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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.


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