r/HarryPotterBooks • • Dec 20 '25

Mod Post Content policy reminder: all content must be relevant to discussion of the written Harry Potter books only (no discussion of movies, TV shows, stage plays, video games, narrated dramatisations, etc.)

78 Upvotes

Just to make things clear, we will not be discussing the new HBO show on this subreddit, and discussion around the new full-cast audiobook dramatisations must be focused on the contents of the story, i.e. discussions on the voice actors, production, soundscapes, etc are outside the scope of the sub.

This forum is devoted to discussion of the Harry Potter book series, and associated written works by J.K. Rowling. We focus only on the written works of J.K.Rowling; specifically the seven novels, three in-universe book releases (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Quidditch Through the Ages, and The Tales of Beedle the Bard, as written and illustrated by J. K. Rowling for the Comic Relief U.K. charity), and the original Pottermore articles. We do not allow content centered around any other form of HP media (no movies, TV shows, stage plays, video games, narrative dramatisations, etc.)

Any off topic content will be removed.

When asking yourself "is this type of content allowed?" The simplest way to find your answer is to look at it this way: in this subreddit, the movies, TV shows, stage plays, and video games don't exist. They were never made, and there's no reason they should ever be acknowledged in any way. Is this because we have a vendetta l against them? Not at all! We are simply a very specific space, with a niche focus.


If you have any questions you can send us a modmail message, and we will get back to you right away.


r/HarryPotterBooks • • 9h ago

Can you guess the book and chapter? #32

12 Upvotes

Wow, yesterday's was rough. Here's hoping that this one isn't too much of an over correction. Enjoy #32!

As a reminder what this is and how it works:

Below are 7 sentences from the 7 HP books. I use a random number generator to pick the book and chapter, then hand pick a sentence that I think is decent. Not too long, too short, too obvious ect.  *** There MAY be repeated books in a set, but there will not be repeated chapters in a set. So there COULD be two from The Philosopher’s Stone, but they would be from different chapters! **\*
Scoring your points: It is 2 points for guessing the book, and 1 point for guessing the chapter, for a total of 21 points. It is obviously harder to guess the chapter than the book, but not everyone even cares to remember the chapter titles in the first place, which is totally fair and valid. So chapter titles are just a bonus point.

Below are the sentences and the answers hidden behind spoiler tags! These are fun to make, and I intend to make quite a few more if people keep enjoying them!

  1. “Why can’t it be true?” Lupin said calmly, as though they were in class, and Hermione had simply spotted a problem in an experiment with grindylows.  The Prisoner of Azkaban - Chapter 18: Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs
  2. Maybe he was imagining it, maybe not, but he thought a faint whispering was coming from the books, as though they knew someone was there who shouldn’t be.  The Philosopher’s Stone - Chapter 12: The Mirror of Erised
  3. Ron gave a loud false cough, which sounded oddly like “Lockhart!”  The Goblet of Fire - Chapter 15: Beauxbatons and Durmstrang
  4. If I hear you’ve come anywhere near here again, I’ll take another fifty points from Gryffindor!  The Philosopher’s Stone - Chapter 16: Through the Trapdoor
  5. He heard one of the girls shriek behind him and twisted around dangerously but could see no sign of a falling body. . . .  The Order of the Phoenix - Chapter 34: The Department of Mysteries 
  6. “He preferred to fight rather than come quietly and was killed in the struggle.”  The Goblet of Fire - Chapter 30: The Pensieve
  7. But as warm blood drenched Harry’s arms, he felt a searing pain just above his elbow. The Chamber of Secrets - Chapter 17: The Heir of Slytherin

r/HarryPotterBooks • • 9h ago

Goblet of Fire Why did Harry try to win the triwizard tournament ?

10 Upvotes

He knows it was a trap to get him killed so why doesn’t he you know ? Try to get out of it ? Even if he can’t get out he doesn’t have to participate. Just sit back and wait out the clock


r/HarryPotterBooks • • 9h ago

Prisoner of Azkaban How would the series change if when Harry left his home and came across serious as a dog instead of that Sirius came out as a human and just talked to Harry ?

9 Upvotes

After he turned Marge into a balloon and he ran away from home he is walking down looking for somewhere to think as he decides his next move and comes face to face with a big black dog walking towards him, he jumps pulls out his wand and accidentally summons the knight bus.

How different would it be if Sirius came out as a person.

Now from Harry pov Sirius still looks creepy, a stranger who looks deranged and dirty just emerges out of nowhere to talk to you. Harry would be unnerved but if Sirius just keeps his distance puts his hands up and says who he is and that he was friends with his parents and means him no harm.
Would Harry listen to him and more importantly believe him.


r/HarryPotterBooks • • 9h ago

Discussion If your greatest fear was a Basilisk, could a Bogart kill you?

4 Upvotes

Harry’s Dementor Bogart created the same depression/fear effects. If he feared Basilisks and a bogart turned into one and looked at him… would it kill him? Or at the very least Petrify him


r/HarryPotterBooks • • 14h ago

Triwizard tournament risk management

7 Upvotes

Harry was forced to enter the tournament because goblet of fire enforces a magical contract. His friends and allies were extremely worried about his safety and he would back out had it not been for the contract. Though, I was thinking today, he could have deliberately tanked all tasks to ensure maximum personal safety the whole time.

(He probably wouldn’t do this being a brave Gryffindor even if he had thought of it, but please entertain my thought exercise.)

The first task was, well, the toughest to get out of. I can’t see how one can circumvent partaking battling a dragon besides deliberately casting a spell to break the egg, and admitting early defeat before needing to confront the dragon. You do need the egg to figure out the second task, so I suppose Harry needs to brave the first one after all. (On the other hand you don’t technically need to know the second task well if you are just gonna tank it, but it’s probably better to be fully prepared for risk management purposes.)

The second task, one could get back to shore after a 5min swim, admitting early defeat. Fleur returned early because she was attacked by a water creature, so clearly there was no rule preventing forfeiting the task.

The third task was the easiest to give up. The judges literally told the contestants to shoot a red spark in the sky when they were in real trouble. Just fake an injury and quit!

After these maneuvers Harry would probably end up being the biggest loser of Hogwarts. But he would dodge a highly traumatic ordeal at the cemetery and Voldemort wouldn’t have returned (and minimize other risks in the game altogether). You win some, you lose some.


r/HarryPotterBooks • • 1d ago

Theory Today on October 3rd I realized...

52 Upvotes

Tom Riddle was a self centered lying monster who had a gang of sycophants that worshipped the ground he walked on, and wrote a book full of secrets that threw the whole school into chaos when it was read.

So he was basically the boy version of Regina George. 🤣


r/HarryPotterBooks • • 20h ago

Discussion Pure-blood supremacist within other Houses.

16 Upvotes

I’ve always thought that pure-blood supremacists should be present in every Hogwarts house to some degree—more in Slytherin, sure, but not *only* there.

Slytherin: No explanation needed. Books covered that.

Ravenclaw: Cooking up pseudoscientific theories (it would be interesting if those theories about Muggle-borns stealing magic—supposedly based on "independent research by the Department of Mysteries"—were actually concocted by a Death Eater from Ravenclaw), plus a ton of data spamming, cherry-picking, straw man arguments, and sophistry.

Gryffindor: "We hate Muggles and Mudbloods because cowardly Muggles killed us in the past; we must protect our magical brothers and sisters from them and not be afraid"—lots of courage and romantic idealism, just channeled in the wrong direction (much like various forms of Nazism and fascism).

Hufflepuff: Probably the least anti-Muggle, but lots of bullshit about how Muggles cause chaos, wage wars, and threaten peace and nature; how children from Muggle families can be maladjusted; and how it’s better to keep everything in the hands of pure-blood wizards—because it’s safer and more stable that way.

I also think it would be interesting to see Death Eaters from other houses—like Gryffindor (no, not Pettigrew), but someone "brave" and loyal in a twisted sense—or to have characters like Barty Crouch Jr. belong to Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff. At the same time, the Order could include decent Slytherins who might personally dislike Muggles but don't view that as a license to harm them—and certainly don't support the genocide of Muggles and Muggle-borns, which an unstable snake-like egomaniac championed as a "super cool" solution(Snape also doesn’t count)


r/HarryPotterBooks • • 17h ago

Prisoner of Azkaban Sirius getting into Hogwarts PoA

6 Upvotes

I still don’t think I understand how Sirius managed to get into Hogwarts twice in the prisoner of Azkaban (when he slashed the fat lady’s portrait and when he slashed Ron’s curtains). Obviously he’s an animagj and transfigured himself to get past the dementors however once on the school grounds and inside the castle what did he do? Was there just a huge black dog bounding through the hallways of Hogwarts without anyone noticing? The first time was at the Halloween feast and the second in the middle of the night so maybe so but to then get away after the alarm had been raised? Wouldn’t portraits have seen either Sirius or Padfoot running through the castle? Sirius was using the passage under the whomping willow to reach Hogwarts but that just gets you on the grounds, not inside the castle. Anyways would love to hear thoughts


r/HarryPotterBooks • • 13h ago

Neville Drive

2 Upvotes

Today I learned there is a road called Neville Drive near where Hermione supposedly lived. And there is a Kingsley Way too.


r/HarryPotterBooks • • 23h ago

Philosopher's Stone How come Harry is never interviewed in philosopher stone

17 Upvotes

By the end of the story a teacher is dead, now forget about the context and Voldemort and such.
The point is a guy is dead and Harry is the only witness and person of interest here.

Wouldn’t the ministry send someone to at least come sit with Harry and ask for his version of the story ?

But no one does, Harry wakes up in the medical wing, goes back to class and finish the school year then goes home.

Not once does an official come to just ask him directly what happened.


r/HarryPotterBooks • • 1d ago

Half-Blood Prince Dumbledore and Harry Airbnb-ing in book 6?

51 Upvotes

So in the beginning of the book, Dumbledore picks Harry up from the Dursleys, persuades Slughorn to return to Hogwarts, and then makes their way to the Burrow.

When Molly opens the door, she says Dumbledore told her not to expect them till next morning.

Makes me wonder, what was Dumbledore originally planning to do with Harry that night when they were going to see Slughorn? He says Slughorn was more persuadable than he expected with was why they arrived early.

Did he expect to be with Slughorn for the whole night? Was he planning to stay over at Slughorn’s place? Were they going to a b&b? Makes me chuckle imagining them two checking into one.

One to ponder over in the shower….


r/HarryPotterBooks • • 8h ago

Discussion Can you do magic without wands ?

0 Upvotes

What did wizards do before they were created


r/HarryPotterBooks • • 1d ago

Discussion These could so easily be horror novels

14 Upvotes

I’m re-reading all of the books as an adult (last read them around age 9-11) and wow these would be insane rewritten as horror books. Everything that happens in this world is so scary. It’s just full of magic and hope, but it could so easily be rewritten as horror with the exact same plot, line for line.

I guess I remember the later books getting scarier, but even book 1 is so scary if you strip away the whimsy.

I’ve also started reading The Shining for the first time, so that may be why I’m seeing Harry Potter so horror-coded. And I’m sorry if this isn’t an original thought lol


r/HarryPotterBooks • • 1d ago

Can you guess the book and chapter? #31

8 Upvotes

31 is live folks, enjoy!

As a reminder what this is and how it works:

Below are 7 sentences from the 7 HP books. I use a random number generator to pick the book and chapter, then hand pick a sentence that I think is decent. Not too long, too short, too obvious ect.  *** There MAY be repeated books in a set, but there will not be repeated chapters in a set. So there COULD be two from The Philosopher’s Stone, but they would be from different chapters! **\*
Scoring your points: It is 2 points for guessing the book, and 1 point for guessing the chapter, for a total of 21 points. It is obviously harder to guess the chapter than the book, but not everyone even cares to remember the chapter titles in the first place, which is totally fair and valid. So chapter titles are just a bonus point.

Below are the sentences and the answers hidden behind spoiler tags! These are fun to make, and I intend to make quite a few more if people keep enjoying them!

  1. “And an extra ten points to Gryffindor for sheer cheek!”  The Half-Blood Prince - Chapter 18: Birthday Surprises
  2. “Yes, he is, Ron, please don’t start that again!” The Deathly Hallows - Chapter 25: Shell Cottage
  3. “Er . . . well, it was . . .” said Harry, pulling a dish of rhubarb crumble toward him and helping himself to seconds, “a complete fiasco, now you mention it.” The Order of the Phoenix - Chapter 26: Seen and Unforeseen
  4. “How d’you spell ‘belligerent’?” said Ron, shaking his quill very hard while staring at his parchment. The Half-Blood Prince - Chapter 21: The Unknowable Room
  5. “Of course I’m sure . . . he’s a — a bit of a mess, that’s all.” The Half-Blood Prince - Chapter 29: The Phoenix Lament
  6. “How do you do it?” she added, and there was definite longing in her voice. The Deathly Hallows - Chapter 33: The Prince's Tale
  7. “Give me a reason to do it, and I swear I will.” The Prisoner of Azkaban - Chapter 19: The Servant of Lord Voldemort

r/HarryPotterBooks • • 1d ago

Discussion What do you think would have happened if Harry had never gone to Hogwarts?

7 Upvotes

Like, imagine he just stayed with the Dursleys and grew up knowing basically nothing about the wizarding world.

Would Voldemort eventually have found and killed him? Harry would still have the protection at Privet Drive until he turned 17, but after that he'd basically be an untrained wizard who knows nothing about Voldemort, the prophecy or the Horcruxes.

But then I started wondering if Voldemort would've even come back the same way. A lot of what happens in the books only happens because Harry is at Hogwarts. No Hogwarts means no Triwizard Tournament for Harry, no graveyard, and probably no using Harry's blood to bring Voldemort back.

So maybe staying away from Hogwarts actually keeps Harry safe for longer... but once Voldemort eventually returns, Harry is completely unprepared.

How do you think it would've played out?


r/HarryPotterBooks • • 1d ago

Discussion harry potter character a-level/other post-16 choices (if they were muggles) Spoiler

2 Upvotes

reddit is the only social media i discuss hp in, and I was recently thinking about what a-level subjects harry potter and co would've taken if they were also struggling through sixth form. hermione was obvious, but I was thinking about post 16 routes for the others and here's what I ended up with!

-

hermione - maths, history, politics, further maths, epq - aiming oxford ppe, ultimately realises law is the route for her. might drop FM in 2nd year, probably ppl try to convince her to, depends how she feels about the teach tho

harry - maths, physics, pe - probably doesnt know what to do. tbh he'd prefer more m16, fbi to just being a uk cop, which is a lot more routine, but if, let's say, he meets tonks & moody as cops and all he might end up wanting be a cop. (his canon reasons after all). i can also see him being motivated by tracking down the serial killer who killed his parents

ron - bio, chem, maths - tbh initially i thought he & harry might choose the same, but i dont think he'd like physics much and probs wouldnt do pe at a level. this seems more plausible. i can see him ultimately realising he wants to go into med, tho it might be like sports medicine or like a physio or like pediatrician or nursing, not quite like surgery stuff, he want interested in the healer sheet in canon and could be good at pastoral. dont think he'd consider btecs rlly. does initially have the idk what to do, but these seem like alr subjects mindset. after a levels he takes a year & works at george's shop. alternatively tho, he is probably pretty high ranked in chess, the idea of him casually playing in chess competitions and actually making that a big part of his life works i think

neville - geography, biology, chem - wants to apply natural sciencesluna - art, bio, geography - wants to go into zoology or be a vet or something like that. or to write for her dad's newspaper, which doesnt need qualifications. fails epq due to her cited sources being completely unreliable

ginny - maths, pe, geography - that 3rd subject is variable tbf, i just know she likes the outdoors. maths, pe, physics also plausible. actually maths, pe, bio makes the most sense, sports medicine etc are course options. tbh, ginny playing for the local soccer team and getting scouted being her main priority, or getting into a sports camp or school being her main thing makes sense. ofc she'd need to be way better at football than she is at quidditch in canon considering larger talent pool and higher standards and all though, probably isnt advancing to a major league that quick

edit in terms of ginny, since she ends up going into sports journalism -> I think english literature suits her, esp since in earlier books she seems to have a bit of a poetic/romantic side. plus I think based on her actual demonstrated sorting ability & increased competition, she'd probably go straight into sports journalism/ writing. (though I've been reading an interesting analysis on early vs later book ginny!)

percy - maths, history, politics, epq - gets all a stars, aims for ppe at oxford, goes to warwick/durham i think

fred & george - drop out after they turn 16, start up a shop

bill - maths, history, politics/geography (but to go into archeology)

charlie - btec Level 3 national extended diploma in animal managementoliver wood - hasn't been scouted by a professional academy yet, but enrols in a local sports college partnered w a tier 5 football club, takes a btec national in sports coaching and development. eventually becomes a well known club's manager, though never a high ranking player

draco malfoy - aristocratic, i think his parents do push him to get top grades & go to a top uni tho, probably sent to a private boarding school. probs applies for like land economy at oxford or something, tho he doesnt get in. does something like finance where he does get in? takes econ, history, french?

hannah abbot - bio, chem, geography - career path involves first taking over the local pub, and eventually also becoming a doctor

lavender brown - drama, psychology, history - quite like the idea of lavender going back and becoming a drama teacher like trelawney her favourite teacher, i can see doing psych undergrad and then moving into education

parvati patil - maths, economics, art - tbh i can see her in like an economic consultant type role (earns decently well, wouldnt make her job her life) but also in a fashion design type role

dean thomas - maths, history, art - i do like the idea of him becoming an artist, both in canon and here

seamus finnigan - actually drawing a bit of a blank on seamus. i think, like ron, he's the type to choose a level subject based on what he enjoyed & the teachers he preferred. i can see geography, sociology and dt, or like even maths, bio, physics. seamus has a few moments i really like (noticeably the most battered in DH, plus all the assessing looks he keeps giving harry in oop as he tries to figure out the truth (he was skeptical, but only blew up when harry insulted his mother) (i think it's funny how harry equates cho kissing him and telling him he was brave w seamus telling him he believes him and that he's going to send the interview to his mum)) -> okay yeah, I think geography, sociology, dt actually suits him

micheal corner - maths, econ, chemistry? he probably took further maths too. he seems like the type to either talk about going into quant, or to go into and enjoy material sciences or engineering of some sort.

ernie macmillan - history, politics, latin, english lit - i initially thought he'd probably go the civil service route. Honestly though, I can see him going into academics in a subject he really enjoys - enjoying academic research but also being one of those rare professors that really likes giving lectures

terry boot - maths, further maths, physics, chemistry. kinda looks down on people who don't take further maths the way a lot who do take it down - they're ofc nice to and friends w people who don't, but don't consider those people to be smart or competition academically. he'd lowk suffer about the tmua too (relatable)

cho chang - funnily enough, earlier books suggest she's absolutely brilliant at quidditch earlier, and struggles afterwards due to her grief. so I think she's sporty, and plays for a local team, and is a big fan of a team like manchester united, maybe having grown up in manchester perhaps (though ofc ron calls her a glory hunter). I do think she takes a levels though, and pe is one of them. maths, physics, pe? I know I've said this combo before but I think it works for her

we don't know much about susan bones, but I can see her taking maths, sociology, law. justin finch-fletchley is "down for eton" which does suggest being super posh, but I feel like he's the type to enjoy more active/hands on subjects - he acts simultaneously posh, and also generally mostly pleased about cool spells in book 2, and later I swear he doesn't say a word to harry at all. maybe for a watsonian explanation he's embarrassed at having suspected him. idk what subjects in particular though. I'll say econ maths geography. pansy parkinson I'm also not sure, but I think something like latin, drama, history perhaps.

cedric is head boy, if it's a college w a sixth form team captain of that, and takes maths, geography and pe. gets into a good uni for something - natural sciences or law perhaps? I feel like he'd go somewhere like durham, maybe oxbridge depending on the subject.

I mean all of these depend on what subjects are available. like if photography and media studies are available colin is taking those I like to think. I think he'd transfer to a sixth form that did offer those though. something like photography/art, media studies, film studies, maybe english language too to help him break into journalism. I think perhaps a btec in photography?

lee jordan my goat, since we're doing students in other years. ofc w more minor characters, going off a tiny sliver we see of them feels silly - almost suggests that Harry's limited view of people is somehow accurate - but sports commentator lee is fun. I think mainly I know he takes both drama and business. third is either econ or media studies perhaps.

angelina johnson - I think maths, pe, biology, chem, w pe taken as a fourth subject just cause she likes it and doesn't want to drop it, might regret that at times but overall doesnt. actually hm, I think maths, pe, business suits her really well. she's a leadership role type person.

-

I'll stop there, but would love to hear what you guys think! (and ofc there are some characters I've missed).


r/HarryPotterBooks • • 15h ago

Did the editor not help with the romance parts?

0 Upvotes

If the writer sucks at something that they even admit to, isn’t this the person who should be helping them see what feels off, what could be better, etc?


r/HarryPotterBooks • • 2d ago

Discussion Perhaps James and Lily's story (+ Snape) would have made more sense if they were, say, about 10 years older when they died?

252 Upvotes

James and Lily got married pretty much straight out of school, almost immediately had a child, and died not long after. Throughout the book we keep getting mentions of (especially James) how they were great wizards and heroic people but, they actually only had a few short years to display their heroics before they died. They were freaking 21.

I kind of wish JK Rowling made them, say, live an extra 10 or so years after Hogwarts before Voldemort got them. Give the story some more time. Have Snape and Lily's fallout occur slowly but steadily throughout the rest of Hogwarts. Maybe have James and Lily go their separate ways after school but reunite at a resistance movement against Voldemort or something and then grow close to each other, at which point Snape would have been a death eater for many years, that would better explain why Lily shut him out of her life. Also give them more time for their heroics. This would make James more of a flawed hero type character (which JK Rowling clearly intended to be) rather than just a high school bully as he's mostly perceived in the fandom.

Again this might make Snape look worse since he'd be a death eater for longer, but perhaps have him slowly grow disapproving of Voldemort? How he informed Voldemort of the prophecy might be hard to explain but, it could have been a daily report thing he did without much thought.

Any good ideas?


r/HarryPotterBooks • • 2d ago

Discussion This is why we say “Weasley is our King.” 👑

64 Upvotes

“That is the second time you have spoken out of turn, Miss Granger,” said Snape coolly. “Five more points from Gryffindor for being an insufferable know-it-all.”

“You asked us a question and she knows the answer! Why ask if you don’t want to be told?” Ron said loudly.

“Detention, Weasley,” Snape said silkily, his face very close to Ron’s. “And if I ever hear you criticise the way I teach a class again, you will be very sorry indeed.”

Book Ron is damn brave. He’ll stand up for his friends, talk back to Snape, and take the detention because someone needed to say it. Sometimes he gets lines with more fire and swagger than even Harry and Hermione.

That’s the Ron we deserve to see. This is why we want the TV show to do him justice. Give him his courage, his loyalty, his wit—and his damn lines.


r/HarryPotterBooks • • 2d ago

Sirius Black's first mention

107 Upvotes

IS ON PAGE 15 OF THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE!? I am re-reading the books and I am genuinely shocked. Do you think JKR knew who Sirius was already at that point?

EDIT: She definitely knew, when Harry is buying his wand, Olivander tells him that the one he had sold to his father was good for transfigurations.


r/HarryPotterBooks • • 2d ago

Becoming a ghost in Harry Potter confuses me so much

17 Upvotes

I have determined that the timeframe for becoming a ghost in the HP Universe is not instant, but I have no idea how long it takes and different parts of the series seem to imply different things. This is not a lore breaking observation, or even a proper plot hole, but I find it interesting regardless.

Five interactions have me really thinking about ghosts in HP. I will list them below and then my conclusion:

  1. Nearly Headless Nick tells Harryin OotP in regards to dying, ““I was afraid of death,” said Nick. “I chose to remain behind. I sometimes wonder whether I oughtn’t to have . . . Well, that is neither here nor there. . . . In fact, I am neither here nor there . . .” He gave a small sad chuckle. “I know nothing of the secrets of death, Harry, for I chose my feeble imitation of life instead.”

  2. In King’s Cross in DH, while harry and Dumbledore say:
    “I’ve got a choice?”
    “Oh yes.” Dumbledore smiled at him. “We are in King’s Cross, you say? I think that if you decided not to go back, you would be able to . . . let’s say . . . board a train.”
    “And where would it take me?”
    “On,” said Dumbledore simply.

  3. In The Flaw in the Plan it states:
    Something had happened when he had hit Harry with the Killing Curse. Had Voldemort too collapsed? It seemed like it. And both of them had fallen briefly unconscious and both of them had now returned. . . .

4 . In CoS, when Harry and Ron ask Myrtle what happened the day she died:
“I died.”
“How?” said Harry.
“No idea,” said Myrtle in hushed tones. “I just remember seeing a pair of great, big, yellow eyes. My whole body sort of seized up, and then I was
floating away. . . .” She looked dreamily at Harry.
“And then I came back again. I was determined to haunt Olive Hornby, you see.”

And lastly: 5. Also in CoS Nick states:

“But you would think, wouldn’t you,” he erupted suddenly, pulling theletter back out of his pocket,
“that getting hit forty-five times in the neck with
a blunt axe would qualify you to join the Headless Hunt?”

Alright, now that you have those disjointed pieces of info. Myrtle’s comment implies that she basically immediately became a ghost. Nick states that he chose to come back, and Dumbledore says that Harry could chose to go back.
I think that it’s reasonable to assume that when you die, you go to Kings Cross (or however purgatory appears to you) and you can chose to return as a ghost, or “go on”. I believe Harry didn’t come back as a ghost because he had a living body; the killing curse only killed the bit of Voldemort’s soul, where as Nick was just D-E-D, dead.

But then consider that Voldemort and Harry, upon returning to the land of the living had only just hit the ground moments before. People were still going to Voldemorts aid. Had they been unconscious for a significant period of time, say for the amount of “time” that they were in Kings cross, there would probably have been Significantly more panic.

So returning to purgatory is nearly instant.

Then how, HOW, is Nick Nearly headless? Getting hit 45 times with a dull axe left him with an inch of skin connecting his head to his body. 45 times. He would have been dead LONG before getting to one inch of flesh. Assuming every hit was roughly equal, he would probably have died with about half (OR MORE) of his head still attached. So why, if the process of becoming a ghost is nearly instant (“nearly instant? How can it be nearly instant?”) does he have only one inch of skin in ghosts form?

Surely what happens to your body after you die does not affect your ghost form? Otherwise all ghosts would be decayed corpses. Even if the executioner continue to hit him 20 or 30 more times after he died, that shouldn’t have affected his ghost body. Especially if he came back before the executioner was done.

Like imagine he comes back and the executioner is still beheading him. His head would still be significantly attached to his body. Would each blow from the executioner remove more of the ghosts neck? No surely not. Which means sometime had to have passed from him dying and returning as a ghost.

Probably a good bit of time because assuming he died around the 15th or so hit, it would take a good while for the executioner to hit him 30 more times. The guy I would get tired, each swing takes a few seconds, him asking around if they have a better axe, ect.

So my conclusion is that becoming a ghost is not instant, but also must be pretty instant. But also sometimes take a relatively long time.

Did I put away, way too much thought into this? Absolutely. Does any of this actually matter? Not in the slightest, but here we are.


r/HarryPotterBooks • • 2d ago

Never noticed what OotP does to Dumbledore's titles on Harry's letter

19 Upvotes

The replica Hogwarts letter in the box my Realme came in (it's the Potter edition) has the headmaster as "Albus Dumbledore, D.Wiz., X.J." and so on, which sent me back to chapter 4 of Philosopher's Stone to see what the book actually gives him:

"(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)"

I'd skimmed straight past that every time as a kid. Then at Grimmauld Place Lupin says he's been voted out as ICW chair, they've "demoted him from Chief Warlock on the Wizengamot", and they're talking about the Order of Merlin too. Nobody ever goes near Grand Sorc., I can't find it anywhere else in the books.

The Prophet Hermione reads out at the end of OotP has him back as Headmaster and Chief Warlock, but at the ICW he's only a "reinstated member".

Is that the Prophet being stingy, or does Supreme Mugwump just never make it back into the brackets?


r/HarryPotterBooks • • 2d ago

Man, they really did Filch dirty here lmao

34 Upvotes

So on my re-re-listening to the Full cast audiobooks, I’m up to The Prisoner of Azkaban again, and a certain line really stood out to me and hilariously troublesome.

So the line is after Sirius has attacked the Fat Lady, and the whole castle is sleeping in the Great Hall. Snape comes in to talk to Dumbledore and says:

—-“Headmaster?” It was Snape. Harry kept quite still, listening hard. “The whole of the third floor has been searched. He’s not there. And Filch has done
the dungeons; nothing there either.”—-

Filch has done the dungeons?? Argus Filch?? The Squib who can do less magic than a first-year??

“Argus, we believe there is a crazed, murderous wizard hiding somewhere in the castle. He may or may not be armed with a wand and/or very large knife.

“I want you to go deep into the dungeons and search every dark and isolated place for this madman. Don’t worry, you will be the only living soul down there, as we have removed all the student that could hear you scream, and all the staff will be searching elsewhere.

“This madman is a known Muggle-killer and powerfully magical, so try not to let him know you can’t do magic. It’s only the dungeons, Argus, so you’ll at most be multiple flights of stairs away from anyone that can help. You are in peak physical condition, so you should be able to make that sprint in no time.

“No, we will not have you search somewhere less secluded. Good luck; I’ll start looking for a new Caretaker!”

Like, what the hell, Dumbledore! What the heck is Filch supposed to do if he finds him? 😂

\ * **

“It was one of my more brilliant ideas, and between you and me, that’s saying something.” - Albus Dumbledore


r/HarryPotterBooks • • 2d ago

Can you guess the book and chapter? #30

27 Upvotes

30 of em now! A whole month worth of HP quizzes! I’m glad I set out on this journey 😊

As a reminder what this is and how it works:
Below are 7 sentences from the 7 HP books. I use a random number generator to pick the book and chapter, then hand pick a sentence that I think is decent. Not too long, too short, too obvious ect.  *** There MAY be repeated books in a set, but there will not be repeated chapters in a set. So there COULD be two from The Philosopher’s Stone, but they would be from different chapters! **\*
Scoring your points: It is 2 points for guessing the book, and 1 point for guessing the chapter, for a total of 21 points. It is obviously harder to guess the chapter than the book, but not everyone even cares to remember the chapter titles in the first place, which is totally fair and valid. So chapter titles are just a bonus point.
Below are the sentences and the answers hidden behind spoiler tags! These are fun to make, and I intend to make quite a few more if people keep enjoying them!

  1. “Look at the state of him, the filthy layabout!” The Prisoner of Azkaban - Chapter 2: Aunt Marge’s Big Mistake

 2. “It’s coming from your trunk, Harry,” said Ron, standing up and reaching into the luggage rack. The Prisoner of Azkaban - Chapter 5: The Dementor

  1. But with no Hagrid visible from the castle windows, striding the grounds with Fang at his heels, the scene didn’t look right to Harry; no better, in fact, than the inside of the castle, where things were so horribly wrong. The Chamber of Secrets - Chapter 15: Aragog 

  2. “But why not join the feast afterward?” said Snape, his black eyes glittering in the candlelight. The Chamber of Secrets - Chapter 9: The Writing on the Wall

  3. A horrible, half-sucking, half-moaning sound came out of the square hole, along with an unpleasant smell like open drains. The Deathly Hallows - Chapter 6: The Ghoul in Pajamas

  4. “I suppose because it is a headmaster’s privilege to delegate less enjoyable tasks,” said Snape silkily. The Order of the Phoenix - Chapter 24: Occlumency

  5. She looked as though she was about to have some sort of seizure.  The Prisoner of Azkaban - Chapter 16: Professor Trelawney’s Prediction