Minor parts of the story that alarm or surprise you.

[PotterGurl08]

Originally Posted by CurseCruciatus

I think they'd be so distant that it wouldn't matter at all, assuming that their story took place a long, long time ago. Brad Pitt is Obama's distant cousin but they're distant to an extent that it's incredibly common for two people to be linked that way and it just doesn't really matter.

Yes, I know Harry & Voldemort are too distant of cousins to count. Just like Oprah and Elvis Presley. I just thought it was an interesting tidbit.
Tonks & Sirius are too close to count though, and no one can convince me otherwise, lol. I don't care if they're second cousins, first-cousin once removed or whatever...

Originally Posted by sjcuk13

It always worried me how much other Weasleys don't have people over to there house when they are on holiday.

we see Harry and Hermione visiting ron but non of the other children have anyone over the twins never have Lee Jordon over Percy doesn't seam to have any friends but Penny is not invited and Ginny never has any of her friends even when we see the wedding we don't get to see other people friends just harry and Hermione.

I just assume that the friends of the other Weasley children are magical and have their own families to be with. Harry, of course, has no family apart from the Dursleys, so he's always with the Weasleys. Hermione, is almost in the same boat as Harry since her parents are muggles and she has no siblings. So I always thought the Weasleys had Harry and Hermione over because they were sort of like their "adopted magical family" since neither of them had magical family of their own.

[sjcuk13]

That is another point I understand why Harry spends so much time at the Weasleys, but why does Hermione? After 9 months away from her parents (normally as I think she only goes home for Christmas 3 times and one of them she comes back Early) she then spends at least 3 if not more weeks at or with the Weasleys (she is normally with them before Harry)

[Slartibartfast]

Originally Posted by sjcuk13

That is another point I understand why Harry spends so much time at the Weasleys, but why does Hermione? After 9 months away from her parents (normally as I think she only goes home for Christmas 3 times and one of them she comes back Early) she then spends at least 3 if not more weeks at or with the Weasleys (she is normally with them before Harry)

Thats a good one actually. Hermione seems to have a rather loving family so why is she always with the Weasleys? One could say its because she rather be in the Wizarding World.

[inthebreeze]

This isn't really that alarming, but the way the rest of the Weasleys treat Percy in Order of the Phoenix is a bit much. We don't know all of what he said to his parents, but what we do some of what he said, however callous and unappreciative he was in saying it, was right. Mr. Weasley's a top bloke but it's clear from the story that so many wizards look down on muggles that they'd view any member of the Weasley family as traitorous and I have no trouble believing that Percy really did have a hard time of it starting out at the Ministry because of this. Percy was a prat about a lot of things and he was clearly childish in the way he treated his parents when he first started at the Ministry, but you can empathize a little bit that someone as driven and ambitious would've found being looked down upon at his first job because of his family to be irritating and possibly a little hurtful.

As annoying as Percy himself was (or was supposed to be) in the books, in Order of the Phoenix in particular there are an awful lot of times when the other Weasley kids talk about him like he doesn't care about any of them or even dislikes them. Odd, then, that at the end of the second task it in Goblet of Fire it was Percy splashing out to meet Harry and Ron, scared Ron really was hurt, and not Fred, George or even Ginny, who apparently has a closer bond with Ron than any of his brothers.

Percy was incredibly juvenile in a lot of ways in the last few books, but to my eyes his brothers and sister (minus Bill and Charlie, I guess) were just as childish about him. He grew up dirt poor and studied like crazy at school to give himself a better life, put in a ton of effort for seven years trying to secure a brighter future for himself, and when he quite understandably gets upset and angry at the way some people at his work treat him solely because of the reputation of his father, something entirely out of his control, it's not exactly unbelievable he would lose his head a little. Percy was my least favorite Weasley apart from Ginny and Mrs. Weasley, but I reckon he got a disproportionately harsh deal from his brothers, sister and parents when what he did (while bad) was not that bad.

[Lonnie]

Originally Posted by Slartibartfast

Thats a good one actually. Hermione seems to have a rather loving family so why is she always with the Weasleys? One could say its because she rather be in the Wizarding World.

It vaguely entered my mind once, but I didn't put much thought into it at the time.

I do think it's very weird that she doesn't spend more time with her parents. It must have made it that much harder to send them off to Australia since she might have felt a sense of guilt for not appreciating them enough.

[Slartibartfast]

Originally Posted by inthebreeze

This isn't really that alarming, but the way the rest of the Weasleys treat Percy in Order of the Phoenix is a bit much. We don't know all of what he said to his parents, but what we do some of what he said, however callous and unappreciative he was in saying it, was right. Mr. Weasley's a top bloke but it's clear from the story that so many wizards look down on muggles that they'd view any member of the Weasley family as traitorous and I have no trouble believing that Percy really did have a hard time of it starting out at the Ministry because of this. Percy was a prat about a lot of things and he was clearly childish in the way he treated his parents when he first started at the Ministry, but you can empathize a little bit that someone as driven and ambitious would've found being looked down upon at his first job because of his family to be irritating and possibly a little hurtful.

As annoying as Percy himself was (or was supposed to be) in the books, in Order of the Phoenix in particular there are an awful lot of times when the other Weasley kids talk about him like he doesn't care about any of them or even dislikes them. Odd, then, that at the end of the second task it in Goblet of Fire it was Percy splashing out to meet Harry and Ron, scared Ron really was hurt, and not Fred, George or even Ginny, who apparently has a closer bond with Ron than any of his brothers.

Percy was incredibly juvenile in a lot of ways in the last few books, but to my eyes his brothers and sister (minus Bill and Charlie, I guess) were just as childish about him. He grew up dirt poor and studied like crazy at school to give himself a better life, put in a ton of effort for seven years trying to secure a brighter future for himself, and when he quite understandably gets upset and angry at the way some people at his work treat him solely because of the reputation of his father, something entirely out of his control, it's not exactly unbelievable he would lose his head a little. Percy was my least favorite Weasley apart from Ginny and Mrs. Weasley, but I reckon he got a disproportionately harsh deal from his brothers, sister and parents when what he did (while bad) was not that bad.

It wasnt that they didnt like that he entered the Ministry at all. Its how he treated the family after getting in with Fudge in OotP. He believed Harry was in the wrong and wasnt gracious about it. He truly believed it and was not accepting the rest of the family's stance. Im sure if Percy just was all "Yeah ok...but look, i have to keep a tight lip for the Ministry and go along with what they're saying and doing in order to keep my job." I think the rest of the Weasleys would have been more understanding. But no, he chose to pretty much disown his family. Its a low move... Speaking as someone whos been burned by a sibling for the sake of status, i feel Percy got what he deserved when it came to the venom his family had for him after that.

[Marina]

This is an extremely small and minor part of the series, but in PoA, I was surprised to see this in the chapter The Leaky Cauldron. They're having some chocolate pudding and Fred had just asked his father how they're getting to the train station the next day (Arthur answers that the ministry is providing a couple cars).

"Why?" said Percy curiously.
"It's because of you, Perce," said George seriously. "And there'll be little flags on the bonnets, with HB on them--"
"--For Humungous Bighead." said Fred.
Everyone except Percy and Mrs Weasley snorted into their puddings.

Even Hermione? I thought that at least she wouldn't find it amusing, seeing as she's more of a stickler for rules and such, like Percy. Maybe JKR forgot for a moment Hermione was there too, not just the Weasleys and Harry. Nothing, obviously, that affects the plot in anyway, just a teensy little thing that kinda surprised me.

[hemiola]

Originally Posted by Drusilla

I don't know if anyone else was as bothered by this as I am, but.....the fact that Harry doesn't recognise his parents when he first sees them in the Mirror of Erised.

Up until that point we know he's had a miserable childhood, but the fact that a child could get to the age of eleven without even knowing what his parents looked like despite the fact that he'd been living with his mother's sister, it just broke my heart. How can anyone deny that to a child?

I reread SS today, and this stuck out to me as well; it's a very emotional moment for Harry. As I moved on to CoS (read-a-thon today, haha), the whole bars-on-the-window/cat-flap-thing really bugged me. The Dursleys' inhumanity just floors me every time.

[JimmyPotter]

Originally Posted by sjcuk13

That is another point I understand why Harry spends so much time at the Weasleys, but why does Hermione? After 9 months away from her parents (normally as I think she only goes home for Christmas 3 times and one of them she comes back Early) she then spends at least 3 if not more weeks at or with the Weasleys (she is normally with them before Harry)

I believe Hermione spent the entire Christmas break with her parents only twice, in SS and HBP. She stayed at Hogwarts in COS, POA, and GOF. And she spent part of break in OOTP with her parents but left early to be with Harry and Ron. In DH she and Harry were on the Horcrux hunt. She also seems to spend less of her summer vacation with her parents too. In HBP Harry went to the Burrow after two weeks with the Dursleys, and Hermione was already there.

[PotterGurl08]

Originally Posted by Slartibartfast

It wasnt that they didnt like that he entered the Ministry at all. Its how he treated the family after getting in with Fudge in OotP. He believed Harry was in the wrong and wasnt gracious about it. He truly believed it and was not accepting the rest of the family's stance. Im sure if Percy just was all "Yeah ok...but look, i have to keep a tight lip for the Ministry and go along with what they're saying and doing in order to keep my job." I think the rest of the Weasleys would have been more understanding. But no, he chose to pretty much disown his family. Its a low move... Speaking as someone whos been burned by a sibling for the sake of status, i feel Percy got what he deserved when it came to the venom his family had for him after that.

I completely agree.
The Weasleys weren't the ones being unfair to Percy. Percy was being unfair to them. They didn't have a problem with him trying to better himself. They had a problem with the way he turned his back on them. He deserved every bit of what he got, imo.
I can't empathize with someone who turns their back on their own flesh & blood just for the sake of a job position. Like you said, it wasn't just Percy having to put on an "act" so to speak. He truly turn his back on his family and considered them liars and an embarassment, when HE was the one in the wrong.

[sjcuk13]

Originally Posted by hemiola

I reread SS today, and this stuck out to me as well; it's a very emotional moment for Harry. As I moved on to CoS (read-a-thon today, haha), the whole bars-on-the-window/cat-flap-thing really bugged me. The Dursleys' inhumanity just floors me every time.

This got to me as well, considering how the neibroughs seam to be the kind that know everything about each other, you woould have though that they would have been at least one call to the child servises.

Harry has stupid rediclus cloths and while this would not normally matter the school and neibroughs know they live in the same house.

Harry at least onece that we know of gets looked in the coubroud for a month the pasage in PS goes something like:- "this erned Harry his longest stay in the coubourd so far whne he got out the school holidays had started already."
this leads to sugest that Harry missed a significant time amout of school didnt the school think this was strange at all?

As for the bars on the windows didnt the neibroughs noticed? They put one set of bars up at one window and no one though to question this?

[jonpb70]

One thing that bothered me ,was the sorting hat on Harry's head must have known that the horcrux was inside him,to tell him he could be great in slytherin house?

Originally Posted by sjcuk13

That is another point I understand why Harry spends so much time at the Weasleys, but why does Hermione? After 9 months away from her parents (normally as I think she only goes home for Christmas 3 times and one of them she comes back Early) she then spends at least 3 if not more weeks at or with the Weasleys (she is normally with them before Harry)

she was working on a long ,hard love potion

[Hedwiglives7]

It bothers me that it's always said that the Sorting Hat wanted to put Harry in Slytherin, but the hat never even mentioned Slytherin before Harry brought it up that he didn't want to be there. It said he'd do well there, but it also implied he'd do well in Ravenclaw. I feel like he would have been put in Gryffindor anyway but I dunno, maybe that's just how I read it...

[GryffSolider]

I actually didn't find this as major but as a huge shocker, some people agree some don't, but in DH when every single Slytherin leaves the Great Hall not one stays or attempts to stay alarmed me and it left me bewildered. I'm where have you people been the last two books.

[nutella23]

Originally Posted by jonpb70

One thing that bothered me ,was the sorting hat on Harry's head must have known that the horcrux was inside him,to tell him he could be great in slytherin house?

I actually never thought of that.. interesting

[nutella23]

hahahahahahaha. hmmm.


maybe there's a reason a person can't go in the bag.

[blknight7]

Originally Posted by sjcuk13

This got to me as well, considering how the neibroughs seam to be the kind that know everything about each other, you woould have though that they would have been at least one call to the child servises.

Harry has stupid rediclus cloths and while this would not normally matter the school and neibroughs know they live in the same house.

Harry at least onece that we know of gets looked in the coubroud for a month the pasage in PS goes something like:- "this erned Harry his longest stay in the coubourd so far whne he got out the school holidays had started already."
this leads to sugest that Harry missed a significant time amout of school didnt the school think this was strange at all?

As for the bars on the windows didnt the neibroughs noticed? They put one set of bars up at one window and no one though to question this?

I think his uncle and aunt were quick to point out that he was deranged, troubled, and possibly criminal.

[MrSleepyHead]

Originally Posted by Gwendolen

I found it a bit alarming that they needed so many secret stairs and rooms. It seems as if they didn't trust the castle defenses and expected to be attacked inside the castle.

I do not think Hogwarts' 142 staircases, trick doors, vanishing steps, magical rooms, and the like were designed for inner defense of the castle. These elements were simply part of the magic of Hogwarts. Hogwarts was, to me, nearly sentient in itself. The architecture was imbibed with magic that gave the school its own personality, and I found its personality to be one of intricacy, tricks, and the unknown. I do not think the castle was designed to prevent attack from inside the castle: its secret, moving stairs and unknowable rooms may have aided security, but I do not think that was the dominant factor in the castle's construction and layout.

Originally Posted by jonpb70

One thing that bothered me ,was the sorting hat on Harry's head must have known that the horcrux was inside him,to tell him he could be great in slytherin house?

JKR did say in an interview that the Sorting Hat's deliberation over placing Harry in Slytherin was due to Harry's own qualities rather than just Voldemort's soul piece. This goes well with her belief that Gryffindor house has the most in common with Slytherin.

Originally Posted by Hedwiglives7

It bothers me that it's always said that the Sorting Hat wanted to put Harry in Slytherin, but the hat never even mentioned Slytherin before Harry brought it up that he didn't want to be there. It said he'd do well there, but it also implied he'd do well in Ravenclaw. I feel like he would have been put in Gryffindor anyway but I dunno, maybe that's just how I read it...

I think the Sorting Hat did recognize Slytherin-like qualities in Harry before Harry pleaded, "Not Slytherin...". The Sorting Hat says Harry has "a nice thirst to prove yourself, now that's interesting," which, to me, indicates a more Slytherin trait. But it is logical that, in my opinion, Harry's recognition of Slytherin would make the Sorting Hat consider Slytherin more ardently.

[Rookie_Angel]

I don't remember which book it was in--I've been re-reading several lately--OotP maybe?--but at one point Percy when he's working with the Minister writes Ron a really ugly letter that if I recall, encourages Ron to side with him and roll over on Harry and the rest of the family. That letter really creeped me out and made me not care whether Percy ever got right with the family or not.

[GryffSolider]

Originally Posted by Rookie_Angel

I don't remember which book it was in--I've been re-reading several lately--OotP maybe?--but at one point Percy when he's working with the Minister writes Ron a really ugly letter that if I recall, encourages Ron to side with him and roll over on Harry and the rest of the family. That letter really creeped me out and made me not care whether Percy ever got right with the family or not.

OoTP yah, I loved that chapter, it didn't creep me out, but me me wholly sad that Percy strayed so far from family.