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harry potter - What causes the portraits of Wizards to behave interactively?


Does J.K. Rowling address how the interactive portraits work? Would a portrait painted after a Wizard/Witch died become interactive, or does the painting of the portrait have to take place during the Wizard/Witches lifetime?



Answer




There is no information about needing to be alive/dead as far as painting time, BUT the talking/interactivity part must be once the wizard is dead.


The critical need is for the portrait to be present where the wizard spend a lot of time and left an "imprint". In the words of my real estate agent, "location, location, location".


In other words, it's not the portrait doing the talking, it's the portrait serving as a conduit for the remains of the wizard's imprint... a portraity Ouija board if you will.


From J K Rowling at the Edinburgh Book Festival, Sunday, August 15, 2004



Q: All the paintings we have seen at Hogwarts are of dead people. They seem to be living through their portraits. How is this so? If there was a painting of Harry’s parents, would he be able to obtain advice from them?


JKR: ... They are all of dead people; they are not as fully realised as ghosts, as you have probably noticed. The place where you see them really talk is in Dumbledore’s office, primarily; the idea is that the previous headmasters and headmistresses leave behind a faint imprint of themselves. They leave their aura, almost, in the office and they can give some counsel to the present occupant, but it is not like being a ghost. They repeat catchphrases, almost. The portrait of Sirius’ mother is not a very 3D personality; she is not very fully realised. She repeats catchphrases that she had when she was alive. If Harry had a portrait of his parents it would not help him a great deal. ...



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