The world of Harry Potter is a magical place; seven books with in-depth characters, complex narratives, exciting events, and heartbreaking revelations. Many things went over readers’ heads at first, becoming more apparent when translated on the big screen, but still, moments of foreshadowing were lost to readers and viewers alike.
Re-read after re-read, re-watch after re-watch, small moments of foreshadowing came to light that weren’t obvious at first. These moments lasted for seconds, for one line of dialogue, one line of description, yet they revealed great events.
The Appearances Of The Vanishing Cabinet
A Vanishing Cabinet has a sister, a twin, another from which the person goes from the one they entered. Unbeknown to readers, both Vanishing Cabinets were introduced to the storyline well before Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince. In Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, Harry mispronounces Diagon Alley while traveling by Floo Powder and ends up in Borgin and Burkes in Knockturn Alley. He sees The Malfoys and hides inside a cabinet.
In Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix, Fred and George lock Graham Montague inside a Vanishing Cabinet. While Graham is trapped inside, he hears both the world of Hogwarts and conversations within Borgin and Burkes.
Centaur Prediction
Harry was always meant to die in the Forbidden Forest at the hand of Voldemort, and The Centaurs knew this. In Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone Harry is saved from Voldemort/Quirrel by Firenze, a Centaur. Bane, a fellow Centaur is present and tells Firenze, “We are sworn not to set ourselves against the heavens. Have we not read what is to come in the movements of the planets?”
He also mentions, “Centaurs are not concerned with what has been foretold,” and that the planets have revealed their secrets.
The Locket In Grimmauld Place
In Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix, one book before Harry learned about Horcruxes and two books before he completed his quest to destroy them all, Harry held Salazar Slytherin’s locket in his hand.
While he and the others cleaned Grimmauld place to make it fit for human habitation, they stumbled upon an old cabinet full of odd and useless possessions, one of which was “a heavy locket that none of them could open.” This locket was collected by Kreacher to protect it, stolen by Mundungus Fletcher, and taken by Dolores Umbridge.
Aberforth Dumbledore
Dumbledore didn’t mention his brother save for one instance where he said, “My own brother, Aberforth, was prosecuted for practicing inappropriate charms on a goat. It was all over the papers, but did Aberforth hide? No, he did not! He held his head high and went about his business as usual!”
In Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix, The Golden Trio use The Hog’s Head, which smells like goats, to plan against Umbridge. “The barman sidled towards them out of a back room. He was a grumpy-looking old man with a great deal of long grey hair and beard. He was tall and thin and looked vaguely familiar to Harry.”
Harry & Ron’s Predictions
In Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire. Harry and Ron don’t take their Divination homework seriously and make up miserable predictions to delight their teacher; little did they know, most of them came to light. The first task of The Triwizard Tournament leads to Harry being “in danger of burns,” due to the dragons.
He lost “a treasured possession,” during the second task, and was “stabbed in the back,” by someone he thought was a friend in the form of Mad-Eye Moody. Harry also came “off worse in a fight,” because although he survived Voldemort, Voldemort returned and Cedric was dead.
Wearing Quirrel’s Turban
Could it be that the part of Voldemort inside Harry was actually aware of the part of Voldemort attached to Quirrel? During Harry’s very first night at Hogwarts, he had a dream that he was “wearing Professor Quirrell’s turban, which kept talking to him, telling him he must transfer to Slytherin at once because it was his destiny.”
At this point in the novel, no one knew about what really hidden behind Quirrel’s turban. It can also be said that Harry switched places with Quirrel in the dream, foreshadowing that in the future, it was Harry’s mind that would be invaded by Voldemort.
A Whistling Sneakoscope
The Sneakoscope is a magical invention used to detect untrusting presences and dark forces by whistling, spinning, and lighting up to alert their owner. It makes its first appearance in Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, gifted to Harry by Ron. It is said to be working during the start of the novel; when Fred and George put beetles in Bill’s soup and when Ron used Errol to send a package.
But soon starts to whistle on The Hogwarts Express and at Hogwarts for no apparent reason; except that Scabbers is nearby. In Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire, Mad-Eye Moody says he had to disable his Sneakoscope because it wouldn’t stop whistling, blaming it on the students on the grounds. Moody’s Foe-Glass also showed Severus Snape as an enemy.
Ten Points To Neville
Dumbledore awarding Neville ten points might not have been such a big deal, but looking back, it meant more than anyone could have thought. “There are all kinds of courage,” said Dumbledore, smiling. “It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends. I therefore award ten points to Mr. Neville Longbottom.”
Dumbledore had been in Neville’s shoes, he too had stood up to his friend; mentioned as one of Dumbledore’s achievements on his Chocolate Frog Card, he defeated Gellert Grindlewald.
Greeting Death
Harry’s always had a strange relationship with danger. He’s drawn to it, attracted by his other half. In Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, Mr. Weasley tells Harry the truth about Sirius Black; well…partly the truth, the rest Harry discovers. Mr.Weasley wants Harry to promise him that he won’t go looking for Black.
Harry responds, “Why would I go looking for someone I know wants to kill me?” In Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows, Harry walks to greet death, to be killed by Voldemort.
Harry’s Blood In Voldemort’s Veins
In Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire, Harry recounted the events of the graveyard in more detail in Dumbledore’s office, saying “He said my blood would make him stronger than if he’d used someone else’s. He said the protection my – my mother left in me – he’d have it, too.”
A paragraph of writing is dedicated to Dumbledore’s reaction to this information, a segment of which read, “For a fleeting instant, Harry thought he saw a gleam of something like triumph in Dumbledore’s eyes.” Voldemort had sealed his own fate by becoming a tether for Harry during the events of their final duel.
