Harry Potter: 5 Details '90s Kids Missed That Adults Understand Better

5 Harry Potter Details That Went Way Over '90s Kids Heads By  Angel Shaw Published 34 minutes ago Angel Shaw is a Lead Writer and Peer Mentor on ScreenRant's New TV team, covering new-release TV shows across all major streaming platforms. She has been a writer with ScreenRant since 2022 and specializes in Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, and fantasy.  Angel holds a bachelor's degree in language interpreting and is passionate about all things culture and communication—especially in how it relates to popular media throughout history (from Shakespeare to Friends to Game of Thrones). Sign in to your ScreenRant account Summary Generate a summary of this story follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Thread Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap

Back when the Harry Potter books were first released, '90s kids were their target audience, but aspects of this story went straight over our heads. The longevity of the Harry Potter books proves that, though technically children's stories, there's a great deal that adults can enjoy as well. As '90s kids, we have had the joy of experiencing this series through multiple perspectives, first as children and then as adults.

Naturally, our understanding of Harry Potter was bound to change as we grew up. As kids, some of the stories and details were beyond our notice. This could be because the stories were hidden between the lines, or the themes were too mature for us to comprehend. As adults, us '90s kids can more easily wrap our minds around the complexity and depth of the Harry Potter books while reading through them again.

Molly Weasley’s Whole Family Died In The First Wizarding War

An image of Arthur and Molly Weasley standing together in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

The Harry Potter books never overtly dived into Molly Weasley's backstory. However, for those who know how to pay attention, the tragedies this character faced in her past become clear. What would have been more evident to young readers is that Molly was terrified of losing Arthur, their children, or Harry in the Second Wizarding War. What we might not have noticed, however, is that Molly had an unfortunate experience in losing everyone she loved.

In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Bad-Eye Moody passively mentioned that two brothers, Fabian and Gideon Prewett, were murdered by Death Eaters. This is the second time in the series we heard this surname mentioned, though young readers might not have noticed it. Back in Philosopher's Stone, Hagrid told Harry that Voldemort had murdered "the Prewetts."

Through this information, we can assume that Death Eaters murdered the Prewett brothers, while Voldemort himself killed their parents. What becomes even more noteworthy is in Deathly Hallows, when Molly gifts Harry a golden watch that had belonged to her brother Fabian. If there was any doubt that this was Fabian Prewett, it was dismissed in Deathly Hallows' epilogue, when Harry "checked the battered old watch that had once been Fabian Prewett's."

Though it's never overtly stated, there are significant hints that Fabian and Gideon were twins, which is why Molly used their initials when she named Fred and George.

Voldemort’s Temporary Body Has A Truly Disturbing Origin

Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) putting his hands to his head in Harry Potter.

After Voldemort's spell backfired and destroyed his body, the Dark Lord's central piece of soul remained tethered to the living world thanks to his Horcruxes. What Voldemort didn't anticipate, however, was that none of his loyal followers would find him until over a decade later. During that time, Harry Potter's villain existed as a dark spectre, desperately seeking a way to regain a physical form.

Voldemort could possess animals and people, but he found that his soul would essentially cause them to rot from the inside out. He spent years jumping from host to host, including Professor Quirrell, until Peter Pettigrew finally found him in Albania. It was then that, through some form of dark magic, Voldemort instructed Wormtail in how to create a more sustainable, though still temporary, body.

It was as though Wormtail had flipped over a stone and revealed something ugly, slimy, and blind — but worse, a hundred times worse. The thing Wormtail had been carrying had the shape of a crouched human child, except that Harry had never seen anything less like a child. It was hairless and scaly - looking, a dark, raw, reddish black. Its arms and legs were thin and feeble, and its face — no child alive ever had a face like that — flat and snakelike, with gleaming red eyes.

Precisely how Wormtail created this body for Voldemort is something JK Rowling has said that she will never reveal. It was too disturbing for a children's book series. However, adult readers can assume that this form was some dark offspring, potentially from the snake Nagini. Of course, it could also be so much worse than that.

The Centaurs Knew All Along That Harry Would Die In The Forbidden Forest

The big twist of the Harry Potter series is that Harry was destined to be killed by Lord Voldemort. It was through this that the Dark Lord's piece of soul within Harry would be destroyed, thus allowing the villain himself to die. Of course, things worked out for the better, since the bit of Harry's blood that Voldemort used to make a new body for himself tethered him to life, ensuring his survival and the Dark Lord's downfall.

This was Harry and Voldemort's destiny, and even Dumbledore didn't know, during the events of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, how it would turn out. However, when rereading the first Harry Potter books as an adult, we see that the centaurs of the Forbidden Forest had seen in the stars that Harry had a particular destiny within those trees:

“Do you realize who this is?” said Firenze. “This is the Potter boy. The quicker he leaves this forest, the better.”

“What have you been telling him?” growled Bane. “Remember, Firenze, we are sworn not to set ourselves against the heavens. Have we not read what is to come in the movements of the planets?”

Ronan pawed the ground nervously. “I’m sure Firenze thought he was acting for the best,” he said in his gloomy voice.

Bane kicked his back legs in anger.

“For the best! What is that to do with us? Centaurs are concerned with what has been foretold! It is not our business to run around like donkeys after stray humans in our forest!”

Firenze went on to remind Bane of what was in the forest. He knew that Voldemort had taken refuge in the trees, and when he saw Harry was in the Forbidden Forest too, he knew he had to get the boy out of there. Bane's comments about how the centaurs had already seen what was to happen in the stars and would not interfere indicate that they were aware that Voldemort would kill Harry in the forest. They clearly just didn't know when.

The centaurs only got involved in the war between Voldemort and the wizards after Hagrid screamed at them about Harry's death in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It was then that the centaurs knew destiny had played out.

Voldemort Very Likely Found Gryffindor’s Sword Before Harry

Voldemort had an affinity for artifacts belonging to the Hogwarts founders. He had managed to get his hands on Slytherin's locket, Hufflepuff's cup, and Ravenclaw's diadem and turn them all into Horcruxes. However, Dumbledore theorized that the Dark Lord had never managed to turn an item belonging to Gryffindor into a Horcrux, since the only known such object was the sword of Gryffindor, which had presented itself to Harry in Chamber of Secrets.

However, there are hints throughout the story that Voldemort had successfully found the sword at one point, though this fact would have gone over the heads of young readers. Dumbledore told Harry in Half-Blood Prince that, when Voldemort turned up in Godric's Hollow that fateful Halloween night, he had intended to use Harry's murder to create his sixth and final Horcrux. This means he would have had some item on his person:

"If my calculations are correct, Voldemort was still at least one Horcrux short of his goal of six when he entered your parents’ house with the intention of killing you. He seems to have reserved the process of making Horcruxes for particularly significant deaths. You would certainly have been that. He believed that in killing you, he was destroying the danger the prophecy had outlined. He believed he was making himself invincible. I am sure that he was intending to make his final Horcrux with your death."

Dumbledore never mentioned what sort of item Voldemort intended to turn into a Horcrux after Harry's murder. However, all signs point to it being the sword of Gryffindor. As stated in the quote above, the Dark Lord believed that Harry's death would officially make him invincible. As the heir of Slytherin, he would have seen the act of turning the sword of Gryffindor into his final Horcrux, all while in Godric's Hollow, as deeply poetic. It would essentially be a posthumous victory for Salazar Slythin over his old rival. The final proof that this is true is in the sword's ability to vanish and reappear at will. It would have disappeared when Voldemort's body was destroyed, reappearing to Harry years later in Chamber of Secrets.

Voldemort failing to make the Sword of Gryffindor into a Horcrux is all the more ironic when considering this item became Harry's tool for destroying the villain's other fragments of soul.

The Whole Story Of Harry Potter Is A Love Letter To Mothers

'90s kids who grew up to be parents may find new meaning in the Harry Potter books when rereading them as adults. Back in those days, this was a story about children, for children. The adults in the story were a bit ridiculous—always a bit oblivious of everything the Golden Trio were doing, and incompetent compared to Harry Potter's young heroes. However, a look at the overarching themes in this story reveals so much more.

It got a bit tiring to hear time and time again that Lily's love was why Harry was able to save the day. It felt like a somewhat overly simple answer. However, a more mature understanding of the story makes it clear that the Harry Potter series comes from the perspective of motherhood. It's this idea of "I love my children so much that it feels like literal magic."

Lily's profound love for Harry and attempts to protect him reverberated throughout the world of Harry Potter​​​​​, and it made the boy essentially invincible. The whole idea of the series is that this is not exclusive to the magical, fictional world set within these books. A mother's love guarding the hearts of her children is the realest sort of magic we have.

Harry Potter Created by J.K. Rowling First Film Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone First TV Show Harry Potter Cast Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Tom Felton, Alan Rickman, Matthew Lewis, Bonnie Wright, Evanna Lynch, Maggie Smith, Michael Gambon, Richard Harris, Ralph Fiennes, Helena Bonham Carter, Alfred Enoch, Harry Melling, Gary Oldman, Robert Pattinson, Warwick Davis, Oliver Phelps, James Phelps, David Bradley, David Thewlis, Katie Leung, Jason Isaacs, Imelda Staunton, David Tennant, Jamie Campbell Bower, Timothy Spall, Robbie Coltrane, Eddie Redmayne, Jude Law, Katherine Waterston, Ezra Miller, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, Johnny Depp, Mads Mikkelsen TV Show(s) Harry Potter Movie(s) Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore

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