Questions and inconsistencies in Book 5...

[June]

This is just a list of questions I have after reading OotP... and perhaps some inconsistencies that could be clarified as well. Some of my questions, I have already posted in other threads, such as why James wasn't prefect, so I won't ask them again here... anyway, here goes:


1. Which House won the inter-House Championship this year?
Gryffindor had won it for 3 years running, and nobody won it in the fourth year as a sign of respect for Cedric... but who won it this year? Obviously we wouldn't know, since Harry didn't go for the Dinner, unless it's stated in the 6th book, but we can speculate. I don't think it's Gryffindor again, since they were deducted so many points throughout the course of the year, and the points McGonagall gave them in the end seems not to mean that they've overtaken the other Houses... it was mentioned as only a "respectable amount" but no mention that they were in the lead... so perhaps Slytherin this year? It would make sense that Umbridge would see fit to give Slytherin most points during her rule, since she likes them so much. Or perhaps, finally, one of the other 2 Houses has a shot at the Championship?


2. This is more an inconsistency. Harry and the rest of the fifth years were supposed to get their results only in July... during the holidays, but in Book 3, the Weasley twins knew their results at the end of the term.. "scrapped a handful of O.W.Ls"... so why the difference in time? Rowling's mistake or just that it's different for different years?


3. What was the "fragile silver instrument" that Dumbledore handled when Harry went to his office after telling him about seeing Arthur Weasley attacked by a snake in his vision? The description of it was something like this:
The instrument tinkled into life at once with rhythemic clinking noises. Tiny puffs of pale green smoke issued from the miniscule silver tube at the top. Dumbledore watched the smoke closely, his brow furrowed. After a few seconds, the tiny puffs became a steady stream of smoke that thickened and coiled in the air... a serpent's head grew out of the end of it, opening its mouth wide... ...
"Naturally, naturally," murmured Dumbledore apparently to himself, still observing the stream of smoke without the slightest sign of surprise. "But in essence divided?"... ... the smoke serpent split itself instantly into two snakes... with a look of grim satisfaction, Dumbledore gave the instrument anothe tap... ...

I was wondering what it was, and Dumbledore didn't explain it, and it wasn't written anywhere else in the book. My theory is that it's either an instrument that tells Dumbledore about Voldemort's possessing of the snake or Harry's connection with Voldemort... that's why it was "in essence divided"... but not to sure about this either...


4. Neville's mother gave Neville "an empty Drooble's Best Blowing Gum wrapper" every time he visits, I should think... so he has "enough of them to paper (his) bedroom by now".
Is this significant? Or am I just looking too much into it...?


5. What kind of powers does Fawkes have that enables it to appear and disappear at will? It's not apparating/ disapparating since this cannot be done at Hogwarts... so what is it?


Anyone has any answers or theories to these questions?

[English]

As for point 4 I think it is just a rather touching way in which Neville remembers his parents.

Point two is rather easy- in British schools the end of term IS in the middle of July- so the students get their results at the end of term. Although in normal British schools GCSE (the age-equivalent of OWLS) results come out in late August.

[gecko]

Nr. 5 : maybe Fawkes can turn invisible? Moody was able to to make Harry invisible with a charm, and Phoenices have quite a lot of magical powers, so maybe he's able to do it to himself without a charm. Just like Tonks can shapeshift without using a wand.

[June]

Point two is rather easy- in British schools the end of term IS in the middle of July- so the students get their results at the end of term. Although in normal British schools GCSE (the age-equivalent of OWLS) results come out in late August.

But the Weasley twins got their results before term ends, while Harry etc had to wait till the holidays... so I don't think it has to do with the end of term being in July... unless their holidays come at different times each year...

[choki]

I think Gryffindor won the interhouse championship cos McGonagall awarded 50 pts each to Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville and Ginny after the Department of Mysteries incident (that is abt 250 pts...real big). Maybe pts deducted by Umbridge/Draco will not be taken into account.

Neville took those wrappers as a gift from his mum. It is really touching when i readed the part where Neville's granny asked him to throw away but he still kept it.

[kotfk]

Yeah I think Gryfindor did win the championships because they won the Quidditch Cup, which gives you a lot of points at the end I suppose. That's how Gryfindor won at the end of year in the 3rd book too.

I think that silver instrument was trying to confirm Harry's story about Arthur getting hurt. After Dumbledore saw that there were 2 snakes that showed up, he realized that Harry hasn't been possessed by Voldemort yet, which means he's telling the truth. That's just my guess though.

[Cho Chang]

But the Weasley twins got their results before term ends, while Harry etc had to wait till the holidays... so I don't think it has to do with the end of term being in July... unless their holidays come at different times each year...

Well this is one of the things that bugs me the most. In the beginning of book 4 its summer for Harry, and his going to grd 4. while the weasley bothers (fred & George) are going to grd 5 right?
k the thing i didn't understand was, why did mrs. Weasley say that "That's why you didn't get anymore OWLs" i mean, don't they have to do it DURING the school year? i'm confused.. plz can someone clarify? (or maybe i misread and Fred+George should be in grd 6 by then) ...

[highsorcerer]

I think it's quite obvious that Slytherin won the inter-house championship - the inquizitional squad knocked off so many points from other houses, it's almost impossible for any of them to have won. Look at the final house standings in book one to get an idea of what end of year totals are likely to be. 240 Gryffandor points won't win it. On the bright side, the rest of the school will consider it a garbage victory. It's not a victory unless it's earned, and the Slytherins played dirty to win it.

The ability of Fawkes to carry heavy loads was discussed in CoS. However, I suspect a Phoenix has some kind of teleportation ability that isn't impeded by the anti-dissapparation spells around Hogwarts. Note that Dobby could teleport even at Hogwarts (as shown in the hospital wing section of CoS), so those rules don't apply to his brand of magic. A possible explanation is that since Phoenix's can generate magic fire (on a burning day at least), they have a teleportation ability similar to that generated by Floo powder. Note that the ability of Fawkes to teleport would explain both his actions in OotP and his ability to appear near Harry at the end of CoS (I always wondered how he got from Dumbledore's office, which had the hat in it, to the CoS so quickly when Harry showed loyalty to Dumbledore; a teleportation ability would explain it.

[June]

Oh... good theory, highsorcerer... I forgot about the Dobby teleporting part... maybe the anti-apparation/ disapparation magic is only confined to humans? Non-humans may well have the ability to do that, or it's just a different magic apart from that...

[TDM]

well, i suppose that Neville kpet the wrapper because that's really all he's ever gotten from his parents because they can't give him anything. more of a sentimental gift, like a child giving their mother a dandelion or whatnot.

[Lizzy Bennet]

I just read an article on the Internet about some possible 'mistakes' made in book 5 by JKR:

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/content_objectid=13137140_method=full_siteid=89488_headline=-HOW-JK-GOT-IN-A-MUGGLE-name_page.html

What do you think of those? Are there any others you can think of? Do you agree that these are mistakes or is it possible some or all were misinterpreted as mistakes? It'll be interested to read what you think!


~ Lizzy

[highsorcerer]

1) It's actually rather unlikely Harry saw his mother die. If she was trying to protect him from Voldemort, she would likely have been shielding him with her body, face away. Therefore, he would not have been looking at her when she died.

2) The Maurader's map was never confiscated at the end of GoF. Barty Crouch Jr. had it, and revealed it's existance to Dumbledore and company, but there was no mention of it's fate. As Barty confessed it was Harry's, Dumbledore could have returned it to him. He hasn't exactly been adverse to helping Harry in small ways in the past, even when the items could obviously be used for rule-breaking (e.g. the invisibility cloak).

3) Dennis Creevey's presence in Hogsmead is an error with no obvious explanation. The only way around it is that they've either changed the rules regarding Hogsmead visits, or Dennis used one of the secret passages out of the school, just like Harry did in book 3.

4) Weather conditions can change. Plus, even some cloudy days have holes in the clouds, so sunlight may have gotten through.

5) Percy's letter indicated that Prefect status can be revoked. I'm also pretty sure that in book three, Percy was elected Head Boy. I don't know much about British school systems, but it's possible that Head Boy / Head Girl candidates aren't restricted to Prefects. Sirius indicated James matured quite a bit in his seventh year, and that he was a top student. Percy was also a top student, given his NEWT performance.