only people who suffer loss can see them. harry suffered loss as a baby. he should have seen the Thestrals at year 2 3 and 4, when he used the stagecoaches.
Luna Lovegood told him his not going crazy. that she has seen them before.

anyone has any ideas? explaination?

Harry didnt see the thestrals because you have to knowingly understand/witness death - we dont know if Harry actually saw his mother die - he may not have been watching her, but rather Voldemort!

So until he saw Cedric die, at a later age, he could not see the thestrals!

"Now Now Draco... Play nicely"
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

oh. i get it. thanks.

I know, why didn't he see the thestrals in the first few years? Wasn't Lily guarding him when he died? The only solution that I've discovered is that Lily obviously wasn't there when Voldemort treid to kill him.....

I think Harry was just too young to really comprehend what was happening.

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Miriam G.

http://www.livejournal.com/users/miriamg/

Yea, he probably wasn't comprehending it. But she did say, in books 2,3,4, that they were taken to the castle by " a horseless carriage". Personally, I don't know how, but I think that Lily didn't die in his presence. I just don't know, only time will tell I guess.

It coul be an important clue, or it could be just a mistake in the books on JKR's part. I agree, only time will tell.

---------------------------------------------

"You too are about to learn what happens to wrongdoing at my school."
Filch cracked his whip threatingly.
"You know what? said Fred. "I dont think we are. George, I think we've outgrown
full-time education."
"Yeah, I've been feeling that way myself," said George lightly.
"Time to test our talents in the real world, d'you reckon?" asked Fred.
"Definitely," said George.
And before Umbridge could say a word, they raised their wands and said together,
"Accio Brooms!"...

"Give her hell from us, Peeves!"

"I didn't know you could read."
Draco from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

"The spiders...The spiders are making me tap dance..." "You tell those spiders, Ron" "Ya, ya, okay, I will." :-D tee hee

"When did she get here? Did you see her come in?" HILARIOUS!!...poor Ron. ;-D

hmmm. intresting...because Luna Lovegood saw her mother die at a young age too... just like harry. and she could allways see those creatures.

Luna saw her mother die when she was like 9. This is currently when she is 14.

I think we should take a look at the scene in the first Potter movie where we see Lily die. JKR wrote that part herself and it obviously means something...

James was NOT persent. Why? Anyway, we see Lily holding Harry at first and suddenly she puts him down. When Voldemort kills her, she is behind Harry and the cute little baby is just staring at Voldemort watching him. I don't think Harry saw ANYONE get killed, if he was focused on Voldemort.

"The spiders are making me tap dance!" "You tell 'em Ron.""Ya. Okay, I will."

What's odd to me is that no one else talks about seeing them, or not seeing them. Are we to believe that no other kid at Hogwarts had witnessed death before Luna came along? If some kids could see them, and some couldn't, you bet there would be talk about it.

Also, I don't have my book 4 with me, but how did Harry get from Hogwarts back to the trains? If he went in the coaches, why didn't he notice the horses then?



Dad-Eye,

Yea, how do they get back to the Hogwarts Express? I doubt they take carts and walk down to the train, otherwise, why would they take carriages/boats up to the castle when they first arrive?

Harry didn't see the Thestrals in books 2,3,4 because he didn't actually see his mother die.

they were portaled to that cememtery when they touched the GoB, and harry heard voldy commands the rat-man to kill cedric. he didn't actually see cedric die. just his body, a bit later.
(if i remember correctly, harry's broken leg hurt so much from the landing that he closed his eyes, no?)

If he didn't see Cedric die he wouldn't have been able to see the thestrals at all! And as for why the horses isn't known because of other kids seeing them; you saw the reaction Harry was given when he suddenly startted seeing things the others couldn't see? The students that can see thestrals are probably just keeping it to themselves. Honestly, for people staying at a school bursting with all sorts of abnormality, Hogwarts students aren't very open-minded!

Hmmm......maybe Harry didn't see the thestrals on the way back to the train because he didn't see Cedric die at the end of the fourth year. If you remember in book five, he would constantly dream about seeing cedric die...not hearing him fall to the ground.

On jkrowling.com, under F.A.Q. and about the books it answers that question.

---------------------------------------------

"You too are about to learn what happens to wrongdoing at my school."
Filch cracked his whip threatingly.
"You know what? said Fred. "I dont think we are. George, I think we've outgrown
full-time education."
"Yeah, I've been feeling that way myself," said George lightly.
"Time to test our talents in the real world, d'you reckon?" asked Fred.
"Definitely," said George.
And before Umbridge could say a word, they raised their wands and said together,
"Accio Brooms!"...

"Give her hell from us, Peeves!"

"I didn't know you could read."
Draco from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

"The spiders...The spiders are making me tap dance..." "You tell those spiders, Ron" "Ya, ya, okay, I will." :-D tee hee

"When did she get here? Did you see her come in?" HILARIOUS!!...poor Ron. ;-D

Then y didnt harry see them on the way to the train?

it is simple. I saw somwhere about an interveiw that jkr awnsrd this one. you can only see threstrals if you see somone die, and harry didnt see anyone die until his 4th year. he didnt SEE it he just HEARD his parents die, he was just there when it had happend. and he hadnt really gotten over the shock that cedrik had really died yet. and jkr said she didnt want us thinking about the horses while we wait for the 5th book.

An odd feeling rose in Harry -- an emotion quite differnt from the anger and greif that had filled him since Sirius's death. It was a few moments before he realised that he was feeling sorry for Luna.
"How come people hide your stuff?" he asked her, frowning.
"Oh...well..." She shrugged. "I think they think I'm a bit odd, you know. Some people call me 'Loony' Lovegood actually."
Harry looked at her and the new feeling of pity intensified rather painfully.
"That's no reason for them to take your things," he said flatly. "D'you want help finding them?"
-Order of the Pheonix-

I didn't think Harry took the train home... maybe he did.... but anyway, I think as a baby he didnt understand his parents death, and probably wont ever fully understand it. I would assume that he would ask the same question when he realizes whats going on.


you are the cute but psycho happy bunny. You
adorable, but a little out there. It's alright,
you might not have it all, but there are worse

"Give her hell from us, Peeves!"

JKR Answers this in detail on her Website!!


why could Harry see the Thestrals in 'Order of the Phoenix', shouldn't he have been able to see them much earlier, because he saw his parents/Quirrell/Cedric die?

I've been asked this alot, Harry didnt see his parents die. He was in his cot at the time (He was just over a year old) and, as I say in 'Philosophers Stone', all he saw was a flash of green light. He didnt see Quirrell's death, either. Harry had passed out before Quirrell died and was only told about it by Dumbledore in the last chapter.

He did however, witness the death of Cedric, and it is this that makes him able to see the Thestrals at last. Why couldnt he see the Thestrals on his way back to the train station? Well I didnt want to start a new mystery, which would not be resolved for a long time, at the very end of the fourth book. I decided, therefore, that until Harry is over the first shock, and really feels what death means (ie, when he fully appreciates that Cedric is gone forever and that he can never come back, which takes some time, whatever age you are) he would not be able to see the Thestrals. After two months away from school during which he has dwelled endlessly on his memories of the murder and had nightmares about it, the Thestrals have taken shape and form and he can see them quite clearly.


Hope this clarifies any questions you guys had!!

"Now Now Draco... Play nicely"
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

time would be ruind if all fixed it w/ time turners


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An odd feeling rose in Harry -- an emotion quite differnt from the anger and greif that had filled him since Sirius's death. It was a few moments before he realised that he was feeling sorry for Luna.
"How come people hide your stuff?" he asked her, frowning.
"Oh...well..." She shrugged. "I think they think I'm a bit odd, you know. Some people call me 'Loony' Lovegood actually."
Harry looked at her and the new feeling of pity intensified rather painfully.
"That's no reason for them to take your things," he said flatly. "D'you want help finding them?"
-Order of the Pheonix-