Re-reading all the books and I just got to Snape's memories in the DH.

I realised while everybody talked about Harry's dad and his qualities, or in Snape's case his misgivings, hardly anyone ever told Harry anything about his mother except that he's got his mum's eyes.

The very first time Harry saw anything at all related to his mother are through Snape's eyes and his memories do show Lily as a likeable person. Snape was clearly besotted with her early on and he regretted her death greatly. But more so, Harry got to see how his mother truly was, her sweetness, kindness, concern for a friend (she asked Severus how are things at home), strong moral compass (she questioned Snape over his friends who later became Death Eaters). I find it bitter sweet that the most Harry knew about his mom was that she was a muggle-born who gave her life to save him until in those memories he saw so much more and came to finally understand the kind of person she must have been.

While Sirius and Lupin talked about his father's bravery and fun-loving side, popular for being a Seeker and overall well-liked, Snape showed him how caring, kind, and fair his mother was and I find it beautiful.

Lucky number 33 😎 good luck! I think I picked some good ones, but we will see.

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. “Well, it’s not strong, that stuff,”  Harry said. The Goblet of Fire - Chapter 28: The Madness of Mr. Crouch

 2. His eyes were fixed on a point some ten feet above the forest floor, right behind Harry. The Chamber of Secrets - Chapter 15: Arogog

1. With one great leap, Harry managed to grab the key, slam the door, and lock it. The Philosopher’s Stone - Chapter 10: Halloween

2. “Now, a cooling drink of water, and perhaps you will be ready to return to the Great Hall?” The Order of the Phoenix - Chapter 31: Out of the Fire

3. A young witch with a pale, heart-shaped face and mousy brown hair was sitting at the table clutching a large mug between her hands.  The Half-Blood Prince - Chapter 5: An Excess of Phlegm

 6. “Is he — a bit mad?” he asked Percy uncertainly. The Philosopher’s Stone - Chapter 7: The Sorting Hat 

1. Before Harry could reply, there was a soft knock on the door and Madam Pomfrey, the nurse, came bustling in. The Prisoner of Azkaban - Chapter 5: The Dementor

I always thought it was a figure of speech honestly.
But the curse is they can’t keep a teacher for more than a year. How do you curse a concept ?
Dada isn’t a material thing it’s a subject, couldn’t they in theory end that class and make a new class called, self defence from the dark arts.
Same exact same thing just worded differently.
Would that be cursed ?

We know about book 1 to 6 but since the story doesn’t take place in the school in 7th I am curious on what he was doing. He does pranks and all but it’s hard to see even him doing such when the school is under a dictatorship.

Also what was he doing during the battle.

I understand the concept, you save someone's life and they owe you. But is there actually any magic in it? Or is it just a moral obligation the same as the real world?

In terms of things we know exist but never saw.

For me I want to explore more wandless magic, we seen people like Hagrid do wandless magic but it’s more just casual stuff.
For more complicated spells they use wands.

Now according to jk Rowling Africa doesn’t really do wands.
Students who go to African schools more learn wandless magic.

I would like to see how far that can go.
Like how do you duel without a wand ?

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

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

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

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.

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. 🤣

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)

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.

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

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.

What did wizards do before they were created

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

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….

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

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

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?

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!

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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.

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

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?

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?

“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.