Harry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling, 8 full length feature films, and a collection of 3 supplementary works. Harry Potter is the highest-earning series of books of all time, earning at least $400 million on the books alone, not including movies ...
2
votes
1answer
92 views
Anatomy and the polyjuice potion
Polyjuice potions are used a lot through the Harry Potter story, and it's an established fact that it accounts for both age and gender. The only known limitation is that it is only intended for taking ...
2
votes
2answers
215 views
Could an Animagus transform himself into a human?
An Animagus is supposed to be able to transform itself into the animal that most suits its personality.
Since humans are animals, what if it transforms himself into another human?
5
votes
1answer
124 views
Why couldn't Snape and McGonagall prevent what Fudge did in GoF?
I tried to keep the question title spoiler-free.
SPOILER WARNING for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire!
In Goblet of Fire (The Parting of the Ways), Dumbledore says to Snape:
‘Then go down ...
2
votes
2answers
88 views
Where can ghosts go?
So there are quite a few ghosts in Harry Potter, but none of them seem to go anywhere exotic. They mostly hang around familiar places or decide to haunt some building (the Hogwarts ghosts "haunt" ...
5
votes
0answers
121 views
How can JKR's rules for Secret Keeper be reconciled between Deathly Hallows and FAQ?
On an old JKR's website FAQ it is asked:
What happens to a secret when the Secret-Keeper dies?
And the answer given by JKR herself is:
When a Secret-Keeper dies, their secret dies with them, ...
3
votes
3answers
222 views
What did Olivander mean when he said Voldemort did “great things”?
I won't be able to quote properly because I read the books in French. However, in PS, when Harry gets his wand, Olivander says this :
"Curious indeed how these things happen. The wand chooses the ...
6
votes
4answers
273 views
Why couldn't Harry do an “accio” on Golden Egg in GoF
In GoF, when Harry Potter is faced with a dragon, he used "accio" to get his broomstick and then grabbed the golden egg after some flying. My question is that why couldn't he do an "accio" on the ...
2
votes
1answer
103 views
What Would Have Happened If Voldemort Had Chosen Redemption? [closed]
I'm not sure if my memory serves me correctly, but I recall that at the end of Deathly Hallows, before Voldemort and Harry fire their final spells at one another, the latter gives the former a last ...
7
votes
1answer
118 views
In Harry Potter: where do people in paintings go when not within their normal frames?
I'm not sure whether this happens in the books - it's been a while since I've read them - but in the films at least, there's occasions when subject(s) of a given painting venture outside of its ...
36
votes
8answers
3k views
Why would Dumbledore encourage people to call Voldemort Voldemort instead of Tom Riddle?
Here is a quote from the first Harry Potter book, it's a conversation between Dumbledore and McGonagall
"My dear Professor, surely a sensible person like yourself can call him by his name? All ...
9
votes
2answers
324 views
Why would Mrs. Weasley believe Daily Prophet's Skeeter about Hermione?
In Goblet of Fire, Mrs Weasley is seemingly upset with Hermione, and it appears to be due to reading what Rita Skeeter wrote about her in the newspaper.
Mrs. Weasley knew Hermione pretty well at the ...
3
votes
2answers
96 views
Can effects of Polyjuice potion be reversed?
If someone takes Polyjuice potion, can the effects be reversed before the one-hour potion acting time expires?
For example, by applying a specific counter spell, or stunning a person? Or killing ...
6
votes
2answers
290 views
Why is Harry taking Divination in Year 4?
"Double Divination this afternoon," Harry groaned, looking down. Divination was his least favorite subject, apart from Potions. Professor Trelawney kept predicting Harry's death, which he found ...
0
votes
0answers
55 views
Shouldn't duels such as the duel club be discouraged? [duplicate]
I mean, in a duel such as the duel club in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the main objective is to disarm the opponent. But it's also known that when a wizard is disarmed by another, his ...
5
votes
4answers
411 views
Did wizards know more about the Milky Way galaxy than Muggles?
In Harry Potter's third year, Harry had to restrain himself from buying a perfect moving model of the Milky Way galaxy. Perfect model implies that wizards know everything that is in the galaxy and ...
0
votes
1answer
205 views
Why didn't Harry die in the dark forest?
I know that this question may sound like it has a very obvious answer, and many of you may just say that Harry didn't die because he was the Master of Death, as he had the possession of the three ...
-2
votes
0answers
130 views
Can adding Maxima to the end of every spell make it more powerful? [closed]
In the movies, Harry used Lumos Maxima to create a brighter light, and Umbridge used Bombarda Maxima to blast her way into the Room of Requirement. That being said, could a sufficiently powerful Dark ...
8
votes
2answers
289 views
Did Mad-eye Moody lose a buttock?
Did he lose a buttock by igniting his pants with his wand?
'Dont put your wand there, boy!' roared Moody.'What if it ignited? Better wizards than you have lost buttocks, you know!'
'Who d'you ...
10
votes
3answers
436 views
Are the Hogwarts Potion Books intentionally misleading?
They don't seem to be giving the correct instructions in concocting the potions- as seen when Hermione isn't able to make her draught in Slughorn's class.
2
votes
3answers
286 views
Does the world of Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality differ in any other way from the original besides the husband of aunt Petunia?
The premise of "Potter and the Methods of Rationality" is what would have happened if aunt Petunia married a scientist instead, and Harry was raised in such an environment?
Is this the only ...
6
votes
2answers
237 views
How did people know so fast that Voldemort died/vanished/disappeared
This question has been treated (for example here or here) but I want to know a very specific detail that strucked me as I re(-re-re-re)-read the first book.
People celebrated the defeat of Voldemort ...
1
vote
0answers
156 views
What were the other injuries to Weasley family members?
There are nine main Weasleys in the Harry Potter books. Most of whom got inured in the course of the books.
Arthur:
Bill:
Fred:
George:
Ron:
Ginny:
I can't remember if Molly, ...
6
votes
4answers
345 views
Why doesn't the huge difference between the muggle and wizard gold exchange rates get misused?
Why doesn't the huge difference between the muggle and wizard gold exchange rates lead to the collapse of the wizard economy?
We know, that 17 silver Sickles is worth a golden Galleon. However, in ...
4
votes
3answers
371 views
Why did Dumbledore say that the Ring (Hallow/Horcrux) “was sure to carry a curse”?
“When I discovered it, after all those years, buried in the
abandoned home of the Gaunts - the Hallow I had craved
most of all, though in my youth I had wanted it for very
different reasons - ...
2
votes
2answers
369 views
Why did Dumbledore never ask Harry how to destroy a horcrux?
Here is the thing, Harry destroyed a Horcrux in his second year with a basilisk fang, even if he didn't know at the time. But in his sixth year, Dumbledore says to Harry, and I quote: "Horcruxes are ...
-2
votes
1answer
175 views
What happened to Voldemort's “final” corpse? [closed]
I mean, his corpse after the duel with Harry at Hogwarts...perhaps Order of Phoenix members did something like this? ;-)
3
votes
1answer
257 views
How was the sword of Gryffindor pulled from the hat a second time?
Spoilers follow, and this is from the books (not the movies)...
In The Chamber of Secrets:
Then in The Deathly Hallows:
Then, in the battle at the end of the book:
However, if the sword ...
4
votes
2answers
223 views
Could someone explain to me the blood wards of 4 Privet Drive?
We know that Harry spends 10 months a year in Hogwarts and only 2 months (or less, as the time spent in No. 4 seems to decrease with every book) at Number 4. We are told that Dumbledore himself made ...
1
vote
6answers
414 views
How can electricity not work at Hogwarts?
In the Goblet of Fire, Hermione says:
All those substitutes for magic Muggles use – electricity, and computers and radar, and all those things – they all go haywire around Hogwarts, there’s too ...
1
vote
0answers
63 views
How did Snape learn when Harry was to be moved? [duplicate]
In the first chapter of Deathly Hallows, Snape divulges to Voldemort when Harry was going to be moved, citing a source he and Voldemort had previously discussed.
‘Good. Very good. And this ...
12
votes
2answers
290 views
Are the wizard coins in the Harry Potter books international?
The Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts are described as the currency of wizards. I don't remember seeing anything about any other currency used by wizards. Is there such currency? Are Galleons, Sickles, and ...
14
votes
2answers
393 views
What is the reason for such a strange exchange rate in the wizard currency in Harry Potter?
There are 17 Sickles in a Galleon, and 29 Knuts in a Sickle. This seems very impractical, as both numbers are primes.
It might be an out-of-universe parody of how old muggle money was divided before ...
4
votes
1answer
250 views
What elements of Arthurian Legend are adopted in Harry Potter?
We know for a fact that Merlin (in the potterverse) was in Slytherin house and did indeed live during King Arthur's Court whilst also pertaining to the same enemy named Morgana. (source)
What other ...
4
votes
1answer
308 views
How did Dobby seal off Platform 9 and 3/4?
In Chamber of Secrets, how is Dobby able to seal off Platform 9¾, something that is so important and acts as the gateway from London to Hogwarts. We know as a fact that house-elves have the ...
1
vote
3answers
295 views
Why didn't the Marauder's Map mark Peter Pettigrew as Scabbers when he was in rat form?
Why doesn't the Marauder's Map account for any transformed animagi's adopted name?
And, how does the Marauder's Map register the names of people in the first place?
0
votes
0answers
51 views
house elf freedom? [duplicate]
Do house elves only submit to freedom if they are directly handed a piece of clothing from their master or do they have the free will to release themselves from their slavery if they find their own ...
4
votes
2answers
271 views
Who exactly was Hagrid expecting in the Chamber of Secrets?
In the second Harry Potter movie, Hagrid comes to the door slowly while carrying his crossbow only to see Harry and Ron under the invisibility cloak. Then afterwards he does the same only to reveal ...
10
votes
4answers
530 views
How do the wand makers get the cores into the wands?
One of the sellers of magic wands, Ollivander, sells wands with Dragon heartstring, Phoenix feather, or Unicorn hair cores in them. What does JKR say about how the wandmakers get the core materials ...
9
votes
2answers
262 views
When did Voldemort become aware of the Elder Wand?
I'm hoping this question doesn't have a really easy answer that I am inadvertently overlooking. When I first wondered when Voldemort had originally learned of the existence of the Elder Wand, I picked ...
1
vote
1answer
130 views
Why was Igor Karkaroff eligible for the 'head master' of Durmstrang wizarding school?
Why was Karkaroff eligible for the headmaster position at Durmstrang when he had a bad reputation of being a Death Eater?
3
votes
3answers
271 views
In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2, I am confused
In the movie, not the book, during the Battle of Hogwarts, Harry and Voldemort's wands connected when Expelliarmus and Avada Kedavera was cast in order to kill one another. it was stated in Goblet ...
5
votes
2answers
286 views
How did Mad-Eye Moody survive in the enchanted trunk in Goblet of Fire?
How did Alastor 'Mad Eye' Moody manage to survive for 9 months when he was trapped in the enchanted trunk in the 4th book?
11
votes
2answers
441 views
Did Dumbledore have a plan when he made Snape the DADA teacher?
As confirmed by this question, Dumbledore knew that the Defense Against the Dark Arts (DADA) position was cursed by Voldemort so that no professor would hold the position for more than one year. That ...
8
votes
2answers
208 views
Were there any talking dragons in Harry Potter world?
Charlie Weasley had some successes in his tries to train dragons, at least Ron claims that.
But does history of Potterverse remember of any dragon with ability to talk or to communicate with people ...
2
votes
4answers
457 views
What's the point to the houses?
In universe, students are sorted into houses based on their qualities. But when Harry Potter was sorted he was told, "He would do well in Slytherin." The question is why? There doesn't seem to be ...
9
votes
2answers
237 views
Why would Shrinking Solution turn a frog into a tadpole and not a small size frog?
"Everyone gather 'round," said Snape, his black eyes glittering, and
watch what happens to Longbottom's toad. If he has managed to produce a
Shrinking Solution, it will shrink to a tadpole. If, ...
3
votes
2answers
109 views
How are potions made?
Where does majority of the energy for the magical effect of a potion comes from?
Does it all comes from the brewer? Or does most of it comes from the ingredients?
I know JKR said that you have to ...
3
votes
2answers
243 views
Why did the snake wink at Harry at the zoo?
This is mostly a memory question - I'm having a hard time remembering this and I can't read the book right now.
On the first book, a snake at the zoo winks at Harry. For the sake of the question, ...
5
votes
2answers
191 views
Charms&Enchantments conundrum
Is there any difference between charming objects (i.e. "adding or changing certain properties of an object") and enchanting them?
Is charming/enchantment used in creation of magical objects?
Do ...
5
votes
2answers
206 views
Where do the items in the Room of Requirement come from?
Throughout the series, the Room of Requirement has provided many things, all "according to the seeker's needs". From chamber pots to makeshift dueling clubs to hidden storeroom, the Room of ...
