History Fridge / HarryPotter

*** Except, you know [[spoiler: Colin, Fred, Remus, Dora and Snape himself]], which is shows how much of a raw deal he got.

** He didn't. He made that body himself. Not explicitly stated, but very obvious when you pay attention.

* Where did Voldemort get a baby to possess in Goblet of Fire??

* [[{{Headscratchers/HarryPotter}} Headscratchers]] has an entry asking why Dumbledore never gave Snape an attitude adjustment, despite the fact that he very obviously needed one. JKR said it's because Dumbledore believes "that people in authority aren't always good" is a lesson the students have to learn. That's not the brilliant part; the brilliance comes in when you realize that ''every single book'' has featured at least one person at Hogwarts far, far worse than Severus Snape. First year there was Quirrell, who has [[spoiler: ''LORD VOLDEMORT STICKING OUT OF THE BACK OF HIS FUCKING HEAD!!!!'']]. In year two we have Lockhart, an arrogant buffoon who can't teach at all (say whatever you want about Snape, he is a competent teacher), and Tom Riddle, who is controlling the Basilisk, mind-raping Ginny, and oh yeah, ''has a horcrux diary that's slowly bringing him back to life so that he can become Lord Voldemort''. Year three introduces us to the man who ''actually'' sold the Potters to Voldemort, [[spoiler: Peter Pettigrew]], a ''true'' coward and murderer. Year four has Karkaroff (coward) and [[spoiler: Fake]] Moody, plus Cornelius Fudge, who refused to believe that Voldemort was back. Year Five: [[TyrantTakesTheHelm Umbridge's period of misrule]], nuff said. Year six, Draco Malfoy joined the Death Eaters and cooked up at least two Russian roulette-esque plans to kill Dumbledore, which nearly resulted in the deaths of Katie Bell and Ron Weasley. Oh, and he let other Death Eaters, like Bellatrix Lestrange and Fenrir Greyback, into the castle, too. [[AVeryPotterMusical Draco, ya little shit!]] And in Year Seven, the Carrows become the Muggle Studies and Dark Arts teachers, while Snape is made Headmaster [[spoiler: and actually spends all of his time and energy making sure the Carrows can't torture and kill the students who defy them]], and at the end of the book, Lord Voldemort himself enters Hogwarts. I bow to the brilliance. -[=TenderLumpling=]

* In the ''Deathly Hollows'' movie, when Ron is listening to the radio, the announcer lists a number of disappearances that day, and says "Thankfully, the list is short today." Said "short list" is ''Thirty One Names Long''. How many are on the long lists?!

* In ''HarryPotterAndThePhilosophersStone'', Ronan the Centaur is angry at Firenze for saving Harry from Quirrel/Voldemort in the Forbidden Forest, as it goes against the stars' foretelling. Harry IS destined to be killed by Voldemort in the forest, but not until 6 years later. -- {{calenloki}}
* I thought the Deathday Party in ''HarryPotter and the Chamber of Secrets'' was basically a WackyWaysideTribe to get Harry relatively isolated while he's looking completely off his rocker. Then I read it again after the fifth book, and realized ''holy shit, this is their shallow imitation of the afterlife''. (And then, of course, there's that bit where the entire fandom considered the entire book a filler arc. Moo ha ha.) -- {{DomaDoma}}
** Sorry but what bit was that again? with the exception of the epilogue, I can't think of a single moment I thought ''Damn, that's some bad filler'' much less considered an entire ''book'' a filler arc.
*** Chamber of Secrets was kind of considered an off episode. It seemed to have less to do with the overall plot until the sixth book. Then you realize that a lot happened in book 2.

* Although I've always loved ''DeathlyHallows'', no matter how many times I read it in the months after it came out, I never understood all the convoluted, complicated explanations of Harry's and Voldemort's connection -- why Voldemort had to kill him for Dumbledore's plan to work, how Harry survived his "death" in the forest, could only Harry kill Voldemort only because of the prophecy, and was it entirely a SelfFulfillingProphecy... after nearly frying my brain trying to understand, I decided to give up, accept "Harry came BackFromTheDead and AWizardDidIt" without letting it detract from my enjoyment of the rest of the series. Upon reading Book 7 for the first time in a few years, I understood it all with no effort! What had changed in the interim? I had watched ''{{Gargoyles}}''! I read Dumbledore's explanation of how Voldemort using Harry's blood to resurrect himself linked Harry to him in such a way so that Harry would live because Voldemort lived as if for the first time, only this time, I thought, "Just like [[{{Synchronization}} Demona and MacBeth]]!" Furthermore, I could now see that Harry's "death" was just like all the times Demona or [=MacBeth=] had been "killed temporarily." Someone only able to die if killed by a certain person? Nothing weird about that anymore. It's enough to make me wonder if JKRowling ever watched that show...~{{Lale}}
** Harry couldn't have lost a part of his soul, because only the most destrctive and evil of acts (killing another person) splits your soul in half. When did Harry find time to kill someone? He didn't, so therefore his soul was still intact. The blood wasn't a symbol of Harry's soul, it was the power in the blood itself the ol' Voldy was after (Lilly's protection). - {{NimbleJack3}}
* I've realized that Ginny is the most logical person for Harry to marry. A somewhat important subplot in the books is Harry's relationship with the Weaslys, to the point where they might as while be his family. If Harry had marryed somebody else, he wouldn't be part of the Weasly family anymore, and that connection would be lost. -Redtutel
** You have to admire Rowling's strategy when it comes to explaining Harry's rebirth - she pulls it off by creating a situation that probably had never, ever happened before in the history of wizardkind. Nobody could possibly know what would happen when one human being first made five Horcruxes (which no one had ever done before) and THEN made another human being a human Horcrux (which had never happened before) and THEN tried and failed to kill that human Horcrux (with a curse that had never failed to be fatal before) and THEN used that human Horcrux's blood in a resurrection spell, and THEN tried to kill that human Horcrux again with that same spell, and failed again, and THEN joined with that human Horcrux through a paired-wand bond, and THEN tried to kill that human Horcrux a third time, with the same spell, while that human Horcrux was in possession (theoretically at least) of all three of the Deathly Hallows. I mean, you couldn't do a spell like that on purpose if you tried. It had to be a wholly unique event.
*** You got your order wrong, and there are more things. The order would be first making 5 Horcruxes, THEN offering a woman to spare her if she allowed him to kill his child (which he had never done before), THEN killing that woman (placing Harry under the blood protection), THEN trying to kill that child with a curse that had never failed before, THEN having his soul spontaneously split when the spell rebounded, THEN the part of the soul that split away taking refuge into the nearest living being (Harry), THEN the still free soul possessing other man and fighting with the living vessel and being defeated, THEN using the human Horcrux's blood in a resurrection ritual, THEN trying to kill the human Horcrux again with the same spell that failed before, THEN joined with that human Horcrux through a paired-wand bond in which he was determined to be the weaker one, THEN trying to kill that human Horcrux a third time, THEN possessing him, THEN using other person's wand to try to avoid the paired-wand bond and failing as the other person's wand breaks, THEN trying to kill that human Horcrux as he attempts to do an HeroicSacrifice to save his friends, THEN having that human Horcrux survive AGAIN and finally trying to kill him AGAIN by using a wand that has been said many times to being unable to fight against his owner. All in all, a VERY long chain of events that are very unlikely to be repeated in the same form ever again
***** To spare everyone another even longer paragraph, I'll add in that Voldy didn't only take the blood of a horcrux and someone destined to be his equal: he took in Lily's protection. [[WordofGod]] says that Lily's goodness was in Voldy's veins, and that's how he could've repented.
** Um, Quirrel, anybody? While the whole "Harry kills Quirrel" is far more ambigeuous in the book than it is in the movie, it is pretty much evident that Quirrel died pretty much directly because of Harry. Voldenmort leaving just sealed the deal. While it is usually claimed that such a split only occurs through murder (which Harry's killing/moral wounding of Quirrel is most assuredly not), who is to say that is true? Turtler.
*** Actually, Dumbledore does explain that Snape killing him won't harm Snape's soul because Snape is actually putting Dumbledore out of his misery by mercy-killing him. So, there is at least one instance where simply killing someone is different from "murdering" them. Though, if the intent is the catalyst, what about when Harry uses the Cruciatus Curse on Bellatrix Lestrange? He certainly intended to torture and possibly kill her, though he lacked the purity (admittedly, pure evil) of mind to do so.
*** It is not just murder, but ''cold-blooded murder'', as in ''killing someone who either can't defend him/herself from you or who is weaker than you''. What Harry was doing was attempting to defend himself from Quirrell, and the book makes it clear that what Harry was doing to Quirrell was just burning his skin. The one who killed Quirrell was Voldemort when he left his body. The example about Dumbledore being mercy-killed by Snape is a good one. And what Harry intended to do to Bellatrix Lestrange was to make suffer like he was suffering, but, as he discovered, righteous anger isn't enough..
** The first chapter of ''Goblet of Fire'' seemed kind of like filler. It established a little more about Voldemort's Muggle father, and it showed that Wormtail had found Voldemort and was helping him, but that could have easily been established later. Except it was ''also'' the first time we saw Nagini, and in fact her only appearance in the book (she next returns in the aforementioned scene in ''Order of the Phoenix'', when Voldemort is ordering her to attack [[spoiler:Arthur Weasley]]). The chapter serves to introduce the character by name, so it makes more sense when we see her in the next book, and also to show us the time at which she became a horcrux, as Voldemort was still one short of his goal when he went to kill the Potters. That's not the brilliant part. [[spoiler:In ''Half-Blood Prince'', Dumbledore mentions that there should be four other horcruxes because Voldemort wanted to split his soul into seven pieces and two of the six horcruxes had been destroyed--Dumbledore is seemingly working off of the assumption that Voldemort doesn't know that he accidentally turned Harry into a horcrux. ''This might not be true.'' Dumbledore also confirmed what the graveyard scene in ''Goblet of Fire'' hinted at (when Voldemort was reaming out Lucius Malfoy about the diary): Voldemort knows when one of his horcruxes is destroyed. This means it's possible that Nagini was meant to be a replacement for the destroyed horcrux, and that he already ''knew'' that he had five remaining horcruxes--the ring, the goblet, the locket, the diadem, and Harry.]]--{{SpiriTsunami}}
*** No. The misconception here is that Voldy did not want 7 horcruxes, he wanted the split his soul into 7 pieces. That means 6 horcruxes and the main fragment in his own body. Harry became the sixth horcrux by accident and unknown to Voldly. So he decided, he needed to make that seventh fragment and used Nagini... not realizing that Nagini was the eighth fragment. Which probably nullified any benefits of the magic of seven.
*** That theory seems to be Jossed by Voldemort's reactions in ''Deathly Hallows'', particularly his interrogation of the Gringotts staff. --@/{{DomaDoma}}
*** It was certainly demonstrated to be false in ''Half-Blood Prince'' (and perhaps even before), because Dumbledore tells Harry that Lucius Malfoy was punished when Voldemort learned that the Diary had been destroyed after he gave it away. And, at the start of that book, Dumbledore has already destroyed Gaunt's Ring. In fact, at no moment does Dumbledore confirm that Voldemort knows when his Horcruxes are destroyed, in fact he says the opposite. I don't remember the exact words, but I think it was something along the lines of "As those pieces of his soul have been separated for so long from the main part of it, he is unable to detect their being destroyed". If Voldemort had been able to detect when one of his Horcruxes was destroyed, when he realised that the Gaunt's ring was destroyed, he would have started to relocate the other Horcruxes. - Milarqui
*** Nagini didn't appear only in the first chapter of ''Goblet of Fire'', she also appeared in the graveyard just before the duel started.
*** The situation is like this: before October 31st 1981 (James and Lily Potter' death and Voldemort's "first death"), Voldemort had 5 Horcruxes (Tom Riddle's Diary, Gaunt's Ring, Slytherin's Locket, Hufflepuff's Cup and Ravenclaw's Diadem, hidden in Lucius Malfoy's mansion, the Gaunt's shack, the cave (and then 12 Grimmauld Place, by Kreacher) and Bellatrix Lestrange's Gringotts vault), and had intended to make the 6th Horcrux with Harry's death, but the Avada Kedavra backfired and destroyed his body, while his soul was broken once more, and the part that didn't flee became Harry's scar. Voldemort didn't know this had happened because of the pain of his death (and, besides, Voldemort's willingness to kill Harry at every turn, even before he gets resurrected in ''Goblet of Fire'', belies the fact that he actually knew about Harry being a Horcrux, because why would you try to kill a person who is actually keeping you alive?). In May-June 1993, Harry destroys Tom Riddle's Diary. In July 1994 Pettigrew finds Voldemort, and the next month Voldemort creats what ''he thinks'' is his 6th Horcrux, using Nagini as a vessel (and he was more or less correct, since it would be the 6th Horcrux at the moment as Tom Riddle's Diary had already been destroyed) but in fact it was his 7th Horcrux. - Milarqui (again)
** This is only speculation though, but is it possible that in cutting Harry's hand in the Graveyard scene Voldemort was not only trying to draw on the power in Harry's blood but maybe also that of the soul that he put into Harry on accident in order to regenerate? In doing so, the fact that that soul piece and Harry's are so intertwined that part of Harry's may have come with it. I have nothing to back that up with and it's only speculation. But I also just realized that we have no idea what transverse effects that soul piece could have on a living person when the original maker of that horcrux uses it to continue living. We do know based on Harry as a case study that Voldemort's soul piece from the horcrux is heavily intertwined with his. -- youngcosette
*** No. For starters, it's Wormtail who cuts Harry's ''arm''. Second, Voldemort states many times that he only wants Harry's blood for what he assumes is a powerful magical blood-based protection - that, and killing him. Also, he knows that he has the connection with Harry thanks to Snape, but he never thinks that it might be due to the piece of his soul in Harry's scar. Thus, his constant attempts to kill Harry would make no sense.
* I ''just'' got the rest of the symbolism of the wands. Thinking about the thestral tail hair in [[spoiler: the Elder Wand]]. I got that Voldemort's wand was made of Yew, the whole "death tree symbolism", but [[spoiler: his and Harry's wands were connected by the same phoenix, the bird of rebirth -the whole "horcruxes of each other" thing with the ''core'' being the same and all phoenix-connected, and Harry's wand was made of Holly, connected to rebirth in several mythologies including Christianity, ''to mirror'' Voldemort's wand. Because even though they both come back, Harry's the one who ultimately lives.]] I hadn't realized that it was so intricately connected like that until just now. -{{JET73L}}
** Going into that a little more, this troper realized the significance between [[spoiler:the shared phoenix core: phoenix are famous for their immortality and ability to always be reborn. According to Harry and Rowling herself, Voldemort always had the chance to feel remorse for what he did and be reborn in a manner of speaking. He considered that a stupid idea though and never seriously considered it, just like he considered his wand useless and discarded it. Harry's love for his holly wand and rebirth at the end of DH, on the other hand, showed his willingness to change and accepted that there were things in the world he couldn't control or understand. The fact that both phoenix tails came from Fawks (Dumbledore's pet), also is symbolic of how Riddle and Harry both saw Hogwarts as their true home!]] -- (Not {{JET73L}}. Original poster, please sign.)
* I recently realized something about ''Half-Blood Prince''. The scene involving [[spoiler:Harry making Dumbledore drink the potion]] was nasty enough to begin with, but it becomes ''much'' worse when you realize what that potion actually does, as hinted by the flashbacks in ''Deathly Hallows'': [[spoiler:It makes you live through your worst memories over and over, presumably worse each time.]] -TheGreatUnknown
** Made the connection before of 'worst memories' but seeing it here surrounded by other HP stuff just made me realize... The other major things in HP that make one relive horrible memories are Dementors! So possibly that potion uses... I don't know, liquid Dementor's breath or something? And it's said that Voldy can get Dementors to sort-of obey him. Maybe he has a deal where he somehow managed to get a couple to sign up for experiments and following orders and in return they get freer reign than normal? Getting into WMG, but yeah. -katrani
* I didn't care much for Nymphadora Tonks, but then I realized she was Rowling's answer to Mary Sues! Think about it! Her hair and eye color literally changes according to her mood, she ends up with one of the [[EstrogenBrigadeBait most wanted]] characters in the series and in the end she [[spoiler:becomes a martyr]]! - KT4
** Ironically, she's often accused of being a MarySue largely [[HetIsEw because she intruded on one of the biggest Slashfic ships in the series]] (Lupin/Sirius). - {{Tropers/Jonn}}
* I have just figured out that people's predictions aren't as farfetched as they seem. [[spoiler:At every opportunity starting with Harry's first divination class in ''Prisoner of Azkaban'', Trelawny has insisted that Harry will die a premature death (with one exception in ''Order of the Phoenix''). Guess what? ''[[{{Foreshadowing}} He does.]]'' She also references the Grim, which is supposed to herald death, and he even sees it a few times, but it turns out to be Sirius -- whom Harry sees before he dies. Also, in ''Half Blood Prince'', Dumbledore says that Slughorn has a knack for predicting who will go on to become famous. Slughorn then invites Ginny to his elite club after witnessing her [[TakeOurWordForIt exceptional]] Bat-Bogey hex. Fast forward to the epilogue, Ginny's become [[WordOfGod the senior Quidditch correspondent for the Daily Prophet after a succesful career with the Holyhead Harpies team]] and is the wife of the most famous wizard of all time: Harry Potter.]][[spoiler: Not only that, but Harry and Ron's predictions for each other also come true: Ron predicts Harry will have a 'windfall of unexpected gold' and the next year Harry wins a thousand Galleons in the Triwizard Cup. Harry predicts that Ron will face 'trials and suffering' but also have 'great happiness.' Ron suffers as much as anyone in the series (apart from Harry himself perhaps), but in the end lives happily ever after with his [[NerdsAreSexy hot nerd love, Hermione]].]] Dynamic Dragon
* Sure, it was easy enough to accept that Snape hated Neville because he was a Gryffindor, he was incompetent, and he was available, but it wasn't until some time after reading Deathly Hallows that I figured out that his ''particular'' hatred for Neville was due to [[spoiler:his belief that if Neville had been the Chosen One named in the prophecy - that if Voldemort had decided to attack the Longbottoms instead of the Potters - Lily would still be alive.]] - {{knave}}
* After reading the seventh book, I understood Snape's hatred for Harry in a different light. Not only did Harry have his mother's eyes and look like his father (reinforcing the bond they had and the fact that Snape would never see Lily again), but he also might have been Snape's son in a different world. Hard to be friends with a kid like that. --SereneShadow
* If you read "The Prince's Tale" with the mindset of "Snape views Dumbledore as a father figure" (which, considering Snape's [[AbusiveParents real father]], is not that far-fetched of an assumption), it adds a whole new dimension to Snape's resentment of Harry: Snape is very much the WellDoneSonGuy, constantly putting his life on the line for Dumbledore and doing everything he asks, which condemns him to a life of being hated by the entire Wizarding World when he kills Dumbledore, while Harry (in Snape's mind) will do much of the same and be ''worshipped'' by the Wizarding World, because everyone wants to see Voldemort killed. ([[AlternateCharacterInterpretation Unfortunately, this makes Dumbledore seem pretty cold and even more manipulative than he already is]], because it reads as though he deliberately took advantage of Snape's desperation for approval by a father-figure and tormented him with it.)

* In the muggle world witches and wizards are constantly remarking upon things that are completely commonplace to us muggles but useless in the wizarding world. So of course, not being accustomed to things like matches, pureblood wizards are completely baffled by everyday muggle objects. Think of how Molly is so confused by the regular postal service that she covers the letter with stamps or how Arthur is completely flummoxed by muggle money. -{{ZigZag}}

* Chew on this. After reading Deathly Hallows, I could not understand why, if Snape cared so much about keeping Harry safe, why he tried so hard to get him expelled (he'd be more vulnerable in the regular world), keep his grades low (can't defend himself if he doesn't learn anything), and belittle him constantly. Then I realized that he was trying to minimize or eliminate the threat Harry posed to Voldy, as that would make Voldy more likely to just leave it. -- 72.240.206.0
* One that occurred to me involving Snape is that given that both are muggle-borns and teen geniuses, Snape's nasty treatment of Hermione might not be just because he's a jerkass, but also because she reminds him of Lilly, and he's probably angered by her friendship with Harry (who of course reminds him of James Potter)- {{Jordan}}

*** On this very website, there seems to be a whole lot of people [[CompletelyMissingThePoint not understanding]] why Snape is obsessed with Lily, why he didn't just "move on" after she told him she wanted nothing more to do with him. If I may, I shall take this opportunity to present the "Snape moved on" sequence of events: Snape learns that Voldemort is going after the Potters. ''Snape does '''nothing'''.'' Since he doesn't love Lily anymore, he ''doesn't'' beg Voldemort for her life, meaning that Lily doesn't get the opportunity to "stand aside". This, in turn, renders her sacrifice worthless; after all, her fate is sealed. So, RIP Harry Potter: July 31st, 1980 - October 31st, 1981. Without Snape's creepy obsession with Lily, there is no story. So, Tropers... ''Still'' think Snape should have just "moved on"? - [=tenderlumpling=]
**** It's true that if Snape hadn't loved Lily, the story wouldn't have happened... but that in no way means that seeing his love as obsessive or non-creepy is a wrong or invalid view.
* I had a moment of fridge brilliance while reading the Crowning Moments of Awesome page about Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. It was basically around the part where I realized how the entire school basically rallied against Umbridge...then I realized, by rallying against Umbridge, they were rallying against the Ministry. If Umbridge hadn't been the DADA teacher, there would have been no reason for Dumbledore's Army to form. Dumbledore's Army was kind of its own family, and Umbridge helped form an allegiance between the entire student body and the teachers, as well as the ghosts. Without the family of DA or the entire schoolwide allegiance already established, nobody besides a few teachers would have been so willing to take up arms against Voldemort, both at the Battle of the Astronomy Tower, or the Second Wizarding War. Harry's support system would have been severely diminished, especially at the end of the seventh book. Harry would probably have not so eagerly led a group in rebellion, if it hadn't been for Dumbledore's Army. Basically, the whole reason anything in the sixth or seventh book worked at all, not to mention with as relatively few casualties there were, was because of Umbridge, and her Ripple Effect over the entire school in the fifth book. Jo, you are one clever bastard. katzgoboo

* This one occured to me after re-reading the seventh book. Take a good look at the prophecy lines "marked as his equal" and "has power he knows not". First, consider that [[spoiler:Harry was a horcrux, which meant he couldn't kill Voldemort without dying first, whereas Voldemort clearly had no such restriction...making them not necessarily equals.]] Secondly, due to Voldemort's obsessive belief that Harry was the chosen one, it meant that he disregarded most everyone else's abilities as irrelevant. Now look at Neville, who 1) would be free to defeat Voldemort [[spoiler:without dying]], and 2) clearly not deemed as important to Voldemort, would possess abilities which Voldemort did not know what they were. In short, up until the very end, ''it was still up in the air exactly whom the prophecy applied to.'' - TotemicHero
** Except Harry's scar, the attack by Voldemort, is what marked Harry as his equal. Also, Harry survived the killing curse [[spoiler: because Voldemort was protecting Harry with his mother's blood, just as Harry was protecting Voldemort as a Horcrux. The whole reason Dumbledore wanted Harry to sacrifice himself was because the first one to "die" would retain their protection, while the "survivor" lost theirs.]] ~NickFalcon
* I Just realized the Brilliance in making the character Tonks so clumsy. Being a Metamorphmagus her center of gravity must be constantly changing as she changes shapes thus leaving her continuously unable to find her balance. -Transfan33

* I realized that there was more to Harry's angst in Order of the Pheonix than just being a broody teenager. In Deathly Hallows, while taking turns wearing the locket Horcrux, whoever is wearing it feels miserable, and their situation seems even worse than it is (and it's pretty bad to begin with). Near the end of Deathly Hallows, we learn that [[spoiler: part of Voldemort's soul is attached to Harry's soul. So imagine having the locket Horcrux inside you at all times with no way to remove it. And this was coupled with the fact that Voldemort had come back to full power, which strengthened the connection between his soul and the piece of it in Harry. So it wasn't just Harry wangsting and whining, it was being so close to Voldemort that it made everything seem worse to him.]] This also opens up more Fridge Brilliance about why Harry was more upset over Cedric's death than Sirius's. Because of Harry's connection with Voldemort, it made Cedric's death more tragic to him than to anyone else, except probably Cho. Harry was very upset after Sirius died at the end of Order of the Phoenix, but didn't seem to be afterwards. Voldemort started using Occlumency against Harry sometime between the fifth and sixth books. When Harry took off the locket in Deathly Hallows, he immediately felt much less miserable. After being directly connected [[spoiler: to Voldemort's soul]] for an entire year, having Voldemort blocking himself from it was enough of a relief that he was able to get over Sirius's death faster than he could have with Cedric's. -GigaMetroid99
* This came to me a while back: JKR is known for her placement of [[ChekhovsGuns Chekhov's Guns]] throughout the novels, like the locket and the diary, which are given an importance later on (though in the case of the diary, it was more of an explaination for why it could do what it did). And the reason Harry was able to get glimpses of Voldemort's plans... [[spoiler: was because he was bonded to Voldemort... as a Horcrux.]] -TheOtakuNinja
* JustBugsMe has an entry asking why Dumbledore never gave Snape an attitude adjustment, despite the fact that he very obviously needed one. JKR said it's because Dumbledore believes "that people in authority aren't always good" is a lesson the students have to learn. That's not the brilliant part; the brilliance comes in when you realize that ''every single book'' has featured at least one person at Hogwarts far, far worse than Severus Snape. First year there was Quirrell, who has [[spoiler: LORD VOLDEMORT STICKING OUT OF THE BACK OF HIS FUCKING HEAD!!!!]]. In year two we have Lockhart, an arrogant buffoon who can't teach at all (say whatever you want about Snape, he is a competent teacher), and Tom Riddle, who is controlling the Basilisk, mind-raping Ginny, and oh yeah, ''has a horcrux diary that's slowly bringing him back to life so that he can become Lord Voldemort''. Year three introduces us to the man who ''actually'' sold the Potters to Voldemort, [[spoiler: Peter Pettigrew]], a ''true'' coward and murderer. Year four has Karkaroff (coward) and [[spoiler: Fake]] Moody, plus Cornelius Fudge, who refused to believe that Voldemort was back. Year Five: [[TyrantTakesTheHelm Umbridge's period of misrule]], nuff said. Year six, Draco Malfoy joined the Death Eaters and cooked up at least two Russian roulette-esque plans to kill Dumbledore, which nearly resulted in the deaths of Katie Bell and Ron Weasley. Oh, and he let other Death Eaters, like Bellatrix Lestrange and Fenrir Greyback, into the castle, too. [[AVeryPotterMusical Draco, ya little shit!]] And in Year Seven, the Carrows become the Muggle Studies and Dark Arts teachers, while Snape is made Headmaster [[spoiler: and actually spends all of his time and energy making sure the Carrows can't torture and kill the students who defy them]], and at the end of the book, Lord Voldemort himself enters Hogwarts. I bow to the brilliance. -[=TenderLumpling=]
* [[HarryPotterAndTheGobletofFire Goblet of Fire]] has another small moment of brilliance. When the trio is trying to figure out how Rita Skeeter was able to overhear private conversations, Harry suggests Rita had Hermione “bugged” with an electronic device. Of course, that isn’t possible because electronics don’t work in the wizarding world. However, Harry was onto something because by the end of the book we find out Rita Skeeter’s secret: [[spoiler: she is an unregistered animagus, her form being a beetle.]] Hermione literally was [[StealthPun ''bugged'']]!
** This is actually an in-universe example -- Hermione cites Harry's line about her being "bugged" as what led her to realize the truth.
* JUST came to this thought after rereading [[HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows Deathly Hallows]]. (being put in spoilers just in case.) [[spoiler: In the epilogue, Harry's son is worried that he'll be in Slytherin. His name is Albus Severus Potter, making his initials A.S.P. Therefore, it would actually be quite appropriate for him to be in Slytherin.]] StealthPun?
* Also regarding Albus Severus and his initials... being Harry's kid, he might be a Parseltongue.
** No, Harry was only a Parseltongue due to the fragment of Voldemort's soul attached to his. I seem to recall something about Harry having lost the ability after that fragment was destroyed.
*** Yes, that was WordOfGod, although I can't remember where she said it... An interview somewhere.

* Resident Slytherin Libby Pansy Parkinson is always described as being "pug-faced" by Harry in the books. Pugs are a kind of dog. In other words, Pansy Parkinson has a bitchy face! -AetherMaster
* It always seemed like some what weak writing that Harry never showed any curiosity about his family or the wider wizarding world requiring Hermione to explain everything to him (and us) at every turn. I just accepted Harry wasn't too bright until I remembered the Dursleys spent a decade beating any curiosity out of him and never answered his questions honestly. He's not dumb, he just still hasn't gotten over that part of his horrible childhood, poor kid. -MathCamel

* In every book, at least one person mentions that Harry looks incredibly like his father, but has his mother's eyes. Dumbledore comments that while looking like his father, he is more like his mother in his heart. I realized that this proved true the old saying: The eyes are windows to the soul.
* This one only took a chapter or two to hit me (if that), but it's still the same type of hidden bonus justification. Snape's [[spoiler: last words]] are "look at me", directed at Harry. He wants [[spoiler: the last thing he sees to be Lily's eyes]]. [[TearJerker *sniffle*]]
** My friend helped me realize this one AND took it a step further: Not only is he staring into "her" eyes...in his mind her eyes are all he needs to be with her. He's dying, finally happy, in the arms of the only woman he ever loved. Double [[TearJerker *sniffle*]]...
* It bugged me (and it bugs a lot of Tropers) that Slytherin House is painted as almost unequivocally evil, but then it hit me: That's not bad writing, ''that's BRILLIANT writing!'' See, we're explicitly told that Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw are the "good" houses, so we just expect that anyone from those houses will do the right thing. Slytherin, on the other hand, has a reputation for churning out Dark witches and wizards like a machine, so we just expect anyone from that house to be evil. So when a Slytherin does something noble (i.e., [[spoiler: Regulus Black]] stealing one of Voldemort's Horcruxes to try and destroy it) and a Gryffindor/Ravenclaw/Hufflepuff does something horrible (i.e., [[spoiler: Peter Pettigrew]] turning James and Lily over to Voldemort) it's that much of a shock. It's proof of Dumbledore's statement: "It is not our abilities, but our ''choices'', that determine who we really are." -TenderLumpling
** I think it's more because we're reading the books from Harry's point of view. Gryffindor and Slytherin are rivals - Harry never takes the time to get to know any of the Slytherins, whereas he meets both nice (Cho Chang, Luna Lovegood, Ernie [=MacMillan=]) and not-so-nice (Marietta Edgecomb, Michael Corner) from both of the other houses. -calenloki
* I never thought that the whole Statue Of Secrecy-thing made sense. If Muggles can't use magic, it surely wouldn't hurt anyone if they tried? Then I remembered the interview where Jo said that Muggles couldn't use magic, but if they happened to pick up a recently used wand, it could suddenly "explode" with magic. I realized: A Muggle who had heard about magic would probably try to use it - I know I would. If a Muggle picked up a recently used wand, they could damage themselves and people around them. -LunaAvril
* I heard this one that for some reason had never clicked before. The mirror of Erised. Read it backward. - Jahwn Lemonjello
** The entire phrase "Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi" that is carved on the mirror can be read backwards as well, reading "I show not your face but your heart's desire." -KiiriiXVI
* In the Deathly Hallows film (part one) I was shocked at the scene with Ron and the horcrux. It was SO incredibly freaky and I-can't-even-imagine for Ron. I was wondering Harry had it so, comparatively, easy in the second book. Then I realized. Harry was a horcrux. Even Riddle, as a memory, somehow knew that Harry was bad news, and tried to kill him, but he still recognize him as a fellow horcrux, so he didn't try too terribly hard. Ron? Fair game. -mermaidgirl45

* I realized something about ''Deathly Hallows'' and its long stretches of the protagonists camping out while on the run. Rowling likes to borrow from somewhat obscure English popular fiction (such as the school story), and it occurred to me that this kind of setting/plot is a lot like ''TheThirtyNineSteps'' and ''Rogue Male''- same idea of a sinister force threatening England in a DayOfTheJackboot way and camping while on the run.-Tropers/{{Jordan}}
* In the film version of ''Goblet of Fire,'' [[spoiler:Fake]]Moody does a pitch-perfect imitation of Hagrid saying "Marvelous Creatures, Dragons." While kind of cool, it seemed to serve no real purpose. Then I realized something: [[spoiler: While in the book series the Polyjuice Potion changes people both externally and internally, it's established in the film versions of Chamber and Hallows that Film!Polyjuice DOES NOT CHANGE YOUR VOICE. Thus, Barty Crouch Jr. was set up as being adept at Vocal Mimicry, another reason he was able to successfully pass as Moody. As much as I hate the film representation of the Junior Crouch, this was a neat little final clue before the potion wore off.]] - Goblin27
** This troper thinks that not much weight should be given to the movies in terms canon. I'm almost entirely certain that this was merely cinematographic effect in order for the viewer to tell who was actually who. Also, had this been the case I think it would have been likely to have been at least hinted at in the books. In fact the books even show that this isn't true in DH when the trio sneak into the ministry under polyjuice. "“Looks like it,” Harry whispered back; his voice came out deep and gravelly. " Harry, who never met Runcorn (as Ron and Hermione got the hairs for him), would have no idea what his voice sounded like.
*** I think you misread. The troper you're replying to acknowledged that in the books the voice changes. But we know that isn't true for the movies, so it makes sense for the movies.
* In ''Deathly Hallows'', did anyone else catch the subtlety of the exact moment [[spoiler: that Harry reveals himself to be alive in the Great Hall toward the end of the battle? It was right as Molly Weasley killed Bellatrix. Then Voldemort stopped fighting [=McGonagall=], Kingsley, and Slughorn and turned toward Molly. Of all the friends he had fighting in the battle, why stop the battle to help Molly? Consider ''Order of the Phoenix'', where Molly tells Sirius that Harry is "as good as" a son to her. When Harry sees Molly's boggart, it is flashing through images of her dead sons...and Harry is included. And, finally, in the beginning of ''Deathly Hallows'', the gift of the watch. Because he was powerless to do so seventeen years ago, Harry is protecting ''the only mother he has ever known.'']] - Spitfire71
* Hermione can't get the House-Elves to unionize, but she can get humans to stop being dicks to them. You can't impose human ethics on a species that isn't human if they don't want them, but you can impose those ethics on ''humans''. There's also a message about assuming house-elves think the same way humans do.--@/{{Jonn}}

* When reading prisoner of azkaban, I thought Sirus' nickname Padfoot was just a sort of pun like the rest of them because dogs have padded feet. Now, after looking into some of the British Isles mythology, the black dog is a death avatar that goes by many different names. One of them happens to be Padfoot. Now Trelawney's prediction makes a lot more sense. Sirus also is a death avatar; his friends from school all die rather violent deaths, so does Harry, and his cousin Tonks. - ashilles
* After I received the Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook for Christmas, a friend of mine pointed out that a lot of the food they eat is pretty bad for you, and why aren't all the Hogwarts kids fat, anyway? And I jokingly said that maybe magic in the Potterverse is like magic in {{Slayers}} and burns a prodigious amount of calories. And then I realized that actually there might be something to that. Those characters who are described as being a bit on the larger side (Hagrid, Goyle, Neville in the earlier books) are also shown to be rather bad at magic, and the two LEAST magical characters in the whole series are ... Vernon and Dudley. Neville is also [[{{fanon}} said to have]] slimmed down corresponding with his [[{{took a level in badass}} taking a level in badass]]. Since I don't think JK is intentionally a fat-basher given what she's [[http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/extrastuff_view.cfm?id=22 said on the subject]], the only logical conclusion is {{Slayers}}-style magical calorie burning.
** I don't think that Vernon and Dudley really count, since it's implied that magic is something genetic (Muggle-borns are either a mutation or have a recessive gene coming to the fore). Also, it's never said Hagrid is bad at magic - he actually seems quite good at it considering how he's able to make pumpkins swell to an incredible size, but as his wand is snapped and kept in an umbrella it's not the most reliable tool. But that's actually quite an interesting theory - it would explain to some extent why wizards seem rather tired after doing a lot of magic. Not that it's actually ever stated; only possible to infer from the text. However, I must point out that Molly does a whole lot of magic around the house, practically everything she does right down to cooking utilises magic, and she's described as 'plump'. -chantililly
** Well, actually, I think Molly's plumpness has more to do with the fact that she gave birth to seven children (and a woman can rarely lose all the weight after that experience). And Hagrid is a half-giant. -Animaluver
* A couple posters on a message board I frequent have mentioned the contemptible treatment of muggles even by the best of the wizarding world. At best, muggles are seen as sort of amusing children or even intelligent pets, but almost never are they seen as equals, or even remotely intelligent. (Another smaller Fridge Brilliance: The muggle Prime Minister actually remarks on this in the sixth book, heavily disliking Fudge's condescending attitude each time he appears in the PM's office, despite the fact that he, Fudge, is not exactly competent himself.) I think those posters are presenting this attitude as a flaw in the writing, but if they are, I have to say I disagree. I think it's brilliant. It's a great cultural tidbit because it's so imperialistic. I think that the real-life Europe--and by extension muggle Europe in HP--probably had this very same attitude towards the indigenous populations of the countries they colonized. So in that sense, one could argue that this plot device shows that muggle culture and wizarding culture have that much more in common with each other--and neither group even realizes it. JK herself even said that Harry leaves the muggle world and finds that the exact same problems exist in the wizarding world. It definitely shows that whatever wizards might think about muggles, they're more connected to them than they know. -Maiira
* Another one: Ron mentioned in Deathly Hallows that Voldemort had made his own name taboo--that is, if anyone said it, it would automatically dispatch the Snatchers, who would then rough them up (or, if it turned out to be Harry, turn his ass in). I thought it was brilliant from the get-go, but it took me a bit more time to unravel just HOW brilliant it was. He not only finds a way to separate Harry from everyone else (because he knows Harry's one of the few who has the balls to say the name), he also mocks Harry's (and by extension Dumbledore's) bravery. He wants to keep the wizarding world in a constant state of fear, and creating such an intense fear of his name alone is, in my opinion, sheer, terrifying genius. We're often told that Voldemort is super intelligent and super evil, but details like this really show it. -Maiira
** Also points out some logical failure from the protagonists. If they REALLY wanted to be as brave as Dumbledore, they'd have called him Tom Riddle, the name he was born with, not the trumped up title he gave himself. -Meiriona

* It took me a while to figure out why you'd name a torture curse "Cruciatus." Then I realized that the root of the word is "Crucifixion," which is the most brutal form of torture ever invented (and here's the kicker- while normally used as a method of execution, you could use crucifixion as a non-lethal form of torture by simply taking the victim down from the cross every night and not beating him up or breaking his legs).
** It's also the root for the word "Excruciating" -- an appropriate adjective for the curse's effects.
* It just dawned on me that the Marauders are first mentioned in ''Prisoner of Azkaban'' in the order "Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs". This just happens to be [[spoiler: the reverse of the order in which they die - James first, then fourteen years later Sirius, then two years later Peter at Malfoy Manor, then a few weeks later Remus during the final battle.]] - Bulbaquil

* A bit of casting brilliance here - after Bill Weasley gets savaged by Greyback in Half Blood Prince, he's described as bearing "a distinct resemblance to Mad-Eye Moody." Who plays Bill in the Deathly Hallows films? Domhnall Gleeson, the son of Brendan Gleeson, who plays Mad-Eye! - @/BklynBruzer
* One I noticed my first time reading Azkaban all those years ago (and expected to see on here) was this: Harry's dad was the genius behind the three animagi -- an incredibly difficult transfiguration to pull off [no comment on how Rita Skeeter did it] which he pulled off at like thirteen years old. Back in Book one, Ollivander described Daddy Potter's wand as "good for transfiguration." Wand and wizard were more than just good; they were exceptional! @/{{glotof}}

* The BeautifulAllAlong page led me to this thought: Why is Hermione still a buck-toothed geek in her fourth year? Because her Muggle dentist parents want her to stay with braces. Why do they want her to have braces instead of the inordinately faster, cheaper, and more painless shrinking of her front teeth? Because they haven't figured out [[MundaneUtility all the little exploits]] of magic yet, or don't want to figure it out. - Landis

* The entire plotline of "Snape's Worst Memory" is intentional FridgeBrilliance. In the fifth book, it appears to be his worst memory because he was being bullied by the Marauders. The part where he calls Lily a Mudblood after she defends him seems to be an afterthought, just a way to show how the Marauders KickTheSonOfABitch. It is not until ''Deathly Hallows'' that we discover that he couldn't have cared less about being dangled in the air by a bunch of JerkAss teenagers - the real reason he regrets that moment was because it was the day he lost Lily's friendship and therefore any chance of being with the woman he loved. Unfortunately, the film left out the end of the memory, therefore inadvertently missing the point of the whole scene.

* In Deathly Hallows, Ron is disguised as a ministry worker whose wife is a Muggleborn on trial, and as we all know, Ron later marries Hermione, who is a Muggleborn. No wonder it hits him so hard; he's in love with Hermione, and this parallel just brings it right home, reminding him of how much danger she's in just because of her blood status.
* The entire plotline of "Snape's Worst Memory" is intentional FridgeBrilliance. In the fifth book, it appears to be his worst memory because he was being bullied by the Marauders. The part where he calls Lily a Mudblood after she defends him seems to be an afterthought, just a way to show how the Marauders KickTheSonOfABitch. It is not until Deathly Hallows that we discover that he couldn't have cared less about being dangled in the air by a bunch of JerkAss teenagers - the real reason he regrets that moment was because it was the day he lost Lily's friendship and therefore any chance of being with the woman he loved. Unfortunately, the film left out the end of the memory, therefore inadvertently missing the point of the whole scene.

* In the Deathly Hollows movie, when Ron is listening to the radio, the announcer lists a number of disappearances that day, and says "Thankfully, the list is short today." Said "short list" is ''Thirty One Names Long''. How many are on the long lists?!

* There was that whole stink about MoralDissonance regarding Dumbledore training Harry to, essentially, [[spoiler: kill him because of his Horcrux]]. But think about it...when did this training start? [[spoiler: Book 5]]. What happened in [[spoiler: book 4]]? [[spoiler: The resurrection ritual, where Voldemort took Harry's blood. And there was a gleam of "something like triumph" in Dumbledore's eyes when Harry told him about it]] [[spoiler: Dumbledore only began training Harry when it became clear that Voldemort had made it impossible to kill Harry without killing himself, and Harry had a chance to "go back" and survive dying!]]

* The entire plotline of "Snape's Worst Memory" is intentional FridgeBrilliance. In the fifth book, it appears to be his worst memory because he was being bullied by the Marauders. The part where he calls Lily a Mudblood after she defends him seems to be an afterthought, just a way to show how the Marauders KickTheSonOfABitch. It is not until Deathly Hallows that we discover that he couldn't have cared less about being dangled in the air by a bunch of jerks - the real reason he regrets that moment was because it was the day he lost Lily's friendship and therefore any chance of being with the woman he loved.

* The entire plotline of "Snape's Worst Memory" is intentional FridgeBrilliance. In the fifth book, it appears to be his worst memory because he was being bullied by the Marauders. The part where he calls Lily a Mudblood after she defends him seems to be an afterthought, just a way to show how the Marauders KickTheSonOfABitch. It is not until Deathly Hallows that we discover that he couldn't have cared less about being dangled in the air by a bunch of jerks - the real reason he regrets that moment was because it was the day he lost Lily's friendship and therefore any chance of being with the woman he loved.

* The entire plotline of "Snape's Worst Memory" is intentional FridgeBrilliance. In the fifth book, it appears to be his worst memory because he was being bullied by the Marauders. The part where he calls Lily a Mudblood after she defends him seems to be an afterthought, just a way to sow how the Marauders KickTheSonOfABitch. It is not until Deathly Hallows that we discover that he couldn't have cared less about being dangled in the air by a bunch of jerks - the real reason he regrets that moment was because it was the day he lost Lily's friendship and therefore any chance of being with the woman he loved.

In Deathly Hallows, Ron is disguised as a ministry worker whose wife is a Muggleborn on trial, and as we all know, Ron later marries Hermione, who is a Muggleborn. No wonder it hits him so hard; he's in love with Hermione, and this parallel just brings it right home, reminding him of how much danger she's in just because of her blood status.