Skip to main content

Just how awful *is* Harry Potter's eyesight



“Harry, your eyesight really is awful,” said Hermione, as she put on glasses (Deathly Hallows, Chapter Four - "The Seven Potters")



In-universe, do we know to what extent Harry Potter's eyesight was bad?



Obviously, we wouldn't have exact prescription dioptre numbers, but what I'm hoping for is some canon or WoG example of Harry not able (vs able) to see something specific when not wearing glasses.



Answer



After taking polyjuice potion, he sees with Goyle's (unaided) vision. His glasses "cloud" his eyes, suggesting that his vision (with glasses) must be at least 4-5 points off 20:20. Anything less and his vision would simply be distorted rather than actually blurry:



Then he realised that his glasses were clouding his eyes, because Goyle obviously didn’t need them - HP: CoS



He can't see well enough to distinguish that what he's looking at is a large dog, but he can see well enough to tell that it's an animal of some kind:



Harry set down his goblet and was about to turn back to his bed when something caught his eye. An animal of some kind was prowling across the silvery lawn. - HP: POA




He can distinguish his location and make out his friends easily from across the room. If he squints, he can bring his vision to something approaching normality:



Everything was slightly blurred. Somebody had removed his glasses. He was lying in the dark hospital wing. At the very end of the ward, he could make out Madam Pomfrey with her back to him, bending over a bed. Harry squinted. Ron’s red hair was visible beneath Madam Pomfrey’s arm - HP: PoA



Familiar people have "fuzzy outlines", again, suggestive of moderate myopia



He could see the fuzzy outlines of Mrs Weasley and Bill close by. Mrs Weasley was on her feet. ‘That’s Fudge’s voice,’ she whispered. ‘And that’s Minerva McGonagall’s, isn’t it? But what are they arguing about?’ - HP: GoF



Room is blurry




Harry emerged from behind his towel; the changing room was blurred because he was not wearing his glasses, but he could still tell that everyone’s face was turned towards him. - HP:OotP



He can't distinguish individual firework sparks



He got into bed, yawning. With his glasses off, the occasional firework passing the window had become blurred, looking like sparkling clouds, beautiful and mysterious against the black sky. - HP: OotP



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

game of thrones - Is Syrio Forel dead?

In the episode 'The Pointy End' (Season 1 Episode 8) when Arya runs from the Lannister guards you hear the sound of a sword being dropped (around 4:56): [embedded content] After that neither Syrio or Ser Meryn Trant is never mentioned or seen in the show again, except when Arya mentions to the Hound that Ser Meryn Trant killed Syrio. Is there any mention in the books that Syrio actually dies?
Post a Comment
Read more

tolkiens legendarium - Difference between elves and dwarves blacksmithing in the Lord of the Rings

Both the elves and the dwarves were famous for their metal work in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but what is the difference between what they made, and which one had the better skill of making amours and swords? Answer James Christopher's answer sums up the second part of your question well, but as to the difference in what they made, a little more detail is needed. Once the Elves learned to forge with steel, the shape of the sword changed, now being able to take on the form of a great broadsword or a light and agile curved sword. Additionally, they took great pride in decorating their swords. As we see in the Lord of the Rings , some swords like Sting had magical properties such as glowing blue when orcs are near. As far as the use of Mithril, lotr.wikia has two contradictory passages: Thus, Elven blades became renowned as great weapons, capable of performing deeds beyond the skill of their handlers and were even more glorious when the use of Mithril was allowed to the Elves. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

How do Pokemon trainers collect their winnings?

According to Bulbapedia , Prize money is the money that a Trainer pays out at the end of a battle. So we know that the money comes directly from the trainer that just lost, and not some third-party committee or sponsor. But how is this done? It can be easy seeing the random trainers who challenge you along the way wanting to wager and then, after admitting defeat, sticking to their word and handing over their hard-earned pokebucks. Then there are the likes of Team Rocket and Giovanni, who also give money once they lose. This doesn't seem like something people in a criminal organization would willingly do. From this it appears that trainers have no say in whether or not they cough up the dough after losing, but I can't find anything on how exactly the funds are transferred from loser to winner. So how do Pokemon trainers receive their winnings?
Post a Comment
Read more