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Why did Dumbledore have James' cloak?

by David Haber

On a new post on her official web site, J.K. Rowling admitted she made a mistake in New York when she was asked, what question have you never been asked that you ought to have been asked? She now says the question should have been, Why did Dumbledore have James' invisibility cloak at the time of James' death, given that Dumbledore could make himself invisible without a cloak?

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Reader Comments: (Page 30)

Godric might not be a cold blooded er. He could've ed for self defense against a REAL cold blooded er. So it is possible for Godric to have a horcrux. Same issue with James.

Posted by Samantha from Rancho Cucamonga, CA on December 31, 2006 7:49 PM

Even though I don't think the cloak is a horcrux, it is still possible that James, Lilly, Dumbledore, Lupin, etc. did someone... Eaters. All these wizards were in the 1st Order Of The Phoenix, and their main charge was the elimination of Eaters & LV, whether they wanted to or not. As a result, there may have been some in the original OOTP that perhaps did make a horcrux. Perhaps Dumbledore had the cloak because others in the 1st OOTP needed to use it and James had lent its use for the good of the order.

Posted by Dave Porter from New Mexico on December 31, 2006 8:27 PM

Dumbledore cannot be at Godric Hollow before Lily and James are ed by Voldemort, for nobody, except Peter Pettigrew, can know and reveal the place, and we cannot imagine Dumbledore or Snape keeping a written message with the adress (too dangerous). Then, we have to figure out that Dumbledore got at Godric Hollow short after Lily was ed (supposing that both Lily and James being , secret keeping is meaningless, and Godric Hollow can be found). Inside GH, Dumbledore gets Harry and a few of the Potter's possessions, including the invisibility cloak. This one might play a role. Maybe it is magically marked, so that Dumbledore immediately knows where Harry is when under the cloak (in the "mirror of erised" room for instance). Maybe it has other powers that haven't been revealed.

Posted by hl from strasbourg, france on January 2, 2007 07:01 AM

the connection between "godric's hollow" and "godric griffindor" is meaningless (i think). in the netherland version, where evrything is the same exept the names of persons, is the place where james and lilly lived is the "halvemaanslaan". so that has no connection between that place and Godric Gryffindor, so the whole tale should be different.

Posted by george from the netherlands on January 2, 2007 09:14 AM

It was Dumbledore that suggested that the Potters should hide at Godric's Hallow, so what if Dumbledore knew like an ancient magic over that place, or Dumbledore himself did a little bit of ancient magic to help with the Potters protection so when Harry goes back to Godric's Hallow, Harry might get a little more protection when he goes back because of the magic.

Posted by Jeffrey Boghossian from Cranston,RI on January 2, 2007 12:28 PM

James, Griffindor, Dumbledore etc do not have horcruxes! Please look back at Book 6. a horcrux is a very secret, difficult piece of DARK magic. Many times it is said that a soul is suppose to be whole, mutulating your soul reduces the sort of person you are, Lord Voldemort never considered what value there was in a complete soul. His devided soul is related to his inability to love.

The creation of a Horcrux is a piece of extreme DARK magic with significant consquences - like drinking unicorn blood. It isn't just a simple ticket to immortality. The price you pay is to have a 'life not worth living - would be preferable'.

James, Harry, Dumbledore and Griffindor would not have horcruxes for this reason.

Posted by Liz from Australia on January 2, 2007 3:26 PM

well i think that the reson why james didn't want voldemort to have the cloak is becasue he didn't want voldemort to have the advantige against harry. so in other words take steps that were nesasary and considering the future.

Posted by kayla from canada on January 2, 2007 7:47 PM

Here is wild thought. What if James coming out of LV's wand at the end of the GOF was not a mistake. Lilly could have d first. I know that LV said he stepped over James' body to get to Lilly but lets face it, the guy is evil. He would lie. I think Harry start to ponder this as well in book 7 and find out that the story he and we have been told wasn't correct just like the first story we heard about Peter and Sirius wasn't true.
About the cloak. I think it was given to Harry at birth it being a family heirloom and Harry being James firstborn son. Thats why DD would say its time it was "returned to you".
The Potters knew LV was looking for them because of the prophecy. I think he ancient magic they did was not a spur of the moment thing. I think they planned what they would do to protect Harry and planned for his future by leaving his money and cloak with DD before James d. I think LV showed up while James wasn't home for some reason and ed Lilly first. James arriving just as LV was about to go after Harry, got ed afterward. Its true I am guessing but it seems clear to me that Lilly did first for whatever reason. And LV doesn't want Harry to know it.

Now I have a question, after reading the comments I was wondering (because I loaned out my books and can't check) about the people coming out of the wand in the graveyard. Was that supposed to show every spell that wand performed or only the people who were ed with that wand. I'm not sure but I thought wormtail used the wand to regenerate LV. He got a bone from the grave using a wand didn't he? I remember at the World Cup match that a spell was used to show all the prior spells that Harrys wand did when they were trying to find out who made the dark mark. Was this the same spell? I'm very confused. I only ask because if LV wand was only showing people that he had ed, his wand could have been used to make a horcrux after he attempted to Harry.

Posted by Sandy from Atlanta, Ga. on January 3, 2007 01:33 AM

Thanks, HL from Strasbourg, for the idea of Dumbledore being able to see or track Harry's movements with the invisibility cloak. I also have thought a lot about the "I don't need a cloak to be invisible" line at the mirror of erised and also Dumbledore's seeing through the cloak in C of S when they were hiding under it in Hagrid's hut. Could the cloak have a purpose beyond just the practical? Could it provide a connection between Dumbledore and the user as a kind of protection? Did James, when he became a father, give it to Dumbledore to pass on to Harry in the future, sacrificing his protection to protect Harry and in doing so, giving up his life in a way similar to Lily? More love, even more magic that Voldemort has no knowledge of! Along with so many other website contributors I've wondered from the beginning of the series if Harry is descended from Godric Gryffindor. Notice when Dumbledore gave him the cloak he didn't say, "Here's a cloak you might want to use" but, "It's time it was returned to you" - his rightful legacy, part of his fortune, right there along with all that gold in Gringott's?

Posted by Mary from Cincinnati, OH on January 3, 2007 01:38 AM

Could the Potters be decendants of Ravenclaw and not Gryffindor? The cloak could have belonged to the Ravenclaw founder. A perfect relic for LV to steal and make into a horcrux.

Posted by Sandy from Atlanta, Ga. on January 3, 2007 02:08 AM

i was thinking sirius had made a horcrux because
i seen it mentioned somewhere he is in book 7 im not sure
if this is true

Posted by donald from inverness on January 3, 2007 09:45 AM

I think Sandy has a good point, speaking of spells that come from Voldemort's wand after the Priori Incantatem. Every spell should be visible (at the Quidditch cup, the eater spell appears), but maybe the slighter the spell is the less it is visible. Then, Harry must have focused on the more important ones.

Anyway, something shocks me: it is currently said that Voldemort s James and Lily, then tries to Harry. As the curse was sent back, it actually ed Riddle. Harry should then see Riddle's body before seeing Lily's (Harry knows Riddle he has already faced).

The only good reason I can find for this, is that the curse was not performed by Voldemort's wand, but somebody else's... and that Voldemort was ed before Harry was attacked.

Posted by hl from strasbourg, france on January 3, 2007 10:19 AM

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