Comments on: Owl Post

By: Sara

Sara — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 21:50:20 +0000

@Amy About school breaks… In the US, summer break is either from the middle of May until the middle of August or the beginning of June until the beginning of September, depending on what region of the country you live in. (Northern schools tend go on break later than southern schools)

Maybe UK schools used to run on the same kind of time table? Maybe Jo was just recalling her school days? Not sure…

By: May

May — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 03:29:42 +0000

Re: Something You May Not Have Noticed. I know! I picked up on that too on my second read. It’s hard enough to use a fountain pen without having ink splattering on the covers from time to time (I used to toy with a fountain pen back during God knows when). What more for a large eagle-feather quill, no? :)

A good Something to Remember: That photo of the Weasley family will prove to be a major catalyst for the events that will unfold later in the book.

I find it funny that Fred and George were dropping beetles in Bill’s soup. Too bad one of them wasn’t Rita Skeeter. ;)

By: Amy

Amy — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 22:56:40 +0000

There were a couple of things I noticed this time around that I haven’t before. The first one is the length of Hogwarts’ summer holiday. In the UK kids have 6 weeks off; they break up mid July and return the beginning of September (about now as it happens). However, in this chapter it states that Harry had had no word from Ron or Hermione for five weeks. It’s his birthday (end of July) so it means he had at least 3 weeks off before Muggle schools broke up. So not only is he stuck with the Dursleys but he doesn’t even have Dudley around to distract them.

The second point regards Bill. In Goblet of Fire Harry is surprised to see Bill as he thinks he looks cool with his long hair instead of an older version of Percy. However, in this chapter it states that the photo from the newspaper included all 9 Weasleys i.e. Mr, Mrs and all 7 children – including Bill. So Harry has seen Bill and Charlie before he actually meets them (and acts like he’s never seen what they look like). I can only imagine that in this chapter Harry is too excited with his presents (since he still isn’t used to getting them) to pay much attention to the photograph. Although, thinking about it, he notices Percy has pinned his Head Boy badge to his fez and he realizes all the Weasleys are there. Hmm, I think this must just be an oops.

By: Amanda

Amanda — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 21:36:19 +0000

Re: Owls.
The Harry Potter books have been responsible for one of my biggest interests as a child and teenager – owls. After collecting owls of all sorts of material and sizes since I was nine, all thanks to JKR, I have done quite the reading up on owls and I dare say I know VERY much about these animals. In the books, though, the owls aren’t behaving like the “should” if they were simply non-magical creatures. Just as an example, among the snowy owls only the males are completely white, while the females are more speckled. An owl like Hedwig is therefore very abnormal and wouldn’t exist in nature unless she is an albino.

I know JKR never said anything like this, she actually contradicts this theory on her website, but I always liked the idea of wizards breeding owls the same way we breed dogs. That would mean that the wizards would have a number of owls that aren’t “regular” at all, maybe even completely new breeds that looks, sounds, and behaves completely different from the “muggle owls”. If they’ve done this for centuries, the owls may very well have developed some kind of magical ability tailored for their purpose as mail deliverers.
Does that make any sense? :)

By: Lucas

Lucas — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 20:02:41 +0000

I would love it if you mentioned the pocket sneakoscope that Ron sends to Harry for his birthday. Rowling uses it to forshadow Scabbers actually being Pettigrew. Ron says ‘it kept lighting up at dinner last night’. Ron blames this on the fact that Fred and George had put beetles in Bill’s soup, but I find it more likely that it is reacting to the presence of Scabbers/Pettigrew. The sneakoscope goes off on several other occasions when the animagus is present.

By: Josiah

Josiah — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 11:27:26 +0000

I love the phone call. :) …when Uncle Vernon is holding the receiver at arm’s length and speaking as if they were on opposite ends of a football field. That never fails to make me laugh.

By: Thomas

Thomas — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 02:47:31 +0000

Aw, I’m so glad you posted a comment on here Casey. I haven’t been here in ages and it emailed me when you did. Thanks :)

By: Casey

Casey — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 20:55:34 +0000

Oops, typo – I meant “explanation” =P

By: Casey

Casey — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 20:54:00 +0000

RE: The Wizarding World – It’s been said quite a bit throughout the books that pets in the Wizarding world have magical properties. A good exlanation of this is when Ron takes Scabbers to get looked at in Diagon Alley a few chapters ahead in this book, and the store clerk asks him what kind of magical properties it has, and he’s just bewildered, as he never thought of that. This is sort of funny too, seeing as how what Scabbers turns out to be in the end! But anyway, I always assumed owls in the Wizarding world had magical properties that allow them to zone in on their destinations and what-not. Add in the fact that Hedwig is basically Harry’s Familiar, being so very intelligent (her name actually meaning “wisdom” in some other language, I believe), I’m not surprised at all she was able to do all of this. Her timing really is uncanny though, you’re right!

By: elizabethauthor

elizabethauthor — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 15:32:36 +0000

@David Kenry. They can take their homework on holiday with them, much as that sucks.

I think the eagle feather quill not being able to fit under the covers is a bit picky. A textbook, roll of parchment and ink bottle won’t fit either given that Harry only has the width of his shoulders worth of room (I’ve tried reading under the covers like that, believe me it doesn’t work). :) But that’s the kind of physics writers in general tend to ignore.