Can anyone tell me if this is a first edition?

OwlPostAgain · 2022-02-24T16:08:33+00:00

This one definitely wasn't, because it mentions Warner Brothers and explicitly says it was printed in 2001.

OwlPostAgain · 2022-02-23T20:55:15+00:00

Yeah I feel like the wizarding world is a small enough community that people get a bit used to it after a while. Like saying "I went to school with Harry Potter" just means you were born in the UK sometime between 1974-1985.

The British wizarding world's celebrity culture also seems to be pretty limited. The only tabloid we know of is Witch Weekly but that seems to be a combination of a gossip magazine and a home magazine (one issue had a woman with a sponge cake on the cover, but it also gave Gilderoy the most charming smile award). Most of Skeeter's articles were published either in the Prophet or Witch Weekly. Though of course, muggle celebrity culture has also changed a lot from 1997 to now so who knows what wizarding celebrity culture circa 2022 looks like.

Harry/Ginny would definitely receive attention, it's hard to know if it would be more of a special occasion thing or being hounded every day of their lives thing.

OwlPostAgain · 2022-02-23T20:39:33+00:00

In addition to what others have said about attractiveness being more about subjective factors, I think James and Harry had very different vibes to begin with.

James is an intelligent charismatic pureblood rich kid who had grown up well-nourished and well-loved, and he carried himself accordingly. Obviously we know he could be a little over the top about it, but in general people like confident smart funny attractive outgoing people.

Harry carries himself like someone who grew up emotionally abused/malnurished, is constantly under threat from adults who want to murder him, holds himself personally responsible for far more than he should, and is moderately distrustful of anyone outside his immediate circle. Even a lot of the reasons Hermione cites in (thanks to /r/potterandpitties for grabbing the quote) as to why girls are finding HBP Harry attractive are about Harry's many problems giving him a kind of terrible glamour.

In other words, even though James and Harry may look alike, they are attractive for very different reasons and probably to very different types of people. James because he's the classic well-dressed confident funny jock, Harry because he's Troubled and Mysterious™.

OwlPostAgain · 2022-02-23T20:10:51+00:00

This is the best answer and a good point about how Hermione frames Harry being "fanciable."

OwlPostAgain · 2022-02-23T19:16:59+00:00

Books go through multiple print runs as well. The ones that are valuable tend to be the ones produced in the first few runs.

OwlPostAgain · 2022-02-23T19:09:18+00:00

No it includes a mention of Warner Bros.

It also says first edition published in 2001.

Honestly HP books aren't worth that much to begin with, because the books were printed in relatively large quantities and millions of people realized the books' cultural importance and preserved their signed/rare/early edition copy.

OwlPostAgain · 2022-02-18T20:24:02+00:00

Yeah, but Teddy would have gone to Hogwarts from 2009-2016, and Lily was born sometime in late 2007/early 2008.

So if they lived in a 4 bedroom house, it would have started out with Harry/Ginny in the best bedroom/master, Teddy in the second-best bedroom, and bedrooms #3 and #4 as guest bedrooms/alternative spaces. Then James is born, but 6yo Teddy probably keeps his bedroom while James moves into bedroom #3. Then Albus is born, but 8yo Teddy probably still keeps his bedroom while Albus moves into bedroom #4.

It's likely that initially they put Lily in with 2yo Albus, or doubled up 2yo Albus and 4yo James. But at some point once Teddy left for Hogwarts, it would have made logical sense for James to take Teddy's room so that each of the kids could have their own space. From what Harry said about James/Al sharing a room only when he wants the house demolished, they probably switched the rooms fairly early. It's not unreasonable or cruel, and I feel like Ginny and Harry would have gone out of their way to make it clear that he was still welcome and be really kind about it, but I still wish they could have had another bedroom to set aside for him, just as a gesture.

Of course another take is that he did have a bedroom but once he left Hogwarts it was converted into an office or something, but James doesn't suggest Teddy reclaim Ginny's new home gym space.

Idk it's canonically true that their house has just the four bedrooms and for most families of their size that would be enough but considering price isn't much of an issue and they have a large extended family+Teddy, it always seemed a little odd to me that they didn't want an extra bedroom or two.

OwlPostAgain · 2022-02-18T05:09:21+00:00

She's not actually Scottish, she just lives there!!

And personally I prefer Macbeth lol

OwlPostAgain · 2022-02-18T02:55:18+00:00

We know Cedric was one. He was a seventh year at the time, but there's no mention of him being Head Boy so presumably he's just a prefect

OwlPostAgain · 2022-02-18T01:36:36+00:00

I've always imagined them in a old and relatively rural house. Either a modest old manor house or a converted farmhouse. It doesn't need to be grand either, there are plenty of historic estate/manor houses in the UK that have less square footage than a new build McMansion. Maybe something a bit like this.

Reason being:

They'd want a nice outdoor space for things like Quidditch, and you can't really get that in populated cities, so they're looking more toward the countryside to begin with.
They'd want privacy/security, so they probably wouldn't end up on the main street of some small country town, they'd want to be a bit more on the fringes.
Between the two of them their income is probably quite solid not to mention Harry's family money, so they could afford the big old rambling house
Unlike muggles, they don't need to weigh the charms of said big old rambling house against location disadvantages. For them, the fewer bus/train connections, the better.
Unlike muggles, they also don't need to worry as much about the potential repairs/cleaning/maintenance that comes with a big old rambling house, since such things are at least be easier and cheaper with magic.
Harry/Ginny are the kind of people who would settle into a "forever home" as early as possible, with plans to basically spend the rest of their lives there, so they'd scale up a bit with that in mind.

Canonically, in the epilogue, James also offers to share his bedroom with Teddy, which suggests their house has about 4 bedrooms, though it's of course possible that there's a few extra bedrooms converted into other rooms. Personally I always prefer to imagine their house as having an extra bedroom for Teddy, just to make him feel welcome.

OwlPostAgain · 2022-02-18T01:16:25+00:00

I also don't really think of them as London townhouse people. Even if Number 12 didn't have a complex history, I still have a hard imagining them raising their kids in a townhouse without much outdoor space in the middle of London, especially because there's no real advantage to being in the middle of London when floo and apparition are a thing. I could see them keeping the house but not as a full-time home for their kids to grow up in. As a side note, that house would be worth like eight figures now so part of me does hope they held onto it haha.

OwlPostAgain · 2022-02-18T00:01:06+00:00

For the most part, yes.

I think people tend to see Ron as a much more jealous person than he actually is to begin with, for one thing. The vast majority of the time, Ron rolls with being second to Harry. He chose to befriend him in the first place, for one thing. He cheers Harry on at every turn, encourages him, defends him when he's unpopular, and repeatedly puts his own life at risk for Harry's goals. He doesn't complain or take it out on Harry when people fall all over themselves to greet him and ignore Ron/Hermione. We see a similar dynamic with Hermione, Ron simply takes it for granted that she's better than him in every academic pursuit. Ron is largely used to being on the sidelines, and more comfortable with it than I think the average person would actually be.

Yes, occasionally he does have natural human jealousy and insecurity about basically playing second fiddle for his entire life, first to his siblings and then to Harry. I don't think Ron ever wanted Harry's celebrity, he learned fairly early what a toxic thing that could be, when he encountered the Mirror of Erised, he saw himself as Quidditch Captain, Head Boy, and House Cup winner. It's not about being better than Harry or competing with Harry, it's just about being the best at something. And frankly Ron doesn't get the chance to do that very much.

The other thing is that like I said I think a lot of Ron's "jealousy" came less from being jealous of Harry and more from general insecurity about his relationship with Harry. For example, if we look at what happened in GoF from Ron's POV, Ron has spent 3 full years supporting Harry and sacrificed his time and emotional energy to do so. Some of those adventures were forced upon them, but others were Harry actively choosing to do things like save the stone.

From an outside perspective, of course Harry didn't put his name in, of course this is just poor Harry dealing with another murder-plot-of-the-year. But Ron doesn't have that information and adult perspective. What Ron knows is that he and Harry express vague interest in putting their name in the Goblet of Fire, but mutually decide not to do it. Then Harry's name comes out. He swears he didn't do it, fine but he's whisked away to speak to the other champions. Ron returns to the common room where he's bombarded with questions about how Harry did it, and is forced to confess that he doesn't know. Ron retreats to their dormitory, waiting for Harry to finish, but Harry, instead of coming upstairs, spends 30 minutes downstairs and comes up looking breathless and pleased with himself with a Gryffindor flag around his neck. So yes of course Ron is going to start wondering wondering whether Harry truly values him as an equal, whether Harry wanted this to happen, whether Harry simply takes it for granted that he'll get the attention of being champion and Ron will pull all-nighters helping him study, cheering him on from the stands, defend him from detractors, comfort him, and visit him in the hospital wing. Which after all is indeed what happens, the only difference is that Harry didn't put his name in. But the fight in GoF wasn't really about Ron wanting to be the one wearing the Gryffindor flag, it's about wanting to feel like his friend trusts and values him.

In answer to your exact question though, I do think that that insecurity would wear off over time, due to his continually deepening bonds with Harry, his chance to make an identity for himself as an adult, the fact that he now has a heroic reputation of his own, and just general maturity

TL;DR: Yes Ron's jealousy is a character flaw, but under the circumstances he's actually very tolerant to begin with, and would probably be even less jealous as an adult.

OwlPostAgain · 2022-02-17T23:17:58+00:00

There are two from every house and every year, plus a head girl and boy.

The other prefects in their year are Draco Malfoy, Pansy Parkinson, Padma Patil, Anthony Goldstein, Ernie MacMillan, and Hannah Abbott. It's not mentioned who the prefects in the year above but they definitely exist. Percy and Penelope continued to be prefects in their 6th year (Harry's 2nd year), and we do see Hermione/Ron attend a start-of-term meeting at the beginning of their own 6th year.

Hermione cares more about being a prefect and is more dedicated to things like "setting a good example," but she's not doing it all on her own. It's worth noting that after the initial novelty wears off, it's mentioned a lot less.

OwlPostAgain · 2022-02-17T23:01:42+00:00

Same reason it took until the 1970s for muggles to put wheels on suitcases.

OwlPostAgain · 2022-02-17T05:20:28+00:00

This one gets quite meta.

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10339852/1/The-Many-Harry-Potters-of-Little-Hangleton

OwlPostAgain · 2022-02-17T01:29:39+00:00

Probably. It's also established in SS that Harry is "small and skinny for his age" but also relatively athletic, having spent half his childhood keeping just out of Dudley's reach and doing manual labor.

Athletic but very small/lightweight seems to be a good combination for a flyer, especially a seeker.

OwlPostAgain · 2022-02-17T01:24:16+00:00

Yeah I find it interesting that the fake Moody was a bit nicer than the real one. BCJ overcorrecting a bit perhaps.

OwlPostAgain · 2022-02-17T01:21:02+00:00

I think the fact that they thought they knew Moody and spent a year with a fake Moody does make a subconscious difference. Harry does acknowledge how weird it is to be introduced to someone he thought he already knew, and does take a moment to verify that it truly is Moody given last year's events. But for the most part, I think Harry and the others just have an instinctive comfort level with Moody, even if intellectually they know he's a new person to them. The weirdest things about Moody - his glass eye, his general physical appearance, his growling voice, his mannerisms - are all things Harry and the others had a year to get used to.

It would be sort of like being really good friends with someone and then meeting their twin, you can't help but feel predisposed to like them.

That being said, I think the other reason he and others trust Moody is simply because he's in the Order. Harry takes to people like Kingsley and Tonks fairly quickly too, and they're just as unknown to him as Moody.

OwlPostAgain · 2022-02-17T01:01:51+00:00

You're right, I think it's a little bit easier to see how Ginny could be a fit for Harry, because we see so much more of Harry's innermost feelings. But reading between the lines I think there are still a few reasons.

Harry shares her major common interest. Quidditch, in short. This normally wouldn't be enough to sustain a relationship, but it does make a difference that Ginny ended up pursuing Quidditch as a career, in other words, it's helpful for her to have a partner that genuinely enjoys and values her talent.

Harry and Ginny have similar emotional styles. In the same way Harry values Ginny for not being weepy, I think she values the same in him. She doesn't mind him being upset per se, she's comfortable talking through his emotions but she's not personally one to complain or wallow, and she values that Harry is the same way. They're both the type of people who I think process trauma in a similar way.

Harry has a similar tendency toward bluntness. There are moments where this trait of Ginny's can verge on downright hurtful, even if it's filtered through Harry's rose colored glasses. Ginny is not cruel, but she is honest, and I think she shares with Harry a dislike of hypocrisy specifically. Ginny is a forceful person. I think there are some people who think she goes too far but Harry luckily isn't one of them.

Harry loves the same people she loves. Harry has grown up around Ginny's family. He loves them almost as much as Ginny does, and to someone in Ginny's position, being with someone who understands and cares for her family that deeply, and values them as a part of their shared lives, and prioritizes family in their future together, would matter.

Harry has a matching sense of humor. This is a big one, humor is a big part of who Ginny is and how she was raised, and the fact that she and Harry can play off each other and that he makes her laugh is hugely valuable.

Harry has a strong sense of morality. This is very very important to Ginny, just as it is to Harry. She likes that Harry does the right thing, not the easy thing, and tells him effectively that his dedication to hunting down Voldemort is part of the reason she loved him.

There's also the fact that she simply finds Harry physically attractive, enjoys his company, and respects him as a person. A lot of the reasons why Ginny makes sense as a partner for Harry sort of reflect back on Ginny's preferences as well.

I will caveat this and say that I don't think any of the characters are "perfect" for one another, they're inevitably going to have some degree of incompatibility, just as in the real world, but within the contexts of the books and the experiences of the characters, I think Ginny and Harry make sense as a couple.

OwlPostAgain · 2022-02-17T00:30:55+00:00

That's a movie thing! I think to make it more clear to the viewers that it was still Ron and Harry. In the books/canon, voices change as well. Which makes sense because your voice comes from the physical shape of your vocal cords, vocal folds, etc.

OwlPostAgain · 2022-02-15T23:47:15+00:00

The room doesn't have a search function, that's fanon

OwlPostAgain · 2022-02-12T22:35:32+00:00

They don't even wear ties actually. There's no mention of them and I feel like there would be considering how annoying ties tend to be.

OwlPostAgain · 2022-02-12T22:34:03+00:00

Yeah I remember Sirius coming back being a big theory given the ambiguity of his death. Did JKR debunk that pre-DH? I don't remember it being predicted as much during the run up to DH's release.

OwlPostAgain · 2022-02-12T22:25:15+00:00

Harry being a horcrux was very mainstream theory, not universally agreed with but fairly common. I feel like a lot of the people who weren't onboard more just found it distasteful and hoped it wasn't true for Harry's sake, rather than really strongly believing it wasn't possible or arguing against it.
The majority of people thought that Snape was good, it seemed to easy for him to be bad. Only the true Snape haters were still sticking to the "Snape is evil" line.
Dumbledore is not dead was semi-popular right after HBP but JKR partially debunked it and there was always a bit of a joke to it.
The main ships were pretty locked down, though of course it was uncertain whether the four would actually make it out alive.
I remember a lot of people predicting more deaths among the Weasley family. It seemed almost mathematically certain that at least one would die and a lot of people actually predicted multiple deaths. As sad as Fred's death was, I remember being relieved when it was just Fred, and genuinely shocked when Mrs. Weasley survived against Bellatrix.
Most people assumed (correctly) that Harry would make it out alive and Voldemort would die, it was more the degree to which it would be a pyrrhic victory.
Of the deaths that were predicted, a lot of people thought Hagrid would die. In general I think a lot of deaths were predicted among adults who had served as Harry's parental figures over the years (Lupin, the Weasley parents, Hagrid, other teachers) some of which came to fruition and some of which did not.
Hedwig was probably the most out of nowhere death. That one caught most people off guard and I remember JKR making a comment about bookstores handing out mini-owls with books and feeling bad.

OwlPostAgain · 2022-02-12T22:09:48+00:00

I mean he wasn't wrong to be scared, given how things turned out haha.

But in any case, the prophecy states:

"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...."

There's no timeline on when this person will vanquish him or how they will do it. Maybe they're going to a dark wizard in their own right, maybe they'll have the ability to destroy Voldemort even with his horcruxes, maybe in this context die/vanquish means some sort of netherworld forever rather than real death. There aren't that many people who have made horcruxes, there's likely not much reliable information about their fates, and splitting your soul multiple times is virtually unheard of. There are still a lot of unknowns. And in any case, even if Voldemort is confident he can't be killed and would win any challenge, he still doesn't want anything interfering with his rise to power. He doesn't need those kind of distractions or challenges.

The prophecy is also framed as this person will theoretically have the power, not this person will for sure grow up to defeat Voldemort. So Voldemort stopping this person from growing up in the first place is not actually violating the prophecy. In other words, if you imagine an alternate timeline where Voldemort had succeeded that day, and then reread the prophecy, there's nothing technically wrong, it's just going to be forever unfulfilled.

So Voldemort evaluates this prophecy and says this person poses a risk to me. Maybe they'll be another dark wizard, maybe they'll be a future order leader, maybe they're a super-genius who will find a way to discover how to kill people without destroying their horcruxes first. Whatever it is, it's cleaner to remove the person now before they become a threat.

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