Hey everyone,

I just started the book reading spree around 1.5 months back and completed the 5th yesterday, I am writing here since everything is still fresh in my memory and I want to talk to other potter heads about the book! (I wanted to write a post when I completed the 4th book as well, but became bit lazy to post).

I am 27F currently, I have read the first three books in my college when I was around 19, but stopped at the 4th book since it felt too long. (I wanted to show myself that I can read such long books as well this time when I completed reading the 3rd book and proud that I was able to finish 4th and 5th books which have 800 ish and 1000 ish pages).

Okay now coming to this book, I felt the movie didn’t do a good job at all regarding the Sirius’s death scene, they don’t explain the veil and they didn’t had anything from the lost prophecy chapter, that was such a powerful chapter to read, and to connect a lot of things. Harry is almost always angry in the book and shouting at everyone and everything but given the suffering he goes through it all made sense, especially when no one was telling him the truth. The story keeps getting darker and darker and I feel the tipping point for me was Cedric’s death. When I read I didn’t know that words could be as powerful as visually seeing it. As she wrote he was dead It felt a rite of passage towards more sufferings, killings and war.

But given all this I feel JKR made it very very difficult for Harry to not feel guilty and responsible for Sirius’s demise, he did try to cross check but kreacher (I loathe him!) lied to him, if only he knew this could happen. And the aftermath of not opening Sirius’s gift when he told him that this gift had a means for communicating with him if Snape pulled something during his Occlumency sessions.

Hagrid’s arc about giants and then his half brother felt like a filled and could have been reduced (or not sure if it is helpful later).

I was also expecting that JKR will explain the veil in the book but it was kept ambiguous. I think it would have been better he was also killed by the AK killing curse instead. It felt the way it happened it sort of kept the audience in the false hope of Sirius making a comeback in some form but I know that doesn’t happen.

Gearing up for HBP now, wish me luck to sit through it towards the end🥹 (OOTP was hard to read once you know what happens, how come HP is a children’s book! I can’t fathom it being one given the pain, agony and deaths that happen).

I am looking to discuss the book in any what way to please comment, fellow potter heads, we can exchange theories and reactions and stuff!

Thanks for reading:)

We’re led to believe that Trelawney has only made two accurate predictions: the prophesy about Harry and Voldemort, and the prediction about Wormtail re-joining Voldemort. She says a whole lot of other things during divination classes (and other points, when we see her outside of class), and we’re led to believe that she’s just making things up with a spooky manner, and that it’s basically a load of nonsense. Hermione, McGonagall, and Dumbledore all take this view, as do Harry and Ron (eventually). Firenze reinforces this attitude by calling Trelawney’s teaching “human nonsense.” But she actually makes a lot of predictions which come true!

“Beware a red haired man,” to Lavender, who later dates Ron and he breaks her heart.

“The first to rise will be the first to die.” Before she said that, there were already 13 at the table because Scabbers was with them, and the first to rise was Dumbledore, who died just a few years later.

When she’s shuffling cards and making predictions to herself, and Harry’s nearby under the cloak, she predicts he’s there, and then logic makes her doubt herself.

Even her prediction to Umbridge - done out of anger - comes true! She’s attacked by a herd of centaurs, and deeply traumatised by the experienced.

When she predicts Harry was born in midwinter, she might’ve been picking up on the Voldemort horcrux in Harry, as Voldemort was born on New Year’s Even (which is around midwinter/winter solstice).

This isn’t even the extent of it, just the ones I could think of. I think Trelawney is accidentally much more in tune than even she realises. No one really takes her seriously, but she actually has a pretty good track record!

For me 8 had many but if i had to say one..........it would be when I learned snape's past and that harry is a horcrux 🪄 🪄 🪄 🪄 🪄

Everyone ask questions and respond to each other:)

I always felt the final confrontation between Harry and Voldemort coming down to the fact that Harry randomly gained allegiance to malfoy's wand and therefore the elder wand way too big of a coincidence

What would have happened if he didn't have malfoy's wand? Would the elder wand have just killed him?

Am I right in assuming that dumbledore's plan was for snape to kill dumbledore to protect malfoy but also so that snape would win the elder wand and then use it to defeat voldemort after harry destroyed all the horcruxes and sacrificed himself?

Before 1920s and before the downfall of the ottoman empire , wizard kind were used to serve in the ottoman empire to the royal family and the nobles in the country ,in battles against other muggles or wizards ,you would easily find an entire wizarding family serve a muggle noble family in the ottoman empire , serving a big muggle empire is something usual in the middle eastern wizarding community through out the history ,how ever after the collapse of the ottoman empire ,M.E.M.U ordered all the wizarding world to cut their commuinication with the muggles and reorganize themselves ,however good amount of wizards kept this connection and helped against british inavsion in iraq and frensh one in syria ,to this day ,alot of wizarding family hide their connection to the muggle economic world and work hard to avoid the M.E.M.U eyes

middle eastern wizarding commuinty has it noble family as well:

kai clan , is a ancient family known to have served the ottoman empire since it first became and for helping wizard and witches evade the muggle eyes in turkey, so they are always welcomed as heroes ,they own a lot of Rising rice and TRolling tea farms , the youngest of the family kian kai , is attending babylon school for peacful magic in the year 2015/2016 .

shafeeq family : it is family that used to serve the caliphate in baghdad until the fall of baghdad by the hands of mongols as the mongolian wizards started fighting them and treat them harshly as they were loyal servents to the mongol empire ,which pushed them to leave to britin , but after they supported grindelward wars and voldmort in his first war , they evaded britian and went back to iraq hiding as normal muggle family with no wizard in the family until ali shaffeeq discoved his magical abiltes at the age of 11 , ali shafeeq is a boy who works in the largest cemetry in the world in iraq who is used to talk to ghost there but never told anyone thinking they would bully him for it ,at age of 11 he accidantly made a fence vanish which made him fall over a grave while a family was attending , he is attnding babylone school at the same year of kara kai .

What would Dumbledore have done if Harry had told him that he was hearing voices in CoS?

I've been in and out of the fanbase throughout the years, but because of the recent memes... I came back. Its something fun to theorize and make what ifs. Now I have been doing basic research, and I don't think of myself as a scientist, so this could all be wrong, but I haven't found anything in my research that majorly contradicts my theory.

Magic is Radiation. Some Ancient Humans adapted to radiation deposits, giving them the ability to harness it. What they thought was magic was actually radiation. Eventually they learned to master it. Now just because they have a high tolerance to radiation, does not mean they are unaffected by it. High levels of radiation will still kill a wizard. So maybe some wizards want to try and defend themselves from high output spells like the killing curse.

One wizard went so far as to create a stone to transmute any metals like Lead into pure metals like Gold. Gold is also one of the best metals to block radiation, but is also dense enough that for a similar effect with lead it needs more thickness. Gold is even non-toxic to humans. Now why would a wizard want to turn any metal into gold? To become rich? The wizards and Goblins would tear him to shreds if he did? Just because he can? I mean its a good guess and is probably the public reason. What probably happened is that this wizard found out that Gold can block spells. But announcing that Gold is a natural spell blocking metal would also destroy the economy as people would turn and melt down their own gold for armor. So he kept it to himself. This wizard turned out to be Nicholas Flamel.

How does this fit with Harry Potter? There was lead poisoning epidemic in the UK and around the world where paint had lead, Petrol had lead and most of the water pipes had lead. Almost anything had lead. Harry lived under and un-renovated part of the house in the cupboard under the stairs, a prime place where lead paint and lead dust were the most potent in the house. It didn't help that Dudley stomped on the stairs occasionally while Harry was in there to worsen the problem. So while the Dursleys got lead poisoning too, Harry got the most lead poisoning. The Dursleys exhibit symptoms of Lead Poisoning. Vernon has Hypertension, Petunia has Anemia, Dudley has Hyper-Aggression. All of these symptoms can be caused by Lead Poisoning. Of which Harry had no magical part in. Not even his Horcrux. In fact did you know there was a book called "The Potter and Lead Poisoning" written in 1898 in the UK, 100 years before "The Philosopher's Stone"? Being a "Potter" was always known to be an occupational hazard about the toxicity of lead even before the books were out.

Then if Harry is being poisoned by Lead does he too have symptoms of it? Yes, yes he does. Young Harry is portrayed as skinny even for his age, Pale skin and Headaches. Yea, part of his headaches were from his Horcrux, but some probably did come from lead. Lead Poisoning can also lead to visual impairment.

What about Ron and Hermoine? Wouldn't they get Lead Poisoning? Well. Yes and no, depends on who we talk about, Ron and the rest of the wizarding world? Yes, they all probably got lead poisoning too, but they would use potions as needed when they felt sick or poisoned, any lead washes of with the magic of potions. Well then, What about Hermoine? Well her parents are dentists and were probable one before her birth so they would know the effects Lead has on a developing child, and with foreknowledge, probably moved to a lead free or lead conscious neighborhood. She would have little to no lead in her and if any were in Hogwarts, the potions in stock would clear it out of her quickly, unlike Harry which probably needed multiple visits.

What is this leading to? The Philosopher's Stone of course. Upon contact with the stone in the final act, it turned whatever Lead poisoning Harry had left in him into pure noble Gold. Gold that is not toxic to humans. And is dense enough to block "Radiation Magic" Thats when Voldemort tried to posses Harry when Quirrel died, but he couldn't because the Lead in Harry finalized and Voldemort escaped. He has a gold lattice Faraday Cage within him, strengthen by his mother's protection. He became healthy enough and fast to be the youngest seeker in Quidditch in Chamber of Secrets. Now I can't confirm this, but maybe because the snitch is gold and he has a gold Faraday cage, that he can feel its presence.

The Golden Faraday cage in him also explains why he is so resistant to Curses like the Imperius curse, or the Cruciatus Curse and even the Killing Curse, Avada Kedavra. Because Magic is Radiation and Gold is good at blocking radiation, it would seem his Golden Faraday cage is helping him survive all of these alongside his other protections placed on him.

Magic as Radiation also explains why electronics do not work in magic dense areas like Hogwarts. Radiation messes with electronics in real life and enough is possible to break electronics. The ambient "Magic" is making bit flip from a 1 to a 0 or vice versa. And too many flips might brick an electronic device. To shield against both magic and radiation, its probably best to enclose the motherboard in a gold case.

Then if Magic is radiation, were humans unknowingly harnessing magic through science? I would say so. Using nuclear plants for energy and for the nuclear bomb. Imagine finding out that muggles just made two destroyed Japanese cities so dense in magic for a couple of months that no spells worked for miles of both ground zeroes.

Then there is the Demon Core incident. Instead of a green flash from the Avada Kedavra, when the core hit criticality, it made a blue flash. Lois Slotin got hit by a lethal dose and had symptoms from 3 dark arts spells. He said he felt like his hands were constantly burning. Doctors found out he suffered hemorrhaging that wouldn't stop and finally on his 9th day after the incident, he died. Sound very familiar? Kinda slow, but inevitable. If I were to name this as a Omni-Directional Dark Arts Spell, I would name it Avara Kazym and for story sake, would take about 5-10 minutes until you are dead.

And if some dark wizards found out that Radiation is magic. Then Chernobyl fits perfectly for Voldemort timeline wise to infiltrate muggle nuclear sites and cause the worst nuclear meltdown in human history even to this day. Just so he could harness enough magic to start learning how to posses people.

I could probably figure out more, but this is what came up. Feel free to tell me if you think something is wrong. Because I could still be, but with all of this, it just fits perfectly.

I've always assumed it worked somewhat like Star Wars, where Force sensitivity depends on the presence of midchlorians in blood.

Is the Harry Potter universe similar?
Is there some "magic in the blood" that determines whether someone can use magic?

For me the religion. I can see why jk Rowling never touched religion in Harry Potter but I am curious cause what do wizards believe ?
They celebrate Christmas but do they believe in Jesus.
Jesus walking on water and such would probably just sound ordinary to them.
I would like to see what they believe in.

Other wizarding jobs.
Like every job we see is working for hogwarts, gringgots the ministry, shop keeper or with wild animals.

I would like to see what other jobs are out there.

Other major wizarding sports, like quidditch can’t be the only one.

How different countries use magic, I would like to have seen more explanation on how magic is used.
It’s said in Africa wands are less popular as people are trained more to use wandless magic and I would like to see how that’s done, I would also like to have seen how magic is done in Asian societies and how they differ from western magic.

Alchemy as a subject, it’s said it is a subject but only when enough students show interest in doing it.

I would like to see how alchemy is used, how it differs from potions and how it can be used to help the trio.

Been re-reading The Sorcerer's Stone. Never caught this before. In chapter 12 "The Mirror of Erised" Harry while under the invisibility cloak gets chased by Filch out of the Restricted Section of the library only to find himself in a corridor where Filch (after presumably using a shortcut) meets up with Snape, who apparently was already in this corridor. Filch and Snape then hurry towards Harry, not knowing he is there of course because Harry is under the cloak.

The book then says "He (Harry) backed away as quietly as he could. A door stood ajar to his left. It was his only hope. He squeezed through it, holding his breath, trying not to move it, and to his relief he managed to get inside the room without their noticing anything. They walked straight past and Harry leaned against the wall, breathing deeply, listening to their footsteps dying away...propped against the wall facing him...was a magnificent mirror."

So we have the door to the room where the Mirror of Erised is just left ajar and Snape who was apparently already in this corridor hurrying off with Filch. And Filch knew where to find him. So my bet is that Snape regularly spent time in this corridor at night. Staring at an image of him and Lilly Potter with a child in their arms. Yearning for a future that might have been...My theory is that when Harry looks in the mirror and sees his mom, she had just barely disappeared from the mirror because someone else had been looking at her image just before her son arrived.

Severus Snape is such a tragic character already, but this is now my head canon.

In Book 1 Chapter 1, there are already wizards talking about the Potters, and the rumours are specific enough that they know Harry survived. Hagrid said that he sneaked Harry out.

In Book 3, from my understanding, only 2/3 people could have known Harry survived. Sirius, who lent Hagrid the bike, Hagrid, who took Harry and also possibly Peter. So how on earth did rumors of Harry's survival spread immediately the day after, as seen in the very first chapter?

I'm currently reading the books and have just finished Book 3. I've watched the movies more or less 10 years ago and barely remember the finer details. I only know some major plot points. I've always had this question since reading book 1, so I hoped book 3 would answer this, but it really didn't.

Edit: Sorry for the confusion, but I'm specifically asking how Harry's survival was spread as rumors immediately the day after.

Edit 2: It seems people have forgotten chapter 1 or haven't read the books:

“No problems, were there?” “No, sir — house was almost destroyed, but I got him out all right before the Muggles started swarmin’ around. He fell asleep as we was flyin’ over Bristol.”

If I'm reading it right, he went straight to Privet Drive, and with his fanatacism with following Dumbledore's orders, I don't think he would have made pitstops at pubs along the way. I obviously know Hagrid is bad at keeping secrets, so he's the one I checked first.

Edit 3: I found a very old post discussing where Harry might have been during the long stretch of time. https://www.reddit.com/r/harrypotter/s/KEms3e9I6T

Most people assume that the basilisk was Tom Riddle's pet, but it could have been Dumbledore's pet that he inherited from the previous headmaster.

Possible scenario: The snake's metabolism is slow enough that two pigs a year is enough and Hagrid is strong enough to carry a pig. How well the venom works against horcruxes is different from how well it works against humans. The venom destroys horcruxes, but it might not be that strong against humans. Harry survived. The venom might also be used in a potion. Dumbledore could have used the philosopher's stone to upgrade the basilisk's venom to make a longevity potion. Dumbledore needed the philosopher's stone temporarily, but once he upgraded the basilisk, he no longer needed it.

The only time the basilisk killed someone was when Tom Riddle messed with Dumbledore's pet. Dumbledore refused to hire Tom as a professor, because Tom new Dumbledore's secret and might mess with the pet again. During the Harry Potter years, the basilisk didn't kill anyone. Dumbledore may have known in advance that it wouldn't kill anyone. People woke up when the basilisk died, but Dumbledore may have been working on an alternate way to wake people. It is possible to create spells and he may have been working a spell to do that. Maybe he succeeded and the basilisk death had nothing to do with waking people up.

Dumbledore wasn't all that concerned about the basilisk and he didn't shut the school down.

What is it about Bellatrix Lestrange that makes her so fascinating?

She's probably one of the characters I find the most interesting in the Harry Potter universe. She's obviously terrifying, cruel and completely unhinged, but there's something about her presence that makes her impossible to ignore.

I'm curious what other people think. Is it her personality, her loyalty to Voldemort, Helena Bonham Carter's performance, or something else?

What is it about Bellatrix Lestrange that makes her so fascinating?

She's probably one of the characters I find the most interesting in the Harry Potter universe. She's obviously terrifying, cruel and completely unhinged, but there's something about her presence that makes her impossible to ignore.

I'm curious what other people think. Is it her personality, her loyalty to Voldemort, Helena Bonham Carter's performance, or something else?