Question: When the sorting hat is speaking, can all children hear it, or only the one who is beneath it? I ask this because when the hat shouts 'Gryffindor!' everyone in the hall seems to hear it.
Chosen answer: In the book, the only words the hat said out loud for everyone were the house assignments. Everything else was said telepathically with the one wearing the hat. In the movie, since we can see the hat's mouth moving the whole time, we're led to believe that everything is spoken out loud.
Question: When Harry buys his wand at Olivander's store, Olivander says 'well, give it a wave'. How come Harry already knows how to use the wand?
Chosen answer: He doesn't know how to use a wand at all. Ollivander told Harry to give the wand wave to test it, and the wand is reacting a bit uncontrollably because Harry does not know how to use it properly and also because that particular wand is not suitable for him. When Harry tries the wand that he eventually buys, it is reacting favorably because it is choosing Harry to be its master.
Question: Does anybody know were I could find footage of the Peeves scenes, as I am interested in what they are.
Answer: The footage has never been shown. It's not available to be shown either, but it's rumored to be the same footage when Peeves first comes up in "Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone" on the PS2.
Question: On the movie timeline it is stated that Harry was born in 1980 and started Hogwarts in 1991. Where are we told this in the book or movie?
Answer: In the book "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets", It claims that Nearly Headless Nick has been dead for 500 years...and that he died in 1492. 1492 + 500 = 1992. Since this is the 2nd book in the series, this would mean Harry is 12, and therefore was born in 1980, and started attending Hogwarts in 1991, when he was 11.
Question: Does the vault number 713 (the philosopher's stone's Gringott vault number) have any symbolic meaning or is it just a random number?
Question: I was just wondering why the Sorting Hat speaks out loud in the film, because in the book it was only heard in the pupil's head. Obviously it would need to shout out the house at the end, but everything else could be a bit personal, and shouldn't be shouted to the whole school.
Answer: This is a common movie tactic. Telepathic communication can be confusing in a movie, making it hard to really know where the voice is coming from. Being a kid's movie, they apparently opted to eliminate the telepathic element as it could easily confuse the target audience who may not be very familiar with the concept of telepathic voiceover.
Question: I've heard that the cast is entirely British, except for one American. Who is the American? These ALL seem like British actors or actresses to me.
Answer: While she is known as a British actress, Zoe Wannamaker (Madam Hooch) was born in the United States. Another American that makes an appearance in the film is Verne Troyer (Mini-Me from the "Austin Powers" films), who plays Griphook the Goblin.
Question: Whats the deal with the moving staircases? Wouldn't they make all the students late for classes?
Answer: Hogwarts is a highly magical place with many oddities built into it; the staircases are one of those, but most are reasonably predictable in how and when they move. The students simply have to learn the patterns to avoid problems.
Question: This question applies to all three Harry Potter movies. Why is no one allowed to say Voldemorts name?
Answer: There's no actual law preventing it, it's largely traditional, left over from when Voldemort was previously active. He was considered so terrifying that people were frightened simply by the power of his name, so it became the norm to use an alternate method of referring to him if it was necessary to do so. Despite his apparent fall, the tendency remains. Later on, when Voldemort rises to power once again and gets hold of the ministry, a taboo is placed upon his name. Meaning that those who speak the dark lords name will immediately be attacked by death eaters. Some speculate the taboo was placed so as to find Harry more easily, as after Dumbledores death he was the only one brave enough to speak the name.
Question: My son and I believe that, in Harry's photo album and the magic Mirror, Lily and James Potter are played by J.K. Rowling and a friend of hers named "Sean" who is said to be the inspiration for Ron Weasley's character. Can anyone confirm/deny?
Answer: According to J.K. Rowling on her official site (www.jkrowling.com), the filmmakers asked her to play Lily, but she felt she "would have messed it up somehow". IMDb credits Geraldine Somerville as Lily and Adrian Rawlins as James.
Question: If no one is permitted to use magic outside of Hogwarts, then what is the point of teaching it?
Answer: Only underage wizards are not allowed to use magic outside of Hogwarts, much the same as underage people are not allowed to drink or smoke here. They aren't mature enough to do so, but once they come of age they can do it permitting no Muggles see them.
Question: Not from the movie, but there were two books actually printed that were mentioned in the harry potter books, called 'Quidditch Through the Ages', with the claimed author of Kennilworthy Whisp, and 'Magical Beasts and Where to Find Them' by Newt Scamander. My question is do these people exist or did J.K Rowling write these books as well, but since they were supposed to be Harry's schoolbooks did she use different names? Also, what exactly does IMBd stand for?
Answer: Yes, J.K. Rowling wrote both of those books; she used the pseudonyms to make the books more realistic (as opposed to just being a HP spinoff). IMDb stands for Internet Movie Database, probably the premiere site online for movie information (http://www.imdb.com).
Question: When they are getting on to Platform 9 3/4, why don't the Muggles notice them running through a brick wall? And if a Muggle did notice them, could he/she get on to Platform 9 3/4?
Answer: Most likely this is part of the magic of Platform 9 3/4 - provided that they're careful and don't do it blatantly in front of Muggles, the Muggles won't pick up on it. Muggles certainly can get onto the platform - after all, quite a number of students have at least one Muggle parent, who would want to see them off. Whether this would be possible for Muggles in other circumstances is unclear.
Question: Where exactly does it say the school's family motto?
Question: Why does Harry's scar hurt when he looks at Professor Snape for the first time? Obviously this is to arouse suspicion around the teacher, but later, when it gets revealed that someone else was really the host of You-Know-Who, *that* is when Harry's scar hurts again...although Harry looks at that person numerous times - even talks to them, and nothing happens all those other times. What's up with all this?
Chosen answer: Remember how You-Know-Who is on the back of someone else's head? Well, it is You-Know-Who in the hall who causes Harry's scar to hurt - you can see 'someone else' is facing away from Harry so You-Know-Who would be able to make his scar hurt.
Chosen answer: It's not known for certain, but Hagrid apparently arrived on the flying motorcycle that was seen at the very beginning of the movie. Presumably he parked it somewhere nearby and flew back to Hogwarts on it.
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