Question: Why do the Dursleys try to stop Harry from going to Hogwarts? It seems as though they would be happy to get him out of their house (except for summers).
Answer: Vernon and Petunia are very concerned with appearances and maintaining a "proper" lifestyle. The books describe how they want a perfect lawn. Vernon judges men by the cars they drive. Petunia keeps the home very clean, etc. They hope to ignore the Wizard world and force Harry to live like a Muggle. In addition to that, Petunia was jealous of her sister. She wanted to separate herself from the Wizard world as much as possible. When Harry begins attending Hogwarts, she can no longer do that.
Question: This question pertains to all of the Harry Potter movies: What's to keep even one rogue wizard (from the academies) from taking over the world, ruining economies, or blackmailing individual countries? (Voldemort and his allies seem to concentrate on attacking Potter and Hogwarts, not the world, and anyway, the Ministry doesn't seem to stop him.)
Answer: One rogue wizard would be incapable of such a feat. For one thing, most wizards had little interest in, or understanding of, how the Muggle world worked - including technology, financial systems, military functions, infrastructure, and so on. Destroying the Muggle world would only result in the wizarding world collapsing, so there would be no benefit whatsoever. Even other dark wizards would think this was insane and would likely prevent one crazed wizard from attempting it. Gellert Grindelwald wanted to enslave Muggles in the mid-20th century but was defeated.
Question: What would happen if two or more houses won the House Cup? Would there be some kind of contest to decide who should get it or would the houses share it?
Answer: Agree with the other answer, but would add that Dumbledore could also devise some sort of tie-breaking task or contest to determine who wins the House Cup. It could even be a coin toss. There's actually some online discussion about this and some have suggested the same possibilities. It's apparently never been explained by J.K. Rowling.
Question: After giving Dudley a pig's tail, Hagrid asks Harry not to tell anyone as he's not allowed to do magic outside of Hogwarts. Why can the other teachers do magic outside of Hogwarts but Hagrid can't?
Answer: As the other answer says Hagrid was expelled from Hogwarts 49 years previously as people thought he was releasing the monster that killed Myrtle. Once expelled his wand was snapped by a Ministry official. Hagrid then, unbeknownst to the Ministry, kept the two parts of the wand and at some point used Spello-tape to rejoin them. He keeps them in his pink umbrella and uses that as a "wand." While he isn't allowed to use magic he was granted a few little bits of magic to find and retrieve Harry to bring him into the wizarding world.
Answer: Hagrid was expelled from Hogwarts as a boy, and is technically not even supposed to have a wand. He's not a teacher, either (yet).
Question: Why didn't Richard Bremmer reprise his role as Voldemort in the subsequent movies?
Answer: You have to understand his role was very small and therefore he was not established as the face of Voldemort yet. So when the time came to cast a Voldemort they didn't immediately think of Bremmer. I think they were looking for a younger actor, to make Voldemort appear more energetic. Fiennes is also more experienced in playing a big role.
Question: Why did Ollivander pause for a moment after getting the third wand for Harry to try?
Answer: Because Ollivander, like everyone, knew about the connection between Harry and Voldemort. He had a sudden thought that the "brother" to Voldemort's wand might be destined to be Harry's wand. The two wands shared the same core material (a phoenix feather supplied by Fawkes). The wand chooses the wizard.
Question: Why would the Sorting Hat want to put Harry into Slytherin? Although Harry has a few traits of a Slytherin, he doesn't have the other traits such as pride, ambition and self-preservation.
Answer: I TOTALLY agree with lionhead's excellent answer, but dispute the assertions in the question that Harry lacked ambition, pride, or a sense of self-preservation. He would not otherwise have survived Voldemort and the Death Eaters. Apart from Voldemort's soul shard embedded within him, Harry was also naturally resourceful, determined, clever, achievement-oriented, and had a "certain disregard for rules." These were Slytherin traits which many exploited for Dark purposes, though not all Slytherins were evil.
Question: Is this true that David Thewlis initially wanted to play professor Quirrell in this film before being cast as Lupin in the later movies?
Question: Has it ever been explained what would have happened if the Sorting Hat couldn't decide what students should be placed into what house?
Answer: If the Sorting Hat experienced a "Hatstall" where, after a certain amount of time passes, it was unable to decide where to place a student based on their being suited to more than one House, then the student's personal preference would be considered. There were a handful of "hatstalls" over the centuries, but the Sorting Hat eventually placed the students.
Where are you getting this?
From the Harry Potter "Wizarding World" web site. The supplemental material was written by J.K. Rowling and originally published on "Pottermore." According to Rowling, Minerva McGonagall was a Hatstall student. The Sorting Hat had difficulty placing her between either Gryffindor or Ravenclaw, finally settling on Gryffindor.
The term Hatstall was created by JK Rowling. It can be found here: https://www.wizardingworld.com/writing-by-jk-rowling/hatstall.
Question: Why weren't scenes of this movie filmed in chronological order? It is evident when Vernon grabs Harry who wanted to escape into his cupboard with his letter. When Harry shouted at Vernon, his voice sounded much deeper than in all other scenes, indicating that Daniel Radcliffe's voice started changing, thus confirming it to be one of the last, possibly the last scene to be shot. But this scene happens early in the movie, it is one of the first scenes. So why was it shot as one of the last scenes?
Answer: Because almost every film is shot entirely out of order, depending on schedules, availability, efficiency, etc. No point setting up a classroom set for one scene, then taking it all down, then a week later setting it all up again. All related scenes will likely be filmed at the same time. No doubt the likelihood of voices changes wasn't deemed as important as other factors, not least because lines could always be re-recorded and dubbed later.
Question: Why didn't the Dursleys just dump Harry at an orphanage, or refuse to take him? Why did they care about doing what Dumbledore asked?
Answer: Dumbledore never would have allowed it. The charm that protected Harry was only effective as long as Harry lived with his blood relatives, that being his aunt. Also, though Aunt Petunia would be too afraid of the consequences if she ever tried to abandon Harry, she was not evil. There was a line she would never cross that would put her sister's child in danger. She knew his living in her household protected his life.
Does she care though? Because her and Vernon often tell him that he is punished with no meals for a long time and lock him in a cupboard.
They cared enough for his life, not his well-being.
They probably felt obligated, not enthusiastic. Consider how Severus Snape felt about secretly protecting Harry over the years. He was not happy that Lily fell in love with James and they produced Harry, but he felt obligated to protect Harry anyway, in honor of Lily.
Answer: According to the books, once they agreed to take him in, the protective became active. So it seems like they had the choice not to take him in.
Question: When Professor McGonagall acquires a Nimbus 2000 for Harry, that's pretty much the state-of-the-art broom, and very expensive (given no-one else has apparently got one, and only the wealthy Malfoys can afford the next-gen 2001's in the second film). It seems unlikely for a teacher, or a school, to buy an untried first year a state-of-the-art broom when the school is generally muddling along with old cast-offs that he could have used. Who paid for Harry's Nimbus 2000?
Answer: Prof. McGonagall personally bought the Nimbus 2000 as an anonymous gift for Harry, though he knew it was from her. The Nimbus 2000 may have been too pricey for Hogwarts to buy for all four Quidditch teams, but it was not beyond what most wizard families could afford for their own children. Lucius Malfoy was rich and could afford to buy the entire Slytherin Quidditch team the more expensive brooms, which he provided as a bribe for Draco being made the new Seeker. Up until then, all teams used school brooms, though some individual players may have had their own. It's unclear what the rules are about what brooms can or cannot be used.
Question: Near the beginning of the movie, how could the first-year students' luggage have been brought to their dormitories if it wasn't yet known what houses they would be in?
Answer: The first-years' luggage is likely brought all to one area, then transported by the house elves once the sorting is completed.
Question: How did Dudley get out of the snake exhibit after falling in?
Answer: Petunia or Vernon would have ran to a zoo employee and told them what happened. The employee would then open the door to the snake exhibit letting Dudley out.
Question: If Harry's relatives hate him, then why are they against him going to Hogwarts to study magic? Why wouldn't they be excited to be rid of him most of the time?
Answer: Because they know of his wizard heritage and they hate it. They think he and his parents were freaks.
Good answer, but I'd add they also knew it was something Harry would very much want, and they would always deny him simply to be as mean-spirited as possible.
Not to mention one of Vernon and Petunia's overriding motivations is to appear normal to their neighbors, and the more magic Harry knows, the less likely they are to achieve that. It could presumably also be dangerous for them, as future books/movies confirm.
1. They were constantly being barraged with letters from Hogwarts in an increasingly disruptive manner. Eventually, this would be noticed as something weird by their neighbors, which is something they REALLY don't want: anyone to know about Petunia's magical relations. 2. They were flat out threatened by Hagrid and terrified on both him and Dumbledore Better to let him go there then have to spend their entire lives on the run without it even working.
They were against it long before the barrage of letters or Hagrid showing up. They knew about the school, Petunia's sister went there and she told Vernon. They don't want to seem weird to the neighbors in general, they aren't afraid people around them will think they have a wizard in their family because nobody believes in wizards.
Question: When Harry's parents are shown in the mirror, are they supposed to be the age that they were when they died or the age they would be if they were still alive?
Chosen answer: Since the mirror is reflecting Harry's desire, they are probably an idealized (to Harry) image of what they would look like if they were still alive.
Answer: He didn't just desire his parents but a whole family. Therefore he saw his entire family.
In the novel he saw his whole family. In the movie, he only saw his parents.
Question: One thing I've never got is why Snape is so rude to Harry when he first meets him in Potions class in this movie. I get that he hates Harry because he looks like James, and James and his friends made fun of him when they were younger, and Lily chose James over him, but if his love for Lily is so strong that he's willing to protect Harry (along with the other teachers and other people throughout the movies and books) for her, then why is he so horrid to him?
Answer: I always figured it boils down to doing the right thing in terms of the big picture, but that doesn't mean he has to like it, or be nice about it.
Answer: Snape was a complicated and conflicted man. His hatred for James Potter was so irreparably deep, it made him uncivil to Harry. Harry's strong resemblance and similar personality and temperament to his father didn't help. When Snape looked at Harry, he saw James. It wasn't fair or right, but it was a personality flaw Snape never overcame. Snape's undying love for Lily and his commitment to defeating Voldemort propelled him to protect Harry. Also, Snape's hatred toward Harry may seem extreme, but it is used as a literary device to create conflict and tension within the story. If Snape had acted kindly to Harry, it could have revealed his true intent and allegiance. Readers are deliberately kept in the dark about his motives and anti-hero character until the end.
Question: During flight class, when we see Hermione's broom rolling just above the ground, there is something black in front of the broom. I don't mean Hermione's sleeve. What is it?
Answer: I don't think you mean this but you can see the shoe of the person standing next to her. If you mean on the bottom side of the screen then you can see Hermione (or whoever is standing there) kick the broom to make it move I think. But it's not causing all the movement of the broom though, but there is definite contact with a foot. You can't see the top of the broom (I'd say that's the front BTW).
Answer: Petunia and Vernon despise wizards and swore they would 'squash the magic out of him' (which obviously can't happen) when they took him in. They would rather have Harry around all the time and for him not to be a wizard than to allow him to go to Hogwarts where he would learn magic and be happy (It says in the books that the two things that Vernon Dursley despises most if magic and making Harry happy).
kristenlouise3
Why don't the Dursleys try to get Harry back if they don't want him to be at Hogwarts?
Because on the other hand they are glad to be rid of him.
lionhead
Why do they despise making Harry happy?
Because they despise the fact he and his parents are wizards.
lionhead
Or as Petunia states in the book "as soon as they had you I knew you'd be like them. A freak" The Durselys are very middle class who consider themselves high class. The fancy car, expensive house, private school for Dudley etc. And being associated with an outcast would in their eyes seriously hurt their social standings.
Ssiscool ★