Seeing is believing

[prillalar]

The hp100 challenge this week is Thestrals. And while I was trying to think up a good idea for my entry, I got to wondering about them.

Hermione says, so we know it must be true, "The only people who can see Thestrals are people who have seen death." It seems from Harry's experience that you've got to see another human being die in front of you. Killing the memory of Tom Riddle isn't enough to do it for him.

Thestrals also have a keen sense of direction. Basically, you just need to tell them where you want to go and they'll take you there.

The like blood and raw meat. Oh, and they're great bony reptilian winged horses.

Some questions:

• What enables you to actually see the Thestrals? Is it some change in your vision? Are there other things you can see now too? Death-vision. Or does the death just change something in your aura that the Thestrals can sense and so they make themselves visible to you?
  
  
• Can Muggles see Thestrals?
  
  
• Why can't Harry see the Thestrals at the end of GoF? There's a scene where they all see the "horseless carriages". (OK, I know the answer to this one is that it's a big continuity error.)
  
  
• Why can't Harry see the Thestrals from the very beginning? Judging from his experience with the dementors in PoA, where he heard his mother pleading with Voldemort, he was right there when his mother was murdered by Voldemort. However, I suppose he could have heard the exchange from an adjoining room.
  
  
• How does a Thestral know where to go when you give it a London street address, like Harry does? It's a place Harry's been before, so perhaps it can somehow read the necessary info from his mind. But Hagrid says, "Once they're tamed, like this lot, yeh'll never be lost again. 'Mazin' sense o' direction, jus' tell 'em where yeh want ter go."
  
  
• Why are their names always capitalized?

Comments

[jacquez.livejournal.com]

What enables you to actually see the Thestrals?

My guess is that the process of coping with seeing a death changes something in the way your mind processes, and that change is what makes it possible to see them.

Can Muggles see Thestrals?

Possibly, though I'd guess they rarely run into them.

Why can't Harry see the Thestrals at the end of GoF? There's a scene where they all see the "horseless carriages".

See above answer about processing the death - I don't think Harry had gone through enough coping with Cedric's death - it was too recent, and the change wasn't complete yet.

Why can't Harry see the Thestrals from the very beginning?

He probably didn't actually see his mother die. For example, she might have been holding him and his eyes could have been shielded. For another, he might have been too young to understand her death (he was definitely too young to consciously remember it) and therefore to deal with it in a way that would change his brain to be able to understand thestrals.

How does a Thestral know where to go when you give it a London street address, like Harry does?

Thestral magic - inherent, like a phoenix rising from the ashes.

Why are their names always capitalized?

Real answer - Rowling is too damn fond of capitals.

Fake answer - well....er...*whistles innocently*

[prillalar]

See above answer about processing the death - I don't think Harry had gone through enough coping with Cedric's death - it was too recent, and the change wasn't complete yet.

So, then, someone could see death, but so long as they hadn't entirely processed it -- perhaps by being in denial -- they still wouldn't see the Thestrals. Hrm.