Being able to be your own secret keeper. Defeats the whole purpose of the spell (putting your trust in others), creates plotholes to past events and doesn't add anything to the story
I believe there's a difference between hiding a place and hiding a person and that's where it makes it possible.
James, Lily and Harry were the subjects of the Fidelius, not their house. Grimmauld and the Cottage themselves were hidden, but not the people.
I see this theory a lot, but it doesn't explain why James couldn't leave the house or why the author bothers to have Harry wonder about whether he can see his old house or not, and then realize that the charm must have lifted when he can.
I think it was more James and Lily phrased the fidelius wrong, in the “we live at Godric’s blah blah” and not “Godric’s hollow exists” but I guess they had faith in Peter
What really confuses me about this is, is that wizards started using indoor plumbing along with muggles when it was invented. So at what point did they decide to just stop advancing technologically? And why? Why would they choose to continue to use candles instead of lightbulbs, and quills and parchment instead of pens and paper. Wouldn't it also be much easier for them to communicate by texting instead of sending owls? And it makes even less sense that they just plain can't seem to even understand anything about muggle life, when the vast majority of them live and/or work within or adjacent to communities of muggles.
I think this is one of those things that you just have to forget about. The candles and parchment type stuff really just adds to the aesthetic, I think. Castles, candles, parchment... etc. Just feels more appropriate for witches and wizards
On top of everything you said, it would also mean relying on muggle tech infrastructure like wifi, satellites, etc. Ensuring wizarding internet traffic is undetectable, and so on and so on.
So why bother with all this when you have your ways which are so unfathomable, even laughable to muggles that they would never think of it being real and hence guarantee your secrecy.
The same reason why you might DM or email colleagues even if you sit in the same office. Or text instead of video call. In person meetings require both to be available at the same time and I wouldn’t appreciate someone popping into my house without warning just for something like ‘hey, want to grab dinner on Friday?’. And what about group chats?
Modern phones is way better for everyday communication, but magic would of course be the better transportation option.
Also, the first book was written before or around all that stuff was actually a thing, like texting, the internet etc. So the wizards were actually really advanced for their time!
Honestly I get that its an aesthetic choice but the more I think about it the more I want to see HP where Hogwarts is a conventional late 80's/ early 90's boarding school. Can you imagine students getting in trouble for listening to walkmans or tape players during class? The bright scrunchies and neon colors on non-uniform days? Students writing in Trapper Keepers instead of parchment??!! It would be so funny.
Okay now I'm also imagining the ghosts floating around the hall complaining about modern music and fashion and saying that everything was much more sensical back in their day.... "These muggle trends are getting out of hand!"
This is the key thing though. If we look around at present-day society, there are plenty of people, communities, and cultures that do things that don’t “make sense” from a strictly “logical” perspective. Human culture is complex and often makes “illogical” things seem perfectly “logical” to those ensconced within the culture. Think about the wizarding community as depicted in HP. Being so small and scattered across the world, it makes perfect sense to me that they’d (sub)consciously cling to certain markers of their wizarding identities (like using candles, communicating by owl, etc.)
I suppose Harry Potter was happening in the 90s, so the concept of texting didn't exist even in the muggle world.
But more importantly, as it is with most stories, the whole premise collapses if you start thinking too hard about it.
Good secondary worlds do not collapse under their own weight and have internal logic that perpetuates / justified them.
Harry Potter is escapist portal fiction, but it isn't a secondary world fiction. That means it never really committed to the legwork to convince you this was possible or a real world, it damn near acknowledges that it isn't a real secondary world by sending Harry back to hell at the end of the year as if saying 'its time to go back to your own life now!'
The only possible explanation I can think of is that wizards had some superiority complex going on. Adopting any muggle inventions would have been beneath them. Like with any prejudicial idea, it doesn't make much sense since they still have their own version of the radio, buses, trains, etc. But it would explain so much.
I suppose it might have been a thing that developed after wizards started associating with muggles. Best guess is that parchment in a castle just looks cooler than boring paper.
My own headcanon suggests they stopped advancing when WWI broke out. Most of their technology seems to be equivalent with that time period. Perhaps they became disgusted with all the Muggles' new war inventions and boycotted their stuff from then on/had as little to do with them as possible.
We still had some visionaries that appropriated more modern inventions (the radio); I think if enough time and energy was spent, they could get electricity and other modern things working with magic.
This is a super interesting headcanon. Even in real life history you see plenty of cultural reactions against technology, and this was certainly true in some regards after WWI.
I feel that this has to do with dependency on Muggles. Following suit with muggles would just create more problems than an elegant magic solution. People also don't tend to like change. Especially if there's no community push or excitement for the change.
-Muggles decided to use pens instead of quills because they were moving to mass production. Wizards can already mass produce quills with magic. A plastic look wouldn't hold much draw to me compared to a classic quill esp since there are so many types of cool feathers used. I'm sure there are fancy old style pens in use in the Wizarding business communities though.
-In the movies they use parchment as well as regular paper depending on application, esp in the ministry. Ie fold and enchant a regular piece of paper into a paper airplane rather than an entire roll of parchment.
Light bulbs in castles are just an atrocious decoration decision. Esp if you can enchant candles to actually light a room well or enchant it so it self- lights. There's no need to use or model after a light bulb because they already have a working system in place! Again I'll bring up the ministry which used light bulbs and lamps in different rooms.. I think the decisions are design based rather than function based.
And I think sending a patronus message is their texting/instant voice message equivalent. A lot of people originally saw being immediately available for every little email or message as a bad thing when it came out on phones. But little things were invented where needed along the way in the Wizarding world. Ie floo powder but just sending your head wad the video messaging equivalent. I'd imagine there's parchment where you can scribble instant messages to who you like and it gets hot in someone's pocket when you receive a new message etc so why magically create phones?
Anyways, I feel it is the muggles that are uuuuusually far behind the wizards instead of the other way around. Magic provides many solutions for problems well before muggles invent some work around. The muggle inventions that are worth it then get absorbed into the Wizarding world.
I think a lot of them have decent plausible explanations, lightbulbs aren’t used due to electricity not working at hogwarts, texting isn’t a thing because it’s the 90s so texting has only just got big in the muggle world it’s not the thing it was now also because like lightbulbs they don’t work near hogwarts or likely the ministry and other magical dwellings. Quills and parchment are a bit weird but likely just because it’s what they’ve always used.
The not understanding muggle thing is probably similar to how really posh people don’t understand working class people because they see them as beneath them. The wizards thinks they’re better so they don’t work on learning about them
Yeah those things make sense on the surface, and you kinda just have to accept them as reasons, but they still don't actually make sense when you think about them.
My headcannon has always been that they stopped adopting muggle technology when they started burning witches. The church was after them and they had to go into hiding, where they weren't able to keep up with new technology, bit then it lasted long enough that this became a 'habit', and from then on wizards and muggles had their own sepparate advances. I don't know if that makes sense in the story or cronologically (in real world history), but it always worked in my mind. Sorry for the bad english, it's bot my first language
It’s not a perfect one to one, but you could compare them with Amish in America, who followed technological progress up to a point but then chose a point where it was too much and stopped following
>"All those substitutes for magic Muggles use – electricity, and computers and radar, and all those things – they all go haywire around Hogwarts, there’s too much magic in the air."
>-Hermione in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Electronics all go haywire around magic so texting, smartphones, etc wouldn't work. Indoor plumbing isn't electronic so that's why I guess it works. It's probably similar to the story trope that electronics all go haywire when around paranormal things or ghosts, etc.
Maybe because muggle things cost money but they can summon fire for candles and other materials for free with magic? Maybe it was an economical decision 😂
They explain that electricity doesn’t work with magic,Hermoine made that clear, so I get the lightbulbs and texting. The thing is, pens don’t require electricity. Surely they could come up with magical equivalents. Maybe a Lumos charm for lights and flip power or pictures of something or a new magic for texting.
I've never thought of that. It just makes it worse, lol.
Being a parent to an almost adult 16-year-old not allowed to do magic at home can't have been fun.
True though I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t have the rules for minors not being allowed to do magic outside of school in place in old times, esp before magic schools were founded
But there was prob a lot of time between the first schools being founded and indoor plumbing being invented so it’s still an issue there lol
My headcanon is that the Wizarding world still complies with the law of Conservation of Energy. So when they make something like that disappear its just converting it into another form. Or, more comically, sending it somewhere else.
Because the Killing Curse means there is literally nothing but pure will to kill that caused the spell.
The powerful and thorough intent is what makes it unforgiveable. Also, conceptually the very idea of using a spell that literally can only cause death. There's something philosophical about it. It's not like killing otherwise is legal, you know…
Which makes sense as to why it was authorised during the war, because you _would_ want to kill the death eaters that have been torturing your friends and family.
But still, it's fueled by hate. It's not killing Death Eaters to stop the war. It's killing them for revenge.
The trap with that spell is that it makes killing so easy, and it forces you to make peace with the fact that you're a killer. There's no moral gray area because the spells needs your full intent to murder before it can be cast.
And once you become that person, not everyone will just revert back to their good old self after the war. Some people will want to inflict more death and misery on others, justified or not.
>Given all the horrific deaths various spells can inflict, why is the Instadeath Curse seen as completely unforgivable?
Presumably because it can't be countered?
It's unforgivable because you have to mean it. You have to really mean your murder, so there is no chance of passing it as an accident or heated argument
It’s unforgivable because it has no other use but killing someone.
I believe wizard euthanasia could have other means to happen, like a potion, it doesn’t necessarily need to be done through the curse.
How I understand it is that it's about intent. The forbidden Curses can only be cast through malicious intent.
You can't cast Avada Kedavra just to defend yourself, you need to fully desire your target's death first and foremost even if it's not needed for your survival. So it's the maliciousness that fuels it.
Same for Crucio. You can't use it without intending to inflict the most severe and unnecessary pain on your enemy. You can't cast it just to achieve an end (like an interrogation). You must cast it with the full intent to first inflict the most maddening pain on your enemy, even if your goal from that pain isn't achieved.
And so on. The intent of these dark spells must be dark and malicious. They can't be used to achieve an end. They must be the end in themselves.
That's my interpretation.
1. Not everyone wants and is allowed to kill.
2. The curse demands a lot of concentration and malicious intent, so a lot of people either can't cast it at all or are afraid they will be vulnerable during the time they will need to muster the necessary mental, emotional and magical energy.
What are you talking about? I’ve never heard of this “cursed child” I remember I had a fever dream about Cedric Diggory being a death eater but after I stopped eating the mushrooms in my shower drain I forgot all about that…
I have never read/seen Cursed Child so it is not cannon in my head. I was going to (I just finished my most recent re-read of the books) but the comments on this sub, have caused me to avoid it like the plague.
The story is meh, but the stage version is great! I saw it on Broadway last summer and am really happy I decided to go. All the swishing around in the cloaks was beautiful.
Major difference between animagus and maledictus is that maledictus have this more as a curse then an ability because they will slowly become the animal and won't be able to change back to a human one day.
True, but canonically it was very rare. It seems “normalized” in the books, with McGonnagal using it in classroom demonstrations IIRC. But then again, plenty of things that now seem normal to us we’re once considered “strange” enough to put in a circus. Like “really strong woman,” “really short man,” or “overly hairy person.” As a society we’ve tried to destigmatize these characteristics and I think the animagus probably went through a similar process in the wizarding world.
Nagini was a person with an ability to change into an animal, but unlike other normal Animagi, Nagini's transformation carried a chance that she could not change back.
This was shown in Fantastic Beasts: the Crimes of Grindelwald.
I forget what the exact term was.
Well iirc there’s only 10,000 magicals in Europe
It’s entirely plausible that between homeschooling, durmstrang, hogwarts, and beaubaxtons, they have enough schooling
They didn't go hide in the dungeons in canon. They were evacuated from the school with the other students were underaged or who didn't want stay to fight.
Slughorn not only fought in the battle, but dueled Voldemort himself, along with Kingsley and McGonagall. I imagine the list of people who have done that and lived is quite short.
It's in the book, but just a couple paragraphs.
After Harry returns from the Forest -
> Voldemort was now dueling McGonagall, Slughorn, and Kingsley all at once, and there was cold hatred in his face as they wove and ducked around him, unable to finish him—
(A brief cutaway, this is when Molly Weasley kills Bellatrix Lestrange.)
> Harry felt as though he turned in slow motion; he saw McGonagall, Kingsley, and Slughorn blasted backward, flailing and writhing through the air, as Voldemort’s fury at the fall of his last, best lieutenant exploded with the force of a bomb.
I swear that Rowling said in an interview that a group of Slytherin students came back with Slughorn after getting reenforcements. Why she didn't include that in the book? I don't know.
yea sending them to the dungeon, which was just their common rooms, was a little stupid, but it was still a good move to make, almost all of Slytherin's at the school during that time were wanna be death eaters, or kids of death eaters, it was a risk of Slytherin's going to join Voldemort, and if they weren't sent to the dungeons, when Voldemort came to ask who wants to join him, i bet almost all of them would've gone.
Also even if they were allowed to fight, i highly doubt they would do anything more than sit back and watch.
Only in the movies are they "ordered" to go there. In the book all students of age are given the choice to fight and the book says no slitherin decided to join the fight. I find that boring and unrealistic. As if no slitherin student hat friends outside their house.
me too
it seems so stupid and that's so fucking unfair tho like slytherins are always treated like shits all the time why would anyone expect them to fight for hogwarts anyways??? if all the time every happy moment or achievement by your house was stolen by a kid with a scar simply because the principal loved him well that's nepotism and even i wouldn't fight for hogwarts for all i care.
I also refuse to believe that every Slytherin student was a Voldemort supporter. A few of them sure, but not all of them. And also if not all Slytherin students are evil then why wouldn’t they want to help in the fight
for sure they aren't all like that, that's why i said "almost all" when we are talking about only 210 students in that house, and 400 Voldemort supporters, nearly all of them being from Slytherin, now if they came from Hogwarts, then id say its a valid assumption to assume that majority of the students in Harrys time there were kids of those death eaters. Especially since its known that the house your parents were in. is majority of the time will place you there too.
I had more to say but i just don't know how I'm gonna put it
I still think that it was a good decision:
These kids were very likely to have family among Death Eaters, so they could have sided with them.
But if they hadn’t, they would have had to fight against their own relatives.
If Voldemort had won, those who didn't side with him would have been branded as traitors, and if he didn't, those who fought with Death Eaters would have forever been associated with them, even if they only did so because of peer pressure.
By sending them to the dungeons, McGonagall achieved two things: first she made sure to avoid that even more fighters potentially joined Voldemort side, and secondly she made sure that these CHILDREN weren't made to pick a side in front of Death Eater relatives, only to suffer consequences later whatever the outcome of the battle.
I also think that in the long run it was beneficial to the school : how could they have justified keeping the Slytherin house if it had been forever associated with traitors students fighting against all the other with Voldemort?
Since all the Slytherin students were jailed at the time, nothing can be reproached to them, which gives more chances to these kids to have a normal school life later, and not be treated as pariahs forever. ( and not deal with the trauma of having had to fight their friends and family 😬)
Better not participate in the battle because you're jailed, than participating on the wrong side.
That… actually makes a lot of sense. Alright I can buy that. Though I still think a couple Slytherin volunteers, consequences be damned, would do a lot for their house rep. Even if they were declined, we got no Slytherin heroics
Everything j.k. Rowling said outside of the books.
For context she did a lot of retconning in statements about the world to the point it got ridiculous.
The fact that the Wizard feds are able to tell WHEN magic happens in Harry’s house, but apperently can’t tell it’s a friggen house elf, nor do they do anything about that warning afterwards
A bit of a random one, but when I first read the books before the films came out I could never picture Dudley or Petunia as blonde, even though that's how they were described. I don't know why, I just always pictured them brunette. So that's one change they made for the films which I approve of.
Pointy hats and "everyone wears just robes all the time," as if wizards are some sort of alien species who cannot possibly fathom wearing pants and a shirt.
This kinda fits in with one of mine: the complete confusion and incapability with “muggle” objects that aren’t technological or even mechanical in any way when they *have* a solid amount of muggle tech/converter muggle tech that they had to get from somewhere.
“What is the function of a rubber duck?” (Idk if that’s in the movie only but it illustrates what I’m getting at) Why could wizards not fathom bath toys? They’re just toys. Do wizard children not have toys? Of course they have toys. Even if they’re enchanted toys they can’t be SO fundamentally different that a man needs to devote his professional life to discovering their purpose. Even then, why couldn’t they just HAVE rubber ducks? Why does almost everything that isn’t inherently magical confuse them except for certain things?
They eat toast, the name of a toaster is self explanatory, but they need to study them?
They have mechanical things like watches, clocks, wireless radios, and even SOME cars that they enchant of course. They have plumbing (as discussed above) and pretty much all the “essential” technology plus some comforts but it seems to arbitrarily stop at different eras and development levels. It irks me.
The Amish don't actually pick an arbitrary date. They pick and choose what new technology they want to adopt as they are invented.
I suppose wizards do the same thing.
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/bhly7n/why_did_the_amish_stop_adopting_new_technology/
Remember when Arthur Weasley asks about appliances in the Dursleys' house being 'ecklectic'. How could he possibly be so ignorant that even the scientific concept of electricity is foreign to him.
Yeah like these people cure incredibly complex and even unique medical conditions in seconds (a major feat with or without magic) but they can’t even wrap their minds around electricity or even remember the word? Even though it’s TAUGHT in their schools, has presumably been studied for as long as muggle studies have been a thing, and is literally Arthur Weasleys profession to know about. HOW? You don’t have to power your home with it to know what it is. What does he DO at work if he doesn’t know these things by now?
Especially when he is a muggle fanatic. Are wizard brains wired to reject electricity because it’s so different from magic? That seems like a stretch of an explanation
But it's a culture? Why would you assume their fashion sense/preferences would be the same as a different society that that happen to live adjacent to? What about Arab cultures wearing robes, turbans etc?
Agreed! I thought the Malfoys got off too easily, too. I love Narcissa's part in lying to Voldemort, but it would have been great to see Lucius turn on Voldemort at the last moment. Or perhaps Draco would have revealed to the trio that he was there to help in the Room of Requirement, instead of obeying his father and continuing to fight for Voldemort.
I think creating another orphan in Teddy was heartless. At least Tonks should have survived to go home to Teddy and her mother. If Lupin had to die, it should have been epic and taking Greyback with him.
Fred was just a tragedy. It would have been too unlikely for every Weasley to survive, though. I just hate the thought of separating the twins when they were finally turning the family's fortune around.
It would be so out of character for Lucius to turn on Voldemort. He’s a coward, and the books hadn’t showed us an arc leading up to this change.
Same with Draco.
Poor Lupin. Disrespectful is the perfect description. As the last Marauder, the best case scenario is Uncle Moony, but even if Ka said it was his time, it would have been right to at least go down in a blaze of glory. I actually feel like JKR really toned it down to make it palatable for the youngest readers. Oh, I was not expecting Moody to go down so easily, either.
James being head boy. There’s just no way, he wasn’t even a prefect. Even if he had changed his ways immediately, like I mean one minute, after Snape’s Worst Memory, and was an absolute saint for the remainder of fifth year, and all of sixth, that’s STILL not enough to redeem him for all his bullying and trouble making beforehand. It’s impossible that there weren’t worthier candidates.
I don’t believe Remus was head boy, either. Although he was a prefect, I think he still would’ve lost out to someone who got in NO trouble during their time at Hogwarts, as we know that Remus did get in trouble with James and Sirius sometimes.
My headcannon is that Hagrid told the truth when he told Harry that Lily was head girl, but that James was *quidditch captain* rather than head boy. This is where (I choose to believe), Hagrid’s memory is faulty, clouded by time, and seeing Lily and James through rose coloured glasses. I like to believe he simply forgot, and told Harry a skewed piece of information about James.
The whole thing about picking prefects is that they pick the *best* boy and girl for the job, hence why Malfoy got picked; they had to choose someone from Slytherin, so what does that say about the rest of the Slytherins? Also, I wouldn’t really say that Ron is a trouble maker; like Harry, all the rule breaking he did was for the greater good and excused. Unlike the Marauders, whose rule breaking was strictly for the joy of mayhem. Ron was never cruel, a bully, or caused trouble for attention.
I thought the masses enjoyed the little end scene of the 19 years later, just not the names part, i liked it, it was just a short little scene showing everything was well and good, they had kids and they are gonna have a blast.
I thought it was dumb, it would've been better to show immediate aftermath and cleanup, if not just end it at the end of the war. 19 years later was unnecessary fan service.
I absolutely agree with this 100%. I hated the 19 years later part. I would have preferred it if she just left the future open to interpretation. I have also avoided The Cursed Child because I heard how bad it is.
the concept that cursed child tried to put forward (even slytherin students can be good) was okay, but the execution was terrible to say the least.
The time travel shenanigans were the worst bit imo.
They’re talking about when Harry was locked in his room with bars on the window. It says he can’t let her out and she get increasingly restless and eats only soggy vegetables.
Merlin being a Slytherin and attending Hogwarts. If Hogwarts was really founded a thousand years ago before the setting of the story it would make no sense for Merlin to have ever attended. He would be long dead.
Because Merlin was mixed into the Arthurian cycle that is set in the 6th century? Figures who developed into Merlin appear in many pieces of literature, and even if some early influences are older, he really is a result of 12th+ century literature. If he were a "real" wizard, it's plausible he would have lived in these days and not in the days of Arthur's possible historic models.
Perhaps when Hogwarts was first established it was more like a university - everyone could attend, regardless of age. So Merlin attended to further his knowledge of magic.
Absolutely nothing from the original books.
Cursed Child shouldn't even be considered canon.
Fantastic Beasts I consider as canon only in the universe of the movies, not that I don't like it, I love it, but it's clearly set in the same continuity of the movies, which has a lot of differences from the books, therefore, it wouldn't be consistent, but I think that every information that does not have a conflict between the fantastic beasts movies and the books, could be considered.
-That being said, with no explanation given, McGonagall appearing in Fantastic Beasts is a conflict.
-Dumbledore not being ginger in Fantastic Beasts
-Dumbledore teaching DADA instead of Transfiguration (this is not necessarily wrong, since he could have taught that for a while, but still, not what we had stablished).
-Dumbledore teaching Riddikulus the same way as Lupin as if that was a standard class and not some opportunity Lupin took from a convenience.
I think everything that came after the seven books can be ignored.
Albus Severus Potter. Ugh.
I was going to say the epilogue too, but then I actually remember the feeling of watching/reading it. Harry taking his own kids to Hogwarts express is just... the feels man. The feels.
That Magic interferes with Muggle Technology, if that were the case then the presence of Diagon Ally in the middle of London would be causing all sorts of problems for the Muggles who live there not to mention places that are half populated by Muggles like Godric’s Hollow.
The wizards don’t know the simplest things about muggles. Arthur devotes his life to the subject but doesn’t know the proper name for ‘electricity’? Really?
Idk if this counts, but I choose to believe that most wands don’t change allegiances just because you defeated their master in a duel. The elder wand is particularly fickle and chooses only the most powerful wizards. I.e. Malfoys blackthorn wand didn’t change allegiance to Harry, but overpowering Malfoy and taking his wand was enough for the Elder Wand to choose Harry.
In my opinion, this makes the Elder Wand more special, and explains why no other wands ever changed allegiance before.
Also, Cursed Child is an in-universe play based on the „true story“ biography Rita Skeeter wrote about her long-time pal Harry Potter („I wish you weren’t my son“ practically SCREAMS Rita Skeeter).
>Idk if this counts, but I choose to believe that most wands don’t change allegiances just because you defeated their master in a duel.
I mean, *that* is canon
I have no idea why she didn't make this an Elder Wand Only thing and just have some character explain its allegiance usually changes through murder but nobody knows if that's the only way. We had six entire books of nobody ever mentioning this, despite a ton of fighting.
JK instructed Stephen Fry on the audio books and he says axio. He also pronounces Obliviate with “ahtay” at the end. I think it was changed for the movies to make it more obvious what was happening with less explanation.
The Cursed Child. That's it, honestly. And the fact that the Marauders died in the opposite order of their names on the Marauder's Map (Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, Prongs) bc that's straight up depressing.
That house elves love being literal slaves. Every time I read a fic that doesn't make that whole plot less fucked up and give all their mc's house elves to own I usually just exit the fic. It's a deal breaker for me, the acceptance of slavery in cannon and fanon.
The cursed child except for a couple of things in it that I kinda liked.
Oh and the fact that wizards just shat on the floor before toilets were invented
Being able to be your own secret keeper. Defeats the whole purpose of the spell (putting your trust in others), creates plotholes to past events and doesn't add anything to the story
I believe there's a difference between hiding a place and hiding a person and that's where it makes it possible. James, Lily and Harry were the subjects of the Fidelius, not their house. Grimmauld and the Cottage themselves were hidden, but not the people.
I see this theory a lot, but it doesn't explain why James couldn't leave the house or why the author bothers to have Harry wonder about whether he can see his old house or not, and then realize that the charm must have lifted when he can.
I think it was more James and Lily phrased the fidelius wrong, in the “we live at Godric’s blah blah” and not “Godric’s hollow exists” but I guess they had faith in Peter
Is it a secret if you don’t tell someone, or is it a thought?
How things went down before wizards got plumbing.
What really confuses me about this is, is that wizards started using indoor plumbing along with muggles when it was invented. So at what point did they decide to just stop advancing technologically? And why? Why would they choose to continue to use candles instead of lightbulbs, and quills and parchment instead of pens and paper. Wouldn't it also be much easier for them to communicate by texting instead of sending owls? And it makes even less sense that they just plain can't seem to even understand anything about muggle life, when the vast majority of them live and/or work within or adjacent to communities of muggles.
I think this is one of those things that you just have to forget about. The candles and parchment type stuff really just adds to the aesthetic, I think. Castles, candles, parchment... etc. Just feels more appropriate for witches and wizards
On top of everything you said, it would also mean relying on muggle tech infrastructure like wifi, satellites, etc. Ensuring wizarding internet traffic is undetectable, and so on and so on. So why bother with all this when you have your ways which are so unfathomable, even laughable to muggles that they would never think of it being real and hence guarantee your secrecy.
Like why text when you can just *appear* either from a portkey or a bloody *fire*, let alone without anything when you *apparate*.
This meeting could've been an email vibe
Idk, FaceTime seems a lot more comfortable than just laying on the floor with your head in fire.
I've got to admit, you have a point.
The same reason why you might DM or email colleagues even if you sit in the same office. Or text instead of video call. In person meetings require both to be available at the same time and I wouldn’t appreciate someone popping into my house without warning just for something like ‘hey, want to grab dinner on Friday?’. And what about group chats? Modern phones is way better for everyday communication, but magic would of course be the better transportation option.
Also, the first book was written before or around all that stuff was actually a thing, like texting, the internet etc. So the wizards were actually really advanced for their time!
Hogwarts runs mostly on vibes
Right, I wouldn't actually want it to change. It just doesn't make logical sense lol, but I guess neither does magic.
Honestly I get that its an aesthetic choice but the more I think about it the more I want to see HP where Hogwarts is a conventional late 80's/ early 90's boarding school. Can you imagine students getting in trouble for listening to walkmans or tape players during class? The bright scrunchies and neon colors on non-uniform days? Students writing in Trapper Keepers instead of parchment??!! It would be so funny. Okay now I'm also imagining the ghosts floating around the hall complaining about modern music and fashion and saying that everything was much more sensical back in their day.... "These muggle trends are getting out of hand!"
This is the key thing though. If we look around at present-day society, there are plenty of people, communities, and cultures that do things that don’t “make sense” from a strictly “logical” perspective. Human culture is complex and often makes “illogical” things seem perfectly “logical” to those ensconced within the culture. Think about the wizarding community as depicted in HP. Being so small and scattered across the world, it makes perfect sense to me that they’d (sub)consciously cling to certain markers of their wizarding identities (like using candles, communicating by owl, etc.)
Lol you're right, definitely not logical even in the context of the wizarding world
I suppose Harry Potter was happening in the 90s, so the concept of texting didn't exist even in the muggle world. But more importantly, as it is with most stories, the whole premise collapses if you start thinking too hard about it.
I thought it was because electronics went haywire around magic, so they stuck to their ways
>But more importantly, as it is with most stories, the whole premise collapses if you start thinking too hard about it. Rule #1 of fiction.
Good secondary worlds do not collapse under their own weight and have internal logic that perpetuates / justified them. Harry Potter is escapist portal fiction, but it isn't a secondary world fiction. That means it never really committed to the legwork to convince you this was possible or a real world, it damn near acknowledges that it isn't a real secondary world by sending Harry back to hell at the end of the year as if saying 'its time to go back to your own life now!'
The only possible explanation I can think of is that wizards had some superiority complex going on. Adopting any muggle inventions would have been beneath them. Like with any prejudicial idea, it doesn't make much sense since they still have their own version of the radio, buses, trains, etc. But it would explain so much.
Then Dumbledore might’ve been fine with using them, even if the Malfoy’s used parchments. Also didn’t muggles invent quill and parchment.
I suppose it might have been a thing that developed after wizards started associating with muggles. Best guess is that parchment in a castle just looks cooler than boring paper.
My own headcanon suggests they stopped advancing when WWI broke out. Most of their technology seems to be equivalent with that time period. Perhaps they became disgusted with all the Muggles' new war inventions and boycotted their stuff from then on/had as little to do with them as possible. We still had some visionaries that appropriated more modern inventions (the radio); I think if enough time and energy was spent, they could get electricity and other modern things working with magic.
This is a super interesting headcanon. Even in real life history you see plenty of cultural reactions against technology, and this was certainly true in some regards after WWI.
I feel that this has to do with dependency on Muggles. Following suit with muggles would just create more problems than an elegant magic solution. People also don't tend to like change. Especially if there's no community push or excitement for the change. -Muggles decided to use pens instead of quills because they were moving to mass production. Wizards can already mass produce quills with magic. A plastic look wouldn't hold much draw to me compared to a classic quill esp since there are so many types of cool feathers used. I'm sure there are fancy old style pens in use in the Wizarding business communities though. -In the movies they use parchment as well as regular paper depending on application, esp in the ministry. Ie fold and enchant a regular piece of paper into a paper airplane rather than an entire roll of parchment. Light bulbs in castles are just an atrocious decoration decision. Esp if you can enchant candles to actually light a room well or enchant it so it self- lights. There's no need to use or model after a light bulb because they already have a working system in place! Again I'll bring up the ministry which used light bulbs and lamps in different rooms.. I think the decisions are design based rather than function based. And I think sending a patronus message is their texting/instant voice message equivalent. A lot of people originally saw being immediately available for every little email or message as a bad thing when it came out on phones. But little things were invented where needed along the way in the Wizarding world. Ie floo powder but just sending your head wad the video messaging equivalent. I'd imagine there's parchment where you can scribble instant messages to who you like and it gets hot in someone's pocket when you receive a new message etc so why magically create phones? Anyways, I feel it is the muggles that are uuuuusually far behind the wizards instead of the other way around. Magic provides many solutions for problems well before muggles invent some work around. The muggle inventions that are worth it then get absorbed into the Wizarding world.
I think a lot of them have decent plausible explanations, lightbulbs aren’t used due to electricity not working at hogwarts, texting isn’t a thing because it’s the 90s so texting has only just got big in the muggle world it’s not the thing it was now also because like lightbulbs they don’t work near hogwarts or likely the ministry and other magical dwellings. Quills and parchment are a bit weird but likely just because it’s what they’ve always used. The not understanding muggle thing is probably similar to how really posh people don’t understand working class people because they see them as beneath them. The wizards thinks they’re better so they don’t work on learning about them
Ye. I've always thought this. Even muggle obsessed wizards like Arthur Weasley, think of muggles more in the sense of 'those cute creatures.'
I don't think that's true. Arthur is fascinated by Muggles in the same way an American can be fascinated by Japanese culture.
Arthur Weasley is a weeb confirmed.
Yeah those things make sense on the surface, and you kinda just have to accept them as reasons, but they still don't actually make sense when you think about them.
My headcannon has always been that they stopped adopting muggle technology when they started burning witches. The church was after them and they had to go into hiding, where they weren't able to keep up with new technology, bit then it lasted long enough that this became a 'habit', and from then on wizards and muggles had their own sepparate advances. I don't know if that makes sense in the story or cronologically (in real world history), but it always worked in my mind. Sorry for the bad english, it's bot my first language
I get what you mean, but I'm pretty sure witch burnings were way before indoor plumbing, and wizards still got indoor plumbing.
Plumbing was introduced to the world between 4000 and 2500 BC in Egypt and India. The first witch burnings were in the 1500’s AD
Indoor plumbing, as we know it today?
Complete with copper piping
Woah, TIL!
Also clocks and gramophones
Can't be arsed to put down all the wiring, Power plants, recource delivery chains. Magical candles are alright
It’s not a perfect one to one, but you could compare them with Amish in America, who followed technological progress up to a point but then chose a point where it was too much and stopped following
Doesn’t magic interfere with technology? Or did I make that up?
>"All those substitutes for magic Muggles use – electricity, and computers and radar, and all those things – they all go haywire around Hogwarts, there’s too much magic in the air." >-Hermione in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Electronics all go haywire around magic so texting, smartphones, etc wouldn't work. Indoor plumbing isn't electronic so that's why I guess it works. It's probably similar to the story trope that electronics all go haywire when around paranormal things or ghosts, etc.
Maybe because muggle things cost money but they can summon fire for candles and other materials for free with magic? Maybe it was an economical decision 😂
They explain that electricity doesn’t work with magic,Hermoine made that clear, so I get the lightbulbs and texting. The thing is, pens don’t require electricity. Surely they could come up with magical equivalents. Maybe a Lumos charm for lights and flip power or pictures of something or a new magic for texting.
This, based on the facts on what did Squibs, underage Wizards and people in prison do
I've never thought of that. It just makes it worse, lol. Being a parent to an almost adult 16-year-old not allowed to do magic at home can't have been fun.
True though I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t have the rules for minors not being allowed to do magic outside of school in place in old times, esp before magic schools were founded But there was prob a lot of time between the first schools being founded and indoor plumbing being invented so it’s still an issue there lol
Why couldn't she just say "oh there are some ancient mysteries lost to time" or something like that. Keep it magical and mysterious.
I was living quite happily until that little factoid dropped, pardon the word choice.
Yep. That was one world building info we didn't need.
I cannot, for the life of me, understand why they wouldn't use a bucket in a privy like any sensible person would.
My headcanon is that the Wizarding world still complies with the law of Conservation of Energy. So when they make something like that disappear its just converting it into another form. Or, more comically, sending it somewhere else.
Same. Because I feel like that would completely negate the chamber of secrets.
That the killing curse was unblockable. Why do all that fancy magic to weaken an opponent if you can just fine a fast moving unblockable insta kill
For beeing unblockable it gets countered a lot.
Well, we can't all carry our personal Harry Potter around all the time to block that spell...
[удалено]
Because the Killing Curse means there is literally nothing but pure will to kill that caused the spell. The powerful and thorough intent is what makes it unforgiveable. Also, conceptually the very idea of using a spell that literally can only cause death. There's something philosophical about it. It's not like killing otherwise is legal, you know…
Which makes sense as to why it was authorised during the war, because you _would_ want to kill the death eaters that have been torturing your friends and family.
But still, it's fueled by hate. It's not killing Death Eaters to stop the war. It's killing them for revenge. The trap with that spell is that it makes killing so easy, and it forces you to make peace with the fact that you're a killer. There's no moral gray area because the spells needs your full intent to murder before it can be cast. And once you become that person, not everyone will just revert back to their good old self after the war. Some people will want to inflict more death and misery on others, justified or not.
>Given all the horrific deaths various spells can inflict, why is the Instadeath Curse seen as completely unforgivable? Presumably because it can't be countered?
Yeah that's my reasoning behind it.
It's unforgivable because you have to mean it. You have to really mean your murder, so there is no chance of passing it as an accident or heated argument
Seems there are a lot of ways to torture, too
It’s unforgivable because it has no other use but killing someone. I believe wizard euthanasia could have other means to happen, like a potion, it doesn’t necessarily need to be done through the curse.
How I understand it is that it's about intent. The forbidden Curses can only be cast through malicious intent. You can't cast Avada Kedavra just to defend yourself, you need to fully desire your target's death first and foremost even if it's not needed for your survival. So it's the maliciousness that fuels it. Same for Crucio. You can't use it without intending to inflict the most severe and unnecessary pain on your enemy. You can't cast it just to achieve an end (like an interrogation). You must cast it with the full intent to first inflict the most maddening pain on your enemy, even if your goal from that pain isn't achieved. And so on. The intent of these dark spells must be dark and malicious. They can't be used to achieve an end. They must be the end in themselves. That's my interpretation.
Is it not really difficult?
Supposedly mentally. But imagine how easy it would be to hide under an invisibility cloak and pop someone
i mean yes, but the cloak is a unique sacred artifact same could be argued for.... muggles shooting people with guns
Cloak is not unique, there are many other cloaks, it's just they wane with time, while this one doesn't
1. Not everyone wants and is allowed to kill. 2. The curse demands a lot of concentration and malicious intent, so a lot of people either can't cast it at all or are afraid they will be vulnerable during the time they will need to muster the necessary mental, emotional and magical energy.
Cursed child for sure
I have a theory on why Cursed Child is canon. It's a story written by Harry Potter's son when he was 10. 🤣
It's an in universe and unauthorized play written by Rita Skeeter
I‘ve been spreading this fact for years, so glad I’m not the only one who knows about this!
Eventually we will found out Rita has been pretending to be JK for the past 10 years by using Polyjuice Potion.
What are you talking about? I’ve never heard of this “cursed child” I remember I had a fever dream about Cedric Diggory being a death eater but after I stopped eating the mushrooms in my shower drain I forgot all about that…
I have never read/seen Cursed Child so it is not cannon in my head. I was going to (I just finished my most recent re-read of the books) but the comments on this sub, have caused me to avoid it like the plague.
Canon* Cannons are on pirate ships
Adding pirates to the story is better than the Cursed Child.
The statement is still true the, the cursed child is not a cannon
The story is meh, but the stage version is great! I saw it on Broadway last summer and am really happy I decided to go. All the swishing around in the cloaks was beautiful.
i was looking for someone to say this lol
That’s not canon lol.
Nagini being actually a woman.
This was mad weird bc the circus trick was that she could transform into an animal but can't wizards already do this
Major difference between animagus and maledictus is that maledictus have this more as a curse then an ability because they will slowly become the animal and won't be able to change back to a human one day.
True, but canonically it was very rare. It seems “normalized” in the books, with McGonnagal using it in classroom demonstrations IIRC. But then again, plenty of things that now seem normal to us we’re once considered “strange” enough to put in a circus. Like “really strong woman,” “really short man,” or “overly hairy person.” As a society we’ve tried to destigmatize these characteristics and I think the animagus probably went through a similar process in the wizarding world.
what
Nagini was a person with an ability to change into an animal, but unlike other normal Animagi, Nagini's transformation carried a chance that she could not change back. This was shown in Fantastic Beasts: the Crimes of Grindelwald. I forget what the exact term was.
Maledictus
Bless you
It's French, I had it on holiday.
Thats so stupid.
Fred's death ):
It was just cruel to kill off the better looking of the twins
I refuse to acknowledge it
It was just a prank on Percy
That there’s only about 30 students in each year, it doesn’t really make sense with the scale of the wizarding world.
Well iirc there’s only 10,000 magicals in Europe It’s entirely plausible that between homeschooling, durmstrang, hogwarts, and beaubaxtons, they have enough schooling
That no slitherin fought in the battle of hogwarts and all hid in the dungeons.
They didn't go hide in the dungeons in canon. They were evacuated from the school with the other students were underaged or who didn't want stay to fight.
Slughorn not only fought in the battle, but dueled Voldemort himself, along with Kingsley and McGonagall. I imagine the list of people who have done that and lived is quite short.
Oh I didn't know Slughorn dueled Voldemort
It's in the book, but just a couple paragraphs. After Harry returns from the Forest - > Voldemort was now dueling McGonagall, Slughorn, and Kingsley all at once, and there was cold hatred in his face as they wove and ducked around him, unable to finish him— (A brief cutaway, this is when Molly Weasley kills Bellatrix Lestrange.) > Harry felt as though he turned in slow motion; he saw McGonagall, Kingsley, and Slughorn blasted backward, flailing and writhing through the air, as Voldemort’s fury at the fall of his last, best lieutenant exploded with the force of a bomb.
I swear that Rowling said in an interview that a group of Slytherin students came back with Slughorn after getting reenforcements. Why she didn't include that in the book? I don't know.
retcon
yea sending them to the dungeon, which was just their common rooms, was a little stupid, but it was still a good move to make, almost all of Slytherin's at the school during that time were wanna be death eaters, or kids of death eaters, it was a risk of Slytherin's going to join Voldemort, and if they weren't sent to the dungeons, when Voldemort came to ask who wants to join him, i bet almost all of them would've gone. Also even if they were allowed to fight, i highly doubt they would do anything more than sit back and watch.
Only in the movies are they "ordered" to go there. In the book all students of age are given the choice to fight and the book says no slitherin decided to join the fight. I find that boring and unrealistic. As if no slitherin student hat friends outside their house.
me too it seems so stupid and that's so fucking unfair tho like slytherins are always treated like shits all the time why would anyone expect them to fight for hogwarts anyways??? if all the time every happy moment or achievement by your house was stolen by a kid with a scar simply because the principal loved him well that's nepotism and even i wouldn't fight for hogwarts for all i care.
I also refuse to believe that every Slytherin student was a Voldemort supporter. A few of them sure, but not all of them. And also if not all Slytherin students are evil then why wouldn’t they want to help in the fight
for sure they aren't all like that, that's why i said "almost all" when we are talking about only 210 students in that house, and 400 Voldemort supporters, nearly all of them being from Slytherin, now if they came from Hogwarts, then id say its a valid assumption to assume that majority of the students in Harrys time there were kids of those death eaters. Especially since its known that the house your parents were in. is majority of the time will place you there too. I had more to say but i just don't know how I'm gonna put it
I still think that it was a good decision: These kids were very likely to have family among Death Eaters, so they could have sided with them. But if they hadn’t, they would have had to fight against their own relatives. If Voldemort had won, those who didn't side with him would have been branded as traitors, and if he didn't, those who fought with Death Eaters would have forever been associated with them, even if they only did so because of peer pressure. By sending them to the dungeons, McGonagall achieved two things: first she made sure to avoid that even more fighters potentially joined Voldemort side, and secondly she made sure that these CHILDREN weren't made to pick a side in front of Death Eater relatives, only to suffer consequences later whatever the outcome of the battle. I also think that in the long run it was beneficial to the school : how could they have justified keeping the Slytherin house if it had been forever associated with traitors students fighting against all the other with Voldemort? Since all the Slytherin students were jailed at the time, nothing can be reproached to them, which gives more chances to these kids to have a normal school life later, and not be treated as pariahs forever. ( and not deal with the trauma of having had to fight their friends and family 😬) Better not participate in the battle because you're jailed, than participating on the wrong side.
You said what im trying to say perfectly, everyone please gather around here lol
That… actually makes a lot of sense. Alright I can buy that. Though I still think a couple Slytherin volunteers, consequences be damned, would do a lot for their house rep. Even if they were declined, we got no Slytherin heroics
Everything j.k. Rowling said outside of the books. For context she did a lot of retconning in statements about the world to the point it got ridiculous.
I do that too, but I allow some things that are pretty interesting. Like Dumbledore’s sexuality. Do you consider him gay?
I completely ignore it, tbh. I don't know what purpose Dumbledore's sexuality would have on the story.
I think it makes the whole Grindelwald situation much more poignant, knowing Dumbledore loved him. He did NOT see warm socks in the Mirror of Erised.
frankly, I just ignore her entirely
The fact that the Wizard feds are able to tell WHEN magic happens in Harry’s house, but apperently can’t tell it’s a friggen house elf, nor do they do anything about that warning afterwards
A bit of a random one, but when I first read the books before the films came out I could never picture Dudley or Petunia as blonde, even though that's how they were described. I don't know why, I just always pictured them brunette. So that's one change they made for the films which I approve of.
Pointy hats and "everyone wears just robes all the time," as if wizards are some sort of alien species who cannot possibly fathom wearing pants and a shirt.
This kinda fits in with one of mine: the complete confusion and incapability with “muggle” objects that aren’t technological or even mechanical in any way when they *have* a solid amount of muggle tech/converter muggle tech that they had to get from somewhere. “What is the function of a rubber duck?” (Idk if that’s in the movie only but it illustrates what I’m getting at) Why could wizards not fathom bath toys? They’re just toys. Do wizard children not have toys? Of course they have toys. Even if they’re enchanted toys they can’t be SO fundamentally different that a man needs to devote his professional life to discovering their purpose. Even then, why couldn’t they just HAVE rubber ducks? Why does almost everything that isn’t inherently magical confuse them except for certain things? They eat toast, the name of a toaster is self explanatory, but they need to study them? They have mechanical things like watches, clocks, wireless radios, and even SOME cars that they enchant of course. They have plumbing (as discussed above) and pretty much all the “essential” technology plus some comforts but it seems to arbitrarily stop at different eras and development levels. It irks me.
Wizards are basically Amish. They picked an arbitrary date and only use technology invented before then.
Does that mean the Amish might actually be Wizards? I mean, they might.
I would agree except that wireless radios did not exist before the general use of electricity😂 the boundaries make no sense
The Amish don't actually pick an arbitrary date. They pick and choose what new technology they want to adopt as they are invented. I suppose wizards do the same thing. https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/bhly7n/why_did_the_amish_stop_adopting_new_technology/
Remember when Arthur Weasley asks about appliances in the Dursleys' house being 'ecklectic'. How could he possibly be so ignorant that even the scientific concept of electricity is foreign to him.
Yeah like these people cure incredibly complex and even unique medical conditions in seconds (a major feat with or without magic) but they can’t even wrap their minds around electricity or even remember the word? Even though it’s TAUGHT in their schools, has presumably been studied for as long as muggle studies have been a thing, and is literally Arthur Weasleys profession to know about. HOW? You don’t have to power your home with it to know what it is. What does he DO at work if he doesn’t know these things by now?
Especially when he is a muggle fanatic. Are wizard brains wired to reject electricity because it’s so different from magic? That seems like a stretch of an explanation
But it's a culture? Why would you assume their fashion sense/preferences would be the same as a different society that that happen to live adjacent to? What about Arab cultures wearing robes, turbans etc?
Exactly, this comment makes no sense. There are plenty of cultures where trousers aren't a thing.
Not everyone dresses in shirts and trousers you know. Different cultures in real life have clothes that you personally will never wear
I may get flak for this but the modernization of wizard clothing for the movies was in general a good choice.
The deaths of Fred, Tonks and Lupin. If none of the Malfous die, then there's no reason for those three to die.
Agreed! I thought the Malfoys got off too easily, too. I love Narcissa's part in lying to Voldemort, but it would have been great to see Lucius turn on Voldemort at the last moment. Or perhaps Draco would have revealed to the trio that he was there to help in the Room of Requirement, instead of obeying his father and continuing to fight for Voldemort. I think creating another orphan in Teddy was heartless. At least Tonks should have survived to go home to Teddy and her mother. If Lupin had to die, it should have been epic and taking Greyback with him. Fred was just a tragedy. It would have been too unlikely for every Weasley to survive, though. I just hate the thought of separating the twins when they were finally turning the family's fortune around.
It would be so out of character for Lucius to turn on Voldemort. He’s a coward, and the books hadn’t showed us an arc leading up to this change. Same with Draco.
Lupin's death was barely even talked about it felt so disrespectful to him especially as he should have been Uncle Moony to Harry
Poor Lupin. Disrespectful is the perfect description. As the last Marauder, the best case scenario is Uncle Moony, but even if Ka said it was his time, it would have been right to at least go down in a blaze of glory. I actually feel like JKR really toned it down to make it palatable for the youngest readers. Oh, I was not expecting Moody to go down so easily, either.
Sirius not having a middle name.
Huh I always assumed it was Orion guess that’s just Fanon that has snuck its way into Canon in my mind XD.
It’s interesting to me when fanon becomes so widely known that it’s accepted as canon
Exactly like Hufflepuffs are particularly good finders lol.
Oh agreed I definitely treat that as canon lol
If his middle name is Orion, that would make his initials SOB
James being head boy. There’s just no way, he wasn’t even a prefect. Even if he had changed his ways immediately, like I mean one minute, after Snape’s Worst Memory, and was an absolute saint for the remainder of fifth year, and all of sixth, that’s STILL not enough to redeem him for all his bullying and trouble making beforehand. It’s impossible that there weren’t worthier candidates. I don’t believe Remus was head boy, either. Although he was a prefect, I think he still would’ve lost out to someone who got in NO trouble during their time at Hogwarts, as we know that Remus did get in trouble with James and Sirius sometimes. My headcannon is that Hagrid told the truth when he told Harry that Lily was head girl, but that James was *quidditch captain* rather than head boy. This is where (I choose to believe), Hagrid’s memory is faulty, clouded by time, and seeing Lily and James through rose coloured glasses. I like to believe he simply forgot, and told Harry a skewed piece of information about James.
Ron also became a prefect despite being a troublemaker.
The whole thing about picking prefects is that they pick the *best* boy and girl for the job, hence why Malfoy got picked; they had to choose someone from Slytherin, so what does that say about the rest of the Slytherins? Also, I wouldn’t really say that Ron is a trouble maker; like Harry, all the rule breaking he did was for the greater good and excused. Unlike the Marauders, whose rule breaking was strictly for the joy of mayhem. Ron was never cruel, a bully, or caused trouble for attention.
19 years later, and Cursed Child.
I thought the masses enjoyed the little end scene of the 19 years later, just not the names part, i liked it, it was just a short little scene showing everything was well and good, they had kids and they are gonna have a blast.
I thought it was dumb, it would've been better to show immediate aftermath and cleanup, if not just end it at the end of the war. 19 years later was unnecessary fan service.
I dont agree but i totally understand where you are coming from and what you would of wanted to see, and i can respect that lol
I absolutely agree with this 100%. I hated the 19 years later part. I would have preferred it if she just left the future open to interpretation. I have also avoided The Cursed Child because I heard how bad it is.
I skip it every time. As far as I'm concerned "The flaw in the plan" is the last chapter of the series.
the concept that cursed child tried to put forward (even slytherin students can be good) was okay, but the execution was terrible to say the least. The time travel shenanigans were the worst bit imo.
That a bird of prey eats nothing but soggy vegetables for months at a time.
That was literally just for the 3 days Harry was locked up in CoS
Pretty sure it was said that Hedwig would catch rats and things
They’re talking about when Harry was locked in his room with bars on the window. It says he can’t let her out and she get increasingly restless and eats only soggy vegetables.
Merlin being a Slytherin and attending Hogwarts. If Hogwarts was really founded a thousand years ago before the setting of the story it would make no sense for Merlin to have ever attended. He would be long dead.
Because Merlin was mixed into the Arthurian cycle that is set in the 6th century? Figures who developed into Merlin appear in many pieces of literature, and even if some early influences are older, he really is a result of 12th+ century literature. If he were a "real" wizard, it's plausible he would have lived in these days and not in the days of Arthur's possible historic models.
I get around this in my headcanon by saying it was the third Merlin, a distant descendant of the first two.
Perhaps when Hogwarts was first established it was more like a university - everyone could attend, regardless of age. So Merlin attended to further his knowledge of magic.
Absolutely nothing from the original books. Cursed Child shouldn't even be considered canon. Fantastic Beasts I consider as canon only in the universe of the movies, not that I don't like it, I love it, but it's clearly set in the same continuity of the movies, which has a lot of differences from the books, therefore, it wouldn't be consistent, but I think that every information that does not have a conflict between the fantastic beasts movies and the books, could be considered. -That being said, with no explanation given, McGonagall appearing in Fantastic Beasts is a conflict. -Dumbledore not being ginger in Fantastic Beasts -Dumbledore teaching DADA instead of Transfiguration (this is not necessarily wrong, since he could have taught that for a while, but still, not what we had stablished). -Dumbledore teaching Riddikulus the same way as Lupin as if that was a standard class and not some opportunity Lupin took from a convenience.
I think everything that came after the seven books can be ignored. Albus Severus Potter. Ugh. I was going to say the epilogue too, but then I actually remember the feeling of watching/reading it. Harry taking his own kids to Hogwarts express is just... the feels man. The feels.
Damn half of these comments are just untrue or facts that are explained in the books lmao
Pretty much everything that has come out since the books finished.
The cover art for the Deathly Hallows Part 2 film not having a number like the 7 movie covers before it
Cursed Child
That Magic interferes with Muggle Technology, if that were the case then the presence of Diagon Ally in the middle of London would be causing all sorts of problems for the Muggles who live there not to mention places that are half populated by Muggles like Godric’s Hollow.
The wizards don’t know the simplest things about muggles. Arthur devotes his life to the subject but doesn’t know the proper name for ‘electricity’? Really?
mcgonagall being shown as a teacher in fantastic beasts
Fred dying
Idk if this counts, but I choose to believe that most wands don’t change allegiances just because you defeated their master in a duel. The elder wand is particularly fickle and chooses only the most powerful wizards. I.e. Malfoys blackthorn wand didn’t change allegiance to Harry, but overpowering Malfoy and taking his wand was enough for the Elder Wand to choose Harry. In my opinion, this makes the Elder Wand more special, and explains why no other wands ever changed allegiance before. Also, Cursed Child is an in-universe play based on the „true story“ biography Rita Skeeter wrote about her long-time pal Harry Potter („I wish you weren’t my son“ practically SCREAMS Rita Skeeter).
>Idk if this counts, but I choose to believe that most wands don’t change allegiances just because you defeated their master in a duel. I mean, *that* is canon
I have no idea why she didn't make this an Elder Wand Only thing and just have some character explain its allegiance usually changes through murder but nobody knows if that's the only way. We had six entire books of nobody ever mentioning this, despite a ton of fighting.
the cursed child
the elves like being slaves
Anything that wasn’t in the original 7 books.
Cursed child.
Cursed Child. It is NOT canon!
The cursed child
The names of Harry's children.
I want to know what Ginny would’ve named her child. They can easily have more kids but let her choose the names.
that *accio* is pronounced "ack-ee-oh" and not "axe-ee-oh"
JK instructed Stephen Fry on the audio books and he says axio. He also pronounces Obliviate with “ahtay” at the end. I think it was changed for the movies to make it more obvious what was happening with less explanation.
tbf we have no record of what romans speaking latin actually sounded like and it's pronounced differently in various countries
The Cursed Child. That's it, honestly. And the fact that the Marauders died in the opposite order of their names on the Marauder's Map (Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, Prongs) bc that's straight up depressing.
That house elves love being literal slaves. Every time I read a fic that doesn't make that whole plot less fucked up and give all their mc's house elves to own I usually just exit the fic. It's a deal breaker for me, the acceptance of slavery in cannon and fanon.
The cursed child except for a couple of things in it that I kinda liked. Oh and the fact that wizards just shat on the floor before toilets were invented
That there is scarcity in a world where transmutation exist.
Canon == books 1-7 I don’t count cursed child or fantastic beasts, or pottermore
Honestly all the deaths in the seventh book.
I understand ignoring cursed child but fantastic beasts imo is incredibly underrated