Harry Potter: Little Things

It took five years for J.K. Rowling to plot out the Harry Potter books. She first thought of it in 1990, but remained plotting it out before she had written it.

There are a lot of little things we can find when reading the books that become very important in the later ones. There are also other little things not explained in the books that actually have meanings you might not realise. And all these things Jo Rowling had put in her books defined her as a literary genius.

So here some of the little things (there are definitely a whole lot more):


Philosopher's Stone

In the first chapter, Hagrid explains to Dumbledore that Sirius Black lent him his motorbike. Only in the Prisoner of Azkaban do we realise that Sirius is an important character, and his motorbike, again is used in Deathly Hallows.


During the welcome feast, Harry looks at the professors, and as his eyes travel from Quirrell to his turban to Snape, Harry's scar starts to burn. It first seems that his scar hurts because of Snape, not actually Voldemort, who had been, in fact, in Quirrell's turban.

Professor Quirrell, in his absurd turban, was talking to teacher with greasy black hair, a hooked nose, and sallow skin. It happened very suddenly. The hook-nosed teacher looked past Quirrell's turban straight into Harry's eyes – and a sharp, hot pain shot across the scar on Harry's forehead.

The inscription on the Mirror of Erised reads: 'Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi'. Backwards, it reads 'I show not your face but your heart's desire'.


In the end of the book, Dumbledore tells Harry that it was he who had sent the Invisibility Cloak as a Christmas present. He tells him that his father had lent it to him the day before he died. We only find out why this was important in Book 7, Deathly Hallows. (The Cloak was one of the Deathly Hallows. Dumbledore had suspicions that it might've been and had previously been interested in finding them, as he already had the Elder Wand.)


Chamber of Secrets


When Harry tries to use the Floo Network to go to Diagon Alley, accidentally turning up in Knockturn Alley, he arrives in a shop called Borgin and Burkes. There, he sees a black cabinet, the Hand of Glory and an opal necklace. The necklace has a label reading 'Do not Touch! Cursed. Has claimed the lives of nineteen Muggle owners to date.' Later, Harry, hiding, sees Lucius and Draco Malfoy in the shop. Draco was looking at this necklace and also asks for the Hand of Glory, displaying his interest in it.

These were indeed the same opal necklace and the Hand of Glory that Draco uses in Book Six, not to mention that the black cabinet Harry saw was the Vanishing Cabinet, a twin of the one in the at Hogwarts. He uses the necklace to try to kill Dumbledore, but ends up cursing Katie Bell. And he uses the Hand of Glory to see through the darkness during the little battle at the end of Half-Blood Prince, when he used Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder to get past the D.A. The Vanishing Cabinet was used so Death Eaters could get in Hogwarts.

The Vanishing Cabinet at Hogwarts is again mentioned in the book when Nearly-Headless Nick persuades Peeves to drop a cabinet in front of Filch's office to get Harry out of trouble.

When Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville sneak out of the Gryffindor Tower after hours, because Draco challenged Harry to a duel (Ron came as his second, and Hermione and Neville didn't want them to go, but went with them), they accidentally end up in the forbidden corridor, when hiding from Filch, where Fluffy was guarding the trapdoor.

     They could hear footsteps, Filch running as fast as he could towards Peeves' shouts.     'Oh, move over,' Hermione snarled. She grabbed Harry's wand, tapped the lock and whispered, 'Alohomora!'     The lock clicked and the door swung open – they piled through it, shut it quickly and pressed their ears against it, listening.     'Which way did they go Peeves?' Filch was saying. 'Quick, tell me.'     'Say 'please.'     'Don't mess with me, Peeves, now where did they go?'     'Shan't say nothing if you don't say please,' said Peeves in his annoying singsong voice.

Fluffy only starts glaring at them, baring his teeth, and tries to attack after Filch and Peeves had left. Fluffy doesn't first try to attack them when they enter the room possibly because of Peeves's singsong voice.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were trying to figure out why Tom Riddle had a trophy. Ron, jokingly, suggests the he killed Moaning Myrtle. As it turns out, he was correct. 

After the students finished their exams and were hanging out by the lake, Harry sees an owl flying towards the school with a letter in its mouth. That letter the owl was carrying was the 'urgent letter from the Ministry' that lured Dumbledore away from the school.

Prisoner of Azkaban

'GET-HIM-OUT-OF-HERE!' Ron bellowed as Crookshanks's claws ripped his pajamas and Scabbers attempted a wild escape over his shoulder. Ron seized Scabbers by the tail and aimed a misjudged kick at Crookshanks that hit the trunk at the end of Harry's bed knocking it over and causing Ron to hop up and down, howling with pain. Crookshank's fur suddenly stood on the end. A shrilll, tinny whistling was filling the room. The Pocket Sneakoscope had become dislodged from Uncle Vernon's old socks and was whirling and gleaming on the floor.

First, we assume that it was Crookshanks that made the Sneakoscope whistle, but we later find out that it was actually Scabbers a.k.a. Peter Pettigrew, who we find out to be a bad guy, as he was attempting to escape.

He had a very strange dream. He was walking through a forest, his Firebolt over his shoulder, following something silvery-white. It was winding its way through the trees ahead, and he could only catch glimpses of it between the leaves. Anxious to catch up with it, he sped up, but as he moved faster, so did his quarry. Harry broke into a run, and ahead he heard hooves gathering speed. Now he was running flat out, and ahead he could hear galloping. Then he turned a corner into a clearing and-

At this point, Ron screams and Harry wakes up. This dream Harry had might've been foreshadowing the event in Deathly Hallows, in the chapter, The Silver Doe.


Many predictions from the Divination class seem to come true. Ron does in fact go through trials and suffering during the hunt for the Horcruxes, and ends up happy from the experience since he becomes closer to Hermione. Harry does come into a great sum of unexpected gold; his prize money of 1,000 galleons for winning the Triwizard Tournament (though later it was transferred to the Weasley twins), and his inheritance from Sirius after his death. (Ron had seen an acorn in his tealeaves, which meant 'a windfall, unexpected gold'. Harry also ends up working for the Ministry of Magic – Ron saw a bowler hat in his teacup and guessed that he would. Trelawney said to Parvati Patil 'beware a red-haired man'. This could either relate to the next book, Goblet of Fire, in which Ron went to the Yule Ball with her twin sister Padma, or to Half-Blood Prince, in which Ron dates her best friend, Lavender Brown.


In the last chapter, Harry talks to Dumbledore about the prophecy Professor Trelawney had made:

'It will happen tonight. The Dark Lord lies alone and friendless, abandoned by his followers. His servant has been chained these twelve years. Tonight, before midnight ... the servant will break free and set out to rejoin his master. The Dark Lord will rise again with his servant's aid, greater and more terrible than ever he was. Tonight ... before midnight ... the servant ... will set out ... to rejoin ... his master....'

Dumbledore then says:

'That brings her total of real predictions to two. I should offer her a pay rise.'

The other prediction he was talking about is then revealed two books from now, Order of the Phoenix – the one about Voldemort.

Goblet of Fire

When at the Quidditch World Cup, Arthur Weasley introduces people to Harry, Ron, Hermione and the other Weasleys who had come with them. There were two 'Unspeakables' Mr. Weasley mentions to them: Broderick Bode and Croaker. In the next book, Order of the Phoenix, we learn that Unspeakables work in the Department of Mysteries, a vital part of the book. Bode is also in that book, and though not that important, the stuff that happens to him helps the trio figure out the mystery of the Department of Mysteries.

During the Weighing of the Wands for the Triwizard Tournament, it is mentioned that Viktor Krum's wand was made by Gregorovitch. In Deathly Hallows, he turns out to be an important character. Harry had a dream about him and that found out that Voldemort wanted something from him. He realises he's heard Gregorovitch's name before, but couldn't remember who he was and when he had heard it. However, during Bill and Fleur's wedding, Harry talks to Krum, sees his wand, and then remembers that it was three years ago when he heard his name and remembers also that he was a wandmaker.

Dumbledore says to Sirius:

'You are alert Remus Lupin, Arabella Figg, Mundungus Fletcher – the old crowd.'

Arabella Figg turned out to be Mrs. Figg, who lives in Little Whinging, someplace near the Dursleys. (She lived there to watch on Harry and make sure he was safe.) She was first mentioned in Philosopher's Stone, but first appears in Order of the Phoenix. Mundungus Fletcher was first mentioned in Chamber of Secrets, but then also makes his first appearance in Order of the Phoenix. He was also supposed to keep an eye on Harry.

In 'The Parting of the Ways', when Harry is at the hospital wing, Dumbledore asks Snape if he was ready for the task he had asked him to do. This task is of killing him, which he eventually does in Half-Blood Prince.

Order of the Phoenix

In the second chapter, Harry tries to explain to his Uncle Vernon that it wasn't he who had attacked Dudley, but two Dementors. Uncle Vernon had no idea what they were, of course, but, surprisingly, Aunt Petunia knew.

     'De - men - tors,' said Harry slowly and clearly. 'Two of them.'
     'And what the ruddy hell are Dementors?' 
     'They guard the wizard prison, Azkaban,' said Aunt Petunia. 
     Two seconds of ringing silence followed these words before Aunt Petunia clapped her hand over her mouth as though she had let slip a disgusting swear word. Uncle Vernon was goggling at her. Harry's brain reeled. Mrs. Figg was one thing - but Aunt Petunia? 
     'How d'you know that?' he asked her, astonished. 
     Aunt Petunia looked quite appalled with herself. She glanced at Uncle Vernon in fearful apology, then lowered her hand slightly to reveal her horsy teeth. 
     'I heard - that awful boy - telling her about them - years ago,' she said jerkily.
     'If you mean my mum and dad, why don't you use their names?' said Harry loudly, but Aunt Petunia ignored him. She seemed horribly flustered.' 

That 'awful boy' is not actually James Potter, but Severus Snape, as we learn in Deathly Hallows.


Mr. Weasley, when taking Harry to the Ministry of Magic through the visitor's entrance (the red telephone booth), pushes the numbers 62442, which spells out 'magic' on the phone pad.


They found an unpleasant-looking silver instrument, something like a many-legged pair of tweezers, which scuttled up Harry's arm like a spider when he picked it up, and attempted to puncture his skin. Sirius seized it and smashed it with a heavy book entitled Nature's Nobility: A Wizarding Genealogy. There was a musical box that emitted a faintly sinister, tinkling tune when wound, and they all found themselves becoming curiously weak and sleepy, until Ginny had the sense to slam the lid shut; a heavy locket that none of them could open; a number of ancient seals; and, in a dusty box, an Order of Merlin, First Class, that had been awarded to Sirius's grandfather for services to the Ministry.

When cleaning up Number 12 Grimmauld Place, Harry and the others find a locket, which they eventually throw out. That locket was Slytherin's locket, one of Voldemort's Horcruxes, which the trio were looking for in Deathly Hallows. And all those stuff like the 'unpleasant-looking silver instrument' that 'attempted to puncture his [Harry's] skin', or the musical box that when wound, 'they all found themselves becoming curiously weak and sleepy, until Ginny had the sense to slam the lid shut' – they were put there by Kreacher so no one could get to the locket.

Sirius told Harry a few things about his younger brother, which relates to the locket/Horcrux:

'... my parents, with their pure-blood mania, convinced that to be a Black made you practically royal ... my idiot brother, soft enough to believe them... He was younger than me, and a much better son, as I was constantly reminded...'

[...]

'He was murdered by Voldemort. Or on Voldemort's orders, more likely, I doubt Regulus was ever important enough to be killed by Voldemort in person. From what I found out after he died, he got in so far, then panicked about what he was being asked to do and tried to back out. Well, you don't just hand in your resignation to Voldemort. It's a lifetime of service or death.'

In Half-Blood Prince, we learn that a certain R.A.B. found out about Voldemort's secret. R.A.B. also stole the real Horcrux and intended to destroy it. At this point, it wasn't mentioned who R.A.B. was. In Deathly Hallows, while at Grimmauld Place, the trio find out that this R.A.B. was actually Regulus Arcturus Black, Sirius's younger brother. Harry tells them what Sirius had told him, and Kreacher later explains that his Master Regulus died in the cave where the locket was hidden by Voldemort, dragged by the Inferi that guarded the Horcrux. He then had ordered Kreacher to leave him and to carry on his task of destroying the Horcrux.

Draco found out the Vanishing Cabinets at Hogwarts and Borgin & Burkes were twins in Order of the Phoenix, when Montague was forced headfirst in there by Fred and George Weasley. Montague escaped by Apparating, but ended up in a u-bend of a toilet, where Draco found him and told Snape when Harry was having a lesson about Occlumency.


In St. Mungo's, while visiting Mr. Weasley:

They climbed a flight of stairs and entered the 'Creature-Induced Injuries' corridor, where the second door on the right bore the words 'DANGEROUS' DAI LLEWELLYN WARD: SERIOUS BITES.'

Putting these words on a sign, they would read:

Creature-Induced Injuries
Dangerous
Dai Llewellyn Ward
Serious Bites

Taking the first word of each line, we get: Creature Dangerous Dai Serious. It's really play on words. What it's actually saying is this: Kreacher dangerous, die Sirius.


Other clues about Sirius's death are listed below (Again, there might be some other things that foreshadow his death, which are not listed here):

When entering 12 Grimmauld Place:

The other's hushed voices were giving Harry an odd feeling of foreboding; it was as though they had just entered the house of a dying man.

Sirius says:

'This is how it is – this is why you're not in the Order – you don't understand – there are things worth dying for!'

When leaving to Hogwarts after the Christmas holiday:

Harry had an unpleasant constricted sensation in his chest; he did not want to say goodbye to Sirius. He had a bad feeling about this parting; he didn't know when they would next see each other.

Sirius tells the trio to call him 'Snuffles'. To 'snuff' means to die.

When Harry talks to Kreacher:

'Master will not come back from the Department of Mysteries!' he [Kreacher] said gleefully. 'Kreacher and his Mistress are alone again!'

When Dumbledore and Voldemort were dueling in the Department of Mysteries, it says:

Dumbledore was standing in front of the golden gates.

This could be hinting at his death, which had occurred in Half-Blood Prince, the next book.


There was a prophecy about Voldemort that Dumbledore showed Harry.

'The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches.…born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies…and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not.…and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives.…the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies…'

That prophecy (or its orb) Voldemort was attempting to obtain had an tag that read:

S.P.T. to A.P.W.B.D.
Dark Lord
and (?) Harry Potter

S.P.T. stands for Sybil Patricia Trelawney, the person who made the prophecy, and A.P.W.B.D. stands for Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, the person who the prophecy was said to. It was obviously about the Dark Lord (Lord Voldemort), but there is a question mark in brackets, then it says 'Harry Potter'. This is because the prophecy doesn't actually say who 'the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord' is. It actually could've been about Neville Longbottom. His parents had also 'thrice defied him', and he had been born at the end of July (the 30th, actually) but it was the 'Dark Lord will will mark him as his equal' part that made Voldemort choose Harry as his enemy, as they were both half-bloods.


Half-Blood Prince

'The Dark Lord has in the past entrusted me with his most precious...'

Bellatrix was talking about Hufflepuff's Cup, one of Voldemort's Horcruxes, which was stored in her Gringotts vault.


In Diagon Alley, Narcissa Malfoy says to Harry:

'I see that being Dumbledore's favorite has given you a false sense of security, Harry Potter. But Dumbledore won't always be there to protect you.'

That foreshadows his death later on in the book.


While at Hogsmeade, Harry sees Mundungus Fletcher with things he had stolen from Grimmauld Place, notably the silver goblets with the Black family crest on it. This hints at the locket he had also stolen (after Kreacher got it back from the time in Order of the Phoenix when it was thrown out). In Deathly Hallows,


In Harry's sixth year he saw Trelawney coming, and hid from her. As she passed, he saw that she was examining a pack of cards and muttered:

'A dark young man, possibly troubled, one who dislikes the questioner'. 

She dismissed her own words as nonsense, unaware of Harry's presence or his dislike of her. She could've also been predicting what Dumbledore had showed him in the Pensieve that day about Marvolo Gaunt and Bob Ogden. Or even later in the year, when Harry saw Draco arguing with Snape when he questioned Draco on the progress of his mission for Voldemort.

Later, Trelawney again met Harry in the corridors, and this time complains that Dumbledore had been repeatedly dismissing her warnings of impending disaster. She looked at some Tarot cards and saw:

 '... the lightning-struck tower... Calamity. Disaster. Coming nearer all the time...' 

This seems to predict the events of Dumbledore's death on the Astronomy Tower. The Lightning-Struck Tower tarot card (The Tower) is generally considered representative of disaster or life-altering change.


Deathly Hallows


When George lost his ear after, he lost something that was an important part of a pair to him. This could foreshadow the loss of his twin.

As Professor Trelawney says in Prisoner of Azkaban, whenever thirteen people gather, the first to leave the group will be the first to die. When at the Burrow, just after the sky battle, thirteen people (Harry, Ron, Hermione, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Fred, George, Bill, Fleur, Ginny, Hagrid, Tonks, and Lupin) all drink firewhiskey together. Lupin left first of the thirteen to look for Mad-Eye Moody's body. 

James Potter (Prongs) was the first of the Marauders to die, followed by Sirius (Padfoot) in Order of the Phoenix. Then comes Peter Pettigrew (Wormtail) in Chapter 23, and finally, Remus Lupin (Moony) at the Battle of Hogwarts in Chapter 31. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs died in reverse order.

As he [Harry] followed Bill back to the others, a wry thought came to him, born no doubt of the wine he had drunk. He seemed set on course to become just as reckless a godfather to Teddy Lupin as Sirius Black had been to him.

This foreshadows the deaths of Teddy's parents, Tonks and Remus, as it puts Teddy in the same situation as Harry found himself in, in regards to upbringing. They were both orphans.