109
Hermione has always been an objective individual
I think her preferred Hallow was a symbol of the type of person she is. In some sense, both Harry and Ron gravitated towards the Hallows that addressed some deep personal issues of their own (Ron's insecurities and Harry's great losses). In comparison, Hermione was someone who preferred to make her decision ...
100
I have another interpretation of this passage:
It's not that Harry had never asked Sirius, whether he was as good as his father in Quidditch.
Imho this sentence means: He never asked Sirius WHY he was there in the first place.
he had probably come to see whether Harry was as good as James had been
Harry had never asked him…
So the uncertainty ...
94
Hermione is correct, it is obvious from the tale which gift is best.
The brother who got the wand was killed the night after he boasted of the powerful wand.
The brother who got the stone soon killed himself.
The brother who got the cloak lived a long life and died in peace.
And then he (the younges brother) greeted Death as an old friend, and went with ...
61
The most likely in-universe explanation is that Harry doesn't remember the second quote, as it is two years ago for him, and he was just fighting for his life and lost Sirius.
The most likely out-of-universe explanation is that Rowling doesn't remember the second quote, as it is more than two years between the books.
The comment by Alex that the two ...
28
You are correct that his master's order didn't create his ability to apparate away, so maybe it provided the motivation.
The potion seems to affect the mind, here some quotes from Dumbledore when he drank the potion:
“It’s all my fault, all my fault,” he sobbed. “Please make it stop, I know I did wrong, oh please make it stop and I’ll never, never again …...
27
What Harry never asked Sirius was whether Harry played Quidditch as well as James did. Sirius only said that Harry flew as well as James, not that he played Quidditch as well as James.
Broomstick skills are extremely important to Quidditch, of course, but it is possible to be a skilled flyer and still be only a mediocre player.
(One might reasonably ...
11
Yes. But, at least in the later years, Professor Dumbledore humiliates Harry by delivering choice words in a calm manner. This is more effective than if he shouted insults at him like Professor Snape did in his worst moments. The best example is in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince chapter 20.
Dumbledore heaved a deep sigh, then said, ‘But never ...
9
The reason why Hermione chose the cloak is pure logic and logic alone, and the story of the three brothers only reinforces that which can be figured out purely by logic.
What's the ring good for? Nothing really. It can't really bring back the dead only their spirits who apparently grow tired of being summoned back to witness the living, and there is some ...
7
There’s some information, but few details.
The exact details of everything that happened leading up to Salazar Slytherin leaving Hogwarts aren’t all known, but in Harry’s fifth year, the Sorting Hat tells a bit more about it.
“And never did they dream that they
Might some day be divided,
For were there such friends anywhere
As Slytherin and ...
6
An eye in the middle of a symbol is in almost cases referred by as "all seeing eye". This is a symbol of early Christian, to show the eye of God, watching over humanity (Wikipedia "Eye of Providence")
If I assume the background are three moons with points of intersection (see the picture), then this three are the symbol of "Triple Crescent Moon". Like this ...
6
Elf apparition is unique to elves and is not the same as a wizard's. Hence it may not be detectable by the Ministry, the same way Wizard Enchantments cannot prevent them from Apparating or Disapparating.
House-elf apparation is unique to house-elves; it is a different form of magic:
“Elf magic isn’t like wizard’s magic, is it?” said Ron. “I mean,
they ...
5
Grindelwald probably wasn’t an Obscurial.
From all the evidence given, it’s most logical to conclude that Grindelwald is likely not an Obscurial.
He didn’t have difficulty controlling his magic.
Obscurials tend to have an unstable use of magic. As a teenager when he met Dumbledore, Grindelwald seemed to have control over his magic enough to be Albus’s ...
4
In Chapter Five of Chamber of Secrets Dumbledore scolds Harry and Ron (albeit without raising his voice) for flying the car to Hogwarts:
"Not today, Mr. Weasley," said Dumbledore. "But I must impress upon both of you the seriousness of what you have done. I will be writing to both your families tonight. I must also warn you that if you do anything like ...
4
Salazar’s reason is never truly confirmed.
It isn’t known for certain why Salazar Slytherin put the basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets. Though the often-cited explanation is that he did it so he or one of his descendants could rid the school of all those who were unworthy of studying magic, it’s unclear if this is proven anywhere or if it’s just a ...
4
I'm assuming that this is riffing off the section in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire where Hermione discuses the limitations of the text of Hogwarts : A History.
“It’s all in Hogwarts, A History. Though, of course, that book’s not entirely reliable. A Revised History of Hogwarts would be a more accurate title. Or A Highly Biased and Selective History ...
3
Nope... definitely not: one can only develop an obscurus when repressing his magic...
Here is the definition of obscurus from the wiki:
An Obscurus is the manifestation of the repressed energy of a young wizard or witch (known as an Obscurial). Described as a "dark" and "parasitic" force, an Obscurus is created when the child in question consciously ...
3
Well, I don't know if this meets your definition of "scolded," but here are some instances (really just the one scene) from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Chapter 23 Horcruxes: (emphases mine)
“Harry, Harry, only because Voldemort made a grave error, and acted on Professor Trelawney’s words! If Voldemort had never murdered your father, would he ...
3
This obviously was never directly addressed in the books. But there are spells that can detect underage magic, or magic in front of muggles, or even a spell that tells the Ministry every time Voldemort's name is spoken, used once he took over the Ministry. So it can be assumed that the spell that enslaves House Elves has a similar detection built into it ...
2
As it was already stated in other answers, the magic of the elves differs from wizards' and it doesn't obey the same rules. House elves can bypass the Anti-Apparition charm as we have seen at Hogwarts and Malfoys Manor. So we can safely assume that Kreacher was technically able to Disapparate from the cave as well.
What is also characteristic of the elves ...
2
I don't think there is a specific canon-based resolution for this one way or the other, but it is entirely possible for a Master's order to be a supremely high and over-riding form of magic, allowing house elves to do otherwise "impossible" magical things without even meaning or willing themselves to.
At least one example of an overriding form of "deeper ...
2
In-Universe Possible Answer: To prevent Obscuri.
Obscuri almost always die by age 10. Perhaps the in-universe reason to start at age 11 was to prevent a potential Obscurus coming to Hogwarts and wreaking havoc. Especially since they took in Muggle children (against the wishes of Slytherin), who were more likely to be persecuted for there magic, and hence ...
2
The Trace is only set up to detect wizard's magic, not house-elf magic.
That leaves the question of why it detected the Hover Charm, but we know that house-elves are capable of casting wizard's spells as well as using their own special house-elf magic, because Winky was accused of using Harry's wand to cast the Dark Mark in The Goblet of Fire.
We can ...
2
In my honest opinion when the first quote was said Harry didn't believe much of what Sirius was saying, because he didn't trust him at the moment, so these words didn't stick in Harry's mind and just got passed.
But may be it's just poor writing, yes. There are many things like this through the books. For example, in the first or second book there is a ...
2
Because Hermione was always the one, who did not pursue power tools. She wanted to live peacefully, far away from all the danger.
The Invisibility Cloak, as the Ignat used it for, was to protect himself and his family and not a tool for power and violence.
1
Two examples come to mind:
1) Slytherin is described as being forced out of the school, but the Sorting Hat, who was present, describes Slytherin as having departed (seemingly of his own accord).
Sorting Hat:
These differences caused little strife
When first they came to light,
For each of the four founders had
A House in which they might
...
1
tldr: he used a basilisk because that was the best option available to him
This answer is based on the assumption that all the information we have about Slytherin are correct. I also recommend you to read an upvote this as it's a good answer. But I also it's just a theory, and as more new material gets added to the Harry Potter universe we will be able to ...
1
It's unclear.
In addition to the excellent information in Bellatrix's answer, I want to add a few more details that we know: (all non-book quotes are from the Chamber of Secrets article on Pottermore)
Salazar Slytherin had a grandiose opinion about his importance to the school:
However, it is clear by the very decoration of the Chamber that by the time ...
1
This symbols appears on a pocket watch, and pocket watches were traditionally personalized items. They were traditional signs of status, and even simple ones were often engraved with the owner's monogram on the case. British lords could have them further customized with their family crests or escutcheons on the case or the dial.
Based on these real-world ...
1
It can cause disastrous effects.
In the books, the ministry instructor warns students not to even try:
May I emphasize that you will not be able to Apparate outside the walls of this Hall, and that you would be unwise to try.
As an instructor, he would presumably know what he's talking about.
Furthermore, in Hogwarts: An Incomplete and Unreliable Guide ...
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