GatorDeb

I was just watching the first movie and something struck me - we knew Harry knew Parseltongue from day 1 - he spoke to the snake. It was presented as he could do that because he's a wizard, but we learn later that it's not common for a wizard to know Parseltongue. It just struck me today.

Also, it's funny how there's a line that went "You'd have to be nuts to rob Gringotts," and that's exactly what they end up doing. Coincident or she really had it all plotted out from day 1?

Also to a lesser extent the first meeting between Ron and Hermione and Harry and Ginny - you can kind of tell each pair will end up together.

I also noticed that in the trophy case when Harry is looking at his dad's name in the Quidditch plaque, there's ab M. G. MacGonagall - this MacGonagall is too old to be a Potter contemporary - maybe she had a kid named M. G.? That's never pursued again.

The Parseltongue one is the one that really struck me.

gregbales

Harry new he could talk to snakes, but knew nothing about it.

Sean O'Hara

Dumbledore's favorite candy is sherbet lemons, and there's a novel called How to Suck a Sherbet Lemon about a gay kid at a private school.

And of course Dumbledore constantly says that Voldemort's inability to understand love will be his downfall, and in the end Snape and Narcissa betray him for love and he doesn't see it coming until its too late.

benedict

I've mentioned this one before but, before Deathly Hallows was released, award-winning SF critic and writer Dave Langford wrote a whole book [The End of Harry Potter] about this.

I believe it nailed down huge amounts of foreshadowing and hidden references in the earlier books and concluded with some predictions about the final instalment based on those earlier books and JKR interviews.

It is probably still worth a read for fans trying to get more from the series although perhaps worth looking around online to see whether there'll be a new edition.

mwbmis

There are a lot of little things in all the books. For instance, I was just rereading COS and when he accidently floos into Borgin and Burkes he hides in what is presumably the vanishing cabinet.

shumway

Nick has Peeves break the twin vanishing cabinet in CoS also.

taffer

I haven't read the last novel yet so maybe it sheds some light on the subject, but this has always seemed odd to me.

In the first novel, Harry inherits a fortune from his parents. None of the rest of the books ever make mention of all this money again, and we never learn how Harry's parents became so rich. Harry never actually does anything with his money either as far as I remember. Most kids would have gone spend-crazy buying up all kinds of stuff, but this money just apparently sits in the bank vault and is never mentioned again after that particular point in the first book.

namrfumot

they talk about his money ALL the time...

foe example at he wizard world cup harry buys all his friends some souveniers when he feels bad for them because they can afford them on their own.

GatorDeb

And I can't remember which book but in one of them Harry feels bad because Ron has to wear a not-pretty hand-made sweater-robe.

Sean O'Hara

And the reason he gives his Triwizard Tournament winnings to Fred and George is because he's already rich. He just has enough sense to realize he'll need his inheritance when he's an adult and doesn't go spend-crazy. (Plus he doesn't want the Dursleys to find out.)