Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001) - 32 questions

Question: The sorting hat considered putting Harry in Slytherin. But if your parents or a past generation was put in Gryffindor, then wouldn't he have to be in Gryffindor? If not, then is it by luck that the Weasleys have been in the same house for so long?

Answer: No, there's no specific requirement that any individual has to be in the same house as their parents or siblings. It's not uncommon that that's the case, admittedly, particularly as character plays a major part in the sorting process, so individuals brought up in the same household might end up in the same house simply by virtue of bearing similar character traits, but there are a considerable number of examples of family members being in different houses. Sirius Black, for example, was sorted into Gryffindor, despite his family's traditional presence in Slytherin. The Patil twins, who one might reasonably expect to end up in the same house, ended up being sorted differently, Parvati into Gryffindor and Padma in Ravenclaw. So while it's quite common that house assignment runs in families, it's by no means a certainty.

Question: There is said to be a curse on the Defence Against The Dark Arts teaching job, something like the professor will die within one year of teaching that subject. In a previous question somebody stated that Professor Quirrell was only starting to teach that subject the year that Harry started Hogwarts. But during the feast after the first years have been housed, Harry asks Percy Weasley who "that man" (Snape) is. He tells him that it is Snape, Professor of potions and then goes on to say "Everyone knows Defence Against The Dark Arts is what he really wants. He's been after Quirrell's job for years" This implies that Professor Quirrell has been teaching that subject for years. How is Quirrell an exception to the curse?

Answer: Firstly, yes, there is said to be a curse on the Defence Against the Dark Arts teaching position, but the teachers do not "die within one year of teaching that subject" as a result of it. You see, Voldemort applied for the DADA position twice, once after Tom Riddle's graduation from Hogwarts and was refused, then years later as Lord Voldemort, and was refused again by Dumbledore. After Voldemort's second refusal to the Defence Against the Dark Arts teaching post, no DADA teacher held the position for more than a year due to a curse that Voldemort placed on the position. Dumbledore stated "You see, we have not been able to keep a Defence Against the Dark Arts professor for more than a year since I refused the post to Lord Voldemort." When Snape first became a teacher at Hogwarts, he requested the Defence Against the Dark Arts position, but was denied it and made the Potions Master. Then every year, as each of the subsequent DADA teachers left the school, Snape reapplied for that position, but was denied year after year. By the time Harry came to Hogwarts, Professor Quirrell, who held the position of the Muggle Studies teacher for some years, had been made the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor after his year off (traveling to Europe, where Voldemort got hold of him). So when Percy says, "He's been after Quirrell's job for years" it means that for many years Snape has been after the position of Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, which is Quirrell's new teaching position that term.

Question: In the end of the movie just after Ron sacrifices himself to the Queen to win the chess game, he falls to the floor unconscious. But before the scene cuts, a rock flies past his head, he winces, and it leaves a red mark. Did he really get it by a rock during filming or was it added in later?

Answer: The debris from the exploding chess piece was not real; this looks like a combination of computer-generated special effect (CGI) as well some type of a light-weight material (such as Styrofoam) made to appear real and is tossed at Rupert Grint (Ron) from off-screen. Considering the stringent safety standards and precautions that are employed in today’s film industry, particularly regarding child actors, and also the multiple times that scenes are shot to get it right, it is unlikely that this was anything that actually could have hurt him.

Question: When they're in the forest and Hagrid is explaining about the unicorns, they pan to show some of the forest looking all creepy. Is it just me, or is there someone walking around in the forest? Is that a mistake, or it supposed to be Voldemort/Quirell?

Answer: That is Quirell (and Voldemort). He had just killed the unicorn, whose blood keeps Voldemort alive. Quirell was interrupted when Hagrid and the students arrived, and he was lurking in the shadows, waiting to get back to his prey.

Question: In Book 6, Dumbledore mentions that the Defence Against the Dark Arts Job is cursed, and that no one has had it for more than a year since he refused it to Voldemort. But in Movie/Book 1, it seems that Quirell has been at the school for a while (Hagrid knows him, and knows that he's the DADA teacher; all the older students seem to know him and there is no mention that this is Quirells first year of teaching). Explain.

Answer: According to Rowling, Quirrell was the Muggle Studies teacher at Hogwarts (which is why all the older students know him) before moving to teach Defence Against The Dark Arts in the year that Harry started there. Immediately after meeting Quirrell in the Leaky Cauldron, Hagrid makes a reference to Quirrell having taken a year off from teaching to "get some first-hand experience", encountering such dark creatures as vampires and hags along the way, which would strongly support the idea that he's not previously been the teacher in that subject.

Question: Does anybody know were I could find footage of the Peeves scenes, as I am interested in what they are.

Answer: The footage has never been shown. It's not available to be shown either, but it's rumored to be the same footage when Peeves first comes up in "Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone" on the PS2.

Question: Did anyone ever find out who sent Harry his father's invisibility to him for Christmas? Some people say it was Sirius Black but I think otherwise.

Answer: It was given to him by Dumbledore. James Potter left it with Dumbledore for safe keeping, and he passed it on to Harry.

Question: On the movie timeline it is stated that Harry was born in 1980 and started Hogwarts in 1991. Where are we told this in the book or movie?

Answer: In the book "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets", It claims that Nearly Headless Nick has been dead for 500 years...and that he died in 1492. 1492 + 500 = 1992. Since this is the 2nd book in the series, this would mean Harry is 12, and therefore was born in 1980, and started attending Hogwarts in 1991, when he was 11.

Question: Does the vault number 713 (the philosopher's stone's Gringott vault number) have any symbolic meaning or is it just a random number?

Answer: If there is any symbolic meaning to it, only J.K. Rowling knows the answer. One possibility, seven is a lucky or "good" number; thirteen is considered unlucky or synonymous with evil. By being together, they may balance each other out.

Question: I was just wondering why the Sorting Hat speaks out loud in the film, because in the book it was only heard in the pupil's head. Obviously it would need to shout out the house at the end, but everything else could be a bit personal, and shouldn't be shouted to the whole school.

Answer: This is a common movie tactic. Telepathic communication can be confusing in a movie, making it hard to really know where the voice is coming from. Being a kid's movie, they apparently opted to eliminate the telepathic element as it could easily confuse the target audience who may not be very familiar with the concept of telepathic voiceover.

Question: On the second DVD for Special Features, how do you buy your owl in Eeylops? The narrator tells you to pick an owl and that you'll need it for communication. How do you buy it? I've clicked on all three of them and nothing happened. None of my friends can figure it out either.

Answer: Those owls are not essential. Just follow these instructions to view the deleted scenes: 1) In the Main Menu click the Owl - Diagon Alley. 2) To enter, choose the bricks in clockwise order from the left. If you make 4 mistakes, it will open anyway. 3) Once in Diagon Alley, hit the Key, located at the bottom of the Gringotts sign. 4) Click on the Coins. Then hit the Arrow to go back to Diagon Alley. 5) Click on the Ollivanders sign. 6) Pick a Wand Box, until the wand chooses you and then you'll be sent back to Diagon Alley. 7) Click on the Arrow to go back to the Main Menu. 8) Click the Wand on the table - Classrooms. 9) Place the cursor over the word- Transfigurations under the Cat and hit DOWN Arrow (or simply move the cursor directly to the *H* under the fire and skip to 12). 10) The two Owls under the fire will be highlighted. Hit Enter. 11) The *H* above the Owls is highlighted. Hit Enter. 12) Click on the Flute, above Fluffy's three heads. 13) Click on the tiny key with the bent wing tip at the door. Or pick any key. When you miss four times the correct key will be shown in the center of the screen, much much larger than the others. Click it. 14) Click on the short, round, yellow bottle in the back. Do this fast or you'll land in the Hospital Wing anyway. 15) In the Mirror of Erised click on the Stone.

Question: Who sent Harry the broomstick?

Answer: It was sent to Harry by Professor McGonagall. She was able to persuade Dumbledore to bend the rule regarding first years and broomsticks, so Harry would be allowed to play on the Gryffindor Qudditch team.

Question: I've heard that the cast is entirely British, except for one American. Who is the American? These ALL seem like British actors or actresses to me.

Answer: While is known as a British actress, Zoe Wannamaker (Madam Hooch) was born in the United States. Another American that makes an appearance in the film is Verne Troyer (Mini-Me from the "Austin Powers" films), who plays Griphook the Goblin.

Question: Whats the deal with the moving staircases? Wouldn't they make all the students late for classes?

Answer: Hogwarts is a highly magical place with many oddities built into it; the staircases are one of those, but most are reasonably predictable in how and when they move. The students simply have to learn the patterns to avoid problems.

Question: What is the actor who played the Slytherin seeker in this movie called?

Answer: Will Theakston plays Terrence Higgs, the Slytherin seeker, according to the IMDb.

Question: This question applies to all three Harry Potter movies. Why is no one allowed to say Voldemorts name?

Answer: There's no actual law preventing it, it's largely traditional, left over from when Voldemort was previously active. He was considered so terrifying that people were frightened simply by the power of his name, so it became the norm to use an alternate method of referring to him if it was necessary to do so. Despite his apparent fall, the tendency remains.

Question: I listened to the scene where Harry goes to visit Ron and Hermione at the end after he gets out of the hospital wing. Ron and Hermione apparently have a conversation that's not appropriate for a PG rated movie, and I turned it up as loud as I could, and I heard Ron say something like, "I have this black shirt." Can anyone tell me what he really is saying?

Answer: While he stands at the top of the stairs with Hermione, Ron says, "I had a resurrection!!", referring to his 'near death' experience on the chess board earlier in the film. Some people mis-hear it as a reference to "an erection" which is why you may have heard people think it's inappropriate.

Question: My son and I believe that, in Harry's photo album and the magic Mirror, Lily and James Potter are played by J.K. Rowling and a friend of hers named "Sean" who is said to be the inspiration for Ron Weasley's character. Can anyone confirm/deny?

Answer: According to J.K. Rowling on her official site (www.jkrowling.com), the filmmakers asked her to play Lily, but she felt she "would have messed it up somehow". IMDb credits Geraldine Somerville as Lily and Adrian Rawlins as James.

Question: If no one is permitted to use magic outside of Hogwarts, then what is the point of teaching it?

Answer: Only underage wizards are not allowed to use magic outside of Hogwarts, much the same as underage people are not allowed to drink or smoke here. They aren't mature enough to do so, but once they come of age they can do it permitting no Muggles see them.

Question: Not from the movie, but there were two books actually printed that were mentioned in the harry potter books, called 'Quidditch Through the Ages', with the claimed author of Kennilworthy Whisp, and 'Magical Beasts and Where to Find Them' by Newt Scamander. My question is do these people exist or did J.K Rowling write these books as well, but since they were supposed to be Harry's schoolbooks did she use different names? Also, what exactly does IMBd stand for?

Answer: Yes, J.K. Rowling wrote both of those books; she used the pseudonyms to make the books more realistic (as opposed to just being a HP spinoff). IMDb stands for Internet Movie Database, probably the premiere site online for movie information (http://www.imdb.com).