Harry Potter discussion

Anyone ever notice this mistake in the 5th book? Harry can suddenly see Thestrals!

But wouldn't he have always seen Thestrals? From his First year? He saw his mother, Lily, being killed by Voldemort when he was a baby. He had seen death before Cedric Diggory.

He must of thought that everyone saw them and knew what they were, and didn't wanna say anything.

Wow. Hmmmm. Maybe he didn't actually see his mom die? Maybe he was like facing the other way.

Maybe he didn't go near the threstrals until his fifth year.

Isabel wrote: "Maybe he didn't go near the threstrals until his fifth year."
Right? It was not a mistake.

Isabel wrote: "Maybe he didn't go near the threstrals until his fifth year."

He did in third and fourth year and couldn't see them when he used the carriages to get to Hogwarts.

My theory is that Harry was too young when his mother died and couldn't remember her death (in 'The Vanishing Glass', he said it that he couldn't remember anything of his parents death except the green light). He only found out how she died when he was near the dementors however he still didn't see her death but just heard her dying therefore the first death he witnessed was Cedric's.

Yeah, or mabey he was looking away or had his eyes closed for Lily was giving her life to him, so it might not have counted as dying.

Ahlaam is right. From what I remember, he was too young for death to affect him the way he would need to see a thestral. There is a brief explanation about how it's different, but I can't remember where.

Sid wrote: "I agree with the above theory.

He must not have remembered seeing his mother die."

Ahlaam wrote: "My theory is that Harry was too young when his mother died and couldn't remember her death (in 'The Vanishing Glass', he said it that he couldn't remember anything of his parents death except the g..."

exactly

JK told in an interview that Harry didn't absorb Cedric's death, he was too shocked; once he comprehended the meaning od death he started to see thestrals (or something like that, I don't remember exactly what JK's words were)

Ahlaam wrote: "My theory is that Harry was too young when his mother died and couldn't remember her death (in 'The Vanishing Glass', he said it that he couldn't remember anything of his parents death except the g..."

Yeah, I agree, probably he saw them after he saw Cedric die.

The question has been answered already, but here's the answer from JKR's site:

"Why could Harry see the Thestrals [in] 'Order of the Phoenix'? Shouldn't he have been able to see them much earlier, because he saw his parents/Quirrell/Cedric die?"

JKR: "I’ve been asked this a lot. Harry didn’t see his parents die. He was in his cot at the time (he was just over a year old) and, as I say in ‘Philosopher’s Stone’, all he saw was a flash of green light. He didn’t see Quirrell’s death, either. Harry had passed out before Quirrell died and was only told about it by Dumbledore in the last chapter.

He did, however, witness the murder of Cedric, and it is this that makes him able to see the Thestrals at last. Why couldn’t he see the Thestrals on his trip back to the train station? Well, I didn’t want to start a new mystery, which would not be resolved for a long time, at the very end of the fourth book. I decided, therefore, that until Harry is over the first shock, and really feels what death means (ie, when he fully appreciates that Cedric is gone forever and that he can never come back, which takes time, whatever age you are) he would not be able to see the Thestrals. After two months away from school during which he has dwelled endlessly on his memories of the murder and had nightmares about it, the Thestrals have taken shape and form and he can see them quite clearly."

Ah I see

Emph. That's kinda cheating.

Pandy to the rescue, as always. I kept waiting for resource master to jump in with the right answer :).

Thanks, Annalisa! :)

Charlotte- insert an inside joke here- wrote: "Emph. That's kinda cheating."

Maybe a little - after Cedric's death, I mean. :) Still, I think JKR was right not to introduce a mystery at the end of GoF.

Pandy wrote: "Thanks, Annalisa! :)

Charlotte- insert an inside joke here- wrote: "Emph. That's kinda cheating."

Maybe a little - after Cedric's death, I mean. :) Still, I think JKR was right not to introduce a..."

Definitely cuz it would've left everybody feint confused.

Besides the way she introduced the thestrals made sense.

I can guarantee JKR was so particular and meticulous in her writing that she made no mistakes! Harry hasn't seen the thestrals til then because he hadn't yet dealt with the deaths of his parents and Cedric. By the time he gets back in the 5th year he has dealt with it and come to termms with it and so he can see them.


http://divaliciouzbookreviews.blogspo...

Asmaa wrote: "Sid wrote: "I agree with the above theory.

He must not have remembered seeing his mother die."

Ahlaam wrote: "My theory is that Harry was too young when his mother died and couldn't remember her..."

I am a bit confused, are you saying that if Harry forgets Cedrics death, will he no longer see thestrals?

The process of witnessing and understanding a death allows one to see thestrals. Harry goes through this process with Cedric's death. He can't naturally "forget" the understanding he has gained.

Harry doesn't forget his parents' deaths. He is only a year old when they die. Apart from the fact that, according to JKR, he doesn't actually see his mother die, he's too young to understand what has happened at the time. Even if he had seen more than a green light, I don't think he would have been able to see thestrals until Cedric's death.

I think the question of forgetting is interesting when a memory charm is concerned. In an extreme case (e.g. Lockhart) maybe even a person who has seen and come to terms with death would lose the ability to see thestrals.

Like this page! http://www.facebook.com/pages/Funny-H...

I think JKR explained it in the way the he was too young when his mum died and didn't really understand what happened.

I totally thought of this when I saw the movie!

I always thought this, I think the idea that the death has to sink in and Harry has to accept it works

In the first book the first years go through a boat with hagrid and not by thestral carriages

I don't think Harry actually saw his parents die... He might have been looking in the other direction.
OR he wasn't old enough to remember or even aknowledge what was happening.
Nevertheless, good observation! :)

Like Pandy said: "The process of witnessing and understanding a death allows one to see thestrals. Harry goes through this process with Cedric's death. He can't naturally "forget" the understanding he has gained."

This is the most possible reason to why Harry can't see Thestrals before witnessing Cedrics death.

I think her mom's death don't count. I mean, Harry was still an innocent child back then. He was not aware of what was happening. Cedric's death, he witnessed it. Harry knew he died, and so he saw death for the first time. Not only saw but was aware of it.

Pandy wrote: "The process of witnessing and understanding a death allows one to see thestrals. Harry goes through this process with Cedric's death. He can't naturally "forget" the understanding he has gained.

..."

Perfect explanation, thank you :).

I'm pretty sure this is explained either later in that book or later in the series???

I've been wondering about that for a long time... and it never made sense to me. I think Kirstin (message 31) might be right.

Also, another mistake. In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, on the cover of the Scholastic version. On the cover, it shows Hermione and Harry on Buckbeak, which means it was the night Lupin turned into a werewolf, which means that it was a full moon. Yet, on the back of the cover it shows a crescent moon. Oops!

Here is a link to complete list of the mistakes:
http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Mis...

Also, Jo mentioned that the snake that Harry let go was Nagini. But this doesn't make sense. The sign says "bred in captivity", but that could not work because Nagini has been with Voldemort.

As far as I know, JKR has never said that the snake Harry sets free is Nagini. I think it's just a rumor. (I searched for a source once and couldn't find one.)

When you are under the age of two your memory does not get saved in the long term memory part of your brain. That is why we do not remember anything before the age of 2-3 years old. Harry did not witness a memorable death until his 4th year. The thestrals were significant in this way, because they were the symbol that Harry had now known death, and could remember the horror of it. It was not a mistake on J.K. Rowling's part. In her subconscious, she most likely knew that.

Actually, she did say it. I heard a video

i think that harry started thinking about the death of people allot in the 5th book and the he realized he can see thestrals...

@wynter, Someone said that the snake who played the snake in captivity in first movie, also played Nagini in the later movies, however, this is just a rumor, as far as I know, JKR never confirmed this.

Alice wrote: "Anyone ever notice this mistake in the 5th book? Harry can suddenly see Thestrals!

But wouldn't he have always seen Thestrals? From his First year? He saw his mother, Lily, being killed by Voldemo..."

Harry was barely one year old when he saw his mother die so he really didn't understand what death meant at that age. However when he saw Cedric's death he was able to understand what death is in a very real way and was then able to see the thestrals

:P

YoLo

The Mistake: Hermione claims she never had done the Obliviate Spell, yet she performed it on her parents before she performed it on the Death Eaters.
A Possibility: Hermione did not want to reflect back on the painful memory.
Another Possibility: Her mind pushed the memory out in order to avoid pain and she simply forgot.
Another Possibility: J.K. Rowling made a boo-boo. :)

@Wynter: She didn't perform the Obliviate spell on her parents, because she replaced their memories, not wiped them.

Okay, a lot of the stuff mentionned in the article were not realy mistakes. I kind of skimmed it but one that stuck to my head was the thing about how Harry couldn't be the youngest player picked for the team in century because of Katie Bell. Katie Bell was actually a sub, and it wasn't mentioned if she ever played for Gryffindor. The snake winking thing was kind of unnecessary- what do you expect this is a cihldrens book. Also, the thinkg about how rats were not part of the school list or something was also kind of pointless.

Zoe wrote: "@Wynter: She didn't perform the Obliviate spell on her parents, because she replaced their memories, not wiped them."

That's right. Here's what JKR said about it in a webchat:

Q: "Did hermione really put a memory charm on her parents she says she did but then about 50 pages later tells ron shes never done a memory charm?"

J.K. Rowling: "They are two different charms. She has not wiped her parents’ memories (as she later does to Dolohov and Rowle); she has bewitched them to make them believe that they are different people."

Chowmein wrote: "hey even in 3rd part HERMOINE says her parent have given her money to buy early birthday present that year(august WAS going on at tat part) then how was she able to give APPRATION test during 6th p..."

According to JKR Hermione is nearly twelve at the start of SS/PS. So she turns 17 at the start of HBP, well in time for the apparition test. (She's a little over ten months older than Harry.)

Pandy's right. Hermione's birthday is September nineteenth, and she had to be eleven to start Hogwarts, not almost eleven. So she is probably the oldest in that year of students.

Alice wrote: "Anyone ever notice this mistake in the 5th book? Harry can suddenly see Thestrals!

But wouldn't he have always seen Thestrals? From his First year? He saw his mother, Lily, being killed by Voldemo..."

J.K.Rowling explains that later. You need for the death to really "sink in".

I think that I've heard that the reason he could not see Thestrals before 5th year was that he was too young to fully understand what he was seeing, and that Thestrals could only be seen if you understood what death was and that you were witnessing it. This could be wrong, that's just what I've heard.

αℓρнα ⊰ ɔıʇɐʌoן ⊱ wrote: "Sid wrote: "I agree with the above theory.

He must not have remembered seeing his mother die."

Ahlaam wrote: "My theory is that Harry was too young when his mother died and couldn't remember her..."

My theory precisely.

He should be able to see them 24/7, and if not he should at the end of the 4th book. This has bothered me forever!

I agree that he shouldn't have seen them until Cedric died. That means he should've been able to see them at the end of the fourth book, but he specifically refers to the "horseless carriages," so there was an error.

Sakura Yue Michaelis wrote: "JK told in an interview that Harry didn't absorb Cedric's death, he was too shocked; once he comprehended the meaning od death he started to see thestrals (or something like that, I don't remember ..."

Thank you, that really helped.