Question: This question is about the book and movie. Why does Draco make an offer of friendship to Harry? His parents are on Voldemort's side. His father and his aunt are Death Eaters. Surely he considers Harry to be an enemy. If Harry had actually decided to join him, his family would have been very displeased. They would also suffer consequences if Voldemort returned and heard that Draco was friends with Harry.
lionhead
4th Mar 2016
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001)
5th Dec 2014
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001)
Question: Why didn't the Dursleys just dump Harry at an orphanage, or refuse to take him? Why did they care about doing what Dumbledore asked?
Answer: Dumbledore never would have allowed it. The charm that protected Harry was only effective as long as Harry lived with his blood relatives, that being his aunt. Also, though Aunt Petunia would be too afraid of the consequences if she ever tried to abandon Harry, she was not evil. There was a line she would never cross that would put her sister's child in danger. She knew his living in her household protected his life.
Does she care though? Because her and Vernon often tell him that he is punished with no meals for a long time and lock him in a cupboard.
They cared enough for his life, not his well-being.
They probably felt obligated, not enthusiastic. Consider how Severus Snape felt about secretly protecting Harry over the years. He was not happy that Lily fell in love with James and they produced Harry, but he felt obligated to protect Harry anyway, in honor of Lily.
Answer: According to the books, once they agreed to take him in, the protective became active. So it seems like they had the choice not to take him in.
26th May 2014
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001)
Question: Why do the Dursleys try to stop Harry from going to Hogwarts? It seems as though they would be happy to get him out of their house (except for summers).
Answer: Petunia and Vernon despise wizards and swore they would 'squash the magic out of him' (which obviously can't happen) when they took him in. They would rather have Harry around all the time and for him not to be a wizard than to allow him to go to Hogwarts where he would learn magic and be happy (It says in the books that the two things that Vernon Dursley despises most if magic and making Harry happy).
Why don't the Dursleys try to get Harry back if they don't want him to be at Hogwarts?
Because on the other hand they are glad to be rid of him.
Why do they despise making Harry happy?
Because they despise the fact he and his parents are wizards.
Or as Petunia states in the book "as soon as they had you I knew you'd be like them. A freak" The Durselys are very middle class who consider themselves high class. The fancy car, expensive house, private school for Dudley etc. And being associated with an outcast would in their eyes seriously hurt their social standings.
Answer: Vernon and Petunia are very concerned with appearances and maintaining a "proper" lifestyle. The books describe how they want a perfect lawn. Vernon judges men by the cars they drive. Petunia keeps the home very clean, etc. They hope to ignore the Wizard world and force Harry to live like a Muggle. In addition to that, Petunia was jealous of her sister. She wanted to separate herself from the Wizard world as much as possible. When Harry begins attending Hogwarts, she can no longer do that.
30th Dec 2019
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001)
Question: If Harry's relatives hate him, then why are they against him going to Hogwarts to study magic? Why wouldn't they be excited to be rid of him most of the time?
Answer: Because they know of his wizard heritage and they hate it. They think he and his parents were freaks.
Good answer, but I'd add they also knew it was something Harry would very much want, and they would always deny him simply to be as mean-spirited as possible.
Not to mention one of Vernon and Petunia's overriding motivations is to appear normal to their neighbors, and the more magic Harry knows, the less likely they are to achieve that. It could presumably also be dangerous for them, as future books/movies confirm.
1. They were constantly being barraged with letters from Hogwarts in an increasingly disruptive manner. Eventually, this would be noticed as something weird by their neighbors, which is something they REALLY don't want: anyone to know about Petunia's magical relations. 2. They were flat out threatened by Hagrid and terrified on both him and Dumbledore Better to let him go there then have to spend their entire lives on the run without it even working.
They were against it long before the barrage of letters or Hagrid showing up. They knew about the school, Petunia's sister went there and she told Vernon. They don't want to seem weird to the neighbors in general, they aren't afraid people around them will think they have a wizard in their family because nobody believes in wizards.
4th Feb 2004
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001)
Question: When Harry's parents are shown in the mirror, are they supposed to be the age that they were when they died or the age they would be if they were still alive?
Chosen answer: Since the mirror is reflecting Harry's desire, they are probably an idealized (to Harry) image of what they would look like if they were still alive.
Answer: He didn't just desire his parents but a whole family. Therefore he saw his entire family.
In the novel he saw his whole family. In the movie, he only saw his parents.
28th Feb 2019
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001)
Other mistake: While Harry and his classmates are on their way up to Gryffindor Tower right after the Sorting, Neville reacts with astonishment to a portrait moving. However, we learn in later films that Neville was raised in a magical household (by his grandmother), so he should have been completely accustomed to seeing pictures move. (00:46:30)
Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.
Suggested correction: Not every magic household has moving pictures in the house.
No, but being raised in the magical world he will have come across moving portraits. A good example (tho not explained until book 5) is at St Mungo's. He visits his parents regularly. The hospital has portraits there that would move. Thus seeing the one move at Hogwarts shouldn't have startled him.
I am now doubting it's Neville who is saying it. Can't be sure it's his voice. It can also be he is mentioning they are portraits, not photographs that are moving. Maybe moving paintings are rarer.
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Answer: Draco, still a child when he met Harry, would not yet fully comprehend his family's involvement as Death Eaters or Harry's specific connection to the Dark Lord. His father, Lucius, rarely shared important information with his son. Draco was also the type who would ingratiate himself to someone famous for his own benefit. Draco's cultivating a bogus friendship with Harry could actually have been advantageous to the Malfoys by gaining his trust and giving them closer access to Harry for Voldemort's purposes. The old adage, "Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer," would certainly apply here.
raywest ★
One other possible reason, I think, it was suggested elsewhere, that the Malfoys did not believe that Voldemort would return, and thought that if Harry had defeated him then Harry must be a very powerful wizard and therefore they wanted to be his friend.
This indeed. This was cut from the movies (it's in one deleted CoS scene), but some people including the Malfoys wondered if Harry "defeated" Voledmort because he was another powerful, dark wizard Voldemort didn't want as a competition. That would make him very appealing to the Malfoys before it is confirmed otherwise. Especially since no-one aside from a few people knew Voldemort would ever come back.
Harry was only a baby when he "defeated" Voldemort though. Why would anyone think he was a powerful dark wizard and competition to Voldemort? I get that they might think Harry has some sort of hidden ability that caused him to vanquish Voldemort, but not that being the reason Voldemort tried to kill him. Everyone knew who Harry's parents were, and that's why he was a target.
lionhead