Hey everyone,
Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory. In this video, we’re going to be
discussing why on earth Harry Potter couldn’t see Thestrals until, seemingly, the beginning
of the Order of the Phoenix.
A thestral is a breed of winged horse with skeletal and reptilian features - they sort
of look like an evil pegasus. The following excerpt from the order of the phoenix depicts
Harry’s initial reaction to thestrals:
"If he had had to give them a name, he supposed he would have called them horses, though there
was something reptilian about them, too. They were completely fleshless, their black coats
clinging to their skeletons, of which every bone was visible. Their heads were dragonish,
and their pupil-less eyes white and staring. Wings sprouted from each wither — vast,
black leathery wings that looked as though they ought to belong to giant bats. Standing
still and quiet in the gathering gloom, the creatures looked eerie and sinister."
The ministry of magic considers Thestrals to be dangerous, and they have a bad rap as
‘omens of misfortune’ because they are only visible to those who have seen death-
the following exchange between Luna and Harry confirms this:
Luna Lovegood: "They're called Thestrals. They're quite gentle, really... But people
avoid them because they're a bit..." Harry Potter: "Different. But why can't the
others see them?" Luna Lovegood: "They can only be seen by people
who've seen death."
Now, before the events of the order of the phoenix we know that Harry witnesses death
on numerous occasions, first when his parents died, next when Quirrell died, and lastly,
and most recently in this case, when Cedric Diggory died. All of these deaths actually
occurred before the end of the Goblet of fire, which is why it’s interesting that Harry
still couldn’t see thestrals at that point in time.
At the end of Goblet of Fire, the carriages still appeared horseless to Harry. Page 629
of the Goblet of fire depicts this:
Hermione turned away, smiling at the horseless carriages which were now trundling towards
them up the drive, as Krum, looking surprised, but gratified, signed a fragment of parchment
for Ron.
Then, on page 178 of the Order of the Phoenix, Harry sees thestrals for the first time:
Here stood the hundred or so horseless stagecoaches that always took the students above first
year up to the castle. Harry glanced quickly at them, turned away to keep a lookout for
Ron and Hermione, then did a double-take. The coaches were no longer horseless. There
were creatures standing between the carriage shafts.
On page 394 of the order of the phoenix, after Harry has actually witnessed the Thestrals,
we’re reminded again, in an exchange between Hagrid and students, how it is that you are
actually able to see them.
‘Don’ worry, it won’ hurt yeh,’ said Hagrid patiently. ‘Righ’, now, who can
tell me why some o’ yeh can see ’em an’ some can’t?’
Hermione raised her hand.
‘Go on then,’ said Hagrid, beaming at her.
‘The only people who can see Thestrals,’ she said, ‘are people who have seen death.’
‘Tha’s exactly right,’ said Hagrid solemnly [...]
As you’ll all remember, during the events of the triwizard tournament cedric diggory
was murdered by Peter Pettigrew’s avada kedavra. Harry witnessed this murder first
hand. As this transpired a month before the end of the spring term, it’s interesting
that Harry could still not see Thestrals at the end of term.
Harry and Cedric who were tied for first place completed the Third Task together. And when
they both took hold of the Triwizard Cup, they were transported to the Little Hangleton
graveyard, where Lord Voldemort and Peter pettigrew awaited their arrival. This was
the beginning of the end for Cedric.
On page 621 of the goblet of fire, the book indicates that Harry was in shock following
Cedric's murder, but was still able to relay the story of Cedric's death to Mr. and Mrs.
Diggory.
When he looked back, even a month later, Harry found he had few memories of the following
days. It was as though he had been through too much to take in any more. The recollections
he did have were very painful. The worst, perhaps, was the meeting with the Diggorys
that took place the following morning.
‘He suffered very little, then,’ she said, when Harry had told her how Cedric had died.'
Goblet of Fire - Page 621 - British Hardcover - Adult Edition
So, again, why couldn't Harry see Thestrals at the end of Goblet of Fire?
In an interview between JK Rowling and Stephen Fry, Fry asks Rowling:
Stephen Fry: Harry saw his parents die, so why hasn't he been able to see the Thestrals
before?
To which Rowling responds:
JK Rowling: At the end of Goblet of Fire, we sent Harry home more depressed than he
had ever been leaving Hogwarts. Now I knew that the Thestrals were coming and I can prove
that because they are in the book that I produced for Comic Relief, Fantastic Beasts and Where
to Find Them, these unlucky black winged horses.
However, if Harry had seen them then and we hadn't explained them then, I thought that
would be rather a cheat on the reader in that Harry suddenly sees these monsters but we
don't go anywhere with them, so to explain to myself I said that you had to have seen
the death and allowed it to sink in a little bit before slowly these creatures became solid
in front of you, so that's how I am going to sneak past that one.
This was not a great answer, but she does a better job of answering it, more comprehensively,
in another interview, when she was asked:
Why could Harry see the Thestrals 'Order of the Phoenix'? Shouldn't he have been able
to see them much earlier, because he saw his parents/Quirrell/Cedric die?
To which she responded:
I’ve been asked this a lot. Harry didn’t see his parents die. He was in his cot at
the time (he was just over a year old) and, as I say in ‘Philosopher’s Stone’, all
he saw was a flash of green light. He didn’t 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 murder of Cedric, and it is this that makes him able to see
the Thestrals at last. Why couldn’t he see the Thestrals on his trip back to the train
station? Well, I didn’t 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 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.
Rowling later expands on this even further on Pottermore, further extrapolating upon
the necessity to ‘fully understand’ death, and not just witness it.
Being able to see Thestrals is a sign that the beholder has witnessed death, and gained
an emotional understanding of what death means. It is unsurprising that it took a long time
for their significance to be properly understood, because the precise moment when such knowledge
dawns varies greatly from person to person. Harry Potter was unable to see Thestrals for
years after his mother was killed in front of him, because he was barely out of babyhood
when the murder happened, and he had been unable to comprehend his own loss. Even after
the death of Cedric Diggory, weeks elapsed before the full import of death’s finality
was borne upon him. Only at this point did the Thestrals that pull the carriages from
Hogsmeade Station to Hogwarts castle become visible to him. On the other hand, Luna Lovegood,
who lost her own mother when she was young, saw Thestrals very soon afterwards because
she is intuitive, spiritual and unafraid of the afterlife.
What this basically states that there is no rigid time frame that occurs for one to begin
to start seeing Thestrals - it will vary heavily based on the individual. Harry hadn’t yet
processed Cedric’s death by the time he was leaving Hogwarts at the end of his fourth
year, as clearly outlined in the text :
“When he looked back, even a month later, Harry found he had few memories of the following
days. It was as though he had been through too much to take in any more. “
But when he eventually returns to Hogwarts for his fifth year, he understood death, and
it had finally sunk in. This meant that he was finally able to see Thestrals. In contrast,
Luna saw Thestrals much quicker after her mother died.
This is unconfirmed, but I also like to speculate that the death one witnesses would have to
be of significance to whoever is witnessing it. It would have to be something that would
require emotional processing, someone that that person would have to feel some amount
of grief for.
Some people think that because Harry didn’t actually see Cedric die, and that he was only
present for his death, that this would somehow mean that he hadn’t ‘witnessed’ death.
An excerpt from the text during this scene reads as follows:
A blast of green light blazed through Harry’s eyelids, and he heard something heavy fall
to the ground beside him; the pain in his scar reached such a pitch that he retched,
and then it diminished; terrified of what he was about to see, he opened his stinging
eyes.
But, this is of course a preposterous idea, just because your eyes are closed, it doesn’t
mean that you weren’t there, that you weren’t present for the horrific act that occurred.
Witnessing death is more than seeing the killing curse penetrate Cedric’s body, it’s about
whether or not you were present for the act. Witnessing death is a lot more than just what
you are able to take in visually. Additionally, if this were the case, then Harry shouldn’t
have been able to see Thestrals until after the death of Sirius, which happens AFTER the
beginning of the order of the phoenix.
And that’s it for this video, if you enjoy the content please remember to like the video
and subscribe to the channel. As always, leave your video suggestions down. Until next time,
YER A WIZARD ARRY