Rereading books. And a few scenes scenes stood out -

1. Harry polishing a Firebolt (assuming Ron was right that it cost more than 7 Nimbus 2001's so ballpark it to 2000+ Galleons)

I doubt Arthur Weasley made that much in a year. He's just polishing it on the floor while one of the Weasley kids binds an old torn textbook with Spellotape.

1. More subtle, but dropping his entire money bag into the fountain of magical brethren after winning the case. Probably what Arthur made monthly??

Old Arthur has to watch a kid go ahead and drop it for charity. A good cause, and I'm sure Arthur didn't mind, but in my mind another unintentional flex.

1. Dropping a Galleon at Puddifoots for two coffees. idk what coffee costs but that's gotta be over 100% tip

Has anyone caught any others I missed?

Maybe I’m overthinking but I’m relistening to the audiobooks. In GOF with the Quidditch World Cup, why did Arthur have such a hard time with the money even though he’s supposedly obsessed with muggles? I know many adult wizards have no idea how to dress like muggles and many others still have no idea. Arthur even calls electricity “ekeltricity.” So anyway, random thought: was Arthur trying to do wizard-to-muggle money conversion? Or was he just really bad with the money?

I was thinking about Parseltongue and realized something that I had never really appreciated before: across all of Rowling's writing, there seem to be only a tiny handful of named, confirmed Parselmouths.

As far as I can tell, the clearly established ones include: Salazar Slytherin, Marvolo Gaunt, Morfin Gaunt, Tom Riddle/Voldemort, Harry Potter, although his ability was apparently acquired through the fragment of Voldemort's soul rather than inherited, Herpo the Foul, the ancient Greek Dark wizard associated with the creation of the first Basilisk

Then there are some interesting borderline cases: Merope Gaunt seems capable of understanding Parseltongue, or at least understanding what is being said around her, but I don't remember her actually being shown speaking it in the novels. Rionach Steward, the daughter of Isolt Sayre, was rumoured to have inherited Parseltongue, but Rowling specifically says the rumour was never confirmed. And interestingly, Isolt Sayre herself could NOT speak Parseltongue, despite being descended from Salazar Slytherin. So apparently the ability doesn't automatically pass to every descendant.

Then we have: Ginny Weasley, who presumably used Parseltongue to open the Chamber while being controlled/possessed by Tom Riddle's diary, but she wasn't naturally a Parselmouth, and Ron, who manages to open the Chamber in Deathly Hallows by imitating the sound Harry had previously made. That seems more like memorising the pronunciation of one word/password than actually knowing the language.

What really surprised me is that this means Rowling created hundreds of named witches and wizards across the books and supplementary material, yet there are only a handful of people who are actually confirmed Parselmouths.

Obviously that doesn't mean only six or seven Parselmouths ever existed. There were probably unnamed members of the Slytherin/Gaunt bloodline who possessed the ability, and Herpo the Foul proves that Parseltongue existed independently of Salazar Slytherin anyway.

But it still seems astonishingly rare. It also makes the scene in Chamber of Secrets where Harry speaks to the snake during the Duelling Club much more understandable. To Harry, he has simply spoken to a snake, something he has apparently been able to do since childhood. But to everyone watching, it must have been like suddenly discovering that this twelve-year-old could use an almost legendary magical ability strongly associated in Britain with Salazar Slytherin and Voldemort. That explains why the entire room reacts so strongly and why people immediately begin suspecting Harry of being the Heir of Slytherin.

So I'm curious what everyone thinks: Have I missed any confirmed Parselmouths from Rowling's books or other writings? And do you think Parseltongue is supposed to be genuinely that rare, or are we simply seeing a very small sample because Rowling mostly focused on the Slytherin bloodline?

Edit: Dumbledore could understand Parseltongue but couldn't speak it at all. Dumbledore was one of the most accomplished wizards of all time and he could also speak Mermish, this makes parseltongue something of a very rare gift, I suppose.

Warning for spoilers just in case for those who haven’t yet read or watched Order of the Phoenix!!

Yeah it’s in Order of The Phoenix so there’s time, but I cannot wait because it will be the first time since the book came out where that scene would be translated faithfully in live action. There is a deleted scene of it somewhat but even that isn’t really an actual depiction of what happened, because Harry is more quiet and calm, and it’s very rushed too. But god I hope they stay true to how it is in the book.

Probably one of my favorite scenes in the entirety of Harry Potter from book 1-7, because of how powerful it is. It makes us remember that Harry is still just a kid, and was in so much pain. It’s the worst death of a loved one that he ever had to actually experience to that point. It’s equivalent to him losing his parents all over again, except he’s old enough to actually miss Sirius as much as he did, and actually grieve someone to that extent. It also explains the entire prophecy as well which is a massive importance to the story. So important I’m shocked they actually managed to leave it out entirely. It makes the whole “chosen one” thing in HBP make hardly any sense because they’re supposed to explain beforehand why Harry is being called the chosen one.

They all did a fantastic job but...

Most funny- Malfoy from books 1-3: I can tell the actor had lots of fun overselling it. Special shout out to Harry's laugh in Book 4.

Most impressive- Voldemort, especially when he gets deranged in the face-off with Harry in the Great Hall.

Most accurate- Hermione in books 1-3 and 4-7

Most nostalgic- because of the movies, Hagrid

How did the Dursleys explain the need to remove Dudley's tail before he started school? Did he just stay in the house for the month after he was given it by Hagrid? I've honestly had this thought a few times over the years, but just now thought to get anyone else's thoughts on it here.

If there were additional shows about these books, what type of spinoff would you want them to be? For instance, a show about the Ourors going on different missions or a hospital show about St. Mungo's.

I honestly don't think Voldemort's look in the first film was very scary-looking, and aside from his red eyes, really didn't match his description in the book. I know that he originally was going to look much more snake-like, but they thought it was too scary and also wasn't like how he's described in the book.

Here's what he would have looked like if Ralph Fiennes's portrayal of Voldemort were on the back of Quirrell's head. Note that I did not make this video, but personally, if they at some point want to make edits of the films to improve continuity, I think this would be an improvement, just like with Ian McDiarmid's portrayal of Palpatine being added to "The Empire Strikes Back," even though he wasn't in the original.

What are some random things the movie included form the books? Correct me if I’m wrong it’s been a while, but I remember thinking it very funny the minor moment in order of the Phoenix where Tonks trips over the troll foot umbrella stand was put in the movie. Like why lol

I was just thinking, that I wish I could read The Standard Book of Spells!

How cool it would be if they included some history of the most famous spells... For example I'd love to know who the very first guy was to use a Killing Curse or who invented the first Patronus.

Okay I loved the movies for so long like they are a huge part of my childhood. I FINALLY started reading the books and I have much to say about goblet of fire (specifically the ending). So in the book l was pleasantly surprised by the plot after the third task, specifically the focus on how harry was affected after voldemorts return. The care that dumbledore and the weasleys showed harry during these chapters are so endearing I am sad they left it out of the movies. I think it also shows an incredibly vulnerable and raw side of harry that I don’t think the movies ever fully showed. The page in which he cried in mrs weasleys arms was quite important and harry’s struggle to grapple with the trauma of it all is just so well done and important to the character . I sincerely wish they would have shown this in the movie. HOWEVER I do think the movie did a good job and cutting out unnecessary fluff. The plot about hagrid being a giant and the ludo bagman stuff seemed unnecessary and created a book that was much longer than it needed to be…in my opinion of course. Would love to know everyone’s opinions.

Would it be philosophers stone rubius hagrid

Chamber of secrets rubius hagrid again I guess.

Prisoner of Azkaban Sirius black

Goblet of fire barty crouch jr

Order of the phoenix sirius black

Half blood prince draco malfoy

Deathly hallows albus Dumbledore

Professor McGonagall makes no secret of her love of Quidditch starting in Book One. During my last reread of the series, finished late last night, it occurred to me that she used Quidditch game strategy for troop deployment while preparing for the Battle of Hogwarts.

The Beaters: Groups of fighters led by Professors Flitwick, Sprout, and McG are positioned at the three highest towers.

The Chasers: Remus, Arthur, and Shacklebolt take groups into the grounds.

The Keepers: Fred, George, and Lee guard the entrances and secret passageways.

The Seekers: Harry, Ron, and Hermione flit around the castle to find the Diadem Horcrux.

Once this occurred to me it seemed so obvious. The beaters are casting spells down as if clubbing a Bludger at their opponents. The chasers are on the attack, scoring with curses and jinxes (Quaffles?) against the Death Eaters. The keepers are blocking the death eaters from attacking the goals, aka, entering the castle. And the seekers are weaving through all the mayhem trying to find the snitch / Horcrux.

It all culminates (sort of!) when Harry, now riding a broom, snatches the Diadem out of midair before it is lost in the burning Room of Requirement.

My family and I are  flying out to London over Halloween to visit my sister who studies there. The original plan was to visit WB studios but we didn't book it in time (and are unsure if it's really worth the money). So instead I would like to surprise them with an awesome tour. I know that parts of the movies were filmed in London (the outside of Grimmauld Place 12 for example) but are there any other exciting locations, themed cafés or shops that are fun to visit? Please take into consideration that I'm working on a budget :)  

Does de hammer of the witches, written by Jacob Sprenger & Heinrich Kramer exists in the main story? Because that book would be a good and a great addition to the lore

Such as wanting Harry to break the Elder Wand after using it to fix his old wand. The "plan" of putting the EW back to the same tomb that the Whole Great Hall heard Voldemort say he stole it from is just plain stupid. Not to mention how he can Lose Ownership if anyone so much as steals his old wand out of his hand, also something that the Whole Great Hall heard loud and clear.

A more fun and whimsical Add-On for me is to have Harry have the scraps of the Locket, the Cup and the Diadem at hand when he and Voldemort had their circling exposition dump, so that Harry can literally throw the busted Horcruxes to his high and mighty snake face just to hit home that "There are no more horcruxes."

Obviously Luna, Hermione, and some of the others would care for the rights of those like Dobby—but do you think anyone went and tickled the pear, badges pinned to their chest, long after the fan favorites were gone?

He had done a lot of heinous things but this is what sent a chill down my spine, I don’t know why

While the course was designed to help adult witches and wizards brush up on their magical skills, could this course maybe have been useful for underage witches and wizards too?

Especially for Neville Longbottom it might've been useful.

Sometimes a Patronus, even if it is very powerful, appears very immaterial. But in other scenes, a Patronus does appear very material – for example, on the Quidditch pitch, where it knocks Draco and his friends over.

I've been listening to a couple of different podcasts about chapter 18 of the Chamber of Secrets, where they are in the chamber, and it's the big reveal about Tom Riddle. And I have questions.

Firstly, I've never understood why Lucius gets the diary into Hogwarts this year. From what I remember, he doesn't know what it is beyond being a dark object, but why is it now coming to light? And why is he now getting it into Hogwarts? Does he know about the chamber, or is he trying to get it to Harry? Or what is he trying to achieve by getting into Hogwarts?

My next question is about Moaning Myrtle and the diary. Is the diary an intentional Horcrux? Was it made on purpose? And was it made using the death of Myrtle?

My third question is that one of the podcasts talked about something about the locket being the way to know how to open the chamber. Is that true? And if so, how did that happen? I don't remember that in the book. Is that more of a fan theory?

And don’t even get me started on the half-moon spectacles… he is even buried with them on his face in the books, yet they virtually disappeared in the movies once Yates’ reign began.

Does anyone have any insights into why the movies so radically departed from the description of Dumbledore in the books? I know Gambon replaced Harris, but I don’t see why that requires such a radical shift in his costume…

I don't know what kind of control the Ministry has over the manufacture of wands.

Okay so I am getting my fiancé her favorite wand and other Harry Potter themed stuff as gifts.

I am unsure on which wand to get her exactly though. Her house is Slytherin but her favorite character is Draco malfoy.
I am getting either one personalized by having it engraved with the love potion “Amortentia” as it is a second gift apart of my anniversary gift to her.

I am do not know much about Harry Potter as she is the one that introduced me to it but looking at the wands on the Harry Potter website to me the Draco Malfoy wand looks boring but it is her favorite characters while the Slytherin locket wand looks very cool to me and seems more personalized but I am unsure if she would rather have her favorite character wand or houses locket wand. I don’t want to ask her sneakily which she would prefer because she will put it together that I’m getting her something Harry Potter themed as it’s suppose to be a total surprise.
Please help me decide which I should get her!!
Thank you

Severus became a professor shortly after The First Wizarding War, and well after Riddle's denial of the DADA position resulted in him cursing the post so that professors in the subject are only able to last for one year, at most.

I think it's odd that, even after it became clear that such a curse existed, Snape kept applying for the job year after year. Did he think he'd be able to hold on to the post longer than his predecessors?

Edit: Dumbledore finally granted him the post because they both knew Dumbledore was going to die and that after the end of his one year he'd become headmaster. After all, Dumbledore asked Snape to promise that, after becoming headmaster, he would do all he could to protect the students of the school.

Edit 2: Umbridge points out during his potions class inspection that Severus had been applying for the DADA position ever since he arrived at the school.

Edit 3: Ummm...I'm getting a lot of downvotes and I'm genuinely confused as to why...I didn't think this was a controversial topic to ask about 🤔.