Thousand of things happened in the Potterverse, some important and some trivial, some serious and some funny, but, which was the most vital one according to you ? What one occurence over the seven books brought about the whole story as we know it now ? What was it that had the most far-reaching effect in the whole saga ?

We are cutting out the formation of the earth and evolution of mankind as the first causes for obvious reasons, but there are a lot of options to choose from even excluding those.

You can vote for more than one option. Please do tell us the reason why you think a particular event changed the shape of things to come, along with your choices.

Well, I accidentally selected the "null vote" but I meant to vote for "DD getting proof of Horcruxes", the two involving the actual making of Horcruxes (these all go hand-in-hand because they all contribute to the biggest adventure of the series). I also chose "LV using Harry's blood" mostly because of how important my first three choices were; without this, Harry wouldn't have survived.

I just realized that Draco disarming DD was an option, and that one was rather important as well.

But the one option I was surprised wasn't included was Snape overhearing the prophecy. IMO, this was the most far-reaching event in the entire series. The whole thing started with the prophecy, and how Snape used the information. Snape is, IMO, the most intriguing and important character in the series (save for Harry in terms of importance, and possibly DD, but in terms of the base of the plot, it was all Snape).

I chose "See my Post/Something else" & agree with 'harrypottergeek2' that it would have to be Snape over-hearing the first part of the Prophecy & telling Voldemort what he heard. This not only changed the course of the war but it also gave the Wizarding world the chance to be rid of Voldemort. Had there been no prophecy there wouldn't have been an end to Voldemort in the first place.

I voted for Ron and Hermione becaoming Harry's best friends. I think without them he maybe wouldn't have made it through all of the books! And also maybe if he hadn't become friends he wouldn't have known the Slytherin was 'bad' and maybe he would have become friends with Draco!!! Then maybe Snape would like him and he would turn out to like Voldy or something weird like that!!! Also they are his support and the reason he has made it through alot of tough things in his life and tough situations!!! I think without them he wouldn't be who he is today....maybe he wouldn't even be alive!!!

One word: "Mudblood".

If Snape had not called Lily that, their friendship would have been preserved and it's quite possible she'd have ended up marrying him, instead of James. She likely would have been able to keep him from joining the Death Eaters, as well.

We'd have had a very different set of books if Snape had been Harry's father instead of James.

I voted none of the above. To me the most far reaching event was the prophecy, Snape overhearing it and Voldemort deciding to act on the prophecy. These events set everything else in motion.

I completely understand what you all mean when you say that Snape overhearing the prophecy is the most important event according to you.
But that option was intentionally left out because this poll is in Great Wizarding Events which only takes into consideration the events that happened during the 7 books and not pre-book 1 events.
Sp please do vote for and comment on the events that happened in the 7 books for now and we will see if we can give you a poll with pre-book 1 options in due time.

Rowena.
LL. Mod.

I voted for Harry to be asked to be put in Slytherin.

But thinking about it, none of the above. I think it was Snape over-hearing the prophecy, or the prophecy being made in the first place.

If Petegrew had never gone back it would likely have been many more years before Voldemort returned, in turn delaying his defeat.

And Malfoy's actions in the tower were crucial points, both because of the way it allowed Harry to defeat Voldemort in the end and because it also showed Malfoy's reluctance to really be... evil.

If that's the case then why are "Snape begins spying for Dumbledore" and "Voldemort makes six Horcruxes" in the list since they both predate the events of the first book. (Well, most of the latter, anyway.)

If we ignore the title of this thread (to which the obvious answer is 'the prophecy') and go by the forum-specific restrictions then I agree with kendra.dumbledore. The books and the overall story arc would have been significantly different had Harry not had the friendship and support of the other two trio members.

The friendship of Ron and Hermione.

This story is about people and how people shape events. Can you imagine Harry doing any of this alone? He wouldn't be Harry.

I voted for Ron and Hermione becoming Harry's best friends pirmarily. It is the option that was of greatest impact to the course of the seven books. So many of the situations would not have occured or would have been altered if it weren't for Harry's friendship with both Ron and Hermione. I think the obstacles for the PS/SS showed this perfectly from the very beginning. Each quest/adventure/situation they faced in the series took the strengths and abilities of all three of them. From Harry's flying abilities, to Hermiones logic and Ron's aptitude for chess.

However I also voted for Snape starting on his role as spy for Dumbledore as it also had great effect on the course of the story. However i don't think as signifigantly as the trios friendship.Ron and Hermione becoming Harry's best friends

Snape begins spying for Dumbledore is on the list because it refers to Snape's going back to Voldemort at the end of GOF and starting on his spying mission for Dumbledore. You will notice the options are given in the chronological order of their occuring in the books.

As for the Horcruxes, you answered your own question Acrux, even though Voldemort made most of the Horcruxes before book 1, he did make at one during the books and therefore the options gets to sneak into a GWE poll. Also, we get to know of the Horcruxes only in HBP and hence their placement between OOTP and DH.

Great poll and wonderful choices rowena !!

First I voted for Ron and Hermione becoming Harry's best friends. I believe that Ron and Hermione were Harry's anchors; and they were so important to Harry and he was equally important to them as well. I love the way their friendship plays out in the series; how Ron and Harry instantly bonded on the train to Hogwarts. And I love how the scene with the Troll cemented Hermione's friendship with both Ron and Harry as well. It's almost as if one couldn't function properly without the other; and this is made very clear in DH when Ron left the trio. Harry couldn't not have accomplished his mission alone. The trio's friendship was extremely important to the plotline.

My second choice that in my opinion had the most far reaching effect was Voldemort taking Harry's blood and using it to regenerating himself. To me, this was Voldemort's undoing. He didn't realize that through his cruelty and selfishness he was taking that very thing that Lily died to protect; the blood would never protect him from Harry; it was very much the other way around. Voldemort taking Harry's blood ensured that Harry wouldn't die. The gleam in Dumbledore's eyes in GOF in hindsight said it all .

I think that it was Merope's father mistreating her because that led to her running away, dying, Voldemort hating muggles because his father abandoned her, going after Harry, and everything else.

I Chose DD finding out about the Horocruxes without that LV cudnt have died. When he figured out he couldnt kill harry he would either send someone to do it or just waited for Harry to die of old age. LV would have won entirely if DD hadnt found out about the Horocruxes.

I love this poll Rowena

I voted for Voldemort taking Harry's blood in GoF because that was what protected Harry when the AK killed the part of LV's soul in him. If LV hadn't made that mistake Harry would have been killed outright and we wouldn't have had the ending that I loved.

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I voted for Draco's actions on the tower, if he had not done this then Harry would have been killed be LV because he would not be the owner of the Elder Wand.

But I think that the thing that changed the series the most was loving mothers. Even though many people have already figured this out it's true. Without Molly, Lily, and Narsissa things would have been completly diffrent. LV would have killed Harry at the beginning, LV would have killed Harry at the end and Harry would have missed the Howgorts Express the very first time if it wasn't for Molly. but Molly is by far my favorite mother!

I was under the impression that Snape went back to Voldemort at the end of GOF and resumed his spying mission for Dumbledore. But if 'start' is the better term then I stand corrected.I noticed that they were mostly in order but didn't think anything of it.Faulty assumptions again, I'm afraid. I would have thought that wording like "Voldemort achieves his goal of making six Horcruxes." would have been used if the intention was to reinforce the notion that the events needed to fall within the time-frame if the seven books, but there you go.Fair enough. We don't know exactly when the last Horcrux was made so that was as good a place to list it as any but the very next option in the list "Making one unintentionally." doesn't follow ANY of the aforementioned placement guidelines!

1. The event shouldn't be in the list at all because it occurs before the beginning on the first book. (Only by a day, mind you, but aren't the events of the night the Potters died and most of the following day the preserve of the "Pre-Book One" forum rather than this one?)
2. If it is to be included then, chronologically, it should be listed first.
3. If it is to be listed where we find out about it then it should be second to last because we don't find out about it until after Harry had disarmed Draco.

But perhaps there is yet another guideline that I have also overlooked that explains its inclusion.

Oh well, I guess I'll have to try being less literal next time (and learn to pay less attention to expansive language in the opening post).

- Acrux

I totally agree that resumed would be the better word, and if you will go over the options again Acrux, you will see that I have replaced 'starts' with 'resuming'.


You have several valid points there Acrux. The reason the option 'Making one unintentionally' appears where it does is because I had originally intended to clump together all of Voldemort's Horcruxes in one, but later thought that the Horcrux in Harry was deserving of a separate mention because of its special importance in the story, and added it immediately after the other 6 as a sort of adjunct to the earlier point.

I totally agree with Ron and Hermoine! If Harry hadn't befriended them he wouldn't make to the chamber of secrets or any place after that!

I would say that Snape overhearing the prophecy set the ball rolling, this was what started it. It gave the connection between dumbledore and harry, it gave voldemort an enemy, and without this event then i doubt that voldemort would have been rid of.

I chose Draco disarming DD, then Harry disarming Draco, and also Harry deciding to fight in GOF. First, Draco disarming DD, think about how EVERYTHING would have changed if Snape had actually disarmed DD....you know, this is OT but did DD ask Snape not to disarm him? hmm.. anyway.. Back to the topic.. Harry wouldn't have had the advantage by disarming Draco... and then Harry deciding to fight in GOF.. well this seems obvious to me because if he hadn't chose to fight HE WOULD BE DEAD!! Although I will say that this was a very tough decision.. because all of those were very crucial.

This is a really really hard poll to choose from!
There are so many things that are vital parts of the story and are pivital in the destruction of Voldemort.

If D hadn't found out about the horcruxes V would never have been brought down.
Harry choosing not to be in Slytherin, Snape resuming his spying role, Harry, Ron and Hermione becoming friends... I could have chosen sooo many!


But I had to choose V using H's blood - It's the thing that kept Harry alive to fight!

I thought LV choosing to go after Lilly and James. Because we went after the Potters Snape had a reason to aks LV to spare Lilly. Because Lilly had a choice, stand aside or die, and she chose to stand Harry had her protection of love.

Had LV choosen the Longbottoms then no Snape love, no offer to stand aside to Alice, therefore no love protection. Would have been a very short story.

HAHAHA.. sooo true. I never even thought of that. If he hadn't have chosen Harry, it would be a very short and not-so-sweet story.. I wonder how everything would have turned out? Who would have stopped Voldy then?

Ron and Hermione becoming his friends. He could never have done it without them.

And Harry disarming Draco. For something so small, it was massive.

Harry's freeing Dobby. If Harry hadn't freed Dobby, then Dobby couldn't have gotten Harry and the others out of Malfoy Manor. Things would have been very different then!

Ron and Hermione being Harrys friends...

This was to hard, everyone of those things would be a good answer.

Very good topic!

If I had to pick one:
Snape keeping his post as a spy for Dumbledore

Harry would not have found out he was a Horcrux
Dumbledore would have died by the Ring Horcrux's curse (snape couldn't have contained it)
Harry would have died at the Ministry, as no one would have alerted the Order that Harry was in danger!
and, last but not least, Voldemort would have gotten the Sorcerer's (Phiosopher's) Stone and would have been reborn when Harry was a first year!

No, Dumbledore asked Snape to kill him, not to disarm him. The plan was

Dumbledore orders Snape to kill him
Snape kills him
the Elder Wand's power is gone because the wand's power only transfers through conquering. Since Dumbledore brought about his own death, the power of the Elder Wand would die with him.



Not much would have changed if this happened.
Snape would have still died (remember, Voldemort killed Snape because he thought the Wand was Snape's)

Voldemort would stilll go on looking and looking for it, but just would never have the power of the Wand. Harry would still survive, since he had the 'Mr. Blood' thing with Voldermort going on. No one would have worked out that the Wand's power had died, and nearly the whole stroy would stay the same.

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I chose Voldy unintentionally making Harrycrux. Because that's where it all begins, yes? If he didn't, then Harry is either dead or a normal boy, unable to defeat Voldy. If any one of the others didn't happen, then things still might have worked out. Not the same way, and Harry might not have survived, but with most all the other choices, I could see Voldy eventually rising again and being defeated by Harry somehow.

Actually, I think it is the other way around. If he hadn't had his horcruxes, when he attacked Harry, Voldemort would have died.

Albus bringing the philosopher stone to Hogwarts. That's the maneuver who pushes Voldemort into becoming obsessed with Harry and therefore creating the series of mishaps that lead to his demise.

Actually, Voldemort was pretty obsessed with Harry 10 years earlier when he tried to wipe out his entire family.

Voldemort's attack on Harry when he was a baby is pre-book 1 event, harrydavid ;)

This is such a difficult choice! I see how every choice is of utmost significance, but if I had to choose just one, it would be Pettigrew escaping to find his master. As much as Voldemort disdains Wormtail, without his assistance, he would never have been able to rise to power again. Peter Pettigrew plays such a crucial role both in nursing his master back to health and in the fourth book when "reviving" Voldemort -- and that, I think, is where the tide of the books changes dramatically.

I chose Voldemort unintentionally creating a Horcrux when he attacked Harry as a baby. The Horcrux was what allowed Harry to survive the Killing Curse the second time around. Without it he would have died in the forest and it might still have been possible for Voldemort to win unless Neville managed to kill Nagini.

I think that there was one more far reaching event than any of those listed in the poll though which is the duel between Grindlewald and Dumbledore that resulted in Dumbledore aquiring the Elder Wand and in Grindlewald's imprisionment in Nurmengard. If DD had not aquired the Elder Wand and kept it's existance hidden for all that time than Voldemort might have gotten hold of it much sooner and Harry would not have become the master of it.

Actually, you quoted rowena and referred to me. Thanks for thinking I am as smart as she is.

I say Harry asking the Sorting Hat not to be put in Slytherin. If he had been put in Slytherin, he might not have fought like he did.

I choose the ministry's anti-Dumbeldore stance in OOTP. It was a year less to start dealing with Voldemort and mount a resistnace. Valuable time wasted.

Not really - the opening day of the series is "Harry Potter day" - the day everyone found out about LV's downfall, and that info didn't take long to spread.

Besides, I don't think harrydavid was referring to this as a far-reaching effect - just as a reference to an aspect of LV's character which you claim wasn't evident until much later than it actually was. You were claiming that LV wasn't obsessed with Harry until Harry started out at Hogwarts, when in reality he had been obsessed with Harry before he was even born - from the moment Snape relayed a portion of the Prophecy to him.

To me it was when DD suspected Riddle of being bad, but didn't stop him when he was young. He was given another chance later on, but again did nothing.

That's a good choice but short of killing the boy, what could Albus have done? There is that famous Time Turner question: but when does he act: does go back and intercept Merope before Tom is concieved--or perhaps days after Tom is born? Should he, knowing what he would do, travel to the orphanage after his departure, follow the ten year old to Diagon Alley and kill him there?

It was the 1930's when the approach to deliquency was Father Flannigan's famous:

Well, there is Tom and his followers in a nut shell. Dumbledore felt if Tom was in Hogwarts he would be in a better environment, but if the boy was already at odds with his Muggle half, he wasn't going to learn respect and appreciation for the accomplishments and abilities of Muggles at Hogwarts. And nothing he could do would chnage Tom's personality--and even Dumbledore couldn't guess that Tom Riddle was capable of murdering his own family, let alone others to achieve power. Tom would be exposed intolerance and prejudice at the worst, and condscending but superior attitude at the best from wizards towards Muggles and their magical children. He learns that powerful wizards, like Dumbledore, are feared and respected in ways that are not necessarily evident in a free, non-magical society. He did live in England, so class matters--classmatters in most places. He did not invent the terms: Muggle, Mudblood, Halfblood, Pureblood--he learned them and all the connations that went along with them.

Back OT: I think the pivotal moment(S) is unseen: the three times James and Lily seperately and together defy Voldemort and live. From that moment on, from the moment James and Lily make their stand, Harry's destiny is written, for Harry is BORN TO THOSE WHO HAVE THRICE DEFIED HIM..if James and Lily had made any other choice, had they chosen to follow Voldemort, or chosen to stay home and let others protect them or chosen at seventeen to flee England, repsonsiblity to their community Harry would not have been in the prophesy. (By the way--I have no problem with fleeing a war zone. Not all of us are capable of serving as warriors and it is rediculous to, when others are dfending our lives t stay purposely in the line of fire. Sometimes when there is great violence and injustice, retreat to seek refuge and regroup to make a stand is often the only option.)

Well I agree that the "Mudblood Incident" was the the most earth shattering moment, and technically it did happen the 7 books, as a memory albeit. However if we have to go by the books timeline. Harry asking to not be put in Slytherin would be it. How different would the stories be if Harry was sorted Slytherin. Would he have gone to the dark side with out Ron and Hermione? Also what would Snape have done if Harry was sorted into his house? Would the trio have been a dark reflection of the marauders; Harry, Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle?

voted for 3, that i judged most vital:

harry asking not to be put in slytherin
LV using harry's blood in GOF
LV unintentionally making a horcrux

i really think that if the above had not happened, there would be no HP as we know it. if corse, i must agree with who said snape over-hearing the prophecy, yes, that would be included too, but as we must choose only books 1-7, not pre-book 1, i didnt put it on my list.

I chose when Harry decided to die fighting in GoF because this was the first time he realised that he would have to stand up to Voldemort by himself without the protection of others which was the turning point he needed in order to prepare him for ultimately walking to his death at the end of DH.

One difference: the Elder Wand wouldn't have backfired to kill Voldemort. As Harry cannot - as far as we have seen - use the AK, and everyone else is no match for Voldemort, we would have had no end to the story.

Right, the wand needed to transfer to harry for it to not work properly against him and backfire on LV.

As far as far-reaching effects, would anyone say the ministry's takeover?? as far as FAR-REACHING, it affected everyone- all the kids at Hogwarts, ALL the half-bloods or muggle-borns, all the ministry employees, and all other wizards in England in general for fear of what might happen to them. Anything else that happens that is essential in eiather LV's return or HP in defeat of him, by extension, affects all these people as well, but for the common wizard (or even some muggles) in england at the time, the ministry's takeover has the most direct affect on everyone.

Having said this, if it hadnt've happened, LV would still be a formidable force, so this is not the most important action or anything, but this caused the most far-reaching change in the most poeple's lives.

the event that the most imppact on me was chapter 34 the dark forest again. Harry comes to the conclusion that he must sacrifice himself in order for voldemort to die and for others to survive.

I think, all the events are far-reaching. For that reason I chose only one and not all, Harry asking the Sorting Hat not to be put in Slytherin. I think, if Harry had been put in Slytherin he would have different attitudes. If the Hat had sorted him into Gryffindor anyway it is the fact Harry chose so fervently to be in Gryffindor which makes him who he became, he is willing to give up everything to ultimately defeat Voldemort.