Some Harry Potter Questions?( Re-Reading The Series)?

Question

Hi everyone :], I've read the Harry Potter series through 3 times already sometime between ages 10-14. Now ,being 16, I decided to read the series again. Sadly, I can now finish each book in a day or two , and i'm just about done with the series again. ( Perhaps I'll go back a read slow, take more breaks so it doesn't fly by..) Anyways, I have a few questions,some that I've always had and some that I just thought of, regarding various HP topics. Well here they are:
1.Love. Its clear love is the huge overlooking theme in harry potter, everything related to love. That's beautiful and all, quite amazing actually, but there is one thing that has always tugged at me. Is Lily evens the only person to take a bullet out of love? I mean, the love shield, Voldemort has murdered so many families to even speak of, did no one else jump in front of his killing spell for someone they love? Why is Harry the only one?
2.The Dark Mark. So the dark mark is located on each death eaters fore-arm. Why isn't it accidentally touched? I mean, surely one would accidentally scratch it or..?
3. The Marauder's Map. So right. This one always makes me laugh. Harry sees Peter Petigrew ( *cough* coward *cough*) walking towards him one night on the map, he saw his name and all, but couldn't physically see him.Then we find out Peter as an animagus, and was in his rat form that night, which explains why Harry didn't see him. Makes sense right, but then there's this..
Ron had Scabbers the rat ( Peter) since his first day at Hogwarts. And Fred and George Weasley have had the map the same time Ron had Scabbers. Right so, wouldn't Fred and George noticed that Ron shared a bed with someone named Peter Petigrew every night? It wouldn't be very Wealsey twins to just ignore that one?!
4. Boggarts. a few questions, which, I think, should be good for a laugh..
What would a boggart see if it saw another boggart ? It's own worst fears ? Or nothing but another boggart in it's "true" form? The next one is.. What would a boggart see if it saw it's reflection in the mirror of Erised ? Think about this one:
Assuming, first off, that a boggart would see a boggart (it's reflection), it should automatically change to it's worst fear - but - the boggart would also have seen itself in a condition of it's heart's desire - whatever that might be - but definitely something very pleasing to the boggart, not it's worst fear.
So, would it be a contradiction ? How could it see both it's worst fear and it's heart's desire at the same time ? Would the mirror shatter ? Would the boggart die ? Both ? What would happen ?

Answer 1

Wow, these are some great questions, lol. Let me see if I can help.

1. I've always wondered that too. Perhaps Voldemort likes to get people on their own specifically so this won't happen. And other people are just cowards. Or perhaps there's a distinction between jumping in front of the person to take the curse for them, and refusing to give someone else up so you might live (which is what happened with Lily). I don't know.

2. It's possible that they have to touch it with the intent of summoning Voldemort, and a simple "Oh I have an itch, let's scratch it" won't register. Although it would be kind of funny if half the times Voldemort answered a call it'd just be "Sorry dude, I had an itch." xD

3. That's another thing that bothers me too. The only thing I can think of to explain that away is that they never bothered to look at Ron's dormitory, preferring instead to spy on pretty girls or their next prank victim. And when they saw Peter Pettigrew wandering around Gryffindor Tower, they just assumed he was some exceptionally shy kid who stayed on his own for the most part.

4. I would guess it'd just see the other boggart in its true form, otherwise things would get really complicated, really fast. Probably 90% of them would turn into the Riddikulus spell. xD And as for the mirror... I have no idea. That's interesting. Perhaps the boggart would stay in its true form because it recognizes the other boggart as just a reflection, and then just see its heart's desire. For that matter, I wonder what exactly a boggart might wish for? The eradication of wizards who feel the need to use Riddikulus on it every time they see it? Or a wizard who is nice to the boggart rather than hating it? Hmm, questions.

Now I kind of want to reread this series again. :D I love Harry Potter!

Answer 2

excellent questions! btw~ i find that properly saying the words as i read them, rather than just zoming through as i read, if you see what i mean- makes it go slower. like youre reading aloud to someone, but silently.



ok! 1~ totally agree ; ) love is the most important thing, is the message of the series ("i feel sorry for you" harry tells voldemort in the MoM). she knew before shed finished writing the series what snape's relationship to harry/lilly would be (alan rickman asked her during the filming of the first film, i think). im sure other people had died to protect those they loved. the point about the protection her sacrifice conferred onto harry is that voldemort was out to get harry specifically; because neither can live while the other survives. i guess it was just not mentioned because it wasnt relevant to the story. its given so much attention, because its not only hte thing which saved harry's life when he was a baby, but also because it vanquishes voldemort for so long.



2- magic is a mixture of intention, incantation and action. so there would be some *intention* woven into the spell to call the dark lord, whle pressing it- its not a doorball, ha ha. youd have to THINK an intention, or think an incantation, along with the action. you have to be magical (not a squib or muggle) to activly use a wand; i think the DM is the same. i think malfoy's arm was sensative in the robes shop (when he yells 'dont touch it') because it had just been branded, rather than he was alarmed that she'd summon the DL. they would also place some kind of protection on it, so that only another death eater or themselves, could use it- again, i think with intention or an unspoken incantation.



3- that's SUCH a good point! there are loads of plot holes, but i never noticed that one!! to be fair, i think it could simply be that they didnt check it. they seemed to use it mainly for entering/exiting the hidden passages; checking the coast was clear, rather than checking on other students. when they gave it to harry, they said they didnt need it any more, and mentioned the secrets it had revealed- harry used it more for watching people move around the school.



4- wow! id never thought of that either! i like your idea of 'true form'~ that's be my guess, too. wizards have different powers, and see things differently to magical creatures- so i think the 'fear' aspect of boggarts is for wizards only. and ha ha ha~ i have no idea; im really tired and that's waaay too much for my brain!!



fun Qs, though- THANK YOU!!! i miss all the HP questions on here. please ask more!!!

Answer 3

1) You don't have to jump in front of the proverbial bullet in order to self-sacrifice out of love. Look at Snape sacrificing his honor/vulnerabilities/life to protect the son of the woman he loved. Look at Albus who voluntarily died to protect Draco from tainting his soul and protect Harry. Look at James who ran to hold off Voldemort so that Lily and Harry could escape, look at Sirius who sacrificed his safety to protect James' son, look at Hagrid who sacrificed how much of his dignity out of love for creatures/people, look at Dobby/the Weasleys/etc.



2) How is this...relevant? They are touched. Scratching them doesn't evoke the dark lord or anything. They have to use their wand and specifically summon the dark mark or the dark lord. Are you asking why they weren't noticed? People tended to inconspicuously hide these markings to prevent others from identifying them.



3) Aye... this is an inconsistency. There are dozens upon dozens of inconsistencies in this series.



4) .. Speculative question here. I don't know if the boggart is nothing more than a malicious hobgoblin/fae spirit or if Rowling intended for it to be a tulpa (the physical manifestation of a thought). If it's a tulpa then all it does is mimic the thought of the creature that has the thought. It is, therefore, incapable of thinking and so wouldn't see anything in the mirror or change when it looked upon another boggart because it *is* a "mirror" in that regard. It isn't conscious. Look up tulpas for a better understanding.



Cheers.