Skip to main content

Is this dream about Quirrell's turban talking to Harry prophetic?


Is this a prophetic dream? Given what happen at the end of the book.



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. Harry told the turban he didn’t want to be in Slytherin; it got heavier and heavier; he tried to pull it off but it tightened painfully — and there was Malfoy, laughing at him as he struggled with it — then Malfoy turned into the hook-nosed teacher, Snape, whose laugh became high and cold — there was a burst of green light and Harry woke, sweating and shaking.


Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Chapter 7, The Sorting Hat




Answer



No.


Harry's dalliances with Divination show that he was never much of a Seer. He has a number of prophetic dreams in the series but these solely consist of visions of Voldemort as a result of his scar. Harry doesn't have prophetic dreams which are unrelated to Voldemort. Any prophetic dreams he does have are generally from Voldemort's point-of-view, unlike this one.



So the dream isn't prophetic. Instead, it seems to dwell on Harry's fears and neuroses about starting Hogwarts. He sees Malfoy and Snape mocking him. These elements stem from the fact that both characters are already Harry's enemies. He begins his feud with Malfoy by rejecting him on the train and he gets a strong impression of loathing from Snape during the sorting dinner. It's natural that Harry would feel slightly wary of both people, especially since they are established wizards and he is a newcomer to the magical world.


The part with the turban is coincidental. Yes, it did end up playing a very significant role in the story. From an out-of-universe, literary point-of-view this is simple foreshadowing. In-universe, it's likely that Harry simply noted how distinctive Quirrell's turban was at their first meeting. In his dream, the turban plays the role of the Sorting Hat. As Bellatrix says, the fear of being put in Slytherin likely stems from the same fear that Harry felt when he went through the sorting process earlier that same day.


The final element is the cold laugh and the flash of light. This is not a prophecy but a memory - one which has been growing stronger and move prevalent in Harry's mind ever since he learned the truth about how his parents died.



Something very painful was going on in Harry’s mind. As Hagrid’s story came to a close, he saw again the blinding flash of green light, more clearly than he had ever remembered it before — and he remembered something else, for the first time in his life: a high, cold, cruel laugh.
(Philosopher's Stone, Chapter 4, The Keeper of the Keys).



The fact that Harry relives this experience every time he gets near a Dementor shows that he doesn't need a prophetic dream to trigger that particular memory.


In conclusion, JKR was foreshadowing but the dream wasn't actually prophetic.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.

aliens - Interstellar Zoo story

I vaguely remember this story from my childhood: it was about an interstellar zoo that came to Earth with lots of bizarre and unusual species, and humans would file through and gape at all the crazy looking creatures from other planets. The twist came at the end when the perspective shifted to the other side of the bars and we discovered that the "creatures" were traveling through space on a kind of safari. They thought they were the visitors and we were the animals. Neither side knew that the other side thought they were the zoo creatures. Answer Got it. Zoo, by Edward D. Hoch. Published in 1958. Link to Publication History Link to PDF

harry potter - What is the difference between Diffindo and Sectumsempra?

In the Harry Potter books, Diffindo is called the 'Severing Charm' and it’s most commonly used to cut ropes and the like. However, in the last book Hermione uses it on Ron but misses, creating a 'slash in his jeans' and his knee gets cut, causing him to 'roar in pain'. We've only seen Sectumsempra used once on screen when Harry directly uses it on Malfoy in the sixth book, but there it's mentioned that he is 'waving his wand wildly'. Wouldn't Diffindo, if used in such a fashion also cause a similar effect? Similarly, if it was able to cut Ron, it would also be able to, say, chop off an ear (George's)? In that case, how are these two spells different, except for Sectumsempra seemingly used exclusively to hurt humans? Answer While Diffindo and Sectumsempra both can be countered by other spells, Diffindo is far more easily countered. Reparo, a relatively common spell, can completely reverse its effect when used once. “He pulled the old cop...

harry potter - How could Expelliarmus beat Avada Kedavra?

I want to be very careful about how I ask this question – I am not asking How did Voldemort die? [CLOSED] Below the text is the relevant passages from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows if anyone wants to review them (I'm sorry for the amount of text). How did Expelliarmus beat Avada Kedavra and kill Voldemort? I feel the reason Harry's Expelliarmus overpowered Voldemort's Avada Kedavra curse has to do with who was master of the Elder Wand and how the Elder Wand works. I've always had trouble understanding fully how the Elder Wand works, though. How much did the fact that Voldemort never truly won or mastered the Elder Wand factor into how Expelliarmus reacted to Avada Kedavra and caused Avada Kedavra to rebound and kill Voldemort? An answer based in book canon would be especially welcome, but any canon source really is fine. Harry heard the high voice shriek as he, too, yelled his best hope to the heavens, pointing Draco’s wand: ‘ Avada Kedavra !’ ‘ Expelliarmus !...