to think Hogwarts is actually a really small school?

[FlutteringButterflie]

I watch the film earlier and realised in Griffindor in Harry's year there were only 5 boys and 3 girls. There are 4 houses so probably about 40 pupils per year.

7 years, so about 280 pupils - not really that many when you think about it.

[geek]

[SarahAndFuck]

But then why does he join in the panicking about Sirius being loose in PoA - he repeatedly tells H not to be out of the castle after dark, suggesting he believes Sirius to be a danger to Harry. Which he obviously wouldn't be if he knew the truth

Maybe because of the dementors, because Harry had such a violent reaction to them, and they were everywhere.

And because other things were out and about that he needed to be careful of.

And perhaps they didn't want him to just meet Sirius and find everything out before Dumbledore was ready for that to happen.

Or maybe not

[FreyaFridays]

Sorry, only just got back.

Voldemort's name- the end "t" is silent, as it's a French name, so it should sound like "Voldemore". At least, this is the way JKR intended for it to be pronounced (and indeed has pronounced it this way in some interviews), but the filmmakers got down to it before she could correct them, and it was too late to change it. The correct version was used in the early US audiobooks, however.

[CorrinaKedavra]

I've always thought that when reading it. Glad to see I was right - I rarely am

It wasn't as jarring for me as for the people I knew who saw the first film and realised they'd been reading Hermione wrong for years though.

[TheSporkforeatingkyriarchy]

Well, the movie version is big enough that at least one student is either replaced or transformed into someone completely different looking, completely as in not even the same race, and no one seems to notice.

[ConfusedPixie]

Spork: Yeah, I discovered that earlier about Lavender, was not impressed!

I also remember being really pissed off that Columbus' daughter was Susan Bones in the first two films as Rowling had made it clear that it was supposed to be a British cast. Then Susan Bones wasn't in the later films.

[NuggetofPurestGreen]

I don't think there's any Rionach in the books Fluttering. Maybe she said it in an interview or something?? (which doesn't count )


"JKR's vice-like grip on the minutiae of the world and on controlling people's interpretations of it is one of the least attractive aspects of Potterdom imo."

You're right FairPhyllis - I wrote a masters dissertation on this very topic!

[DiseasesOfTheSheep]

Maybe because of the dementors, because Harry had such a violent reaction to them, and they were everywhere

I'm pretty sure he actually says at some point that H shouldn't be wandering about after dark, what with Sirius being loose and all that. I'd have to dig out my copy for a direct quotation there though! Not to mention Hagrid's comments in the 3 Broomsticks, which definitely imply he believes Sirius killed PP and broke the Potters' secret enchantments.

I'm reasonably confident that Hagrid didn't know Sirius was good (or rather, since Hagrid is a fictional character, JKR didn't intend for him to appear to have known that).

You're welcome to your own interpretation though, of course even if you're wrong

[NuggetofPurestGreen]

Ah she was making it up as she went along .

Is your masters on Harry Potter Mermaid???

[ConfusedPixie]

A master son HP?! I was impressed by having an A Level on Harry Potter but a masters is epic!

[NuggetofPurestGreen]

Well it was a masters in Popular Literature but my dissertation was on HP. I was supposed to do a PhD on it too, now that would have been awesome. A Doctor of Potter Studies

[nennypops]

I always wonder what happens about higher education in the wizard world. I can't remember any mention of it, but all the teachers at Hogwarts must have studied beyond the school syllabus, and presumably those doctors have some sort of equivalent of medical school?

[VortexOfDisaster]

Impressive amount of knowledge on this thread.

So, can anyone tell me why Harry doesn't have any family connections in the wizarding side? It's said a couple of times that wizarding families often tend to be related. So how come nobody is related to Harry on his father's side? No grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, second cousins...

What did I miss?

[FreyaFridays]

"Vol de mort" is "Flight of death" in French, which was the starting point for his name. It becomes the anagram only after the words "I am Lord" are added.

The thing about the lack of Harry's living relatives is very strange indeed. We know that James' parents were very old when they had him, so I suppose dying of old age would be a probable end for them. It's also stated by Rowling that Lily's parents also died of natural causes, but I must say, it's a lot to lose all four grandparents to natural causes when the parents themselves are only just 20! Maybe the lack of other relatives on James' side can be explained by the first war...

That was another thing that bothered me about the films (whilst I'm having a good moan about them!). The casting of Lily and James Potter as much older actors, when they were only 21 when they died. I can sort of understand it for scenes like the Mirror of Erised, when it would look a bit odd to have an eleven-year-old alongside a couple of twenty-year-olds, but even in the old wizarding photographs and the flashbacks... James, gah... James looks in his mid-forties!

[TheMeaningOfLifeIs42]

How come if all the evil people come from slytherin they dont use the sorting hat to kick them out on the first day instead of teaching them magic which they can use against the good people . Or as they need education just teach them nice simple magic like making fluffy bunnies which they cant use for evil?

[nomorecrumbs]

I didn't know Lily and James were only 20 when they had Harry. Where does it say this?

[olidusUrsus]

I think it's said outright later in the books nomore, but you can work it out yourself if you pick up the clues, there are a few (eg. Harry sees his father's quidditch cup v. early on in the series and it's dated).

[MortifiedAdams]

TheMeaning all the Evil.people are Slytherins..Not all slytherins are evil. They couldnt just chuxk all the Slytherins out - 90% of them never do any evil.

[HotPanda]

FreyaFridays
Doesn't that also apply to Snape and Sirius though? Surely they should be early 30's and whilst I love Alan Rickman, he is somewhat older!

[ConfusedPixie]

nomore: There are things with dates to reference throughout the series and people ahve worked out timelines for everything. I remember sitting and working out the exact ages of the Weasley brothers when I was younger, Bill had left Hogwarts just after Ginny was born iirc.

You have to be careful when working out dates for them all though as JK admitted that she did mess up some dates which is annoying!