Question: Just regarding the entrance to the great hall. In Deathly Hallows Part II it is shown that the double doors of the dining hall lead out straight to the courtyard area (where Harry's final battle with Voldemort takes place in case it needed clarifying). This is all on the same level (i.e. no stairs going up or down a storey). However, in earlier films, e.g. Philosopher's Stone, when the new students arrive they are all shown walking up some stairs and then waiting outside the hall entrance (the same place where young Voldemort and Dumbledore talk over the future of the school in The Chamber of Secrets). Having also visited Christ Church college at Oxford (filmed at this location) I know that there are stairs, so basically (and finally!), my question is whether anyone can explain why Hogwarts seems to have changed. I can't work it out, either decision by the producers/directors/etc. or I've failed to recognise/remember some detail. Either way, any help would be very much appreciated! P.S. (Sorry for the essay).
Question: Why did Harry say Snape was the bravest man he ever knew?
Chosen answer: Snape spent years pretending to be working for the most powerful Dark Wizard who ever existed, reporting back to Voldemort's greatest enemy, every moment risking the possibility of being found out and executed, probably in a very horrible and painfully prolonged fashion, knowing that if he died, there was every possibility that his name might never be cleared. Pretty good definition of bravery, I think you'll agree.
Question: There was a deleted scene where the Slytherins escape in the dungeons. Where did the Slytherins go after they escaped? Did they fight? If so, which side? And who blew up that dungeon door?
Answer: It's not shown who specifically blew open the door, and it probably was more than one student working together. It's also not shown where the Slytherin students went after escaping the dungeon. Most likely, they scattered. The younger ones or those students whose families had no allegiance to the Dark Lord, were probably hiding in their common room. Older students, whose parents were Death Eaters or Voldemort followers, would probably join the Slytherin ranks outside the castle.
I am sure that there are also Slytherins whose parents are not Death Eaters who battled alongside Hogwarts side.
Chosen answer: I don't think that the Slytherins are all sons and daughters of the death eaters. Most likely, they were the reinforcements who collected by Slughorn. But it was off screen. Perhaps the one who blew up the cage door is Draco. Without the deleted scene, it was obvious that the Slytherin escaped. Because later on Crabbe and Zabini were accompanied by Malfoy in the room of requirement.
Question: After Snape escapes when Harry reveals himself to him in the Great Hall, Voldemort uses his powers to speak to everyone and tells them he wants Harry. Just before he speaks the room gets dark and a few students start to scream. Did they sense something was happening before anyone else and why wasn't anyone else screaming. I know that later when Voldemort summons Harry to the Dark Forest, Hermione covers her ears.
Answer: They scream because the room growing dark startled them. Hermione covers her ears in a vain attempt to muffle what Voldemort is saying; it's something she doesn't want to hear and in her highly stressed and fatigued state she resorts to ineffective measures to "hide" from what is happening.
Question: This question is about the entire series. I read the sixth book a couple of years ago and I can't remember if this was answered. Dumbledore once denied Voldemort's request to teach Defense Against Dark Arts because he knew that Voldemort did not want it, and was visiting the school for some other reason. Why would Voldemort curse a job that he was hoping not to get anyway?
Answer: Voldemort wanted to teach at Hogwarts to get more followers, possibly make the next Horcrux as 7 is the limit without your body being destroyed. He also mentions in the book that he had great respect for the teachers at Hogwarts, Dumbledore mentioned in book 6 and so does Harry in book 7 that Hogwarts was at least his first true home if not his real home so he may have partly wanted to return. He may have also wanted to get close to Dumbledore to figure out how to kill him. Dumbledore is after all, the only wizard Voldemort has ever feared.
Answer: There were several factors going on. Dumbledore did deny Tom Riddle (Voldemort) because he was suspicious of him but also because at the time Riddle was too young and inexperienced for the job. Riddle cursed the position so that no one hired for it would last longer than one year, thus giving him annual opportunities to reapply. There was also an element of spite. If he could not have the job, then he didn't want anyone else to have it.
He wasn't necessarily too young. I think he was 28 when he tried to get the job. Other professors, such as McGonagall and Snape, started at Hogwarts when they were younger. Snape was only 21.
Question: Did Narcissa Malfoy know that Harry was still alive when she goes to check the body after Voldemort "killed" Harry? The Malfoys all seem a bit nervous and afraid afterwards when Voldemort has Hagrid carry Harry's body to show everyone that he "defeated" Harry.
Answer: Yes, she could feel his heart beating. If Harry had answered no, to her question of whether or not Draco still lived, Narcissa likely would have told Voldemort Harry was still alive. But as Draco survived long enough to have a chance to be saved from Voldemort, and Harry was the only one who could defeat him, Narcissa lied to aid Harry, ultimately for her son's benefit.
Question: Do all Slytherin students have parents in league with Voldemort? Basically, what I'm asking is if all the parents of the Slytherin students are Death Eaters?
Question: When Harry enters the Great Hall after Voldemort calls a break to the battle so Hogwarts can bury their dead, who is it that Professor Sprout and Professor Trelawney cover up? It was so quick I was unable to see it.
Chosen answer: As Harry enters the Great Hall he passes Sprout dabbing at a male student's head wound (we see Sprout and this student again later in the background as Ron realizes his brother Fred is dead). After walking past Sprout, Harry comes across Professor Trelawney and Parvati Patel. Trelawney murmurs, "She's gone," and then she and Parvati pull a blanket over the still form of a girl. All we see of her is a quick glimpse of her nose and nostrils before her face is covered This student is Lavender Brown, who in the film was killed by werewolf Fenrir Greyback. The film writers took the liberty of having Lavender die at the end, confirmed in the movie tie-in book "Harry Potter: Page to Screen." However, J. K. Rowling left it ambiguous in the novel whether Lavender Brown actually died from her injuries.
Question: Isn't it revealed in the book that Dumbledore is gay? If so, why did they leave this out?
Question: Why did Harry break the Elder wand? Why didn't he just keep it?
Answer: Harry knew that keeping the Elder Wand was a liability. Anyone could disarm him in a vulnerable moment and claim the wand's allegiance, making them a powerful and dangerous adversary. In the movie Harry breaks the wand in half and throws it away, but in the book it was to be secretly returned to Dumbledore's tomb. Before that, however, Harry used the Elder Wand's power to repair his old wand, the one Hermione accidentally destroyed while they were escaping Nagini at Bathilda Bagshot's house.
Chosen answer: Harry was not bothered about claiming the Elder Wand. He broke it to make sure it did not get into the wrong hands.
Question: Is a witch or wizard basically powerless without a wand? If so, could a Muggle, maybe one who has a magical family member, perform magic if they picked up a wand and tried a spell?
Answer: They can perform magic without wands, though on a more limited basis. The books mention wizards performing "wandless magic." Students even received some training in this. Also, a Muggle cannot use a wand to cast any spells. Only a wizard can use magic. The wand itself cannot generate magic but is just a conduit for a wizard's powers.
Question: When Lily was sorted into Gryffindor why did she give Snape an awkward smile?
Answer: She did not smile at him in particular. She was smiling in general, due to her nervous excitement about attending Hogwarts and being sorted into her House. Also, if the Sorting was performed in alphabetical order of last names - as it was in Harry's first year - then she was being sorted before Severus. Her last name, Evans, would be called before his. She did not yet know that he would be placed in a different House. After he was placed, she might have felt more awkward.
Question: A few questions about Snape's death: How did Voldemort slice Snape's throat with his wand without saying anything? Where exactly did Nagini bite Snape? Did he die from wounds or from venom?
Answer: Nagini kills Snape by biting him in the neck, it was in the movie.
Chosen answer: More magically advanced wizards do not need to speak the name of the spell to cast it. In the books, Harry and other students spend time learning how to cast spells silently. It is not specifically explained how Nagini kills Snape, but most likely it is a combination of various bites over his body and the venom.
Question: Why doesn't Snape just apparate away when Voldemort is about to kill him?
Answer: Snape was taken by surprise and he was confused. He was Voldemort's right-hand man, and wouldn't have expected the Dark Lord to kill him, at least not then or in that way. Appararating also takes some deliberate thought and physical action, and Snape simply didn't have enough time to react.
Question: What is the meaning behind both Snape and Lily having a doe as a Patronus? Why does Dumbledore *not* find it "curious" (during the scene after Harry's "death")?
Answer: Snape loved Lily all his life, despite her choosing another; his Patronus being the same as hers is a mark of how his heart always belonged to her. Dumbledore was well aware of Snape's feelings for Lily, so their shared Patronus comes as no surprise to him at all.
Answer: As mentioned, Snape's patronus took the same form as Lily's because he was in love with her. Dumbledore always knew what Snape's patronus was. He was just surprised by the continued depth of Snape's feelings for Lily, so many years after her death. Dumbledore asked Snape if he was starting to care for Harry after Snape expressed disdain over Dumbledore's always having known that Harry was destined to die. He cast his patronus to show Dumbledore that he is only motivated by his love for Lily, not Harry.
Question: In the epilogue, whose trolley is Harrys daughter riding on before they go through the 9 3/4 passage?
Question: For the memories that show young Lily, why did the filmmakers not use an actress with the same eye color as Harry, nor edit the eye color afterward? Multiple people note that his eyes are like his mother's.
Answer: In the movie, it was never mentioned that Lily and Harry had the same eye colour. It was instead implied that Harry's eyes had a similar shape and look to Lily's. Ultimately, it's more important to cast an actor who best suits the part, rather than matching the eye colour.
Also, they tried using green contacts, but Daniel was allergic to them.
Question: Why did the parents of so many Hogwarts students actually allow them to return to school this year, thinking that Snape murdered Dumbledore (they don't know that Dumbledore wanted Snape to kill him) and Voldemort is in control of the place?
Answer: In the books it is actually stated they are required to attend, not optional.
Answer: It is complicated and the movies glossed over much of how Voldemort plotted his gradual take-over of the Ministry of Magic and also Hogwarts. His followers were placed in key Ministry positions, and began changing laws and regulations. Voldemort also manipulated the news media (The Daily Prophet) using propaganda to sway public opinion. During his rise to power, the Dark Lord remained hidden from public view, making it difficult for the general public to realize what was going on or identify who was behind it. Once the take-over was consolidated, it became a law that every magical child now had to attend Hogwarts. That way, not only would they be indoctrinated into the new order, it was also a means to identify and cull any Muggle-born children. Of course, most Slytherins willingly sent their children to Hogwarts, despite the changes. Also, the general public did not know the exact circumstances of Dumbledore's death, discrediting Harry's account because he was being painted as an attention-seeking liar. By the time most people realized what was happening, they could do little about it.
Question: When Harry looks into Voldemort's mind after the diadem is destroyed, Voldemort, having felt that a Horcrux was destroyed kills one of his followers (then later kills Snape). Would the killing of more people have helped Voldemort at all or was his body still only preserved by Nagini and Harry being the last remaining Horcruxes?
Answer: The soul is torn each time someone commits a murder. But one has to put a torn piece in an object for it to be preserved, so simply killing people doesn't help Voldemort.
Answer: Killing more people would not have had any effect on Voldemort. It's not that his body is being preserved, but his soul, which had been divided into eight pieces (with one left in his own body) and each stored in various objects. The soul could only be divided so many times, as each division causes damage to it. He could not have divided it yet again by murdering more people.
Answer: Hogwarts has changed because it's been torn apart by the battle! That entrance hall (and the stairs) is still there, but now it's missing walls and a ceiling.
Phixius ★