Harry Potter Discussion

[Captain Jigglypuff]

I’ve noticed that there really isn’t any place to talk exclusively about Harry Potter and the Wizarding world he lives in so I decided to make one. Here we can talk freely about all things Harry Potter including theories and interpretations we have as we followed the events of the movies and books. Spoilers will be abundant here and you have been warned about any potential spoilers. I am enacting a few simple rules in here though.

Rules

1. Do not mention any comments J.K. Rowling has made after the book and movie series has ended not related to Harry Potter or Fantastic Beasts. Her transphobic remarks have absolutely nothing to do with Harry Potter.
2. Use spoiler warnings only for any Fantastic Beast movies as most of us here will most likely have read and/or seen all of the Harry Potter books.
3. Use Philosopher’s Stone instead of Sorcerer’s to keep things simple.
4. Do not mention anything the actors of the movies may or may not have done in their own personal lives as it is unrelated to Harry Potter. So basically no vilifying Johnny Depp over what Amber Heard claimed he did to her as it was proven to be false anyway.

So the first thing I want to talk about is the theory that the piece of Voldemort’s soul stuck inside Harry caused Petunia and Vernon to have their more negative emotions become stronger as Harry got older. We know that the Locket did this to the Golden Trio with Ron being affected by it the most. My theory is as a baby, Vernon was resentful that he had another mouth to feed but understood that this was Petunia’s family and he loved Petunia very much so he just put up with it. That resentment just kept growing stronger and stronger every year and Voldemort’s soul inside Harry was secretly planting seeds of hatred inside his head. Petunia on the other hand was remorseful about how she treated Lily after she went off to Hogwarts and felt guilty over pushing her sister away every time she tried to patch up their relationship before she was killed and did care a lot about Harry while he was still a baby. But after a year, Voldemort’s soul began to feel disgusted by Petunia’s loving care as he never understood the concept of love nor had he really had anyone ever really care about him so he telepathically lashes out inside her head and causes the memories of her own resentment to come back and become stronger than before. She knew something wasn’t quite right but she didn’t understand what was happening or the exactly cause other than it seemed to be coming from Harry. Dudley was never fully affected by this part of Voldemort because he was spoiled rotten and became a bully due to his upbringing and Voldemort sort of admired that since he always liked torturing those weaker than himself even as a child. In a sort of irony, Voldemort saw himself when he looked at Dudley who was a Muggle. Petunia and Vernon eventually deduce that the voice of a strange man that they keep hearing inside their heads seems to be coming from Harry and Voldemort then used his mind control abilities to turn their negative thoughts into pure hatred for Harry just like he had.

 

[Phillies]

Does anyone think we will end up getting the rumored reboot for HBOMax. If we do I hope that they are more faithful to the books than the movies were. While I enjoyed the movies there were a lot of scenes from the books that were missing that I thought should have been included. My biggest nitpicks where the shortening of the Maze, the battle at Hogwarts at the end of Half-Blood Prince and Dudley sticking up for Harry. The last one really irritated me because that was Dudley's big character growth moment.

 

[Captain Jigglypuff]

Does anyone think we will end up getting the rumored reboot for HBOMax. If we do I hope that they are more faithful to the books than the movies were. While I enjoyed the movies there were a lot of scenes from the books that were missing that I thought should have been included. My biggest nitpicks where the shortening of the Maze, the battle at Hogwarts at the end of Half-Blood Prince and Dudley sticking up for Harry. The last one really irritated me because that was Dudley's big character growth moment.

What I’d like to see if remakes are made that are more faithful to the books is Peeves. That was a huge issue in a few of the movie adaptations especially Order of the Phoenix. I want to see him tormenting Dolores Umbridge to the point she is nearly insane and the other Professors just ignoring the chaos and perhaps even chuckling at Umbridge panicking as she tries to get things into order. Imagine Prof. Sprout talking about a plant that the class are growing and Peeves is seen in the background tossing flower pots at a screaming Umbridge and Sprout just continues talking as if things are normal. I’d also want to see more of Petunia and Lily and how Petunia pushed her sister away after she got into Hogwarts and how her death really affected Petunia.

 

[Phillies]

What I’d like to see if remakes are made that are more faithful to the books is Peeves. That was a huge issue in a few of the movie adaptations especially Order of the Phoenix. I want to see him tormenting Dolores Umbridge to the point she is nearly insane and the other Professors just ignoring the chaos and perhaps even chuckling at Umbridge panicking as she tries to get things into order. Imagine Prof. Sprout talking about a plant that the class are growing and Peeves is seen in the background tossing flower pots at a screaming Umbridge and Sprout just continues talking as if things are normal. I’d also want to see more of Petunia and Lily and how Petunia pushed her sister away after she got into Hogwarts and how her death really affected Petunia.

Peeves would also be a good addition. Am I the only one who would prefer that any future remake is animated? I think more than a few of the characters were perfectly cast and can't see anyone else improving on their performances. It would also do away with the drama that happened with the movies when the main trio talked about quitting.

Do you know if JK ever talked about things that she ended up cutting from the book. It might interesting to see any cut material added to a remake if there was anything deserving to be added.

 

[Captain Jigglypuff]

Animation would work well for Harry Potter especially for the magical creatures. I know that Peeves was cast for Philosopher’s Stone and scenes were filmed but the director hated how Peeves looked and thus he was cut out entirely from the movies which is a shame as Order of the Phoenix just isn’t the same without him making Umbridge’s life as a teacher at Hogwarts a living nightmare and Finch actually being highly disturbed and on edge more than usual because of the chaos. And seeing the more serious teachers allowing Peeves to cause trouble is also worth seeing. And Professor Binns could finally be brought to life and maybe be voiced by someone who is known for talking in monotone such as Ben Stein.

 

[U.N. Owen]

Rowling's biggest problem in this series is honestly the worldbuilding aspect. I say this because he sense of scale is legitimately off by exponential margins. We have 1 wizarding school in Africa while 3 in Europe. Africa is a linguistic pot in and of itself. If we assume proportionality of wizards is the same across the world, we can easily see the problem. Generally, math has never been the author's strong suit, but this is egregious. You see this in the Hogwarts population itself.

 

[Captain Jigglypuff]

Rowling's biggest problem in this series is honestly the worldbuilding aspect. I say this because he sense of scale is legitimately off by exponential margins. We have 1 wizarding school in Africa while 3 in Europe. Africa is a linguistic pot in and of itself. If we assume proportionality of wizards is the same across the world, we can easily see the problem. Generally, math has never been the author's strong suit, but this is egregious. You see this in the Hogwarts population itself.

North America only has one school which is bizarre considering you’d think Mexico, the Caribbean (specializing in voodoo), and Canada/Alaska would have schools.

 

[Orphalesion]

North America only has one school which is bizarre considering you’d think Mexico, the Caribbean (specializing in voodoo), and Canada/Alaska would have schools.

If there was schools specializing in voodoo in the Harry Potter universe, you'd think we would have seen it in England too, considering the number of Caribbean-descended people in England. The curriculum in Hogwarts should have been a lot more multi-cultural. Then again, Hogwarts is a horrible, mismanaged school, so maybe Dumbledore just failed to provide it.
But face it, at least in the books, everybody in the Wizarding World behaves like white upper-middle class Brits, no matter where they are from or what their heritage is.

 

[Captain Jigglypuff]

If there was schools specializing in voodoo in the Harry Potter universe, you'd think we would have seen it in England too, considering the number of Caribbean-descended people in England. The curriculum in Hogwarts should have been a lot more multi-cultural. Then again, Hogwarts is a horrible, mismanaged school, so maybe Dumbledore just failed to provide it.
But face it, at least in the books, everybody in the Wizarding World behaves like white upper-middle class Brits, no matter where they are from or what their heritage is.

Well voodoo is a form of magic that seems to be more widely practiced in the Caribbean and Louisiana area than anywhere else. Most people only know about the voodoo doll but there is so much more than that to voodoo itself and most only see these practices in movies.

 

[Orphalesion]

Well voodoo is a form of magic that seems to be more widely practiced in the Caribbean and Louisiana area than anywhere else. Most people only know about the voodoo doll but there is so much more than that to voodoo itself and most only see these practices in movies.

There's about half a million British people who identify as "African-Carribean" (I know that's not the same as people who practice voodoo, but lets not conflate real life religions with magic traditions in Harry Potter, it's not like the kids in Harry Potter are being shown conjuring up Buer with the Lesser Key of Salomon, after all) so it stands to reason that Wizarding Britain would have some Afro-Carribean wizards who'd practice their cultural form of magic, but we never see that in the books. We never see any cultural influence in magic that isn't chiefly white British.

 

[Storm the Lycanroc]

As a kid I looked forward to each film as they were released. It always seemed like a highly anticipated event that would continue the story forward. When Deathly Hallows Pt. 2 came out me and some friends all went to the theater together. One of my favorite theater viewing experiences!

As I've grown older I've become less interested in the series as a whole. I saw Fantastic Beasts in theaters but didnt find it as enjoyable. I avoided Crimes of Grindewald since the trailers and premise didnt interest me. Additionally I've been less interested in the series after seeing how obsessed some people become. I'm not the type of person who thinks a fictional series should become a lifestyle.

I'll occasionally rewatch the original movies since I have the whole series in a multi-pack Blu-Ray set.

 

[janejane6178]

The worst casting in the whole series for me is flor delacore. In the movies.
She was so pointless and bad actress, she didnt do anything significiant and didnt know how to act. She was so passive and had zero charisma

 

[Captain Jigglypuff]

Fleur was always a minor character in the series but I don’t think it’s fair to say that she was pointless and also not a very talented witch if you only look at her role in Goblet of Fire. Each of the Tasks had something happen to her that was out of her control. The first task she did manage to make her dragon fall asleep but then it snowed out a flame that set her skirt on fire which she had to put out. Then she was attacked by Grindylows during the Second Task and didn’t know that the hostages were all perfectly safe. And she was attacked by Barty Crouch Jr disguised as Mad-Eye Moody inside the Maze during the Third Task. All of these were out of her control and she had no idea how to deal with the Grindylows given they were native to Great Britain and she had never seen any in France since they aren’t found there. The dragon snoring out Fire was greatly unexpected. And even if she had seen Barty Crouch in the Maze, she wouldn’t have expected him to attack her since she only knew him as Mad-Eye Moody and a teacher at Hogwarts and there would be no reason why a teacher would want to hurt her. Fleur was just a victim of unfortunate circumstances.

 

[Morax]

Let's get this started :
Voldemort vs Grindelwald?

 

[janejane6178]

The worst casting in the whole series for me is flor delacore. In the movies.
She was so pointless and bad actress, she didnt do anything significiant and didnt know how to act. She was so passive and had zero charisma

Fleur was always a minor character in the series but I don’t think it’s fair to say that she was pointless and also not a very talented witch if you only look at her role in Goblet of Fire. Each of the Tasks had something happen to her that was out of her control. The first task she did manage to make her dragon fall asleep but then it snowed out a flame that set her skirt on fire which she had to put out. Then she was attacked by Grindylows during the Second Task and didn’t know that the hostages were all perfectly safe. And she was attacked by Barty Crouch Jr disguised as Mad-Eye Moody inside the Maze during the Third Task. All of these were out of her control and she had no idea how to deal with the Grindylows given they were native to Great Britain and she had never seen any in France since they aren’t found there. The dragon snoring out Fire was greatly unexpected. And even if she had seen Barty Crouch in the Maze, she wouldn’t have expected him to attack her since she only knew him as Mad-Eye Moody and a teacher at Hogwarts and there would be no reason why a teacher would want to hurt her. Fleur was just a victim of unfortunate circumstances.

I had more problem with her acting in the movies. The actress was very passive and without charisma

 

[Captain Jigglypuff]

Let's get this started :
Voldemort vs Grindelwald?

This is what I’ve heard when it comes to Grindelwald and his main objective. Grindelwald wanted magical folk to not have hide their talents and abilities and have Muggles leave them alone. He wasn’t after blood purity and he didn’t really like the idea of innocent people dying in the process but he knew it was an inevitable part of war. If you look closely at the second Fantastic Beasts movie, Grindelwald never actually tortures anyone for his own purposes. He gives those that oppose him a chance to escape which is significant with the scene with the blue fire. Grindelwald allowed others to chose their own path by their own free will whereas Voldemort used fear and torture to get those that opposed him to submit themselves to his own needs. Grindelwald wasn’t interested in immortality or ruling the entire Wizarding world. He just wanted equality and was a fanatic that went around spreading his dreams and end goal the wrong way. Best parallel to Grindelwald is Magneto from the X-Men. Yes both have committed crimes to promote their own visions of how they wanted the world to be but both of them also wanted people like them to be accepted into normal society and not be seen as “freaks.” Both believed that their kind was the superior species for humankind but were tolerant of regular humans without any special abilities. Grindelwald seems to be more of an anti-hero rather than straight up villain. Voldemort was always an evil man, even as a child. He scared two children so badly that they never spoke a word ever again and greatly enjoyed the terrified looks on Tom Riddle Sr and his parents’ faces as he killed them. Voldemort was a mostly emotionless man that only showed anger and rage and only showed signs of actual fear once he realized that Neville Longbottom destroyed his last hope of immortality by killing Nagini. Voldemort never showed signs of regret while Grindelwald did and it appears that Voldemort’s vision disgusted him as he refused to join forces with the Dark Lord.

 

[Morax]

This is what I’ve heard when it comes to Grindelwald and his main objective. Grindelwald wanted magical folk to not have hide their talents and abilities and have Muggles leave them alone. He wasn’t after blood purity and he didn’t really like the idea of innocent people dying in the process but he knew it was an inevitable part of war. If you look closely at the second Fantastic Beasts movie, Grindelwald never actually tortures anyone for his own purposes. He gives those that oppose him a chance to escape which is significant with the scene with the blue fire. Grindelwald allowed others to chose their own path by their own free will whereas Voldemort used fear and torture to get those that opposed him to submit themselves to his own needs. Grindelwald wasn’t interested in immortality or ruling the entire Wizarding world. He just wanted equality and was a fanatic that went around spreading his dreams and end goal the wrong way. Best parallel to Grindelwald is Magneto from the X-Men. Yes both have committed crimes to promote their own visions of how they wanted the world to be but both of them also wanted people like them to be accepted into normal society and not be seen as “freaks.” Both believed that their kind was the superior species for humankind but were tolerant of regular humans without any special abilities. Grindelwald seems to be more of an anti-hero rather than straight up villain. Voldemort was always an evil man, even as a child. He scared two children so badly that they never spoke a word ever again and greatly enjoyed the terrified looks on Tom Riddle Sr and his parents’ faces as he killed them. Voldemort was a mostly emotionless man that only showed anger and rage and only showed signs of actual fear once he realized that Neville Longbottom destroyed his last hope of immortality by killing Nagini. Voldemort never showed signs of regret while Grindelwald did and it appears that Voldemort’s vision disgusted him as he refused to join forces with the Dark Lord.

Grindelwald reminds me of Eren yäeger...

 

[Captain Jigglypuff]

I have noticed that people seem to not understand why Snape was so angry at Harry after the latter had seen the memory of the former in the Pensieve. They seem to think that it’s because Harry saw the memory but I don’t think that is the reason. I interpreted Snape’s anger as him being furious that Harry saw for himself that Snape’s claim that James Potter wasn’t some saint as most of those who knew him had made him out to be and Harry kept denying the fact that James was human and did have a cruel side to him. The reason I see it this way is simply because Severus Snape was always a carefully calculated man that planned everything he did out with great detail and he had to be in order to make Voldemort believe he was loyal to only him and that he was a spy at Hogwarts. The Pensieve was left in an unlocked cupboard with a very specific memory of Snape’s about James Potter and it just happened to be in his office on the day Harry had an Occumency lesson which is way too many coincidences to be an accident. There is no way Snape would not lock the cupboard and secure its content if he didn’t want Harry to see it. And Snape didn’t stop giving Harry Occumency lessons because of the Pensieve. He did it because Harry refused to clear out his mind and focus on Snape’s instructions and Harry’s refusal to trust him.