WithFantastic Beasts: The Secrets Of Dumbledore’srelease date bearing down on cinemas quicker than a Firebolt broomstick, now’s the perfect time to return to the Wizarding World. After seven books, eight films, and a spin-off series that has, so far, divided fans, the mountain ofHarry Pottercontent is endless.
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Despite spending hours indulging in the adventures of Hogwart’s most famous pupil, the books and films are so layered that it’s easy for fans to miss things. For example, the books are full of subtle moments that foreshadow events to come, proving thatJ.K. Rowlingreally did have a plan all along.
Everyone Will Know Harry Potter
We assume this one’s accidental, but you never know. In the very first chapter of the very first book,Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone, a conversation takes place between Professor McGonagall (Maggie Smith) and Professor Dumbledore (Richard Harris, films 1 and 2) that seems to predict the immense success of the franchise. McGonagall says “He’ll be famous — a legend,” and goes on to say “there will be books written about Harry — every child in our world will know his name!” Given that the Harry Potter films earned a collective 7.73 billion dollars at the global box office, I think it’s safe to say Minerva was right in her prediction.
There’s Something Wrong With Professor Quirrell
Unless you’ve spent the last few decades beneath a rock, you’re well aware of the real reason Professor Quirrell (Ian Hart) constantly wears his trademark purple turban, because what remains of Voldermort lives on the back of his head. But fewer people are aware of how J. K. Rowling foreshadowed this dramatic reveal.
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This occurs during a nightmare Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) endures on his first night at Hogwarts, in which he is “wearing Professor Quirrell’s turban, which kept talking to him, telling him he must transfer to Slytherin at once.” Not only does this hint at what lies beneath Quirrell’s turban, but it also hints towards the connection Harry and Voldermort share throughout the series, as a piece of Voldermort’s soul lives within Harry.
Let’s Talk About Vanishing Cabinets
Given the role they played in his tragic death (one of the franchise’s saddest moments, might we add), it’s hard for Harry Potter fans to see a vanishing cabinet without shedding a tear for the fallen Professor Dumbledore (Michael Gambon, films 3-7). The brother and sister vanishing cabinets in Borgin and Burkes and the room of requirement appear in the series before their fatal role in Voldermort’s plan inHarry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince.
First, Harry notices the vanishing cabinet when he accidentally crashes into Borgin and Burkes after mispronouncing Diagon Alley while traveling with Flood Powder. But more importantly, inHarry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix, Graham Montague gets locked inside a vanishing cabinet, and while inside, he hears a conversation happening in Borgin and Burkes, hinting at the link between the pair of cabinets.
Gringott’s Is Going To Be Robbed
“Yeh’d be mad ter try an' rob it,” says Hagrid (Robbie Coltrane) as he takes a young Harry Potter into Gringott’s bank for the first time. Though this seems like just a throwaway line, it actually foreshadows an incredibly tense and exciting scene fromHarry Potter And The Deathly Hallows — Part 2.
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After learning that one of the Horcruxes is in Bellatrix Lestrange’s (Helena Bonham Carter) vault, Harry, Ron, and Hermoine (Emma Watson) have no choice but to go against Hagrid’s advice and try to break into Gringott’s. As is the case with most of their plans, absolute chaos ensues, and the trio is lucky to escape not only with their lives but also with the Horcrux that they so desperately needed to finally stop Lord Voldermort.
Harry And Ron Make A Prediction
Harry and Ron (Rupert Grint) never once claim to be good at Divination. For the most part, they’re pretty terrible. Yet, at the start ofHarry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire, the two somehow manage to predict almost everything that will occur in the rest of the film. Harry predicts that he will be “in danger of burns,” which foreshadows his run-in with the Hungarian Horntail in the first task. He then predicts that Ron will lose a “treasured possession” which could relate to a whole host of things: the second task, Hermoine’s affection, or his friendship with Harry.
Finally, Harry predicts he will be “stabbed in the back” by somebody he thought was a friend, which alludes to the shocking reveal that Mad-Eye Moody is actually Barty Crouch Junior, who’s been drinking polyjuice potion to steal the Aurors' appearance.
Dumbledore Has Used The Room Of Requirement
The room of requirement plays a crucial role inHarry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix, serving as a base for Dumbledore’s Army to learn the magic that Dolores Umbridge (Imelda Staunton) refuses to teach them. However, the room was first mentioned in the fourth novel during the Yuletide Ball. Given that he’s competing in the Triwizard Tournament, Harry is given the honor of sitting at the champions and judges table.
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Dumbledore is on the same table, and he tells the group that while looking for a toilet that morning, he stumbled upon a “beautifully proportioned room,” that contained “a really rather magnificent collection of chamber pots.” The room really can serve any purpose, it seems.
We Were Warned About Sirius' Death
Much like the death of Dumbledore, saying goodbye to Harry Potter’s Godfather, Sirius Black (Gary Oldman) left Harry Potter fans reeling. Not only was the character one ofthe Order Of The Phoenix’s most powerful wizards, but it turns out J. K. Rowling dropped a pretty big hint regarding the character’s impending death.
At the beginning of the novel, when Harry arrives at Grimmauld Place, he likens the feeling of stepping through the doors to having “just entered the house of a dying person.” Sirius may not have been dying at the time, but his fate was sealed, and he wouldn’t live to see Harry finally defeat Lord Voldermort. Shame on you, Bellatrix.
Slytherin’s Locket
Though he doesn’t learn about the existence of Horcruxes until his sixth year at Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft And Wizardry, Harry actually holds one in his hand a year earlier. While he and the rest of the Order Of The Phoenix cleaned Grimmauld Place, trying to rid the place of cobwebs and debris, Harry stumbled upon a cupboard full of strange, seemingly useless possessions.
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One of these possessions was “a heavy locket' that nobody could open.” Though nobody knew it at the time, this was the locket of Salazar Slytherin that Voldermort (Ralph Fiennes) had hidden a piece of his soul within. Unfortunately, the locket was later stolen by Mundungus Fletcher, who made things much harder for everyone by giving the locket to Dolores Umbridge.
Dumbledore’s Brother
Before his dramatic entrance inHarry Potter And The Deathly Hallows, the details regarding Dumbledore’s brother, Abeforth (Ciaran Hinds), are scarce. Dumbledore only mentions his brother once when he states, My own brother, Aberforth, was prosecuted for practicing inappropriate charms on a goat. It was all over the papers, but did Aberforth hide? No, he did not! He held his head high and went about his business as usual!"
Though Harry, Hermoine, and Ron don’t know it at the time, they actually encounter Abeforth during a trip to The Hog’s Head in the fifth book. While plotting against Umbridge, they notice a barman coming out of the backroom: “He was a grumpy-looking old man with a great deal of long grey hair and beard. He was tall and thin and looked vaguely familiar to Harry.” The fan-favorite trio was none the wiser, but they’d just met the man who would grant them passage into Hogwarts for their fateful final showdown against Voldermort.
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