Skip to main content

Why does Harry's scar hurt when Umbridge touches him?


In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Dolores Umbridge, chapter 13, Detention with Dolores, Harry's scar hurts when Umbridge touches him. However, the canon does not establish any direct connection between Voldemort and Umbridge. Are there any canonical explanations of what happened?



Answer



It was just a coincidence.


Voldemort is planning the escape of his key lieutenants from Azkhaban and is alternately happy and frustrated. Those strong emotions make Harry's scar tingle. He also feels a similar pain when getting changed after Quidditch in Chapter 18.



‘What happened?’ said Ron, the moment Alicia had disappeared through the door. ‘Was it your scar?’ Harry nodded. ‘But …’ looking scared, Ron strode across to the window and stared out into the rain, ‘he – he can’t be near us now, can he?’ ‘No,’ Harry muttered, sinking on to a bench and rubbing his forehead. ‘He’s probably miles away. It hurt because … he’s … angry.’



A confused tangle of shapes, a howling rush of voices … ‘He wants something done, and it’s not happening fast enough,’ he said. Again, he felt surprised to hear the words coming out of his mouth, and yet was quite certain they were true.



and



‘Is this what it was about last time?’ said Ron in a hushed voice. ‘When your scar hurt in Umbridge’s office? You-Know-Who was angry?’


Harry shook his head.


‘What is it, then?’


Harry was thinking himself back. He had been looking into Umbridge’s face … his scar had hurt … and he had had that odd feeling in his stomach … a strange, leaping feeling … a happy feeling … but of course, he had not recognised it for what it was, as he had been feeling so miserable himself …


‘Last time, it was because he was pleased,’ he said. ‘Really pleased. He thought … something good was going to happen. And the night before we came back to Hogwarts …’ he thought back




Ron later identifies (in chapter 25) what kept making Voldemort so frustrated/happy;



"The Ministry of Magic announced late last night that there has been a mass breakout from Azkaban. Speaking to reporters in his private office, Cornelius Fudge, Minister for Magic, confirmed that ten high-security prisoners escaped in the early hours of yesterday evening and that he has already informed the Muggle Prime Minister of the dangerous nature of these individuals.


‘There you are, Harry,’ said Ron, looking awestruck. ‘That’s why he was happy last night.’"



Comments

Post a Comment

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.
Post a Comment
Read more

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
Post a Comment
Read more

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...
Post a Comment
Read more

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 !...
Post a Comment
Read more