Top 10 Interesting Questions About the Harry Potter Universe

The Harry Potter universe captured the creativity of children and adults around the globe and continues to do so with spin-off products. The concept of a world where magical individuals not just exist under our feet but use their own method of doing things and shun most contemporary innovation is definitely a unique concept. Nevertheless, it likewise raises plenty of interesting questions about the world itself due to the method they use to connect magic and technology, and there are some fascinating unanswered questions around much of the Harry Potter characters as well.

10. Would A Gun Be Something Lord Voldemort And Other Wizards Are Prepared For?

This is something that has actually badgered numerous fans for a long time and is a question that might never ever be completely put to rest. We all know that Voldemort hates innovation of all kinds, despises Muggles, and thinks them silly and incapable. Nevertheless, the concern is: just how much he has researched how to safeguard himself, despite the fact that he believes them to be idiotic? In Prisoner of Azkaban, a man called Sirius Black escapes, and an ad sent to the Muggles calls a wand a "gun." In the future in the book, someone from a wizarding household describes a weapon as "a sort of metal wand Muggles utilize to eliminate each other." In other words, he has definitely zero idea how it works.

Now, this leads people to question if Voldemort, or for that matter any wizard of consequence, is prepared for this sort of threat. A bullet fires extremely rapidly, numerous individuals would argue even a prodigious wizard would hardly even be able to leave a nonverbal spell with a fast hand gesture in time. However, if Voldemort knew about the threat properly, he may have some sort of spell that keeps him continuously protected from such Muggle hazards. It's also possible he simply ignores Muggles and does not imagine ever being in a scenario where he could be threatened by them, or their innovation.

9. Did Dumbledore Hide His Homosexuality Because It Was A Stigma, Or For Other Reasons?

In an interview after the seventh book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, had already been published, J.K. Rowling stunned much of the world by telling the audience that the wizard who used high-heeled boots and flamboyant purple bathrobes was gay. Numerous parents were upset since it challenged their personal views, and others were simply upset because they felt she was changing a character after the fact. Now, the truth is that Rowling always prepared for him to be gay-- we know now that he was in love with the dark wizard Grindelwald.

However, you don't need that as proof to know this was not a retcon. All of the hints were already there long earlier, and many of the more well-read fans were not at all surprised. The question many fans had was why Dumbledore appeared to keep it a secret in the Harry Potter books. Now, some might suggest it just wasn't brought up, however, Dumbledore seems to get flirtatious comments from females occasionally in the books, and he tries to nicely deflect without being too flirty back. This would suggest these ladies were not aware. Now, the question is whether wizards have a problem with homosexuality, or maybe Dumbledore just concealed it due to the fact that he didn't want anybody to ever recognize his romantic connection to Grindelwald.

8. Did Professor Umbridge, Being Evil In Every Other Way, Also Torture Her Cats?

Professor Umbridge is one of the evilest characters presented in the stories. She begins abusing schoolchildren and making one of them consistently scar their hand by writing in their own blood, and eventually graduates to a point in the series where she supervises an inquisition to root out individuals who are not pureblood wizards and have their souls drew out by dementors. She takes absolute joy in this job and has a dark and vicious glee in her voice as she repeatedly mocks individuals and claims they "are not truly wizards" and never ever have been, due to the fact that they are not pureblood. At the end of the series, she was apparently condemned for crimes against humanity, however, some individuals might wonder more about the fate of her felines.

In the Harry Potter stories, we discover that Umbridge has a lot of feline pictures, and likes to show them routinely. This is a lady who likes to keep her environment unquestionably beautiful and has a nasty personality that can be both passive-aggressive-- and just plain aggressive-- depending upon her mood and the situation. It's hard to envision such a lady being kind to animals, or putting up with any mess they might make. And according to secondary sources, Umbridge disliked the clean-up and mess. However, if she learned to hate the mess, did she at one time try to care for live cats? And what sort of horrible individual would she have been to a live animal?

7. Were The Dursleys Evil Because Of The Piece Of Voldemort Inside Harry?

Some individuals have mentioned that, in the final book, Ron got upset and terrible because he was wearing a Horcrux, which even Hermione and Harry got more irritable while it was on them for an extended period of time. We also know that Harry himself was a Horcrux. This has actually brought some people to speculate that the Dursleys were so wicked because Harry-- being a Horcrux-- highlighted the worst in them.

To its detriment, the house was expected to be well protected magically to protect Harry, so it is difficult to picture how much even a leaking effect his presence could have over time. It also begs the concern of how the Horcrux didn't turn Harry's dorm-mates evil or nasty, with time, simply by being around him. Perhaps, though, it is possible it just enhances existing characteristics. If Harry's roomies were typical individuals it would have no unnecessary impact on them; nevertheless, Ron-- in a state of heavy resentment while using one regularly-- could not take the pressure. And the Dursleys were currently said to be pretty nasty people, however, it does appear plausible that Voldemort's existence within Harry could have helped amplify their already evil qualities.

6. Should Hermione Have Gone With Ron, Harry, Or Someone Else Entirely?

Not long ago, J.K. Rowling both surprised the world and made many people facepalm by suggesting that Hermione should not have ended up with Ron because she would just never enjoy a long-term relationship with him, and must have gone with Harry instead. Now, Rowling is being a little silly here since, well ... she already wrote it that way. And also, if Harry chooses Hermione this sort of leaves Ginny out in the cold. Even sillier, it was Rowling herself who used to adamantly protest all of the 'shippers who kept claiming it needs to be Harry and Hermione up until the end.

Now, she claims she wishes to alter the outcome of her own story, however much like Rowling herself not enjoying the ending, possibly the real answer here is that Hermione would not have actually been genuinely pleased with either of them or maybe anybody in the books. Hermione likes being around individuals to an extent, and she likes having friends and she can talk up a storm, but in general, she is a loner and a bookish type. She likes to study, discover, and be successful on her own and she is exceptionally invigorated by working alone. Such a shy individual, who would likewise run circles around most people in the room in regards to intelligence, would likely find it difficult to truly agree with anybody long term as a partner. Perhaps somewhere deep down, Rowling understands this, due to the fact that there are a lot of similarities between her and Hermione.

5. Can Anything Ever Really Redeem Severus Snape For Being So Unapologetically Evil?

Some people like to glamorize Severus Snape, partially since he was played by a male who was genuinely kind and charming in reality. Also, individuals tend to see Snape's final memories in the story and come away with a touching image, while many of us simply see the unfortunate, squandered life of a messed up person. The memories reveal Snape understood Lily from a young age, always loved her, and combated Voldemort all along (in secret) in order to keep his love for Lily alive, and even sacrificed a few times to safeguard Harry himself.

However, the truth is that Snape was not simply a tortured lover-- who "lost" a girl he never even had-- and used that love to bring him back to the "good side." He was nasty, and Dumbledore used him to get as much good out of him as he could, however, he was never a "good" guy. Rowling herself has actually been quite clear on this, however, some individuals do not appear to get it. He declared he liked Lily, but it was a self-centered, wicked, possessive (and incredibly one-sided) love because he did not really care about her dreams or her memory. No one could say a mom would desire her child abused in such a manner, simply because his father was a different guy than the guy who once courted her. This does not suggest he was pure evil, though, and Rowling has said as much. But can any sacrifice really make up for so much horrible behavior?

4. Just What Happens To The Soul That A Dementor Eats, And What Is Your Afterlife Fate?

In Harry Potter, we discover in the 3rd installment about awful beings called dementors. They draw the joy out of the air around them, and it slowly makes you weaker and weaker. They feed upon your anguish and unhappiness, and if they manage to get close enough to you and truly grab a hold of you with their rotting hands, they can give you something called the "dementor's kiss" where they actually suck out your soul. Now, possibly to not frighten children, Rowling does not really go into details here, so we are left to speculate.

We know that the afterlife exists in Harry Potter-- Sirius Black unintentionally enters it through a one-way drape in the 5th book,Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, however that still leaves a lot of details uncertain, especially when it pertains to dementors. Is the soul "killed" and sent out on to the afterlife? Or is it in some way consumed and in fact destroyed? Is the person in question eliminated, their body now just being a husk, or is there some type of life to it now, being only an animal presence? While it is a kids' series, and we can not expect Rowling to elaborate on such things in excessive detail, it would be interesting to know how it is all actually supposed to work.

3. Did Snape Hate Neville For Being Weak, And A Gryffindor, Or For More Insidious Reasons?

In the early Harry Potter books, we rapidly see that apart from badgering Harry for being himself and picking on Hermione for being a know-it-all, Snape actually appears to enjoy tearing Neville Longbottom into small little bits and dissolving him into tears on a regular basis. Now, many people constantly assume that this was because Neville was clumsy and stood out as a bothersome and awkward Gryffindor, and much of us went through the whole series believing this. However, some have looked more closely and discovered something intriguing that makes Snape a lot more despicable as a human being.

In the 5th book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, we find out about a prophecy that caused Voldemort to think Harry would have the power to ruin him, so he attempted to murder Harry and his entire household. We also discovered this prophecy might have also applied to Neville, but it ended up applying to Harry instead due to the fact that Voldemort basically selected Harry as his nemesis. Snape was always well aware of this, and it might have driven his insane hatred of Neville. If Neville's parents had been attacked, Lily would never have actually been eliminated, and if Harry had not been born, Lily wouldn't have been killed either. According to this theory, as far as Snape was concerned, Neville and Harry were both to blame, with the benefit of Harry being half the kid he wanted to have with Lily, but looking a lot like the guy who got to be with her instead. What this suggested to Snape, naturally, was that both boys were required to be systematically penalized for as long as they remained in his power.

2. Does The Ministry Know, Or Care, How Ridiculous Their Underage Magic System Is?

In the second Harry Potter installment, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, we find Harry dealing with a visit from some individuals that Uncle Vernon is trying to get a big drill agreement with, and Harry himself being hustled out of sight. A home fairy who wants him to keep away from Hogwarts gets him into huge trouble with both his aunt and uncle and the Ministry of Magic as well, by making it appear like he used magic in the house. The Ministry warns him that if he utilizes underage magic again without approval, they will boot him from school. This makes things even worse for him, as he then gets punished badly by his auntie and uncle knowing he can not retaliate against them with magic.

Now, Harry is aggrieved since he did not in fact utilize magic, and wonders if the system is not really effectively created. He later discovers that he is entirely correct. It turns out that the Ministry's system can not actually tell who used the magic, simply that it was utilized in the home. That indicates-- probably-- if it was a wizarding family, you could get away with underage magic all the time and no one would ever know. The only individuals who would get caught are orphans, and they are the ones most like to stress and utilize magic since they are vulnerable and have no one to protect them. Instead of sending a Ministry representative to ask why an underage kid in a non-wizarding home was using magic, they just send out a letter and threaten expulsion after simply one little levitation charm.

1. Is There Any Way To Force Someone To Make An Unbreakable Vow?

In the Harry Potter novels, we discover early on something called the unbreakable vow. Two individuals grip hands while holding their wands and go through an oath about their actions. The vow is literally unbreakable, in that, if you can't find a way out of the wording and you break the oath, you simply die. Ron discusses once that when he was a youngster, his older brother Fred almost got him to do one, and after that, his mother noticed and came and gave his older sibling a spanking he would always remember. We are never told what he wanted him to consent to in this oath. Snape also takes an oath in book six, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, agreeing to kill Dumbledore if required instead of Draco-- something Snape had actually already consented to with Dumbledore in the first place.

However, apart from these instances, we do not really understand much else about it. It seems unlikely that using the imperius curse would work to force somebody into an unbreakable vow, however other methods seem possible. A huge concern would be how much the vow "understands" intent, as it speaks about Ron almost being deceived into it as a really young child. Likewise, we do not know how smart magic is, and whether the spell would recognize conditions of pressure or not. Undoubtedly the imperius curse would not work or a dark wizard would have tried that one, but what about merely waving a weapon in someone's face, or threatening their family? Would the unbreakable vow allow such threats to work, and provide you life and death control over another human being?

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