Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

5 corrected entries

(3 votes)

Corrected entry: Chapter 6: The Journey from Platform Nine and Three Quarters it says that Harry kept to his room. and Hedwig swooped in and out of the open window. Couple of problems with this: at this stage Harry is still in his cupboard (and it is still called "his cupboard" at the beginning of the chapter, and cupboards don't have windows.

Correction: After the first letter from Hogwarts arrives, which Uncle Vernon confiscates, he and Aunt Petunia let Harry have Dudley's second bedroom.

Cubs Fan

Corrected entry: Hagrid says, when Harry's broom is acting strangely during the Quidditch match, that it's "powerful Dark Magic," and that a student couldn't do something like that. In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Hermione uses a simple Confundus hex on Cormic McLaggen, which has a similar, albeit not as great, effect. Point is, while it may have been Dark Magic, it is still possible to do with hexes and jinxes.

Knever

Correction: The Confundus hex is being used on McLaggen, not the broomstick. Hagrid is pointing out that "powerful dark magic" is need to alter a broomstick to the extent it was in that Quidditch match. Broomsticks have powerful countercurses and counterhexes, whereas wizards have to perform the curse or imbue their clothing to have specific hexes or curses repelled, as displayed in HBP by the Weasleys' Shield clothing line.

Corrected entry: When Hagrid takes Harry to the Leaky Cauldron, he is met by Professor Quirell, who shakes his hand. This should not be possible, obviously, because of the damaging effect Harry's skin has on Voldemort, who is possessing Quirell at this point in time.

Knever

Correction: The book says Voldemort enters Quirell's head after the failed attempt to steal the stone from gringots. This part is before the failed attempt.

Correction: James was never a prefect; he was only Head Boy. According to JK Rowling, one doesn't need the former honor to hold the latter.

Cubs Fan

Corrected entry: On page 99, it mentions that Harry and his classmates have Astronomy at midnight on Wednesdays. But on page 173, it says, "Wednesday night found Hermione and Harry sitting alone in the common room, long after everyone else had gone to bed. The clock on the wall chimed midnight when the portrait hole burst open." They should have been in Astronomy at this time.

Issabee

Correction: Since the date changes at midnight, it is possible that the "midnight on Wednesday" they are referring to actually occurs on what we would think of as Tuesday night. Therefore, the scene in the common room, which took place on Wednesday night proper, would have been the NEXT night.

Factual error: On page 25, it mentions that the boa constrictor at the zoo winked at Harry. Snakes don't have eyelids at all, so it's impossible for them to wink.

Issabee

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Question: Has it ever been explained what happens to a wizard/witch if they don't repay a life debt? Harry should owe one to Snape after Snape rescues him from Quirrell's curse during the Quidditch game, but he never does throughout the series.

Answer: It does not appear that life debts automatically form whenever somebody saves somebody else - J K Rowling has, for example, stated that Ginny did not incur a life debt to Harry when he saved her in the Chamber of Secrets, although she said nothing about what circumstances need to occur for a debt to exist. In Snape's case, there would seem to be several possibilities. 1) A life debt simply didn't form. 2) Snape is protecting Harry because of his love for Lily and his failure to save her, so he may actually be paying off a debt of sorts himself by doing so. 3) Harry's father James saved Snape from almost certain death when Sirius tried to trick him into going into the Shrieking Shack when Remus Lupin was in his wolf form. As such, Sirius may have owed James a debt, which he paid off by saving Harry. 4) A life debt did form but, as Snape died before Harry could pay it off and, insofar as we know, had no relatives that the debt could pass to, Harry was let off the hook.

Tailkinker

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