Curiosities of the HP books....

The Harry Potter Books Forum

Are you curious about things?

In Britain, there is a lemon candy called a "sherbet lemon." Since most U.S. readers did not know what those are, Dumbledore's Muggle treats were called "lemon drops" in the U.S. version of the first two books. By Book 4, all versions used sherbet lemon.

How does Harry know the date of his birthday? Did Aunt Petunia know? Did Dumbledore tell them?

Let's see, very old wand shop, very old wand, resting on the color of royalty. Since the shop has been around for centuries, does this imply that Ollivanders might have supplied the great Merlin or some similiar Egyptian celebrity with the old wand?

Mr. Ollivander exclaims, "curious... curious," like Alice (from Alice in Wonderland) who finds things "curiouser and curiouser." (So do we.) What other hints might be hiding in that source?

If the rail car in the tunnels at Gringotts conjures up mining scenes from Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, then you are not alone. And where do goblins get all their money? Those small, yet powerful and ruthless, money-hungry goblins are metaphorically akin to the Ferengi, as portrayed in Star Trek (go ask a Trekkie).

It doesn't appear that anyone ever tattle-tailed about what Hagrid had done to Dudley, since the Dursleys had to go to the hospital to have the curl removed. We find out later that there is a whole team of wizards who handle magical reversals to fix mistakes like this, but no wizards came to undo Hagrid's spell.

It's probably nothing, but remember that Ron has Bills old robes - especially since Bill has gotten very interesting in the books.

It is interesting that the style of the school song is not the same as any of the other poems and verses throughout JKR's books. Just an opinion here, but I wonder if it's hiding some significance that has eluded us.

It is apparent that Harry sees the turbon on Quirrell's head for the first time, before entering Diagon Alley. Unlike portrayed in the movie, Quirrell could not have been wearing it at the Leaky Cauldron, or Harry would not have been surprised at it's "peculiar" appearance when he saw it at the Sorting Ceremony. Could that be a clue?

The ghost of the Hufflepuff house is Fat Friar, a monk. Do you wonder if he was a part of Robin's merry men?

Presumably, Ron's grandfather, from whom he inherited his chessboard, was quite skilled. Is it possible that Ron may have inherited something other than the chessboard? Perhaps some skills that we have yet to see?

We have been told a few things about Unicorn magic - can we expect to more about it?

How does JKR define a "cursed life" from the unicorn blood? (Book 1)
Are they cursed because they are forever trapped between life and death, or are there more ramifacations?

In the movie, they show Fluffy (3 headed dog) drooling heavily on Ron. That is not only gross, but would have been potentially deadly to Ron. Legends tells us that the spittle of Cerberus (Fluffy's ancestor) was the origin of the deadly poisonous plant, aconite (remember Snape's first lecture?).

The "full body-bind" on Neville (used on him when they were sneaking out in book 1) has a really wild French translation. When Harry ask Hermione what she did to poor Neville, she replies ("C'est le malefice du Saucisson) that she used the evil spell of the large, dry sausage on him!

Quirrell was not only two faced, but he (and his Voldemort facade) remind me of Janus, the two-headed mythological character after which the month of January is named - as it looks both back at the previous year while looking forward to the new year. Is Voldemort Harry's past and future?

Ummmmmmmm... what ever happened to Fluffy? Where is he now?

How about the Mirror of Erised? I can't remember if that was mentioned lately. Where has that been placed?

It seems that all forms of materializing and de-materializing are accompanied by a sound effect. House-elves make one of the louder noises - like the "crack of a whip." Dumbledore appears without a sound (Book 1). What makes some louder than others? Is it related to their power or maybe their finesse? Does Hagrid disappear with a sonic boom?

Dobby has green eyes... don't know if that means anything. Just pointing it out.

In book two, Ron said that Percy wants to be Minister of Magic. Seems like it... doesn't it?!!! Hmmmmmmmmm!!! Could that have been a clue about where Percy was going to end up? Could be.

In book 2, when Ron and Harry are flying to Hogwarts in the car...

The Invisibility Button fails and the car reappears with a popping noise. So, even a car will make a noise when they appear and disappear. Hmmm!

If the Whomping Willow is "ancient", where did it come from? Is it related to the Ents from The Lord of the Rings or the Fighting Tree in The Wizard of Oz?

Hogwarts is over 1000 years old... founded during the period of European history called "The Dark Ages," even before the time of Merlin and King Arthur.

Who wrote Hogwarts, A History and when was it written/revised?

In Book 2, Hedwig delivers Harry's Christmas present, from the Dursleys. This is odd... because, how was this accomplished?

Do they use Muggle post or owl post? A regular postman wouldn't see the castle. Uncle Vernon wouldn't use owls, and Aunt Petunia hates animals. So, are they forced to send owls at times like this? Or, does the school have a Muggle address that the Dursleys use?

We never find out what Crabbe and Goyle thought happened to them (from the pastries that knocked them out). Maybe they were too embarrassed to admit it, or maybe they had too much holiday cheer, but waking up in a closet (that they didn't remember walking in to in the first place) with their shoes outside the door had to seem a little odd, even for dim-witted, greedy punks. This is not reinforced anywhere in the books. So, I guess that we just ignore it.

The "odd red gleam" in Riddle's eyes is quite devil-like. Voldemort, himself seems to have red eyes all the time now. Is that because of the Dark Art magic he's done on himself, or is something else influencing him? It's not difficult to imagine Dumbledore vs. Voldemort as Good vs. Evil.

Does the Marauder's Map actually "think for itself"? Does it even need a brain or does it just reflect the images that exist?

Hmmmm... the Patronus Charm is considered "well beyond" O.W.L.

What does that say about our very own Harry??? Is his level of magic going to be powerful?

Time to revive this brilliant thread.



What's up with girls bathrooms?


Fought the troll in one
Entrance to the Chamber of Secrets in one
Polyjuice Potion concocted in one

So I watched the second movie again and there are a lot of things I don't get about the whole series.

I guess HP as a baby almost killed that one main bad guy, who somehow shows up on the back of some guys head, then a younger version of himself. What's that about? Why is there such a beef between HP's family and this guy? What's so special about HP in the first place?

-HECK!

You have to read through the books, Heck. But, some answers really come out in book 5, and 6. There is a reason (at the end of book 5) why Voldemort attacked Harry Potter's family, killing his parents. But, because of the love that his mother had, in protecting Harry with her very life (and her love) it protected Harry from Voldemorts death spell.

As for the reason that he was on the back of the professors head.... it's because he wasn't "Whole" And in the second movie, he only existed through a spell that he made with that journal.

Voldemort is using dark magic, to bring himself back to life.

I read the 2nd & 3rd books, started the 4th but just want to see the movie. Then I will read the 5th and 6th. Guess I will be caught up after that.

I saw the 3rd movie after I read the book and there was a lot left out. I heard the same thing happened in the 4th movie.

Do you have any theories on how it all ties together? Are there still a lot of questions?

My mother got all into these books recently and told me who dies and who kills that person, big names, sucks it's ruined but at least I know what the deal is.

-HECK!

Yes, there are still things that we're trying to figure out... but, this last book, that we're allllllllllllllllllllll waiting on, will tie everything up. I can't wait. Only 1 1/2 years to go!!!

I swear the mother's love protecting Harry is such a cop-out. I sincerely hope we get a better explanation than that down the road... My personal theory is that Harry goes back in time before he was born to save Voldemort for some unknown and made up reason, therefore if he was to die when he was little it would cause a really bad time paradox dealy. I'm so convinced I'm right, I tell others to shut up when they try to give their opinions

HECK, there was much more left out in the fourth movie than in the third, though it doesn't feel as cramped as the third. But if you were to read the fifth book after seeing the fourth movie, there'd be a lot of references you just wont get... but the story would just continue along as usual, so you may not even notice.