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Who gave Harry Potter his scar, and how did it come in the shape of a lightning bolt? Does it hurt often?

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  • Who gave him the scar? Am I missing something? And we see in the books and movies that it hurts often. Is this just asking about the shape of the scar?
    – Meat Trademark
    May 2, 2016 at 7:13
  • Regarding your question about how often Harry's scar hurts -- we'd have to paw through canon and count how many times Harry's scar hurt, which would be tedious and would take forever! However, this question addresses why Harry's scar hurts, when it does, which might be helpful to you. :)
    – Slytherincess
    May 2, 2016 at 11:15

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Voldemort gave him the scar

Need I say more? This is mentioned early in the first book.

Why is it shaped like a lightning bolt? Well,

Because it's cool

According to J.K. Rowling in a long-lost (but still archived) Muggle.net post:

Koen Van Der Voort: Why is the scar on Harry's forehead lightning-shaped?

J.K. Rowling: To be honest, because it's a cool shape. I couldn't have my hero sport a doughnut-shaped scar.

Fan speculation is that the shape is due to the wand movement need to cast Avada Kedavra. This was supported by a (non-canonical) list of wand movements on Pottermore, which showed the wand movement for Avada Kedavra as being very similar to the shape of a lightning bolt.

This is, however, not accurate.

Snape raised his wand and pointed it directly at Dumbledore. “Avada Kedavra!”

All that is necessary is to point one's wand at the target, as we can see from the fact that the character in the preceding paragraph points his wand "directly" at his target.

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    I don't understand your reference to Dumbledore after Snape kills him -- are you suggesting that Dumbledore ended up with a lightning-shaped scar after Snape hit him with Avada Kedavra? Would you clarify what you mean and why you included that bit from Half-Blood Prince? I've been active in HP fandom since 2002, and I've never encountered a fan theory that the lightning-shaped scar was due to Voldemort's wand movement (i.e. there was no "Swish and flick!" involved. :)
    – Slytherincess
    May 2, 2016 at 11:05
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    "It's 'avAda kedavra' not 'avadA kedavra'. Honesty, she's a nightmare..."
    – The Dark Lord
    May 2, 2016 at 11:45
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    @Slytherincess - Sorry, I was sleeping. The point of what I was saying is that Snape pointed his wand straight at Dumbledore, no wand movements involved. The fan theory I believe is referenced in one of the linked answers (Pottermore kind of supports it).
    – Adamant
    May 2, 2016 at 13:55
  • @Slytherincess - referenced here
    – Adamant
    May 2, 2016 at 18:36
  • Bowties - sorry, lightning bolts - are cool.
    – Rand al'Thor ♦
    Jun 5, 2016 at 17:29

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