Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban discussion

Jeanie wrote: "Kate wrote: "Piper wrote: "In the Hogwarts letter it says you can bring an owl, toad and cat but Ron brings a Rat..."

This was the one that always bothered me. The letter was so specific about exa..."

The "or" kind of implies that it IS an exclusive list. An owl, a cat, or a toad. Not an owl, a cat, a toad, or any other small animal. If I told my nephew he can have a cookie or a brownie for dessert, would he assume that he could have ice cream instead? No. Because I gave him two options. They were given three options for pets although it apparently didn't matter at all what pet they had.

The exact word it says in the book regarding the pets is

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Chapter 1 Diagon Alley

"Student's may also bring an owl or a cat or a toad"

soooo

Ayah wrote: "Hey guys what about the ages of Fred and George are they a year older the Harry and them.

Cause I remember reading about Fred and George having there O.W.Ls and I think I remember harry and them ..."

in philosopher stone:
Ginny was 10
Ron was 11
Fred and George were 13
Percy was 15
so when Fred and George left school in Order of the Phoenix:
Ginny was 14
Ron was 15
The twins were 17
and Percy was 19

Angie wrote: "Ayah wrote: "Hey guys what about the ages of Fred and George are they a year older the Harry and them.

Cause I remember reading about Fred and George having there O.W.Ls and I think I remember ha..."

oh okay so they would have been 18 had they stayed till year 7. the problem I always have is AI forget that harry is like the youngest, so I'm always baseing what age everyone should be by Harry

From Goblet of Fire:

On the day of the Yule Ball Harry and the Weasleys were having a snowball fight and stopped at 7 pm when it got too dark to see their targets.

Hhhhmmmmm: Scotland, on December 25th? It would have been full dark before 6:00 pm.

Holly wrote: "From Goblet of Fire:

On the day of the Yule Ball Harry and the Weasleys were having a snowball fight and stopped at 7 pm when it got too dark to see their targets.

Hhhhmmmmm: Scotland, on Dece..."

Oh, yeah, I'm rubbish at noticing stuff like that! Nice one.

Anne wrote: "As far as I remember:
The Hogwarts Express takes the students to school 1. of September every year. The day after that is always a monday."

Only sort of.

2 Sept. (the day after the first) always seems to be a school day in the books (and in Harry's first year it seems to be a Monday). In the following books it's only clear that the day is a weekday. For that to work, 1 September must never have fallen on a Friday or Saturday, and that for six years running. You can't get that to happen with the calendar.

I wouldn't get hung up on that. If you do, I had a math teacher who, whenever he made a remark about "we'll follow up on that tomorrow," which he invariably said on a Friday or the day before a holiday, he'd follow up with "and by definition, `tomorrow' means the next day we have class." A very mathematical way of dealing with it. Dumbledore may have been taking his cue from my math teacher.

There are a couple of problems with dating. One is that Gilderoy Lockhart's Valentine's Day stunt (CoS) is supposed to have fallen on a Monday. But in the same book, Sir Nick's deathday party clearly sets the year. St. Valentine's on a Monday? No way.

But, so what if Rowling didn't consult a Perpetual Calendar for every date she used? As long as the atmosphere works.

Last word on this.

Ray Bradbury relates the following exchange:

A few years back, a dreadful kid ran up to me and said, “Mr. Bradbury?”

“Yes?” I said.

“That book of yours, The Martian Chronicles?” he said.

“Yes,” I said.

“On page 92 where you have the moons of Mars rising in the east?”

“Yeah,” I said.

“Nah,” he said.

So I hit him. I’ll be damned if I’ll be bullied by bright children.

Ayah wrote: "Yeah Angie your right Wormtail was in the Weasley family for 12 years it was just that V.K said that Wortail had only been "dead" for 10 years which of course is not true lol"

Ahhh. For some reason I was thinking book 1, where Harry is 11. But if it's in POA where Ron says they had the rat for 12 years, then that makes sense. :-)

Amanda wrote: "Jamie wrote: "Here is an error......... (Harry was supposed to die in the 7th book)

So in the second book it says that basilisk poison can destroy a horrorcrux. And technically Harry is a horrorcr..."

good point!

Mary wrote: "Jellybeans(Jamie) wrote: "Here is an error......... (Harry was supposed to die in the 7th book)

So in the second book it says that basilisk poison can destroy a horrorcrux. And technically Harry i..."

how do u know where the hocrux was located??? i also want to know where it was mentioned. maybe i missed that part!

Daisy.c wrote: "I'll start. This is a quote from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows:

' "What are we going to do with them?" Ron whispered to Harry through the dark, then, even more quietly, "Kill them? They'd k..."

in the movie she did that to her parents, because the movie guys said they needed to show Herimone's home as we have seen harrys and ron, but not hers yet. thats why in the book it isnt there, but in the movie it is.

There's a part in Chamber of Secrets where it says that Madame Pomfrey was telling Filch that as soon as the mandrakes' acne clears up, they'll be ready for re-potting. I've always thought this was a mistake because shouldn't it be Professor Sprout telling him about the Mandrakes?

Daisy.c wrote: "There's a part in Chamber of Secrets where it says that Madame Pomfrey was telling Filch that as soon as the mandrakes' acne clears up, they'll be ready for re-potting. I've always thought this was..."

I guess Pomfrey would know about Mandrakes too though seeing as she uses it for cures. She would have to have some knowledge about it and her and Sprout would have to be in contact a lot I'm sure.

I may be wrong but I think it might have mentioned something about her being kept busy by the mandrakes? I don't see how that can be Pomfrey, I mean she's not growing the mandrakes OR making the potion (Snape was gonna do that) so the only part she has in this part is to feed the potion to the victims! I'm pretty convinced that it was an error now.

Daisy.c wrote: "I may be wrong but I think it might have mentioned something about her being kept busy by the mandrakes? I don't see how that can be Pomfrey, I mean she's not growing the mandrakes OR making the po..."

I'm not sure really. It is possible that she may have some part in taking care of them too. I'm sure all the various staff in the school know a little of everything they just specialize in one particular subject. They were obviously pretty busy around this time so it's possible that Pomfrey would have been helping Sprout with the process.

Ok, you may have a point about them being busy, but I doubt she would ordinarily help Professor Sprout with the mandrakes.

Daisy.c wrote: "Ok, you may have a point about them being busy, but I doubt she would ordinarily help Professor Sprout with the mandrakes."

No I'm sure she wouldn't ordinarily it's just because of the whole situation. I love how we speak about them like we know all these characters lol! Sign of a great book.

Yeah, it is pretty cool how we go so in depth about Potter. I don't think I could talk so much about any book series except this one. I love Potter :D And, yes, it is a great book (quoting the obvious!)

``"The moment their acne clears up, they'll be ready for repotting again," Harry heard her [Madam Pomfrey] telling Filch kindly one afternoon. "And after that, it won't be long until we're cutting them up and stewing them. You'll have Mrs. Norris back in no time."''

Since Pomfrey is as likely as anyone to be cutting and stewing the Mandrakes, there is no good reason at all for her not to be informed about the state of Mandrake maturity. (Snape would, of course, also be a candidate for doing the stewing and would also be informed.)

How is this a "mistake"?

I dont think its a mistake but, since the Horcruxes are pretty difficult to destroy, and Harry himself was a Horcrux, so how did Voldemort destroy that piece with just a killing curse ? I mean the characters - had to work hard to find means to destroy the horcruxes. You can say that Harry and friends maynot be able to do the Killing curse (though he seems to be doing the other 2 just fine) but even Dumbledore had to use the Sword to destroy the ring.

That's a good point Abhik, but maybe because the killing curse was cast by Voldemort and it was a part of his soul, it was the fact that he killed his own soul that did it. Didn't Harry say something about 'the power of certain acts'?

See post #99 up-thread:

JKR herself says that Harry is not a horcrux. Really.

Horcruxes require intent (& likely, preparation) to create. Voldemort never intended to create a horcrux within Harry. Q.E.D. Harry is not a horcrux.

Did Voldy accidentally put a part of his soul in Harry and create a link with Harry? Yes. Is this horcrux-ish? Perhaps. But it is not the same, and therefore doesn't follow the same rules.

Just thought of a new one: (from Goblet of Fire)
Harry and Cedric took the Triwizard Cup port-key to the graveyard from the middle of the maze, but then when they take it to go back, they appear on the edge of the maze, not in the middle. This just seems to be a really silly thing to have happened but very conveniently. And since when do port-keys do return trips anyway? It only happens in this part of the series.
Maybe it was the ghosts of the people Voldemort had killed that made the port-key be able to take them back to Hogwarts, and they made it take him to the edge of the maze, as apposed to the centre. But then how can echos of departed souls have the power to do that?

Daisy.c wrote: "Just thought of a new one: (from Goblet of Fire)
Harry and Cedric took the Triwizard Cup port-key to the graveyard from the middle of the maze, but then when they take it to go back, they appear on..."

There are two different types of Port-Key-one which is preset to travel to a destination and the other which can be triggered by a person holding it. The Cup would have been a port-key originally to bring the winner back to the entrance to the maze. When the Death Eaters had it charmed to bring it to the cemetary they intended it to be a one-way trip as Harry was never supposed to make it out of there therefore it would have held its original path home to the maze entrance.

Amanda wrote: "Daisy.c wrote: "Just thought of a new one: (from Goblet of Fire)
Harry and Cedric took the Triwizard Cup port-key to the graveyard from the middle of the maze, but then when they take it to go back..."

That sounds very logical. Is that info from Jo? The book made it seem that no one expected it to be a Portkey of any kind--except fake Moody.

Jeanie wrote: "Amanda wrote: "Daisy.c wrote: "Just thought of a new one: (from Goblet of Fire)
Harry and Cedric took the Triwizard Cup port-key to the graveyard from the middle of the maze, but then when they tak..."

Some of it is pieced from things JKR said herself and then I've filled in the gaps myself along with other fan theories I've read. It seems to make sense though. You know how JKR has so much detail and background info that she has in her head? I just think a major mistake like that couldn't really actually be a mistake, you know? Obviously every author isn't going to be able to explain every little detail of a book sometimes you have to fill in the blanks yourself.

HP4 GOF: he heard a high, cold voice say, "Kill the spare." ....
...The short man in the cloak had put down his bundle, lit his wand, and was dragging Harry toward the marble headstone.

This implies that Wormtail had his own wand and I assume he used the same to kill Cedric because Voldemort obviously would not share his wand with Wormtail. Then how did Cedric's echo appear because of the Priori Incantatem on Voldemort’s wand.

Oh, right, thanks Amanda. So Barty Crouch Jr. made the cup into a port key to the graveyard, but it was already enchanted to take the winner to the edge of the maze. So the first time you touched it it would take you to the graveyard, then the second time it would take you to the edge of the maze? Is that right?

Ar wrote: "HP4 GOF: he heard a high, cold voice say, "Kill the spare." ....
...The short man in the cloak had put down his bundle, lit his wand, and was dragging Harry toward the marble headstone.

This impli..."

Hmm, good point. I remember thinking this once before ages ago, but then I guess I just forgot it or something :p

Yep, I can't think of any explanation. . .

Oh actually! Wait! It probably was Voldemort's wand, because where would Wormtail have got a wand? His original was probably lost the night Lily and James died, in the explosion he caused.
Then he did take Lupin's wand, but then he ran off as a rat, and a rat can hardly carry a wand can it?
I suppose it could have been Bertha Jourkins' (am I spelling that right?) wand , but it's probably more likely it was Voldermort's.

Daisy.c wrote: It probably was Voldemort's wand, because where would Wormtail have got a wand?

The second line is an excerpt from the book which states the 'short man' a.k.a Wormtail lit 'his' wand which implies he has his own wand. Voldemort's wand is still in the cloak Voldy was draped in which he takes it out from after getting clothed by Wormy once he has risen.

Daisy.c wrote: "Oh, right, thanks Amanda. So Barty Crouch Jr. made the cup into a port key to the graveyard, but it was already enchanted to take the winner to the edge of the maze. So the first time you touched i..."

Well I certainly feel like it's a logical explanation for it anyway and it's a theory I've heard numerous times. I wish JKR was here to
Answer all these questions we have lol!

Amanda wrote: "Well I certainly feel like it's a logical explanation for it anyway and it's a theory I've heard numerous times. I wish JKR was here to
Answer all these questions we have lol!"

Yeah, that would be epic.

Ar wrote: "The second line is an excerpt from the book which states the 'short man' a.k.a Wormtail lit 'his' wand which implies he has his own wand. Voldemort's wand is still in the cloak Voldy was draped in which he takes it out from after getting clothed by Wormy once he has risen."

OK, you're really confusing me now! I know it says 'his' wand, but Harry couldn't have known if it was his wand or not, he didn't even know who it was at this point, so it probably just says 'his' because Harry assumes it's his because he pulled it from his own cloak. If that makes sense.

Yeah JKR should be here:D

My favorite one was Peter Pettigrew not originally showing up on the map that the twins gave Harry lol. Kind of funny when you consider the implications. Such a good series, though.

Jellybeans(Jamie) wrote: "Here is an error......... (Harry was supposed to die in the 7th book)

So in the second book it says that basilisk poison can destroy a horrorcrux. And technically Harry is a horrorcrux, so that me..."

That's actually a good point. Because then he wouldn't have come back after the scene in the woods.

Sebastian wrote: "My favorite one was Peter Pettigrew not originally showing up on the map that the twins gave Harry lol. Kind of funny when you consider the implications. Such a good series, though."

Fred and George wouldn't really have reason to look out for Pettigrew though as they had likey never even heard of him before. I'm sure they don't all know each other in that school so they may have just assumed he was a friend of Rons if they had seen his name by Ron's. Also they only really look at the map so they can move around unnoticed so were probably just focusing on where to go next.

Sebastian wrote: "My favorite one was Peter Pettigrew not originally showing up on the map that the twins gave Harry lol. Kind of funny when you consider the implications. Such a good series, though."

Amanda's made a good point about Fred and George, so I'm not going to repeat that. Just wanted to add though that Fred and George probably have better things to do than pry into every aspect of Ron's life. lol

Then when they gave it to Harry he wouldn't have shown up then because Ron was in Hogsmead at the time, so I assume Scabbers was with him. And if he wasn't, it's a huge castle with hundreds of people in, Harry would have to have seriously good and quick eyesight to spot him. It is funny how he never spotted him at other times though, before Lupin did when he had the map.

You have to say it's funny that harry didn't notice Peter Pettigrew in the same bed as Ron when he looked at the map

Ayah wrote: "You have to say it's funny that harry didn't notice Peter Pettigrew in the same bed as Ron when he looked at the map"

lol! But did he actually ever look at it at night in Prisoner of Askaban?

Ayah wrote: "You have to say it's funny that harry didn't notice Peter Pettigrew in the same bed as Ron when he looked at the map"

Totally agreed.

Ayah wrote: "You have to say it's funny that harry didn't notice Peter Pettigrew in the same bed as Ron when he looked at the map"

That is pretty funny haha!!

When in PoA did Harry use the MM to examine the who was in the Gryffindor boys' 3rd year dormitory? Which is, for the most part, where Scabbers was. Harry used the map to make sure the entrance to the secret path to Hogsmeade was clear, and to check the corridors when he was going through the castle after lights out.

The fact is that Pettigrew does show up on the Marauder's map. PoA Chapter 18:

"Everyone thought Sirius killed Peter," said Lupin, nodding. "I believed it myself -- until I saw the map tonight. Because the Marauder's map never lies... Peter's alive."

What I said in message #15.

Just thought of a new one:

In Deathly Hallows Harry works out that the Resurrection Stone, must be hidden in the snitch Dumbledore gave him, so he tries everything to try and open it - including parseltoungue, but he's only supposed to be able to speak parseltoungue when confronted with a real snake, so how come he was able to do it to the snitch? :)

He's got the hang of it now. He's been practicing in his sleep for about five years (that's how Ron picked it up, right?).

Sheez. Did all your abilities freeze when you were twelve? You've not developed at all since then?

I knew someone would say that, lol. It just wasn't explained at the time.

Daisy.c wrote: "Just thought of a new one:

In Deathly Hallows Harry works out that the Resurrection Stone, must be hidden in the snitch Dumbledore gave him, so he tries everything to try and open it - including p..."

Remember he opened that door that had the snake on it in COS? That wasn't a real snake and he used Parseltongue.

Oh right, yeah. Silly me :P

Not trying to be rude or anything, but you know other people have made that point before above :)

What about grammar issues? I've found two so far, and theyre both the same issue. I think the first one is in the second or third book, where someone's talking about the Quidditch team and he says "they" when it should be "it" because its a collective noun. Then in the fifth book, Ernie says something about his family and "they." It's really bothering me...