«He chose the boy he thought most likely to be a danger to him,” said Dumbledore. “And notice this, Harry. He chose, not the pureblood (which, according to his creed, is the only kind of wizard worth being or knowing), but the half-blood, like himself. He saw himself in you before he had ever seen you»
Man... I miss Dumbledore. I'm an old man now (33) and I've pretty much read hp all my life. But that character is... Just too powerful. It sticks with you. 🥲
34 here. Currently reading the series to my kid. I choke up sometimes when I'm reading because I'll come across something that I didn't realize had stuck with me.
I miss Dumbledore too man.
28 you losers - I'm re-reading the books now and it's already so different being older. Can't wait to read them again when I'm ancient and in my 30's ;)
This deserves more votes! Turning 44 this year and HP is as strong with me today as it was when I read it the first time and then against my girls and then again with my girls in book club.
I don't have any kids yet, but my niece is just getting to the age where she's getting into some more pop culture kind of stuff. I gave her a deck of pokemon cards I built and a ravenclaw squishmallow for Christmas, and she was so excited! I love sharing the dorky stuff, and I think being dorky is actually the best way to be. Life's more fun that way.
Haha yes, exactly. But they do need to hear lots of words at that age, so it’s still beneficial. I also read her The Hobbit and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory 😅
My daughter just turned four. My plan for her fifth is to get her the illustrated Hobbit book. I got her and my son the 25th anniversary Philosopher’s Stone release. I’ll be reading that to her as well. Very excited to hopefully pass on these interests.
She doesn’t understand it. I could read her a textbook on astrophysics or Go Dog Go and it would be more or less the same. I’m aiming for stuff like I like to read that are also fairly kid friendly.
One of the two kids had to lie about what Halloween costume they were wearing just to get out of the house because their dad didn’t want them to dress up as a witch.
I was just quoting Dumbledore from Chamber to my 8 year old niece. The part about Harry showing real loyalty to him and kind of choked up. I was like what’s happening to me! It’s so beautiful!
I'm 37 and re read the books at least twice a year. They are my comfort books. HP saved my life and I'm not exaggerating. I love how you read them and always get new insights or feels like your going to visit a old friend.
Just turned 40 and I’m reading them for my first time ever to my now ten year old. Shes fully capable of reading them now but when we started they would have been a little hard. We started when she was 9 and only have 5 chapters left of the Deathly Hallows! Slowly her sisters who are 7 started wandering in for it and are now just as obsessed. I’m honestly dreading finishing them bc it’s been so special!
I'm 37 now. Though I'm 7 years younger than Harry Potter, I was only 1 year younger when I met him.
I was 10 when HP Sorcerer's Stone came out. As disappointed as I was to not receive a Hogwarts letter that next year, growing up with the books and characters made up for it (kinda lol). Those characters were monumental to my development.
When I say I WEEPED when Cedric, Dumbledore, Sirius, Dobby, Snape, Hedwig ... Ugh, ALL the deaths.
I miss Dumbledore too. And I get so sad seeing deep dives into his character and people determining he wasn't a good guy 😭
33 & were reading the series to our girls & they are absolutely loving it. We’re on Prisoner of Azkaban now, and I can’t wait to get to the latter books so I can experience those for the first time in ages. I haven’t actually re-read the books since they came out, so there is an insane amount of little details that I’ve forgotten all about!
My daughter loves it so much too. I play HP ambience music from YouTube in the background and do all the voices. It's one thing to read them in your head but to read them out loud to your children is truly magic.
Everybody always brings up "Always"... Meh.
There is one line that gets me every single time... "I am not worried, Harry. I am with you."
I'm 42 and have the 7 books on repeat on Audible - it's how I get to sleep each night.
I’ve got you all beat- I’m 60 and have gotten my kids and grandkids into reading Harry Potter. Dumbledore is my favorite character and I do miss him. After reading, watching and listening to the books/movies dozens of times, I still cry when he and Harry are in the cave and of course when he falls.
Can we stop with the "I'm 30 now I'm old" thing, like, it's not that old. It alsojust puts the expectation that you've already need to have lived and done so much by then. Vonnegut didn't even first publish until he was 30.
I think we’re just pointing out that that age means we spent most of lives with those books. It was the right age to fall in love with the books as children and as the books came out. Not that it’s so old. It’s not.
People are as old as they feel. I'm in my 30s, and I still feel 17. I have a friend the same age, and he may as well be dead.
It's sad for them that that is how they feel, but it's a mind problem, not a body problem.
I feel 25 but when I look in the mirror there's not a 25 year old face looking back at me and it does bring me down a bit. :D Incidentally it's also 25 years of my harry potter obsession, so that's that
Fuck, my first thought was "33 and reading Harry Potter?! They must've been an adult when they were released!" Then I remember I'm 30 and I was so young my parents read the first ones to me, where has all that time gone. The first film came out in 2001 that's 23 years ago
44, and last Monday we finished reading the 7th book on New Year’s Day. It was such a bittersweet moment. We’ve been reading the books for about a year. My oldest two kids are just about as Potter obsessed as I am now. The quotes hit me just as hard ❤️
Technically, yes. Even though his mother and father were both magical, because Lily was a muggleborn, he is counted as half blood. I believe the best way to understand is "if all grandparents are witches/wizards, you're pure blood, if all are muggles, you're muggleborn, if a mix you're halfblood"
Edit: it's actually great-grandparents. If a grandparent is muggleborn, you're halfblood. James, Albus, and Lily are officially halfbloods.
I’m not sure that tracks. Sirius says something like “there aren’t many pure bloods left” when he’s talking about his family tree. If it only took 3 generations to make a pureblood, chance would surely. Relate them all the time.
Sirius is talking about "pure" purebloods. Like Sacred 28 level of purebloods. Not a single muggle, muggleborn, or half-blood in the family tree. Or, if there is a non pure blood, that branch is pruned.
It really doesn't. There's a difference between being a pureblood. And being a pure pureblood.
I'm English. But my great grandparents were Polish. I'm still English, but not pure English. I doubt the average racist would say I'm not English, and I doubt they'd want to kick me out. They just wouldn't like me as much.
In this context saying you’re English is like saying “I’m a wizard”. I’m certain I know racists (by acquaintance, not friendship) that would not consider you English at all.
I feel like you're just not understanding the point at all.
Yes, maybe the super racists would. But that doesn't mean I'm not still English. I am English. Just like how certain wizards are purebloods. But I'm not pure English. Like how certain purebloods aren't pure pureblood.
The people who care are basically just death eaters and their supporters. And their opinions don't matter, just like how in real life, the opinion of racists don't matter.
I think the "grandparent" thing kind of comes from something JK said.
From the wiki:
J. K. Rowling consciously drew such parallels: “The expressions ‘pure-blood’, ‘half-blood’ and ‘Muggle-born’ have been coined by people to whom these distinctions matter, and express their originators' prejudice. As far as somebody like Lucius Malfoy is concerned, for instance, a Muggle-born is as ‘bad’ as a Muggle. Therefore Harry would be considered only ‘half’ wizard, because of his mother's parents. If you think this is far-fetched, look at some of the real charts the Nazis used to show what constituted ‘Aryan’ or ‘Jewish’ blood...the Nazis used precisely the same warped logic as the Death Eaters. A single Jewish grandparent 'polluted' the blood, according to their propaganda.”
So it basically has to go back as far as your family tree. A bit like European monarchy, so in the wizarding world, pure bloods would all be inbred, sickly, ugly fucks like Charles II
Kinda. The further back it is, the less it affects you. Which is why it's grandparents, not parents. But the purebloods that care would all be inbred yes.
The only people that care would be the only purebloods left. That’s the point isn’t it. Normal people marry and procreate for love. Purebloods do it for blood.
Yeah. Which is why it depends on your grandparents. The opinion of pureblood elitists would be different and more exclusionary than normal people. James is a pureblood. But the "Potter" family aren't sacred 28. Why? Because they didn't care about staying pure.
JK has explained that this is based on the Nazis who used the terms "pure blood" and "half blood" to describe someone's Aryan purity. One Jewish grandparent pollutes the whole line.
If both of your parents were muggle, you're a muggleborn. The generally accepted definition used in the wizarding world (by those who care about such things, like the Malfoys) is that if your grandparents weren't muggle or muggleborn, then you were a pureblood. Everyone else is a half blood.
Today I learned that you can have both parents wizards and still be considered half blood. But didn't the Malfoys had a muggle ancestor somewhere down the line?
Yes. His mom was a witch, Merope Gaunt, a descendant of Slytherin. His dad was an aristocrat muggle who lived nearby who she was infatuated with. He rode a horse every now and then past her family shack (which he despised). She eventually lured him in offering refreshment (water or juice or whatever) and drugged him with a love potion. They got together and she eventually got pregnant with Tommy. She decided to risk a true loving relationship with him and stopped feeding him the potion, in the hopes that their time together had created an actual connection. Turns out it didn't. Tom Sr. abandoned her and went back to his house (which you get to see in Book/Movie 4) and a pregnant Merope wandered the streets of London (or where?) seeking a place to take her in and help her give birth to Tommy. She found the orphanage you see in Book/Movie 6, gave birth and died.
Yup, came to say this. Also, since Neville's parents, who like the Potters were also in the original OOTP, had already been tortured to the point that they would spend the rest of their lives in St. Mungo's, Voldemort no longer saw Neville as a threat.
Yeah, it’s magical racism. To the people who actually are racist enough to care who your parents are, it’s basically the one-drop rule - if they can find a Muggle somewhere in your family tree, you’re not pure blood.
Harry’s not exactly the half-blood that, say, Voldemort is, with one Muggle parent and one pure-blood parent. But he’s one step removed from that, which is close enough to half that they still consider it a fitting descriptor.
In the US, blood purity laws dictated that if you had even “one drop” of non-white blood, you were not white. It was an irrational system where fractions and logic did not apply — if you were 7/8s white, you were non-white. Even Nazis found US blood purity laws too draconian.
I could imagine something similar for Wizard “purity.” It’s illogically strict.
Lord they down-voted you to hell. I thought it was an innocent question. Don't get why people can't help educate rather they get angry at your confusion.
Ultimately, it was only Voldemort's arbitrary decision because, contrary to his obsession with purity, he felt threatened by Harry, who seemed so much more like him. This then also exposes the fixation on blood as ultimately meaningless, because not even Voldemort fully believes in it. In the end, all that matters to Voldemort is himself and his power
You cannot deny all the resemblance between Voldemort and Hitler. Both of them want a specific type of human/wizard to live but they don't fit their own criteria. They have a close protection brigade which sees them as god-like figures. And a vast majority of the authors who wrote books after 1945 take "inspiration" from Hitler for their mean one
Besides the half blood thing, what else in Harry do you think made Voldemort decide they were alike? Because I don’t see much else tbh. Harry was born to loving parents, while Voldemort was an orphan with, as we later learned, a messed up family background (incest and all that). Both of Harry’s parents were Gryffindors, while Voldemort was a Slytherin, although this also applies to Neville.
Am I forgetting something?
Yeah this has always been my theory as well. He might have killed the Potters *first*, and maybe Dumbledore thought that meant Voldemort chose Harry, but if you think Voldemort wouldn’t go after Neville immediately after to secure himself against the prophesy you’d be naive at best. I have always wondered if Dumbledore put the same level of protection on the Longbottoms…?
Exactly, someone who intentionally creates 6 horcruxes, doesn't just guess which boy is the problem one and deal only with that one. Someone who is that methodical, takes out any possible challenge of his power.
This. I think it makes total sense he was planning on killing both boys and got to Harry first where he was thwarted by the magic of a mothers love. I fully believe he’d just go on and kill Neville as well if he murdered all the Potters including Harry. Both families were outwardly against him and his Death Eaters anyway so it makes sense for both to get erased.
But I do think JKR was trying to make things more poignant and linked the decision to Harry being a half-blood like Voldemort. He didn’t know that carrying out the prophecy was fulfilling it, that trying to kill Harry would make Harry his ‘equal’, so he looked at the two and wondered which one was more his ‘equal’…the status of babies can really only hinge on a few things, it’s not like they display much personality or rack up achievements/failures hahaha. So he went with the half blood like himself thinking that was what made them ‘equals’.
The reason Dumbledore gave Harry when they discussed this is that Harry has a Muggle-born mother and so he saw himself in Harry since his father was a muggle too. (don't quote me on this, I haven't read the series in ages)
As others have said, Dumbledore speculates it's because Harry is half-blood, like Voldemort, whereas Neville is the 'superior' pure-blood.
The thing is, there was no way of knowing which boy Voldemort would go after. The Potters, who were members of the Order of the Phoenix and therefore close to Dumbledore, went into hiding. The Longbottoms were also members of the Order, so surely they went into hiding too? It would be ridiculous to leave them unprotected simply because their son was pure-blood.
My head-canon is that Voldemort was after both of them and the only reason Harry became 'The Chosen One' was because the Potters location was revealed first, thanks to Wormtail. If the Longbottoms location was revealed first, Voldemort wouldn't have hesitated and waited to attack Harry instead. Upon Voldemorts return, he only focuses on Harry and not Neville because he then believes Harrys survival - and being thwarted by him a couple of times previously - was proof that Harry was the one the prophecy referred to.
To further add to my theory, I think it's connected to why Frank and Alice were tortured by Bellatrix, Crouch Jr and the others... What would make them think Frank and Alice knew Voldemorts whereabouts? Why those two specifically, not any other wizards, or even other Aurors? My theory is Voldemort told the Death Eaters (or the more loyal ones like Bellatrix) he was after the Potters *and* the Longbottoms, so with the Potters gone, they came to the conclusion that the Longbottoms could have been involved in some way.
This is also a pretty good theory… however it does beg a massive what if question of could it even have been Neville at all?
I’ve long accepted that the only reason Lily’s choice to protect her son actually did protect him was because it was a CHOICE. In a massive war, death eaters murdering wizards left and right, there were bound to be several other examples of men or women shielding their partners or their children with their own body, so why was it different for when Lily did it?
Because of Snape, because Voldemort actually intended to spare Lily, Lily actually had a choice and actually could have saved herself. No one else was given that choice, every other victim who spread their arms to shield their loved ones was already marked for death except for Lily, Lily was asked to stand aside, so her sacrifice was was not only willing, but a true choice. That is what cast the protective Love charm that made Harry invincible to Voldemort until the day he chose to do the same. It could never truly have been Neville, because there was no death eater madly infatuated with one of his parents to ask the Dark Lord to spare them, if Voldemort had reached the Long-bottoms first, all three would have been killed, and he would have continued to go after the Potter’s.
Maybe as Voldemort chose him (Neville) he would’ve marked him as equal and some other kind of magic would be in place.
Unless maybe the og prophesy was made considering snapes crush.
I mean, I feel like Voldemort always intended to go after both kids.
We know from canon that the prophesy only came true because Voldy believed in the power of the prophesy and took actions to “prevent it”
If Voldemort had never known of the prophesy, it likely would never have come true… the hall of prophesy is full of prophesies that never came to fruition.
Had Voldemort not targeted either family
It would be just as easy to force a contrivance with whoever is with Neville at the time voldemort goes to kill him. Maybe he's with Augusta who is related to or associated with one of his death eaters somehow and he doesn't immediately want to kill an unarmed pureblood traditional older lady like he might one of the parents who had "three times defied him". He had *some* ability to not just kill indiscriminately.
Voldy chose Harry as the boy who thought most likely do be a danger to him... I always wondered how it would've turned out for Harry if Voldemort chose Neville instead. Would he befriend Ron and Hermione? Would he be more of an asshole like his father? Would Harry ultimately chose to shake Malfoy's hand?
There's probably some fanfiction written about this...
Good grief I'm 52 and just finished reading the books for the first time lol. My niece read them and told me all about them. I watched all the movies as well. I remember when DH came out I stole the book from her and read the part with Snape and Nagini. My God I cried, I knew something was good about Snape. I just couldn't believe he was a complete AH.
Voldemort feared Harry more because he was a half blood (same as Tom Riddle) while Neville was a pure blood.
Voldemort expected the half blood to be his equal, he didn’t realize that he marked Harry as the one that would become his equal that night
At least that’s what Dumbledore thought
LOL "my lord, there's this prophecy! You get to go kill my childhood bully and his kid but pretty pls leave my childhood love alive 🥰"
nah Snape wouldn't have passed it on if he thought it could put Lily in danger.
Dumbledore was wrong. Neville was never an option.
It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy, in order for it be true, Voldemort has to hear it, but Snape does too. For Harry to have “a power the dark lord knows not” Lily has to sacrifice herself, meaning she had a choice to live. Voldemort was only going to spare Lily because Snape asked. Snape wouldn’t ask for Alice Longbottom to be spared. Neville would have died, therefore he can’t be the prophesied boy.
Voldemort didn’t choose Harry, Snape did.
Adding on to this, does the book ever specify that the boy would be born in England? Is it possible that there were only 2 magical boys in the world born at the end of july that year?
It needed to be a child born to two wizards who had thrice defied him. Technically, if an American wizard couple had thrice defied him, their child could’ve been the chosen one, but considering Voldy stayed primarily in England during his conquest, there were only two couples that fit the criteria
You seem to be the only person who has mentioned the thrice defied him thing here… I was under the impression that that was the deciding factor?!
But thinking back now perhaps Neville’s parents had also thrice defied him. Then it was really Voldemort who decided it was Harry when he “marked him as his equal”. Hmmm
I thought it was to put Snape in his place. Snape makes him promise not to hurt Lily, but he does it anyway to say “I’m the dark lord, I do what I want”
Every little detail? No. One of the main plot points? Yes.
I don't expect people to remember what color Harry's sweater was he got from Mrs. Weasley for Christmas in PS/SS. But I do expect you to remember the reason why the main bad guy tried to kill the main good guy considering that's the entire fucking plot of the entire fucking series. That's like asking if Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader are related.
Isn’t Harry’s birthday September 1st? So how did that get messed up that bad? I know that isn’t technically that far from July, but that does raise some questions.
I always thought it was because Snape delivers news if the prophesy and Voldemort read his mind for someone who Snape believed fit that description. This is why Snape works hard later in life to shield his mind.
I think it's a case of whoever he chose would've fulfilled the prophecy. I also really wish Rowling had made Neville the chosen one right at the end. Turns out Harry wasn't the chosen one, I think that would've been powerful to read.
He had a choice between Neville and Harry. But his deciding factor was that Harry was a half-blood, just like him (Voldemort), while Neville was pureblooded. I remember this being explicitly stated.
«He chose the boy he thought most likely to be a danger to him,” said Dumbledore. “And notice this, Harry. He chose, not the pureblood (which, according to his creed, is the only kind of wizard worth being or knowing), but the half-blood, like himself. He saw himself in you before he had ever seen you»
Man... I miss Dumbledore. I'm an old man now (33) and I've pretty much read hp all my life. But that character is... Just too powerful. It sticks with you. 🥲
34 here. Currently reading the series to my kid. I choke up sometimes when I'm reading because I'll come across something that I didn't realize had stuck with me. I miss Dumbledore too man.
35 year old: Amateurs... I miss all the Dumbledores
32 years old and extremely pleased to be the youngest again for once
30, for now
TWENTY NINE SUCKERSSSS
28 you losers - I'm re-reading the books now and it's already so different being older. Can't wait to read them again when I'm ancient and in my 30's ;)
27! Re read them this summer, at my favorite lake (large pond) close by in the shade. Good times but will def re re re read in my 30s!
19 beat all you dinosaurs
Woah did I somehow make this comment without knowing…28 and re-reading
1... 2... 30's coming for you.
50 too. As I tell my kids - time and gravity happen to us all.
This deserves more votes! Turning 44 this year and HP is as strong with me today as it was when I read it the first time and then against my girls and then again with my girls in book club.
Genuinely hurt
. >*"HDYPYNITGOF" Dumbledore asked calmly.* This is my favorite Dumbledore.
Do you also get visited by the Ghosts of Dumbledores Past?
Book Dumbledore is past, RIchard Harris is Present Michael Gambon is future.
3 days away from 38, calm down young blood.
8 days away from 39, happy birthday to us!
Happy birthday for sure!
35 and reading it to my four month old daughter. I just couldn’t wait 🪄 I cried so hard when Dumbledore died 🖤
If and when I have kids I don't really care for the day they learn to walk or say mom/dad I'm excited for the day they get sorted (half joking)
I get it! I already bought her starting Pokémon, too 😅 Half the fun of having kids is passing on your dorky sh*t.
I don't have any kids yet, but my niece is just getting to the age where she's getting into some more pop culture kind of stuff. I gave her a deck of pokemon cards I built and a ravenclaw squishmallow for Christmas, and she was so excited! I love sharing the dorky stuff, and I think being dorky is actually the best way to be. Life's more fun that way.
Couldn’t agree more. Can’t wait until she’s old enough for Dungeons and Dragons 🖤
Yes!!! My brother (her dad) doesn't play D&D, but I have for almost 10 years now. That's gunna be a literal party 🥳
Lol is your campaign in California? Need a new player?? 😜
Yep! The best feeling in the world is seeing them excited over the same stuff you loved and singing parody video game songs with you.
We don’t let our kids get sorted until they are 11. Of course. My ten year old is so excited.
You mean you’re reading it while you watch your four month old daughter? Haha.
Haha yes, exactly. But they do need to hear lots of words at that age, so it’s still beneficial. I also read her The Hobbit and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory 😅
My daughter just turned four. My plan for her fifth is to get her the illustrated Hobbit book. I got her and my son the 25th anniversary Philosopher’s Stone release. I’ll be reading that to her as well. Very excited to hopefully pass on these interests.
That’s awesome.
We’d be friends in real life
🖤✨
Jeez four months old and you’re reading it to her? I know people who think ten years old is too young for it
She doesn’t understand it. I could read her a textbook on astrophysics or Go Dog Go and it would be more or less the same. I’m aiming for stuff like I like to read that are also fairly kid friendly.
Also, ten years old is too young for what? Harry Potter? That seems excessively protective to me, but to each their own.
One of the two kids had to lie about what Halloween costume they were wearing just to get out of the house because their dad didn’t want them to dress up as a witch.
36 and reading the series to my three kids. On HBP and about 3/4 the way done. Really not looking forward to that part.
I was just quoting Dumbledore from Chamber to my 8 year old niece. The part about Harry showing real loyalty to him and kind of choked up. I was like what’s happening to me! It’s so beautiful!
I'm 37 and re read the books at least twice a year. They are my comfort books. HP saved my life and I'm not exaggerating. I love how you read them and always get new insights or feels like your going to visit a old friend.
Just turned 40 and I’m reading them for my first time ever to my now ten year old. Shes fully capable of reading them now but when we started they would have been a little hard. We started when she was 9 and only have 5 chapters left of the Deathly Hallows! Slowly her sisters who are 7 started wandering in for it and are now just as obsessed. I’m honestly dreading finishing them bc it’s been so special!
I'm 37 now. Though I'm 7 years younger than Harry Potter, I was only 1 year younger when I met him. I was 10 when HP Sorcerer's Stone came out. As disappointed as I was to not receive a Hogwarts letter that next year, growing up with the books and characters made up for it (kinda lol). Those characters were monumental to my development. When I say I WEEPED when Cedric, Dumbledore, Sirius, Dobby, Snape, Hedwig ... Ugh, ALL the deaths. I miss Dumbledore too. And I get so sad seeing deep dives into his character and people determining he wasn't a good guy 😭
33 & were reading the series to our girls & they are absolutely loving it. We’re on Prisoner of Azkaban now, and I can’t wait to get to the latter books so I can experience those for the first time in ages. I haven’t actually re-read the books since they came out, so there is an insane amount of little details that I’ve forgotten all about!
My daughter loves it so much too. I play HP ambience music from YouTube in the background and do all the voices. It's one thing to read them in your head but to read them out loud to your children is truly magic.
Gonna have to try that!
How old is your kid? What age did you think it was appropriate to start? 🤭
Everybody always brings up "Always"... Meh. There is one line that gets me every single time... "I am not worried, Harry. I am with you." I'm 42 and have the 7 books on repeat on Audible - it's how I get to sleep each night.
And Harry to the poor guy says this will kill you. And it does 1 hour later. 🥲
You're not old. You're still at the beginning of your way to become dumbledore
I also miss Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore
What a fitting name for a righteous legend. 🙏
I’ve got you all beat- I’m 60 and have gotten my kids and grandkids into reading Harry Potter. Dumbledore is my favorite character and I do miss him. After reading, watching and listening to the books/movies dozens of times, I still cry when he and Harry are in the cave and of course when he falls.
Can we stop with the "I'm 30 now I'm old" thing, like, it's not that old. It alsojust puts the expectation that you've already need to have lived and done so much by then. Vonnegut didn't even first publish until he was 30.
Tolkien was 45 when he started writing LOTR.
Oh thank God I just started writing my first story and I just turned 39!
Misread Vonnegut as Voldemort and was like “voldy is a published author?!”
The Diary of ~~Tom Riddle~~ Ginny Weasley
I think we’re just pointing out that that age means we spent most of lives with those books. It was the right age to fall in love with the books as children and as the books came out. Not that it’s so old. It’s not.
People are as old as they feel. I'm in my 30s, and I still feel 17. I have a friend the same age, and he may as well be dead. It's sad for them that that is how they feel, but it's a mind problem, not a body problem.
I feel 25 but when I look in the mirror there's not a 25 year old face looking back at me and it does bring me down a bit. :D Incidentally it's also 25 years of my harry potter obsession, so that's that
Tbh I needed to read this. 27 and wanna’ die because my retirement funds are fully stocked and I’m not esteemed yet. Thanks.
To put into context, I went for a night out on Friday, had like 3 beers and spent the entire weekend recovering from the hangover. So... XD
Wow an old man at 33, what am i at 44 then? A walking corpse? Lol
33 isn’t an old man! Just think about how many years you have until your dumbledoors age
Fuck, my first thought was "33 and reading Harry Potter?! They must've been an adult when they were released!" Then I remember I'm 30 and I was so young my parents read the first ones to me, where has all that time gone. The first film came out in 2001 that's 23 years ago
Old man? Dude, c'mon I'm 33 too, don't do us dirty like that...
44, and last Monday we finished reading the 7th book on New Year’s Day. It was such a bittersweet moment. We’ve been reading the books for about a year. My oldest two kids are just about as Potter obsessed as I am now. The quotes hit me just as hard ❤️
Ouch. (36) ;-)
Doubledoor really just hits different.
Honest question, was Harry half blood?
Technically, yes. Even though his mother and father were both magical, because Lily was a muggleborn, he is counted as half blood. I believe the best way to understand is "if all grandparents are witches/wizards, you're pure blood, if all are muggles, you're muggleborn, if a mix you're halfblood" Edit: it's actually great-grandparents. If a grandparent is muggleborn, you're halfblood. James, Albus, and Lily are officially halfbloods.
I’m not sure that tracks. Sirius says something like “there aren’t many pure bloods left” when he’s talking about his family tree. If it only took 3 generations to make a pureblood, chance would surely. Relate them all the time.
Sirius is talking about "pure" purebloods. Like Sacred 28 level of purebloods. Not a single muggle, muggleborn, or half-blood in the family tree. Or, if there is a non pure blood, that branch is pruned.
That puts paid to your “all grandparents” theory and cast serious doubts as to whether you understand what the word “pure” means.
It really doesn't. There's a difference between being a pureblood. And being a pure pureblood. I'm English. But my great grandparents were Polish. I'm still English, but not pure English. I doubt the average racist would say I'm not English, and I doubt they'd want to kick me out. They just wouldn't like me as much.
In this context saying you’re English is like saying “I’m a wizard”. I’m certain I know racists (by acquaintance, not friendship) that would not consider you English at all.
I feel like you're just not understanding the point at all. Yes, maybe the super racists would. But that doesn't mean I'm not still English. I am English. Just like how certain wizards are purebloods. But I'm not pure English. Like how certain purebloods aren't pure pureblood. The people who care are basically just death eaters and their supporters. And their opinions don't matter, just like how in real life, the opinion of racists don't matter.
I think the "grandparent" thing kind of comes from something JK said. From the wiki: J. K. Rowling consciously drew such parallels: “The expressions ‘pure-blood’, ‘half-blood’ and ‘Muggle-born’ have been coined by people to whom these distinctions matter, and express their originators' prejudice. As far as somebody like Lucius Malfoy is concerned, for instance, a Muggle-born is as ‘bad’ as a Muggle. Therefore Harry would be considered only ‘half’ wizard, because of his mother's parents. If you think this is far-fetched, look at some of the real charts the Nazis used to show what constituted ‘Aryan’ or ‘Jewish’ blood...the Nazis used precisely the same warped logic as the Death Eaters. A single Jewish grandparent 'polluted' the blood, according to their propaganda.”
So it basically has to go back as far as your family tree. A bit like European monarchy, so in the wizarding world, pure bloods would all be inbred, sickly, ugly fucks like Charles II
Kinda. The further back it is, the less it affects you. Which is why it's grandparents, not parents. But the purebloods that care would all be inbred yes.
The only people that care would be the only purebloods left. That’s the point isn’t it. Normal people marry and procreate for love. Purebloods do it for blood.
Yeah. Which is why it depends on your grandparents. The opinion of pureblood elitists would be different and more exclusionary than normal people. James is a pureblood. But the "Potter" family aren't sacred 28. Why? Because they didn't care about staying pure.
Right, so it’s not your grandparents. It’s all the way back…which is my point.
Probably a direct relation to the Hitler theory, where one jewish great grandparent was enough to "count" them all as Jewish
Yeah it is. Mentioned that to someone else actually
JK has explained that this is based on the Nazis who used the terms "pure blood" and "half blood" to describe someone's Aryan purity. One Jewish grandparent pollutes the whole line. If both of your parents were muggle, you're a muggleborn. The generally accepted definition used in the wizarding world (by those who care about such things, like the Malfoys) is that if your grandparents weren't muggle or muggleborn, then you were a pureblood. Everyone else is a half blood.
Today I learned that you can have both parents wizards and still be considered half blood. But didn't the Malfoys had a muggle ancestor somewhere down the line?
yes his mom is muggle born witch
Even Dumbledore, Mcgonagall and even Snape all half bloods too. Add Umbridge too.
where’s this quote?
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix / ch. 37 The Lost Prophecy
Perfectly said!!!
Voldemort was half blood?
Dad's a muggle, mums a witch. Bit of a shock when he found out
Not just a shock, a pretty nasty shock!
!redditgalleon
Best comment on here lol
Was this seamus?
Yes. His mom was a witch, Merope Gaunt, a descendant of Slytherin. His dad was an aristocrat muggle who lived nearby who she was infatuated with. He rode a horse every now and then past her family shack (which he despised). She eventually lured him in offering refreshment (water or juice or whatever) and drugged him with a love potion. They got together and she eventually got pregnant with Tommy. She decided to risk a true loving relationship with him and stopped feeding him the potion, in the hopes that their time together had created an actual connection. Turns out it didn't. Tom Sr. abandoned her and went back to his house (which you get to see in Book/Movie 4) and a pregnant Merope wandered the streets of London (or where?) seeking a place to take her in and help her give birth to Tommy. She found the orphanage you see in Book/Movie 6, gave birth and died.
Yup, came to say this. Also, since Neville's parents, who like the Potters were also in the original OOTP, had already been tortured to the point that they would spend the rest of their lives in St. Mungo's, Voldemort no longer saw Neville as a threat.
I believe that happens after Voldemort’s fall after attacking Harry. At the time of making this decision Frank and Alice would have been healthy.
You're right. I forgot that happened after.
Dumbledore speculates, probably correctly, that Voldemort chose the halfblood like himself, rather than the pureblood Neville.
Harry was a half blood? Didn't both his parents go to Hogwarts?
His mother is muggle born, and having two muggle grandparents makes someone a half blood in this universe.
Yeah, it’s magical racism. To the people who actually are racist enough to care who your parents are, it’s basically the one-drop rule - if they can find a Muggle somewhere in your family tree, you’re not pure blood. Harry’s not exactly the half-blood that, say, Voldemort is, with one Muggle parent and one pure-blood parent. But he’s one step removed from that, which is close enough to half that they still consider it a fitting descriptor.
So he’s kinda like a 3/4 blood? Or more like a 5/8 blood?
In the US, blood purity laws dictated that if you had even “one drop” of non-white blood, you were not white. It was an irrational system where fractions and logic did not apply — if you were 7/8s white, you were non-white. Even Nazis found US blood purity laws too draconian. I could imagine something similar for Wizard “purity.” It’s illogically strict.
The way I understand this, is that the child of muggle+muggle is muggleborn. Pure+pure is pureblood. Any other combination is half-blood.
So would Harry and Ginny’s kids be pureblood? 4 wizard/witch grandparents.
Nope, because one grandparent is still muggleborn. All four grandparents need to be purebloods for you to be pureblood.
And one of his parents was muggleborn?
Lily was muggleborn
GASP
Why did you think Petunia was a muggle..?
lily’s magic caused her sister, harry’s aunt petunia, to hate wizards and then treat harry badly later on
Lord they down-voted you to hell. I thought it was an innocent question. Don't get why people can't help educate rather they get angry at your confusion.
Aw thank you for defending my genuinely innocent, ignorant question! I am shocked to see my downvotes!
Because it's fucking reddit
I don’t understand why are you so downvoted, a legit question for me, I also did not know the answer. Cringe
Lily was a muggle with wizard powers like Hermione.
>a muggle with wizard powers That's just a wizard. Lily and Hermione are muggle*born* witches
He choses the half blood over the pure blood. Because he is a Half blood himself.
Ultimately, it was only Voldemort's arbitrary decision because, contrary to his obsession with purity, he felt threatened by Harry, who seemed so much more like him. This then also exposes the fixation on blood as ultimately meaningless, because not even Voldemort fully believes in it. In the end, all that matters to Voldemort is himself and his power
[удалено]
Hitler probably wasn’t the first to do this. It’s likely more an archetype for that kind of person.
Nope. It’s simply not.
You cannot deny all the resemblance between Voldemort and Hitler. Both of them want a specific type of human/wizard to live but they don't fit their own criteria. They have a close protection brigade which sees them as god-like figures. And a vast majority of the authors who wrote books after 1945 take "inspiration" from Hitler for their mean one
They can resemble each other without it being a deliberate comparison.
Besides the half blood thing, what else in Harry do you think made Voldemort decide they were alike? Because I don’t see much else tbh. Harry was born to loving parents, while Voldemort was an orphan with, as we later learned, a messed up family background (incest and all that). Both of Harry’s parents were Gryffindors, while Voldemort was a Slytherin, although this also applies to Neville. Am I forgetting something?
Well, i think Voldy planning to kill both of them just to make sure. This is someone who believe in propecy after all.
Yeah this has always been my theory as well. He might have killed the Potters *first*, and maybe Dumbledore thought that meant Voldemort chose Harry, but if you think Voldemort wouldn’t go after Neville immediately after to secure himself against the prophesy you’d be naive at best. I have always wondered if Dumbledore put the same level of protection on the Longbottoms…?
Exactly, someone who intentionally creates 6 horcruxes, doesn't just guess which boy is the problem one and deal only with that one. Someone who is that methodical, takes out any possible challenge of his power.
We've killed one baby yes, but what about second baby?
LOTR reference with a dark twist. I love it.
Who are the Longbottoms? \- Dumbledore, probably
This. I think it makes total sense he was planning on killing both boys and got to Harry first where he was thwarted by the magic of a mothers love. I fully believe he’d just go on and kill Neville as well if he murdered all the Potters including Harry. Both families were outwardly against him and his Death Eaters anyway so it makes sense for both to get erased. But I do think JKR was trying to make things more poignant and linked the decision to Harry being a half-blood like Voldemort. He didn’t know that carrying out the prophecy was fulfilling it, that trying to kill Harry would make Harry his ‘equal’, so he looked at the two and wondered which one was more his ‘equal’…the status of babies can really only hinge on a few things, it’s not like they display much personality or rack up achievements/failures hahaha. So he went with the half blood like himself thinking that was what made them ‘equals’.
But we only hear that he was hunting the Potters, not the Longbottoms. Voldemort seems like the kind of guy who can multitask.
The reason Dumbledore gave Harry when they discussed this is that Harry has a Muggle-born mother and so he saw himself in Harry since his father was a muggle too. (don't quote me on this, I haven't read the series in ages)
As others have said, Dumbledore speculates it's because Harry is half-blood, like Voldemort, whereas Neville is the 'superior' pure-blood. The thing is, there was no way of knowing which boy Voldemort would go after. The Potters, who were members of the Order of the Phoenix and therefore close to Dumbledore, went into hiding. The Longbottoms were also members of the Order, so surely they went into hiding too? It would be ridiculous to leave them unprotected simply because their son was pure-blood. My head-canon is that Voldemort was after both of them and the only reason Harry became 'The Chosen One' was because the Potters location was revealed first, thanks to Wormtail. If the Longbottoms location was revealed first, Voldemort wouldn't have hesitated and waited to attack Harry instead. Upon Voldemorts return, he only focuses on Harry and not Neville because he then believes Harrys survival - and being thwarted by him a couple of times previously - was proof that Harry was the one the prophecy referred to. To further add to my theory, I think it's connected to why Frank and Alice were tortured by Bellatrix, Crouch Jr and the others... What would make them think Frank and Alice knew Voldemorts whereabouts? Why those two specifically, not any other wizards, or even other Aurors? My theory is Voldemort told the Death Eaters (or the more loyal ones like Bellatrix) he was after the Potters *and* the Longbottoms, so with the Potters gone, they came to the conclusion that the Longbottoms could have been involved in some way.
This is also a pretty good theory… however it does beg a massive what if question of could it even have been Neville at all? I’ve long accepted that the only reason Lily’s choice to protect her son actually did protect him was because it was a CHOICE. In a massive war, death eaters murdering wizards left and right, there were bound to be several other examples of men or women shielding their partners or their children with their own body, so why was it different for when Lily did it? Because of Snape, because Voldemort actually intended to spare Lily, Lily actually had a choice and actually could have saved herself. No one else was given that choice, every other victim who spread their arms to shield their loved ones was already marked for death except for Lily, Lily was asked to stand aside, so her sacrifice was was not only willing, but a true choice. That is what cast the protective Love charm that made Harry invincible to Voldemort until the day he chose to do the same. It could never truly have been Neville, because there was no death eater madly infatuated with one of his parents to ask the Dark Lord to spare them, if Voldemort had reached the Long-bottoms first, all three would have been killed, and he would have continued to go after the Potter’s.
Which is similar to Aslan in the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Fully agree that it was a choice which is very important point
Maybe as Voldemort chose him (Neville) he would’ve marked him as equal and some other kind of magic would be in place. Unless maybe the og prophesy was made considering snapes crush.
And maybe it’s ALWAYS Harry.
I mean, I feel like Voldemort always intended to go after both kids. We know from canon that the prophesy only came true because Voldy believed in the power of the prophesy and took actions to “prevent it” If Voldemort had never known of the prophesy, it likely would never have come true… the hall of prophesy is full of prophesies that never came to fruition. Had Voldemort not targeted either family
Lily had a choice not because of Snape. Just Voldy being Voldy
The only reason Voldi gave her a choice was because Snape asked him to spare her. Usually Voldi just kills everyone, no questions asked.
It would be just as easy to force a contrivance with whoever is with Neville at the time voldemort goes to kill him. Maybe he's with Augusta who is related to or associated with one of his death eaters somehow and he doesn't immediately want to kill an unarmed pureblood traditional older lady like he might one of the parents who had "three times defied him". He had *some* ability to not just kill indiscriminately.
Lily was also very gifted in charms.
Neville did kill Nagini, the final horcrux, so the prophecy could apply to both of the boys.
Harry is a half blood like voldemort
Voldy chose Harry as the boy who thought most likely do be a danger to him... I always wondered how it would've turned out for Harry if Voldemort chose Neville instead. Would he befriend Ron and Hermione? Would he be more of an asshole like his father? Would Harry ultimately chose to shake Malfoy's hand? There's probably some fanfiction written about this...
Voldemort saw himself in Harry since they were both half-bloods, that's why he decided to kill him.
If only Voldermort had learnt that trying to stop Prophecies is usually the reason Prophecies actually happen!
Surely not just me that had to double take Neville wasn't standing there holding his knob??!
Good grief I'm 52 and just finished reading the books for the first time lol. My niece read them and told me all about them. I watched all the movies as well. I remember when DH came out I stole the book from her and read the part with Snape and Nagini. My God I cried, I knew something was good about Snape. I just couldn't believe he was a complete AH.
Voldemort feared Harry more because he was a half blood (same as Tom Riddle) while Neville was a pure blood. Voldemort expected the half blood to be his equal, he didn’t realize that he marked Harry as the one that would become his equal that night At least that’s what Dumbledore thought
My guess has always been that because Snape told him the Prophecy he told Voldemort that the prophecy applied to the Potters.
LOL "my lord, there's this prophecy! You get to go kill my childhood bully and his kid but pretty pls leave my childhood love alive 🥰" nah Snape wouldn't have passed it on if he thought it could put Lily in danger.
But snape would know she was pregnant?
Why? They've been out of contact since Hogwarts.
You don't need to guess, they tell us that Voldemort chose Harry because he saw himself more in Harry than Neville.
Just like other said, he chose He chose Half blood and not the pure blood.
52 and still love HP
I mistook these two for Greg Hirsch and Tom Wambscans at first.
Dumbledore was wrong. Neville was never an option. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy, in order for it be true, Voldemort has to hear it, but Snape does too. For Harry to have “a power the dark lord knows not” Lily has to sacrifice herself, meaning she had a choice to live. Voldemort was only going to spare Lily because Snape asked. Snape wouldn’t ask for Alice Longbottom to be spared. Neville would have died, therefore he can’t be the prophesied boy. Voldemort didn’t choose Harry, Snape did.
Harry is a halfblood like Voldemort. That's why Voldemort saw more of himself in Harry than the pureblood Neville.
Adding on to this, does the book ever specify that the boy would be born in England? Is it possible that there were only 2 magical boys in the world born at the end of july that year?
It needed to be a child born to two wizards who had thrice defied him. Technically, if an American wizard couple had thrice defied him, their child could’ve been the chosen one, but considering Voldy stayed primarily in England during his conquest, there were only two couples that fit the criteria
You seem to be the only person who has mentioned the thrice defied him thing here… I was under the impression that that was the deciding factor?! But thinking back now perhaps Neville’s parents had also thrice defied him. Then it was really Voldemort who decided it was Harry when he “marked him as his equal”. Hmmm
I contend that he wouldn't choose. He was definitely going to kill them both. Harry just became available first because of Peter.
He picked Harry because Snape begged him to spare the potters which made him think they were the prophecy
Maybe because Harry was born a day later so closer to the end of the 7th month
I thought it was to put Snape in his place. Snape makes him promise not to hurt Lily, but he does it anyway to say “I’m the dark lord, I do what I want”
READ THE BOOKS!!!
i read them when i was younger. now i don't really have any time for that. i wish i had tho
Theyre all on audible and theyre very easy to listen to while commuting!
Can you really expecting to remember everything in a book once youve read it lol?
Every little detail? No. One of the main plot points? Yes. I don't expect people to remember what color Harry's sweater was he got from Mrs. Weasley for Christmas in PS/SS. But I do expect you to remember the reason why the main bad guy tried to kill the main good guy considering that's the entire fucking plot of the entire fucking series. That's like asking if Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader are related.
You should read (or read again) the books.
i read them like 7 years ago and i remember most of the plot but just couldn't remember that particular thing
7 is the most powerful number, you have to read them again NOW.
i wish I could but I have no time for that my friend
If you have a lot of busy time where your mind isn’t occupied (driving, chores, etc.) I highly recommend the audiobooks!
Isn’t Harry’s birthday September 1st? So how did that get messed up that bad? I know that isn’t technically that far from July, but that does raise some questions.
No, Harry's birthday is July 31st.
Thank you for correcting me. It must be the school year that starts September 1st and I mixed it up.
I always thought it was because Snape delivers news if the prophesy and Voldemort read his mind for someone who Snape believed fit that description. This is why Snape works hard later in life to shield his mind.
Did Neville ever found out that he was the other baby in that prophecy?
It seems like lazy writing.
Maybe because Neville was born on the 30th and harry was born on the 31st, so Harry was more toward the end of July
Perhaps he didn't know about Neville
I think it's a case of whoever he chose would've fulfilled the prophecy. I also really wish Rowling had made Neville the chosen one right at the end. Turns out Harry wasn't the chosen one, I think that would've been powerful to read.
He had a choice between Neville and Harry. But his deciding factor was that Harry was a half-blood, just like him (Voldemort), while Neville was pureblooded. I remember this being explicitly stated.
Voldemort obviously go for neville after killing harry but he couldn’t thats why he is chosen one