Like Hogwarts Castle itself, the Harry Potter books hold many mysteries, and have many hidden secrets. Hopefully, most of these mysteries will be answered in the final book. Is something funny going on at St. Mungos? What ever happened to Sirius’ two-way mirrors? Where is Fawkes? There are so many others. What mystery are you most looking forward to being answered, and how do you think it will come out?
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I really like going through the articles and comments on this site. They help pass the days till the 7th finally comes out.
Can anyone guess what Dumbledore meant by his anguished cries while he drank the potion (that was protecting the horcrux)? I have a feeling hogwarts is going to get ruined or damaged in some way. (i hope not).
I wondered that too. It sounds to me like the potion is making him relive something bad.
My thoughts exactly.
Maybe it has something to do with the Lonbottoms or the Potters.
Why did dumbledore trust severus snape so much and what happened exactly at that haloween night when Lily potter, saved her son from the most feared dark wizard.
i think dumbledore can most probably see the future. what if he saw something happening to the castle while drinking the potion?
I have a feeling were going to find out a lot more about the mysterious Aberforth.
What happened to the Mirror of Erised (which is desire backwards) and could Harry use it to find the horcruxes?
I have many questions about Snape:
What made Dumbledore trust him completely? Why did he hate James, did he have a crush on Harry’s mom (Lily)? And I also wonder about Draco, will he switch sides and help the order?
Wonder if ‘gleam of triumph in Dumbledore’s eyes..’ (book 4) and the ‘Phoenix flying joyfully..’ (book 6) will be significant in the final book.
I think that Dumbledore had a family of his own long ago and the dark wizard Grindewald killed them that’s what Dumbledore relived in the cave. The mystery i look forward to be revealed however concerns the Founders Of Hogwarts, like where did Skytherin go after leaving the school, how did the four founders die, are there more secret rooms rather than the chamber of secrets or the room of requirement, who created the room of requirement and are Albus and Aberforth or Harry Gryffindor’s descendants?
I’m looking forward to find out if Kreacher and Dobby have continued following Malfoy, and will give arry reports in book 7. It will allso be interesting to see wether Malfoy is a Werewolf or not. My guess is yes on both counts.
There are many things I hope to find out at the end.
What really made Dumbledore trust Snape? I don’t think it was him feeling badly about the Potters, I think it was more than that.
Will Harry become an Auror? McGonagall promised she would make it happen during her shouting match with the frog lady.
Will Harry ever speak to Sirius again? and What is with the veil?
I also really am hoping for a happy ending for Harry and Ginny. The guy deserves a little love after all he’s been through.
I’ve been wondering something. JK Rowling said that the two way mirror that Sirius gave to Harry would return in the seventh book. but how will it return if in book 5 Harry threw it against the wall and it shattered?
did Harry get his invisibility cloak back from the north tower after dumbledore died? it is not mentioned in book 6.
Wizzard11, Voldemort is substantially older than Harry’s parents were. He was in Hogwarts over 50 years ago. If their mother was already pregnant when his mother put the love potion on him it would make them older. Think of it this way, Voldemort is Hagrids age. James & Lily would be Lupins age.
And I’m sorry, I feel I’m missing something but as Catherine said, sometimes there seems to be so much that we could miss. I know Voldemort’s intent was to kill Harry, not Lilly, but I don’t recall him “not wanting to kill her” I don’t think he’d have a problem killing anyone.
aks – “Nitwit, Blubber, Oddment, Tweak. Thank you.”
If this line was indeed significant, i.e. giving Harry horcrux clues or whatever, it would be a perfect way to hide its meaning. To the rest of the school, it’s just an assortment of random words, but to Harry it may mean more. Hiding in plain sight, if you will.
They are also striving to get help from other places, i.e. Charlie using his position in Romania to get mainland European support. We only see the battlefront on the British Isles, that doesn’t mean there are not battlefronts elsewhere. Good question, though!
Ezri – The Lightning Bolt(tm) will be the model of broomstick Harry markets after he defeats Voldemort, becomes a world famous Quidditch player until a tragic accident involving a Fwooper and a load of bubotubers forces him into an early retirement, whereupon he starts his own line of Quidditch supplies. It’s a brilliant name for a broomstick!
I was thinking that Dudley would be the one to show magic (and his parent�s reaction is what he relives around dementors), but I’m now rethinking that seeing how many people think that. It’s starting to seem as if it’s too obvious, and Jo likes to keep her readers guessing.
Joe – Ok, I see. If the Secret was the 12 Grimmauld Place was the headquarters, but not necessarily the building itself was the Secret, then it would work. And the Unplottable spell was put on by Sirius’ father (which Sirius said in Order of the Phoenix, now I remember it…) Thank you for helping clear that up. Excellent explanation of whether the charm could be broken, too.
Here’s another question I remembered I was curious about: Severus killed Voldemort Enemy #1. Surely Voldemort will want to reward him. How?
In an interview several books back JKR said that we would meet the SPOUSES of some of the Hogwarts staff and that the SPOUSES would have some function in the plot. With only one to go… who is even married? When do they get to be with a spouse? Why don’t we see spouses at Hogwarts? Or, does this simply mean we can’t trust everything JKR ‘lets slip’ in interviews?
Perhaps, Charlie, this was something she intended to do a few books back, but had to cut it out because the books were getting too long.
It’s very unlikely it will happen now because JK has also in interviews said something like no new major characters would be introduced in the last book.
There are some facts i think are worth considering…
1) Did Snape love Lily Potter? is this why he turned to the good side? He always spoke bad about James, but never Lilly. And is this the reason Voldemort gave a chance to Lilly to run-away?
2) On the US cover, there are no wands. We all know that Voldemort’s and Harry’s wand have Fawkes’s feathers. Would this play any important role? Would Fawkes be able to somehow neutralize Voldemort’s wand?
3) Is Snape the “Third Most powerful wizard” after Dumbledore and Voldemort? as we know he is fooling atlesat one of dumbledore or voldemort he also invented his own dark spells.
I do belive there’s more to Dumbledore than we know of, i dont belive it was snape with Harry in the cave. When Harry dragged Dumbledore out of the cave, Harry told him not to worry, and Dumbledore replied something like “im not worried, im with you Harry”. No matter if snape were to act as Dumbledore, i never think he would give Harry such a comment.
At the beginning of book one, McGonagall says that they haven’t had anything to celebrate for in fifteen years. What happened fifteen years before?
Who will be head boy? I know this stature will be of lesser importance in the final book, but still, who will it be? Obviously Hermoine will be head girl, if she attends and does not spend all her time helping Harry. Could Ron be the next Head Boy? Hmm…
OsCaR~
Could it be that McGonagall is referring to Griffindor House not winning the House Cup in 15 years?
Besides the obvious questions already posted:
When did Dumbledore first conceive of the idea that Voldemort used horcruxes? Was it at the end of CoS?
If Harry is a horcrux, why didn’t Dumbledore realize it?
What did Dumbledore mean in OotP when he said “yes, but in essence divided”?
How did Dumbledore defeat the evil wizard Grindelwald? And will that knowledge help Harry?
OsCaR – I was always under the impression that she was talking about Voldemort’s rise. He’s been in power and creating fear and greif for the past 15 years, and they’ve had little to celebrate until his attack on Harry caused his fall.
Everyone – I heard a rumor a while ago – keep in mind this is just a rumor, I did not get this from any credible source – that sometime after all the Book 7 excitement/anger/sorrow/grief has died down a bit, Jo was planning on doing a Q&A; to answer all those little unanswered questions. I don’t know if it was supposed to be an interview idea, a section of her website, Harry Potter and the Intricate Sub-Plots, or what. Wouldn’t it be great, though, if she actually did that?
about how harry will find his parents’ house if it’s protected by the fidelius charm (and pettigrew probably won’t tell him where):
is it possible that the fidelius charm was put on harry’s PARENTS instead of the house? I remember Jo saying somewhere something along the lines of (or maybe it was in the books – something Hagrid said): “Voldemort wouldn’t find them if he put his face up to their living room window.” I think I read that somewhere, although I can’t be entirely sure now.
Also, another possibility: we know that Pettigrew owes Harry, so maybe (and I think this is highly unlikely) Pettigrew tells Harry where his parents’ house is?
I’m more into the idea of Aunt Petunia giving Harry the exact address of where their house was at Godric’s Hollow. It would be the nicest thing she would ever done to this nephew.
Yeah, Dudley as a late-bloomer-wizard is kinda predictable. JK said it isn’t Petunia. What about Uncle Vernon? Or squibs like Filch and Mrs. Figg?
Dumbledore’s defeat of Grindelwald is also very curious. Wonder if it helps Harry in his final battle with Voldemort…
And about the theory that Snape-switched-with-Dumbledore-at-the-cave, which they say is impossible.. I think it is possible that they switched. I also had the hint that it was Snape Harry was with in the cave. Remember also that in “Dumbledore’s” inside robe, there was a knife that Harry uses in Potions? It seems weird for the ordinary Dumbledore to keep a knife like that, but it is normal for a Potions master do have that. Dumbledore could have just simply conjured that knife in the air right?
Snape loathes Harry but he doesn’t really underestimate Harry’s powers. Because he knows Harry has powers the Dark Lord knows not. So, Snape saying “I’m not worried, i’m with you” means that Snape still trusts Harry just as Dumbledore trusts Snape.
I’ve been sitting on this theory for quite some time: What if the Golden Snitch is a horcrux? Didn’t Tom Riddle play Quidditch at Hogwarts? And where is Madam Hooch, with her “yellow eyes like a hawk”?
In the final face-off with Lord Voldemort, I hope that all of the magical flying creatures, led by Hedwig and Fawkes, will come together to help Harry. Buckbeak, all of the Hogwarts owls, dragons, the Thestrals, even the dementors, will hover above. Voldemort will not be killed — he will be destroyed — and forced to survive as a mere muggle, like his father, with no one to love him; this being the fate “worse than death.”
While I don’t believe that a Hogwarts snitch is one of the horcruxes, if it were, it would be sweet, since Harry’s particularly good at catching them…
To Patti- Wow. yeah the snitch being a horcrux would be something.
But your second theory, that Voldemort will be forced to live a life worse than death, really clicks.. good one.
Dumbledore said that Harry’s real power against Voldemort is love.
Probably he will be able to defeat Voldemort with the help of people who love him or vice versa. Though that is already happening in the previous books.
The fidelius charm is on the house. If it were on the persons, then Harry would have been under the Charm too, for he was the one that Voldemort was looking for. And if Harry was under fidelius charm, nobody but Pettigrew and Voldemort would be able to see him.
we know that harry is a lot like his father… we know that his hair is like his, he looks a lot like him, he has a disregard for rules, he likes taking risks, he wants to find out the truth, he usually went out after hours in the invisibility (they both inherited it from thier own fathers… i read it somewhere that james inherited the cloak from his father)…
but the only thing we know that harry inherited from lily potter is her eyes…i therefore think that lily’s eyes play an important role and as lupin says in the third MOVIE – she could see the good in others that others could not see, and especially that the person could not see it in himself.. maybe harry will see some thing good in voldemort and voldemort would get destroyed since there would be something good in it…
Ok so to the whole polyjuice potion theory, it has to be taken every hour on the hour and from the time frame it sounds like Harry and Dumbledore were gone for more than an hour. When they left Hogwarts it was just begining to get dark yet when they arrived it was nearly midnight. And from what was done in the cave it doesn’t sound like Dumbledore would have had a chance to drink anything let alone do it without raising Harry’s suspicions.
With regard to spouses…we may already have met Dumbledore’s family…the memory he relives when he drinks the potion in the cave would make sense as one of Dumbledore’s own memories if the “them” (“Don’t hurt them”) referred to were his own family and Grindelwald the torturer….though I think this is a long shot.
Also, Bertha Jorkins refers to someone kissing Florence behind the green houses (when Dumbledore shows Harry his memory of her in the pensieve in OotP) and hexing her (Bertha) for seeing them….could this have been Snape? If so he may have a family in hiding….JK makes a point of saying that Snape’s house is usually empty…it smells musty etc which would imply that there’s no-one living there when he is at Hogwarts (beginning of HBP). I think we will find out more about Snape’s mother in DH.
Oh, and if Dumbledore sacrificed himself for his friends and the greater good at the end of HBP…this kind of love is surely not something that Voldemort could ever understand…
Because I am re-reading HBP at the moment I have a sudden desire to know just what the importance is of Horace Slughorn!
He is important enough for the Order to know that Dumbledore is trying to get him to Hogwarts:
“So you persuaded Horace Slughorn to take the job?” (HBP, uk, pb,p.83) said by Mrs Weasley to Harry.
Important enough for Dumbledore to use Harry as bait.
When Dumbledore asks Harry to retrieve the memory from Slughorn, Harry suggests it would be easier for Dumbledore to use Veritaserum or Legilimency. Dumbledore refuses to do any such thing and clarifies his refusal with:
“No, I think it would be foolish to attempt to wrest the truth from Professor Slughorn by force, and it might do more harm than good; I do not wish him to leave Hogwarts.” (HBP uk, pb, p.348)
As much as Dumbledore wants that memory, he wants Slughorn to remain at Hogwarts more.
Then of course there is the issue of Slughorn’s agitation at the mention of Dumbledore’s funeral.
Funeral for Dumbledore then Slughorn?
“I suppose… yes…” said Slughorn in a rather agitated voice” (HBP, uk, pb, p.587)
Plus why is he shaken, pale, and sweating? Just where was he when the battle with the Death Eaters was raging?
About the snitch beeing a Horcrux, dosnt it get replaced from time to time? – in Ootp we see in snapes’ memory that James had stolen it, and after Harry fight Malfoy after the quidditch fight, he finds himself with the snitch still in his hands in McGonagall’s office. Later we hear that the snitch Harry “took” is flying around in the Gryffindor common-room.
I stil wonder wther the note in the locket IS a Horcrux or not. When they enter the cave, Harry use the ‘Acciu Horcrux’ spell, whits DOS make the locket try to fly to Harry. Would it try to get to him, if it was a fake Horcrux, or wasnt one at all?
Kim from Randers –
I have often wondered the same thing about the accio horcrux spell and the locket. It made no sense that there was a noise when Harry said the spell.
I have 2 thoughts:
1. The horcux is still there. Could it be the fountain thing that the potion was drunk out of with the locket as a decoy?
2. Simply, did Voldemont place a spell that would make the Inferi (sp?) move if magic was spoken aloud? Dumbledore never ‘spoke’ magic, everything he did in the cave was nonverbal.
I also don’t think all questions will be answered. Such as the whereabouts of Sirius’s bike. That probably won’t progress the story at this point.
So I just finished re-reading HBP again and something got me thinking. It seems that the greatest witches or wizards are all half blood. (one parent is muggle born while the other isn’t).
Ex:
Harry- his mother was muggle born but his father wasn’t.
Snape- father was muggle born/mother wasn’t.
Voldemort- father was muggle born/mother was a witch.
Do you think it is possible that maybe Dumbledore was a half blood? Because it is said that he is the most powerful wizard and the only one Voldemort ever feared. The fact that Voldemort marked Harry (the half blood) as his equal also gets me thinking that maybe this is true.
the first thing i want to say is that i really, really, REALLY hope that ginny doesn’t die because she is my all-time favourite character! i think i can handle it if harry dies if ginny gets to live. i have a suspicion that harry might die trying to save ginny because i dont think ginny will listen to him and will go to fight mr. voldy too.
To Oscar from Illinois: i highly doubt dumbledore being a descendant of Slytherin just because he understood parseltounge in bob odgens’ memory… he can speak mermish(gof) so maybe he learned parseltounge, or maybe he was one of the “Parselmouth’s among the great and the good” as he mentioned in hbp…
To Natalie in Australia: you said that “the prophecy doesn’t refer to whom it was said to…” actually, the prophecy from ootp has the intials of both sibyll trelawney and of albus percival wulfric brian dumbledore… it says it at the top.
To everyone who stills thinks Snape switched with Dumbledore… JK said “Dumbledore IS really dead. Everyone needs to move through the five stages of grief and get past his death.” i think dumbledore is truly dead as a doorknob and i also think that snape killed him. Snape: i think he might still be good, but he’s just a little confused morally. i think that he is one of the smartest characters in the book and that he isnt going to officially choose a side until he knows for sure who he is safer with. But i also think the his unbreakable grudge against harry, james, remus, and especially sirius will aid in his decision, but bear in mind that james did save his life… its kind of like wormtails predicament… he owes his life to james… oh, and there is no evidence whatsoever for anyone to believe that snape and lilly had a “thing” when she tried to defend him from james and sirius, he called her a mudblood and thats really the only confrontation ever seen between the 2 in the entire series. he doesnt talk about her i guess because they didnt really have anything to do with one another.
i have one more question. is there any signifigance whatsoever in the number of tears on hagrids notes? when he learned of buckbeaks execution, there were 7 (the most powerfully magical number) tears on the note he sent to hermione. then, when he sent a note to harry, ron, and hermione concerning aragogs funeral, there were 13 (another supposed magically powerful number) tears on that note. just wondering.
Could the voices behind the veil possibly be the souls that the dementors have taken? I mean where do the souls go anyway, heaven?… hell?
i have a few questions:
is harry’s scar a horcrux?
whose side is snape actually on- voldemort’s, harry’s, or his own?
How about Harry getting all the snakes in England to come to his aid? Snakes would probably love to show they really are good. Well, some maybe
I’m just totally shocked to be honest, when i read book six I didn’t expect that Dumbledore was gonna be killed. I thougt that in the end he and the dark lord would have a huge Fight and both die. really, i didn’t expect it at all.
but what if snape is good afterall and what about harry?
is he gonna be the new headteacher, and hogwarts, will it be closed? i never thought about that snape could be good because he is just very mean to harry and if he really liked harry why would he want to hurt him?
i’m so excited about book seven, but here in holland we have to wait so much longer.
JKR said in an interview that the one coming back to teach would be a surprise and not who we think. With that in mind, it can’t be Nelville because he has been the lead in that opinion for years now. So I’m really curious as to whom is the least likely person to go back. My opinion of the least would be Ron (especially if Hermione and Harry die). He would dedicate himself to teaching the next generation. My next least likely would be another Weasley: Fred Weasley. After George meets his untimely death, Fred will close the joke store (because he is too devastated to continue) and return to Hogwarts to teach charms.
I would also love to find out what Dumbledore’s worst memory is and what his boggart would be. He was so smart, would his boggart be like Hermione’s?
Joe – Actually, the idea that the potion was making Albus relive Grindelwald’s torture and possibly murder of his family is quite a good possibility. Good catch!
Orlando – Another good catch! Horace was “in hiding” going from Muggle house to Muggle house (note, he did not ever go to a wizard house) and Albus was pretty vehement about him coming to Hogwarts. The last time he was this adamant was while trying to keep Sybil from leaving. And I’ve also been curious about Horace’s whereabouts during the battle. What’s he been up to?
Brant – That’s a thought. I always assumed, though, that the dementors eat the souls. They get devoured much like that hot dog I just had for dinner. So, those souls would be “digested” if you will, and turned into whatever energy the dementors run on.
Another question I hope will be answered: I mentioned elsewhere on this site that I noticed that no one seems to know where Severus was during the battle at the Ministry of Magic. He tells Bellatrix that he was (once again) at Hogwarts because joining in the fight would have blown his cover. Earlier, Albus tells Harry that Severus intended to search the forest, not that he did search the forest. So where exactly was Severus at that time?
What importance has lily’s/Harry’s eyes exactly? And how did Harry’s parents earn such a significant amount of gold? we haven’t realy heard anything about his parents past other then at school and their work in the order.
Our ONLY clues to Dumbledore’s fears are things he says and does in prior circumstances. He is extremely concerned about the welfare and well being of the students.
When Harry suggests that Dumbledore is leaving the students and the school with inadequate protection Dumbledore, normally the sole of calmness, becomes angry. He is very sensitive about the protection of the kids. (see also reaction to Umbridge shaking Marietta in OOP for example)
His Boggart, or worst fear, probably then would be a suffering student whom he could not help. Much like Mrs. Weasley seeing dead family members she is likewise unable to help.
Assuming that the potion acts similar to the effect of Dementors (you relive the worst moments of your life) or that it causes you to IMAGINE the worst potential moments of your life (like a boggart, but multiple and in stereo) then some of the things he says after taking the potion make more sense. He appears to be watching harm coming to the students which he cannot prevent, but offers himself as a sacrifice in their place. As a theme it is not a great deal different from Bellatrix’s suggestion to torture the littelest one (Ginny) while the other students watch. The idea that innocent children / students would suffer and he could not prevent it would certainly have a horrible effect on Dumbledore. This is how I imagined it reading those passages from the first…
the gleam of triumph in the eyes of dumbledore in the 4th book after harry tells him that voldort used his blood. could it be that harry was a horcrux and because voldemort used harry’s blood he negated the effect? i mean why else would dumbledore have a gleam of triumph in his eyes?
I have loads of questions man.
In the Foe-Glass, Snape was shown as we was an enemy to fake-Moody, a person Moody regarded as an enemy. So Snape may have been a good boy.
Another was the flying Avada Kedavra curse. In other examples, the unlucky fella just drops. Why does Dumbledore “fly over the battlements and fall out of sight”?
If Harry’s scar was a horcrux, how do you get rid of it if he is the one to vanquish the Dark Lord?
In the last part of HBP, you see that Harry has to resist laughing during the funeral of Dumbledore’s. He resisted laughing when Hagrid slammed through a chair and there are other circumstances. Why laughter of all feelings?
In HBP, McGonagall had said that “we watched all the Entrances…no one could possibly fly in, how did the Death Eaters enter?” But we all know that Dumbledore and Harry flew on Mdm Rosmerta’s brooms to the tower. How did they do that?
Upon reaching the top of the tower, Dumbledore told Harry to get Snape, at that same moment, Draco came in, disarmed Dumbledore and Dumbledore immobilized Harry. If Dumbledore had asked him to get Snape, why in that exact moment did Dumbledore immobilize Harry if he wanted Snape? Either it was planned that Snape went up, or he just realized at that moment at what Harry told him about Draco being plotting against him was right. He “slumped down the wall” and acted as politely as he called them “manners” before he died, as to let Harry see that he had died gloriously?
So many questions…mysteries…
Also, how do you create a double Portkey? In GoF, Harry touches the Cup twice and is transported twice to two different locations. How do you do that?
Also, it is said that Voldemort cannot withstand love. How if all of them jumped onto Voldemort, saying “We all love you Voldemort, we’ll love you to the end!” and gave him a huge bearhug, will Voldemort scream, wither and die?
I also don’t think that Romilda Vane was introduced as comic relief. Will she, because of love for Harry, scream in front of Voldemort “I love you!” and make Voldemort die or shield Harry during the battles that follow?
It is said in PoA that Peter Pettigrew was very close to his friends. He betrayed them to Voldemort as Voldemort controlled him as though “it was like fear”. It was also added that it was fear that made him go back to Voldemort. How if, during a fight, Harry yelled to Peter something like “help James’ son! I’ll forgive you!” and Peter saves Harry’s life in some way (the life debt) and paid back the life debt?
We’ll never find out all the answers but I hope this has shed some light on stuff other people haven’t seen before.