Harry Potter: 10 Most Shocking Reveals From Pottermore
9. The Reason Harry Couldnt Always See Thestrals
This has been something that has bugged Harry Potter fans for years and years, and now, thankfully, we have an answer. If thestrals are invisible to all who have never been truly touched by death, how come Harry couldnt see them for a while? Given that his parents were murdered by Voldemort in violent and tragic circumstances when he was an infant, and that he witnessed the same dark wizard use a killing curse on his schoolmate Cedric Diggory during the Triwizard Tournament, surely that classifies Harry as someone who has been touched by death? Well, Rowling confirmed on Pottermore that this was not the case. The author explained that a person not only needs to witness a death first hand in order to be able to see thestrals, but they must also have gained an emotional understanding of what death actually means, and Rowling added that the exact moment when this happens varies from person to person. She had previously alluded to this in interviews, but decided to canonise it with an entry on Pottermore, making the official line that Harry was too young to absorb the impact of his parents death and it took weeks before the he understood the finality of death after Cedrics murder.
