Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2

Question: After Voldemort's death, is anyone able to teach Defense Against Dark Arts for more than a year?

Answer: Yes. According to J.K. Rowling in interviews, the curse Voldemort had cast on the Defense Against the Dark Arts position preventing any teacher lasting more than one year, was finally broken upon his death, and from then on any instructor lasted beyond twelve months.

raywest

In the movies it is never mentioned that Voldemort cursed the DADA post or even applied for this position.

It is mentioned in the books.

Question: I don't really understand how Voldemort dies. The scene shows Harry and Voldemort fighting with the two spells - Expelliarmus and Avada Kedavra - and the spells collide. Then Harry disarms Voldemort and catches the wand, and then Voldemort just dies. Can anyone tell me why he dies?

Answer: It's a little complicated. Voldemort actually died by his own hand, though unintentionally. Voldemort believed he commanded the Elder Wand and cast the Avada Kedavra curse at Harry with it. However, Harry was actually the Elder Wand's master. Because wands are somewhat sentient, the Elder Wand recognized Harry as his master, so the killing curse rebounded off him, and went back to Voldemort, striking him dead. All of Voldemort's Horcruxes had been destroyed, so he was no longer protected by them. At the same time, Harry cast the Expelliarmus charm, causing the Elder Wand to be ejected from Voldemort's hand into his.

raywest

Question: When Hermione goes to Gringotts disguised as Bellatrix, the bank manager asks to see her wand. Hermione has Bellatrix's wands from the previous film. Why does she not simply show it?

bomberswarm2

Chosen answer: Hermione knows this is an unusual request and she and (and Harry) suspect the bank knows that Bellatrix's wand was captured by Harry Potter (at the end of Part 1). Showing the bank manager the real wand would prove that this is not Bellatrix. The bank and Voldemort's minions expected that Harry and the others might go to Gringotts searching for a Horcrux in the Lestrange's vault. They are setting a trap for Harry and his accomplices.

raywest

Incidentally, if I remember right, in the book Hermione actually does hand over Bellatrix's wand, not realizing the Gringotts goblins already know the wand is no longer in her possession, forcing Harry to cast a timely Imperius Curse to avoid the entire plan being exposed.

Question: Is this is a mistake in the book or just a blooper in the film? In the movie Deathly Hallows Part 1 Harry doesn't ever disarm Malfoy he simply snatches the wand. Does that mean Harry is still the owner of the elder wand? Another thing I noticed is in Deathly Hallow Part 2, Hermione disarms Malfoy in the room of requirement after which Harry saves Malfoy and never disarms him again! So doesn't that mean that the Elder wand belongs to Hermione now? I haven't read the books so I'm a bit confused. This might be a stupid question for a few of you'll but I really want to understand this, as every time I see the movie I research on it and never get an answer that really explains or satisfies me, especially about when Hermione disarms Malfoy in the Room of Requirement!

nirali_shah91

Chosen answer: The Elder Wand responds to power, thus, should a wizard defeat its owner (by killing them, capturing them, disarming them or whatever other method), it will transfer its loyalty to them. During the first of the two Deathly Hallows movies, Harry takes Draco's wand away from him, thus defeating him to the satisfaction of the Elder Wand, which transfers its loyalty to him from that point on. Hermione defeating Malfoy in the second movie makes no difference to the Wand, as it has already moved on to a new master.

Tailkinker

Answer: When Hermione disarms Malfoy in the room of requirement, Malfoy was using his mother's wand at that time. So Hermione disarming Malfoy makes no difference to the ownership of the elder wand.

To clarify, if Draco had (unknowingly) still been the Elder Wand's master when Hermione disarmed him, even though he was using his mother's wand, the Elder Wand could have transferred its loyalty to her. That is what happened with Harry. He grabbed Draco's own wand from him, even though Voldemort physically possessed the Elder Wand. Also, Draco's wand appears to have switched its allegiance to Harry, as he found it responded quite well to his commands. Draco never knew he commanded the Elder Wand, and he never physically possessed it.

raywest

Question: This question is for those who have read the books. Voldemort never learned that his mother bewitched his father into marrying her - he thinks that his father abandoned him and his mother after learning that she was a witch. Has J.K. Rowling ever stated why she never wrote him learning the truth, or what his reaction would have been?

Answer: I think the problem would be the lack of people who actually would know about it would be amazingly small. Dumbledore tracked his family history down because of his middle name. His mother died young and Voldemort killed his own father so nobody would have been able to give him the answer. Not that he likely would have believed it or cared anyway.

Greg Dwyer

Answer: J.K. Rowling has stated however that if Merope Gaunt had lived and raised Tom Riddle Jr. with love, he might not have become the evil wizard that everybody would fear.

This is not an answer. The question is about Voldemort never learning about his mother's deception - that she bewitched his father into marrying her. He falsely believed that his father abandoned him and his mother.

Question: When Harry "dies" and talks to Dumbledore, why does Harry say that Snape is still alive?

Answer: What Harry actually says is "... And the snake's still alive."

Question: I know that when books are made into movies, things are changed, left out, or added. However, I can't think of any reason why the scene with Harry and Hermione dancing would have been created. It seems a bit pointless. Has anyone from the crew commented on it?

Answer: I believe it was the director or one of the producers who commented on it in the DVD commentary. The scene was to show their close bond and a brief moment of what might possibly have been between Harry and Hermione but it never went beyond that. The films have depicted their relationship a bit differently from what it was in the books. In the novels they were like the siblings that neither had ever had. The movies made Harry and Hermione to be more romantically compatible than Ron and Hermione were.

raywest

Question: Voldemort asks Snape if the elder wand truly listens to him. Voldemort thinks that it listens to Snape because he killed its last owner, Dumbledore. Voldemort has his snake kill Snape. If Voldemort's theory was correct, that the wand listens to Snape and killing him would be the answer, wouldn't the wand belong to the snake? This is probably a stupid question but it would make sense to me. The snake is a living thing, Voldemort himself doesn't kill Snape so it would go to the snake, right?

Jennifer Smith

Chosen answer: Voldemort was not correct. He mistakenly believed that Snape was the wand's master, but it was actually Draco Malfoy who commanded it, though neither he nor anyone else knew that. When Draco disarmed Dumbledore when they were atop the Astronomy Tower, the wand, sensing Dumbledore was defeated, changed its allegiance to Draco. It was after that event occurred that Snape killed Dumbledore. Even though Draco never physically possessed it, the wand remained under his control until Harry disarmed him. It is not necessary to kill the Elder's wand's master in order to win control of it. Also, if an animal killed the Elder Wand's master, it is unlikely the wand would respond to it. It would have to be a human or a humanoid-being.

raywest

Your last sentence, of course, becomes far more complicated in light of the Fantastic Beasts series' revelation that Nagini WAS once a human being. Given that this is the case, if Snape really had been the master of the Elder Wand, could Nagini have become its next master upon killing him? Hopefully, J. K. Rowling will answer this question someday.

Well either way it won't worked for Snape because he wasn't the master of the Elder wand at that point. He didn't even know that the Elder wand belong to Draco and then to Harry. He wasn't interested in the Elder wand as a matter of fact.

DFirst1

I think it's more important that regardless whether Nagini was a human once or not, at that point Nagini was a Horcrux and a vessel of Voldemort's soul without having a soul herself (if she ever did), unlike Harry. So Nagini killing Snape is the same as Voldemort himself killing him.

lionhead

Question: Did Snape know that Draco and Harry were the masters of the Elder Wand?

DFirst1

Chosen answer: No, Snape never knew this. Draco had briefly become the Elder Wand's master when he disarmed Dumbledore on the Astronomy Tower and prior to Harry disarming Draco at Malfoy Manor. Draco never knew that he commanded the Elder Wand and never physically possessed it. Harry figured out later how the wand's allegiance had changed, making him its master.

raywest

Question: This might be a dumb question, but when Snape and McGonagall are dueling, it seems like McGonagall casts a spell which Snape blocks and it hits the Carrows who are behind him. My question is did the Carrows die as a result of that? Was it really the Avada Kedavra curse? And if it was McGonagall's spell then whose fault was it? Hers? Or Snape's because he blocked it?

Answer: The Avada Kedavra is depicted as involving a flash of green light, which is not present in this case; McGonagall's spell has a more fire-like appearance. It is therefore reasonable to assume that the Carrows were merely knocked unconscious when Snape deflected it (almost certainly intentionally, given his true allegiances) towards them.

Tailkinker

Question: Why did Voldemort choose Narcissa to verify that Harry was dead? I read this scene in the book, but there was no explanation.

Answer: It was a somewhat random choice, but being that she and her husband, Lucius are out-of-favor with Voldemort, he knows she'll do his bidding, thinking he can trust her, though that is a mistake on his part.

raywest

Question: Why did McGonagall send all the Slytherins to the dungeon? It was only one Slytherin who wanted them to turn in Harry, and many times in the series people say not all Slytherins are bad.

MikeH

Chosen answer: Not all Slytherins were bad, but many were and they would fight against Harry. McGonagall did not have time to pick out which ones were allies or enemies. It was simply more efficient to lock them all up at once. Also, even though there were good Slytherins, they would know that taking sides against Voldemort and failing to fully support him could result in later retaliation against them or their families.

raywest

Question: If every former Hogwarts student who goes bad was in Slytherin, why has Hogwarts kept the house over the years? Why not disband it?

Answer: Because it is too firmly entrenched in wizard society and it wouldn't be allowed. One-fourth of the wizard population would probably revolt if there was any attempt to disband it. Ron's comment that every bad witch or wizard was from Slytherin was a child's over-generalization and actually untrue. For example, Peter Pettigrew was a Gryffindor and Prof. Quirrel was a Ravenclaw. Slytherin House itself is not evil, but those who are drawn to the dark side possess Slytherin traits in abundance, including resourcefulness, intelligence, cunning, ambition, self-preservation, exclusivity, and so on. These are not evil qualities, but they do help drive evil wizards. It is pointed out in the books that not all Slytherins are evil or support dark magic. Those following a dark path would likely do so regardless of what House they were sorted into.

raywest

Question: A minor point, but does Professor Snape's body presumably get buried (or whatever treatment was given to the bodies of Tonks, Remus, and others) ? Some fans think that Nagini eats him, but it seems rather odd for a snake to leave dead prey for a while - since Harry has time to talk to Snape - and then come back to eat it much later.

Answer: Nagini does not get to eat him as she vanished with Voldemort before he knew Harry was there. (The same thing happens in the book, albeit in a different location). Snape's body would have been recovered after the battle when Harry made it known what he did and how he risked his life. He would have been given a proper burial.

kristenlouise3

Question: Are there Slytherins who fought in the battle of Hogwarts? JK Rowling said that the reinforcements from Slughorn was Slytherin. Although it was not mentioned in the book and in the movie. But is this true that the reinforcements are Slytherin?

Answer: Since JK Rowling is the author and said that Slytherins are the reinforcements of Slughorn, then it is most likely true that there were Slytherins who fought in the battle.

DFirst1

Answer: All the Slytherin students were in the dungeons. Slughorn definitely was a Slytherin as stated in the book. And unless you explicitly mean fighting on the Hogwarts side, everyone on Voldemort's side is Slytherin.

Question: Why did Dumbledore give Snape the dual teacher/spy position after James and Lily were murdered? Voldemort was presumed to be defeated by baby Harry, so there was no reason for Dumbledore to need a spy.

Answer: Dumbledore knew that by using Dark Magic, a practice Voldemort was highly skilled in, it was possible for the Dark Lord to still be alive in some form and could one day return. His Death Eater followers were also still active, and Snape would be able to spy on them to discover if or when Voldemort was re-emerging.

raywest

Question: In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, when the Room of Requirement is found, it is a practically small empty room so that the students have enough room to practice their magic. But why in this movie, when looking for Ravenclaw's diadem, is it suddenly an enormous room filled with what seems like centuries of stuff? Since the room changes to fit the person's needs and Harry, Hermione and Ron were so desperate to find it, wouldn't it be easier for the room to simply be empty and small so they can find it more quickly?

Answer: They wanted to find the room that held the diadem. The room simply provided it for them. The original room that held the diadem was big and full of stuff because it needed to be hidden inside it. The room of requirement can't change the location of items within it.

lionhead

Answer: The room does change size, shape, and function according to a person's specific needs. However, when Harry was searching for the diadem, it appears the room simply reverted to the same configuration it was when the diadem was hidden there. The room may simply be incapable of finding a particular object.

raywest

Question: In Half-Blood Prince, Draco disarms Dumbledore at the top of the Astronomy tower. He disarms the wand revealed to be the Elder Wand. Therefore Malfoy IS the new master of the wand. In Malfoy Manor in DH1 Harry disarms Draco's OWN wand, not the Elder Wand. Why then does Harry automatically become the new master of a wand he did not "win" from its previous owner? Is it because he is now the owner of Malfoy's wand, the wand that "won" Dumbledore's, and therefore the wand believes Harry disarmed Dumbledore?

Answer: The Elder Wand's master does not have to actually be holding the wand to lose its allegiance. If its owner is overpowered in some way, then he can lose possession of the wand. Wands are sentient, and the Elder Wand is the most powerful wand in the wizard world. When Harry disarmed Draco, even though the Elder Wand was never in Draco's physical possession, the wand sensed this and changed its allegiance to Harry.

raywest

Question: With all of Voldemort's horcruxes destroyed, why does his soul go to limbo? Bellatrix and other Death Eaters aren't seen there.

Answer: The horcrux is seen in the train station along with Harry because it is the "accidental" horcrux Voldemort created the first time he tried to kill Harry. From that point on, Harry and the horcrux had lived together as one entity. The killing curse cast in the forbidden forest sent the two to limbo, but the horcrux was too weak to return to life.

Question: Why does the Resurrection stone only allow Harry to see his parents, Remus, and Sirius? Why not Alastor, Tonks, Snape, Cedric, Fred, and others?

Answer: The resurrection stone allows you to see people you love the most. His parents and Sirius are there for obvious reasons as they were his family. Remus was also just like family to Harry. He was one of his father's best friends, the father of Harry's godson (who was orphaned in the war just like Harry), and the closest thing to a father figure Harry had after Sirius died. The others while there's no doubt they held a place in Harry's heart, Harry was not as close with them as he was with the others. Therefore, they would not appear to him with the stone.

He practically grew up with Fred. I would think he would be there as well.

lartaker1975

Plot hole: Immediately after the confrontation between Harry/McGonagall and Snape in the Great Hall, Harry runs up to Ravenclaw tower against crowds of students running the opposite direction. However, all the students would have been in the Great Hall during that confrontation, and therefore would have been coming from the same direction as Harry.

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Trivia: In the scene where Hagrid has dropped a "dead" Harry Potter, look quickly at George. He turns his head to the right and yells "Fred!" Fred has already been killed by Bellatrix Lestrange so it seems he may have forgotten this in a moment of grief.

Tricia Webster

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