# Well, I just read the Harry Potter series (thoughts, questions, SPOILERS aplenty) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 19, 2004, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-just-read-the-harry-potter-series-thoughts-questions-spoilers-aplenty/255751 "2004-07-19T01:17:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![WaryEri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ea666f/32.png) [@WaryEri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WaryEri)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-just-read-the-harry-potter-series-thoughts-questions-spoilers-aplenty/255751/121 "2004-08-05T03:14:28Z")
I mean the second movie, of course. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Hamish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a5b964/32.png) [@Hamish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamish)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-just-read-the-harry-potter-series-thoughts-questions-spoilers-aplenty/255751/122 "2004-08-05T14:14:39Z")
> [@Priam](#): > > I might’ve glazed over someone else mentioning this previously, but if she’s referring to the same arc cut from Book 2 then I strongly suspect Dean Thomas. I remember reading his discovery of his father’s past in the earlier books was cut in the interests of focus/length. It’s not a story arc from book two – she makes that clear on her Site – something in _Chamber ofSecrets_ forshadows something in book 6. That’s why my money’s on Godric Gryffindor for half blood prince, with Harry finding out he’d his heir. (His father was pureblood, in Gryffindor, and inherited a lot of cash and some remarkable magical items, and he and his wife hid out in Godric’s Hollow, and since Dumbledore said to harry “Only a true Gryffindor could pull [the sword] out of a hat” in book 2. This would make Harry a match for Voldemort, and his perfect mirror image, since Gryffindor and Slytherin hated each other) As for Dean Thomas, Rowling said his backstory would never make it into a book, so that sort of precludes him being the half blood prince – she would have to clear up for the readers that he’s not Muggle-born. ---
**Author:** ![Hamish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a5b964/32.png) [@Hamish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamish)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-just-read-the-harry-potter-series-thoughts-questions-spoilers-aplenty/255751/123 "2004-08-05T14:18:13Z")
> [@Elethiomel](#): > > For “The Half-blood Prince”, > I’m going to have to go with the Hagrid theory. Well, it’s the second-most popular theory right now in the world of Potter geekdom. And it is quite logical. I don’t think Fridwulfa would have to be royalty for the theory to work, either. A prince among giants seems to be one who can beat up the most people 😉 I’m still going for Gryffindor, but I won’t be too surprised if it’s Hagrid. ---
**Author:** ![Hamish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a5b964/32.png) [@Hamish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamish)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-just-read-the-harry-potter-series-thoughts-questions-spoilers-aplenty/255751/124 "2004-08-05T14:28:58Z")
> [@WaryEri](#): > > My SO and I were trying to figure out Lily and James’s ages after watching the third movie on DvD one lazy afternoon. It’s been cleared up. James, Lily, Lupin, Black, and Pettigrew, and Snape were all either born in 1959 or 1960 (This detail comes from one of her interviews). James and Lily were 20 or 21 when Harry was born. > [@](#): > > there was very distinctly a McGonagall next to him, dated the year before. Problem is, there’s already a mistake on the cup, and in the dialogue – James was a Chaser, not a Seeker. Rowling doesn’t seem to have been much consulted on that scene. Still, it might explain her interest in Quidditch. > [@](#): > > I’ve paid closer attanetion to Professor McGonagall ever since when re-reading the books, but she never does get flushed out much. If there’s any significance at all to things reveals in the movies, is there perhaps a son or a nephew? Rowling said that some of the teachers have spouses, but there’s a good reason we haven’t heard about them yet. She says we’ll find out about them in one of the upcoming books. No one’s quite sure what to make of this information. My WAG is that their identities are kept secret, for fear that Voldemort will use kidnapping and blackmail to get into Hogwarts. So she could very well have a son somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-just-read-the-harry-potter-series-thoughts-questions-spoilers-aplenty/255751/125 "2004-08-05T22:42:12Z")
> [@](#): > > … there was very distinctly a McGonagall next to him, dated the year before. Specifically, it’s an “M. McGonagall,” isn’t it? I suspect the M just might stand for Marlene, as in Marlene McKinnon, who was killed during the first war along with her husband and children. I thought of McGonagall as soon as I read that interview quote about the teachers’ spouses. Something about the tough, I-don’t-want-to-get-too-close-to-my-students persona (and the way it crumbles at odd moments, like when Hermione’s in the hospital wing in CoS) gives me the feeling she’s probably had, and lost, a family of her own. BTW, I think Rowling means the info about teacher’s spouses is kept secret from the _readers_ (because it’ll give away major plot points) rather than from people in the wizarding world. ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-just-read-the-harry-potter-series-thoughts-questions-spoilers-aplenty/255751/126 "2004-08-05T22:43:48Z")
> [@Fretful Porpentine](#): > > Specifically, it’s an “M. McGonagall,” isn’t it? I suspect the M just might stand for Marlene, as in Marlene McKinnon, who was killed during the first war along with her husband and children. FWIW, Professor McGonagall’s name is Minerva… ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-just-read-the-harry-potter-series-thoughts-questions-spoilers-aplenty/255751/127 "2004-08-05T23:31:42Z")
> [@](#): > > FWIW, Professor McGonagall’s name is Minerva… Yes, but she’s much too old to have been a contemporary of James; she’s been _teaching_ at Hogwarts for thirty-nine years, as of OotP, so the name on the trophy would have to be a son / daughter / nephew / niece. (Assuming it has any significance at all, of course.) ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2004, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-just-read-the-harry-potter-series-thoughts-questions-spoilers-aplenty/255751/128 "2004-08-06T01:11:51Z")
This is probably a stretch, but what if Godric Gryffindor was an Animangus? To be more specific, what if he is Fawkes the phoenix? ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2004, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-just-read-the-harry-potter-series-thoughts-questions-spoilers-aplenty/255751/129 "2004-08-06T07:46:49Z")
**Rabid** , that’s the best thinking-outside-of-the box theory I’ve ever read. I still think it’ll be a brand new character, but I think I like that theory the best. ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2004, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-just-read-the-harry-potter-series-thoughts-questions-spoilers-aplenty/255751/130 "2004-08-06T12:46:02Z")
> [@Fretful Porpentine](#): > > Specifically, it’s an “M. McGonagall,” isn’t it? I suspect the M just might stand for Marlene, as in Marlene McKinnon, who was killed during the first war along with her husband and children. Okay… disclaimer… wacky old me has never read any Harry Potter books, he’s just seen the movies. I plan to read them sometime, honest. My impression in the movie was that the trophy includes the name of the winning team’s faculty adviser - McGonagall is extremely interested in Quidditch, and she seems, in the movie, to have some sort of advisory capacity for the Gryffindor team. Sort of like a coach. But what do I know? ---
**Author:** ![Jenny\_Haniver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Jenny\_Haniver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenny_Haniver)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2004, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-just-read-the-harry-potter-series-thoughts-questions-spoilers-aplenty/255751/131 "2004-08-06T18:19:49Z")
> [@Askia](#): > > **Rabid** , that’s the best thinking-outside-of-the box theory I’ve ever read. > > I still think it’ll be a brand new character, but I think I like that theory the best. Seconded. ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2004, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-just-read-the-harry-potter-series-thoughts-questions-spoilers-aplenty/255751/132 "2004-08-06T18:39:53Z")
I came up with that theory after reading JK Rowling’s FAQs about the connection between book 6 and Chamber of Secrets. Rowling says that part of book 6 has to do with something Harry discovers in the Chamber of Secrets. What does Harry discover? Well, the sword of Gryffindor and Fawkes have a large scene and it’s Fawkes who gives Harry the sword. And Animangus’s play a large part in the books. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2004, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-just-read-the-harry-potter-series-thoughts-questions-spoilers-aplenty/255751/133 "2004-08-06T21:24:54Z")
> [@](#): > > This is probably a stretch, but what if Godric Gryffindor was an Animangus? To be more specific, what if he is Fawkes the phoenix? I’ve seen speculation on this elsewhere on the board, but I don’t think it works. A person doesn’t choose the form he takes as an animagus, it’s something inherent in his character (there’s the implication that this same animal also dictates the form of the Patronus). And Godric’s totemic animal would probably be a lion (think about the symbols for the houses). Along the same token, Slytherin’s and Voldemort’s totem is a snake, Ravenclaw’s is a raven, Dumbledore’s is a large bird, presumably a phoenix, Harry’s and James’ is a stag, and so on. If Harry ever became an animagus, he would be a stag like his father, and if we ever see McGonagal’s Patronus, it’ll be a cat. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2004, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-just-read-the-harry-potter-series-thoughts-questions-spoilers-aplenty/255751/134 "2004-08-06T21:32:35Z")
Can a griffen be a half-lion, half-phoenix? ---
**Author:** ![RitzyRae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/aca169/32.png) [@RitzyRae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitzyRae)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2004, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-just-read-the-harry-potter-series-thoughts-questions-spoilers-aplenty/255751/135 "2004-08-06T21:50:08Z")
> [@Rabid Child](#): > > This is probably a stretch, but what if Godric Gryffindor was an Animangus? To be more specific, what if he is Fawkes the phoenix? Strange, because I too would think he would be a lion or griffin, **if** this is even a remote possibility. **So** , wouldn’t that be the best Animangus to be? You would never “die”! Who needs a Sorcerer’s Stone! Bah! ---
**Author:** ![Hamish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a5b964/32.png) [@Hamish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamish)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2004, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-just-read-the-harry-potter-series-thoughts-questions-spoilers-aplenty/255751/136 "2004-08-07T00:35:31Z")
Well, I suppose there’s nothing to _rule out_ Gryffindor being an animagus, seeing as we know next to nothing about the guy. 😉 I’d settle for just knowing if he left any heirs. The latest tidbit I’ve gotten is that Rowling said a graveyard behind Hogwarts will become important soon. My WAG (since I’m on the Gryffindor-is-the-Half-Blood-Prince wagon) is that Gryffindor is buried there, and something in his tomb or on his tombstone will be crucial. What thinks you all? ---
**Author:** ![WaryEri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ea666f/32.png) [@WaryEri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WaryEri)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2004, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-just-read-the-harry-potter-series-thoughts-questions-spoilers-aplenty/255751/137 "2004-08-07T01:26:58Z")
> [@CandidGamera](#): > > Okay… disclaimer… wacky old me has never read any Harry Potter books, he’s just seen the movies. I plan to read them sometime, honest. > > My impression in the movie was that the trophy includes the name of the winning team’s faculty adviser - McGonagall is extremely interested in Quidditch, and she seems, in the movie, to have some sort of advisory capacity for the Gryffindor team. Sort of like a coach. > > But what do I know? Problem is, James has 1970 under his name, and McGonagall has 1969. I might be off on exactly what the dates were (although I’m fairly sure those were correct), but they were certainly a year apart. ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2004, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-just-read-the-harry-potter-series-thoughts-questions-spoilers-aplenty/255751/138 "2004-08-07T01:33:39Z")
> [@Hamish](#): > > The latest tidbit I’ve gotten is that Rowling said a graveyard behind Hogwarts will become important soon. My WAG (since I’m on the Gryffindor-is-the-Half-Blood-Prince wagon) is that Gryffindor is buried there, and something in his tomb or on his tombstone will be crucial. Rowling has stated that she will explain why some people become ghosts and others don’t. I hope that fact ties in with the graveyard. I figured people became ghosts because they had unfinished business. Moaning Myrtle said something about how she wanted to get revenge on Olive for teasing her. ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2004, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-just-read-the-harry-potter-series-thoughts-questions-spoilers-aplenty/255751/139 "2004-08-07T01:44:56Z")
> [@](#): > > So, wouldn’t that be the best Animangus to be? You would never “die”! Who needs a Sorcerer’s Stone! Bah! Which raises another interesting question: If a person goes around in his or her Animagus form all the time, will his or her lifespan be that of a normal human, or that of whatever animal he or she turns into? I’m inclined to think the former, because Rita Skeeter would probably be dead after a year as a beetle (as would Peter Pettigrew after twelve years as a rat) – but on the other hand, Peter is described as balding, going grey, and generally looking older than your average thirty-fiveish wizard. I’ve always assumed it was stress, since being the Dark Lord’s whipping boy can’t be all that much fun, but maybe his metabolic processes really _have_ been speeded up? ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2004, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-just-read-the-harry-potter-series-thoughts-questions-spoilers-aplenty/255751/140 "2004-08-07T01:50:28Z")
Has it ever been explained _how_ Peter Pettigrew, as a rat, got into the Weasley family? Where did Percy buy him from? Or, where did Mr. and Mrs. Weasley buy “Scabbers” from for Percy? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-just-read-the-harry-potter-series-thoughts-questions-spoilers-aplenty/255751.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-just-read-the-harry-potter-series-thoughts-questions-spoilers-aplenty/255751.md?page=8)