the cup and be teleported to the grave yard? If all he wanted to do was make Harry grab a portkey it couldve been alot easier -
"Hey Potter do you mind putting this book back on the shelf?"
"Pass me that sneakoscope Potter"
"You dropped your quill Potter"
He didnt exactly try to hide who he was after Harry came back from the grave yard so even if it might have revealed his motives it wouldnt have made a difference.

Any ideas?

[LunarWeaver]

Dumbledore prattled on for a while about how important Voldemort thinks he is, so that's why he's all fancy-pants about everything (like his Horcrux choices). It would fit his character to use something as grand as a tournament and prove he can pull it all off under Dumbledore's nose, I think. Or that's the excuse I'm giving. Plus, there would be no book otherwise I suppose.

[blackmage_nuke]

I dunno I think "Harry Potter and the Inconspicuous pebble" has quite a ring to it

[The Man]

Simple: Barty Crouch Jr. is an idiot. Fin.

[Croyles]

What EXACTLY did Aberforth do to those goats? Im very worried...

[scrumpleberry]

Innappropriate charms...well, I would guess he probably took them to dinner parties having taught them to say naughty things.

[Renmiri]

I wonder what would happen if Future Esthar got into the Harry Potter series.

Something terrible. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/End_of_the_world)

He would say Hermione is Doubledore's daughter :p

[rubah]

Considering JKR's answer to an 8 year old that asked her about it, exactly what you're afraid to imagine.

[Gwawr]

Can we REALLY bring bestiality into a kids book?

[rubah]

. . . Yeah, we can.



Q: In the Goblet of Fire Dumbledore said his brother was prosecuted for practicing inappropriate charms [JKR buries her head, to laughter] on a goat; what were the inappropriate charms he was practicing on that goat?

JKR: How old are you?

Eight.

JKR: I think that he was trying to make a goat that was easy to keep clean [laughter], curly horns. That's a joke that works on a couple of levels. I really like Aberforth and his goats. But you know Aberforth having this strange fondness for goats if you've read book seven, came in really useful to Harry, later on, because a goat, a stag, you know. If you're a stupid Death Eater, what's the difference. So, that is my answer to YOU.

[loud applause]