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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 63)

Kevin Reilly from Arlington Heights,

If what I remember is correct, the answer to your question is right in that same chapter. Dumbledore tells McGonagall that the auror (I don�t remember his name, Shaklebolt maybe?) was on their side (I believe he is a member of the order), and acted quickly in order to modify Marietta�s memory, but that Dumbledore had to Stun him so that it did not look suspicious. So the invisible force is either him under a cloak or a non verbal spell cast by him to modify Marietta�s memory.

Posted by Emilio from Mexico City, Mexico on June 6, 2007 09:01 AM

okay, Harry is obviously the heir of Godric Gryffindor so my guess is that whoever wears the cloak cannot be seen by the heir of Slytherin being Gryffindors enemy. So Voldemort not be able to see Harry under the cloak. So you see, this is why he must be able to preform spells without talking. He can say them undetected when he is around Voldemort. Furthermore, Snape, in the process of ing Dumbledore, reaffirmed his position as Voldermort's right hand man. If Harry comes in contact with Voldemort under his cloak, then Snape would not give him up because he is actually good. This would give Harry the chance to silently him. Also, if James was an heir of Godric he too could have hidden under the cloak or somebody else like that.

I would also like to say that I think the US cover art is Harry Fighting Voldemort beyond the veil. The shadows are the spirits beyond it and if you look at the full picture you can see raggy curtains like the veil is described having.

Posted by Bessy from New York on June 6, 2007 11:47 AM

There is another side effect about the cloak. When Harry has it, Dumbledore finds him easily (near the mirror of erised for example). And at the end of PoA, when Harry visits Lupin, Dumbledore comes in, and Jo says that Dumbledore wasn't surprised to find Harry there. Why did she say that?

Posted by herve from strasbourg on June 6, 2007 2:34 PM

if the cloak is so important to the story then it certainly must be significant that harry never goes to retrieve it after the battle at the end of book 6, right?

Posted by Will from Raleigh, NC on June 6, 2007 9:17 PM

Bessy, I don't think harry can be gryffindors heir. Read my post on page 61, because it is a big explanation;-)

Herve, I think Dumbledore has a good conncection with the house elves, or maybe he just knew. Dumbledore seems to know a lot about harry. And about lupin, he knew harry and he were friends.

Posted by Claudia on June 7, 2007 06:24 AM

In addition to herve's comment, Albus is often glancing briefly in Harry's direction when Harry is under the cloak, as he did in Hagrid's hut in Chamber of Secrets. Maybe Albus doesn't need a magical eye in order to see through invisibility cloaks?

Posted by Monkeeshrines from orlando fl on June 7, 2007 08:41 AM

Claudia: I agree; clearly, Jo said that Harry isn't related to Godric Gryffindor.

Speaking of Gryffindor, if he had grandchildren, he probably has a lot of descendants. But he might also have d without any living child. As far as we know, Dumbledore hasn't been married and has no descendant.

Posted by herve from strasbourg on June 7, 2007 10:20 AM

I don't think the locket is back in Voldemort's clutches. I think that Kreacher went with RAB to get the locket (that is how there was just enough/not too much magical presence in the boat to the center of the island). As a final tie to the Black family, Kreacher either has the locket and is holding on to it as a momento, or Mundungus Fletcher stole it from the Black house.

Posted by Karen from New York, NY on June 9, 2007 3:55 PM

Someone said Voldemort's wand wasn't found in Godric's Hollow but wormtail had it in GOF. I also read somewhere there is no mention of Dumbledore's wand after he s. does anyone think that is odd?

Posted by Cheesy from Minnesota on June 9, 2007 8:05 PM

for me, the most intruiging line of speculation on this subject is the idea of someone being beneath the cloak at godrics hollow the night of the potters ... someone who activated the protective nature of lilly's sacrifice. And it can't be snape because JK said so, and it seems highly unlikely that it was dumbledore because it appears contrary to his nature and he surely would have told harry, had he been there. So who? and why would that lead it to being in Albus' possession? i just can't say.

Posted by sam on June 10, 2007 04:27 AM

We already discussed the fact that Dumbledore might have been there at Godrics Hollow, the night Harry was attacked by Voldemort. The cloak would have been decisive to allow Dumbledore to get in.

Here are two good reasons:

1) Dumbledore explains to Harry that he's protected by Lily's sacrifice, to which he added a charm which was sealed by Petunia when she accepted to take care of Harry. It looks like all three criteria were required to protect Harry, and not only Lily's sacrifice. If this is the case, then Dumbledore must have made the charm before Voldemort's curse, and Petunia accepted to take Harry before Voldemort's curse as well. For that, Dumbledore needed to be at the Potter's.

2) There is a slight contradiction in OotP, about the Howler. When the Howler shouts "Remember my last, Petunia", Harry can't recognize the voice, although he perfectly knows Dumbledore's voice. Petunia seems to know what it means, but not Harry, who asks Petunia about it. Petunia doesn't answer and in the next chapter, Harry is still wondering what it means and where it comes from. At the end of OotP, Harry tells Dumbledore that Dumbledore sent the Howler and the voice was Dumbledore's. Dumbledore confirms he sent the Howler and explains why, but doesn't say whose the voice is. I thought for long that Harry was sure, at that time, that the Howler came from Dumbledore. But the way it's written, it can also mean that Harry is just speculating. Then, the voice might be not Dumbledore's, but something Dumbledore heard and got back from his memory. In fact, the voice could be something Voldemort told Petunia and Dumbledore heard. That would also explain the missing word: if Dumbledore meant "Remember my last letter", why didn't he say it that way? And also, how could Petunia recognize Dumbledore's voice, if they only exchanged letters? Maybe, the howler is made of Voldemort and Dumbledore's voices mixed with one another. And remember my last, Petunia was a warning issued by Voldemort when he met Petunia before attacking Harry.

Posted by herve from strasbourg on June 11, 2007 12:42 AM

I think Dumbledore might be the heir of gryffindor because he has gordic's sword.

Posted by Paige from Los angeles on June 12, 2007 01:40 AM

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