8 Insanely Cool Easter Eggs Hidden in Harry Potter Prove JKR is Cleverer Than You Ever Imagined

In a world as vast and magical as Harry Potter's, there's gonna be a few things that go over even the smartest heads on the first read through.
However, those clever folks at Quora picked up on some super interesting little hidden nuggets - which I don't feel TOO bad for missing seeing as I was, like, 12 at the time - and it's great to understand more about J.K. Rowling's sneaky genius.
So many things to be learned from Harry Potter, after all this time...

1. Murdering Myrtle

As well as being a bit of a pervert, Myrtle is also very much dead. The reason for this deadness was the subject of speculation in Book 2, when Ron wonders what Tom Riddle did to get his name put on a trophy:

'Could've been anything' said Ron. 'Maybe he got thirty O.W.L.s or saved a teacher from the giant squid. Maybe he murdered Myrtle; that would've done everyone a favor...'

In the innocent days of Book 2 this was just a joke... but now we know that Voldemort really did kill Myrtle. Well played, Rowling!

 

2. Snitch Symbolism

The inscription on the snitch 'I open at the close' provides a nice framework for the Harry Potter books. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone was published in 1998 - the year of the finale, the Battle of Hogwarts. The entire Potterverse 'opens at the close.'

3. Trelawney: Crazy but Correct

Harry, Ron and Hermione laugh at Trelawney when she takes a stab at guessing when Harry was born - in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban:

'I think I am right in saying, my dear, that you were born in midwinter?'

'No, I was born in July.'

However, Voldemort WAS born in midwinter, on December 31st. Professor Trelawney sensed the horcrux part of Voldemort within Harry, and therefore deduced his birth date correctly.

4. Heterogenous Horcruxes

Every single one of Voldemort's horcruxes are destroyed by a different person:
1. Riddle's diary - Harry with the Basilisk Fang
2. Gaunt's Ring - Dumbledore with the Sword of Gryffindor
3. Slytherin's Locket - Ron with the Sword of Gryffindor
4. Hufflepuff's Cup - Hermione with the Basilisk Fang
5. Ravenclaw's Diadem - Crabbe with Fiendfyre
6. Horcrux inside Harry - Voldemort with Avada Kedavra
7. Nagini - Neville with the Sword of Gryffindor
I realize that list sounds like a bizarre game of Harry Potter Clue? but it's interesting to think about!

5. Dead Hit!

Did you ever notice the fact that Fred & George Weasley actually HIT VOLDEMORT IN THE FACE with snowballs?

6. Lucky 13

In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Prof. Trelawney won't sit at the table with 12 other people because the first to rise would be the first to die. Later, Sirius is the first to rise at a table of 13 in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and Lupin leaves the table before the other 12 at The Burrow.

7. Friends in Low Places

When Voldemort is raging about Dumbledore's cleverness re: The Hog's Head - Harry sees it in the headmaster's memory in Book 6 - we hear this interchange:

'You are as omniscient as ever, Dumbledore.'

'No, no. Merely friendly with the local barmen.' replies Dumbledore.

What we didn't know at the time is that the barman was more than friends with Dumbledore - he was actually his brother, Aberforth.

8. Herbal Heartbreak

OK, this one's a doozy. In the first potions class in Book 1, Snape barks at Harry:

Potter! What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?

Now, if you look up the meanings of these plants in The Victorian Language of Flowers, asphodel is a LILY - a lily that says 'my regrets follow you to the grave.' Wormwood symbolizes absence and sorrow.
Snape is saying 'I bitterly regret Lily's death.'

by Jancy Richardson  (moviepilot.com)