So my question is Why does Harry only hear his mothers death when the dementors get to close to him?Why does he not hear the whole thing??




lupinlover97

James was in another room when he was killed, so while they heard bangs and muffled noises, he wouldn't have heard him talking as clearly as Lily was who was holding him. When Harry hears it, he does hear the noises of James' fight before Lily has her confrontation.

Ohhh! Thanks! I'm still a little confused...

Harry would have heard his mothers death because she was right next to him and James was downstairs but Harry vaguely remembers background noises, like his dad shouting.

But in the book it never says that... (I dont think so...)

It did say it in atleast one of the books, Prisoner of Azkaban definately, and possibly another too... Philosopher's Stone I think.

Do you know what chapter? im still a little confused.

I'm confused too. But I agree with the others that it was because his dad was somewhere else. Or maybe it's just because his mom screaming was the most horrible sound out of that night. because that would cause harry the most pain to hear.

The whole story is in the 7th book....
I'm not going to spoil it for you though if you haven't read it....

Look, Harry was in his mother's arms when Voldemort came to their house. And he heard what Lily heard that night. But he was only one year, so he can't remember it.
But when the Dementors comes, and we have to experience the worst things that's happened in our lives, Harry hears the moment his parents got killed. 'Cause he was with them that night, but couldn't remember it. And he was in his mother's arms, so he heard only her begging Voldemort to kill her instead. That's why he can't hear James, he's down in the hall, and not with Lily and him.

But still he still should hear his father die since well he's his dad!

Harry may only remember hearing his mother scream because his father may not have screamed! If they had just crept up on James it would have been over pretty quickly and James may have thought that if he dies they might have left Lily and Harry alone, although that's not what the death eaters and dark lord thought so Harry only heard his mother's scream because his father didnt scream.

He wasn't in his mother's arms. She took him upstairs and put him in his cot, so he didn't see her die or anything, that's why he didn't see the Thestrals 'till Cedric.

And about the whole topic:
James was downstairs so Harry didn't see or hear him die. I doubt very much that James would've screamed like Lily did.

He was downstairs when his father was killed upstaris.
He was with his mother when she died so obviously he heard her and not his father.

well he might be able to remember it he was watching his mother,eyes on her, he cold see her when she was being killed but james was was in another room and Harry coldnt see hem

Harry was just a baby when that tragic incident had happened but he saw the death of his mother so probably that's the reason why Harry hears his Mother's death.

He couldn't have seen his mother's death, numphadora_nat, at most he would have heard it - which he did.

If he had actually seen it, he would have seen the Thestrals at Hogwarts from his first day there, like Neville or Luna. Instead, he only saw the creatures after witnessing Sirius' death.

he was upstairs before his father got killed and couldn't have heard it when it happened and with Lily, he didn't see it happen he just heard it.

James doesn't scream as he dies, he knows he is going to die, he is just trying to make some time for Lilly. Whereas Lilly finds herself prisioner of her own house, she is stress, she knows Voldemort is going to kill Harry. She prefers to die but she is still very stress so she screams next to Harry who hears it all.

In PoA (I think when he's first learning to repel dementors with Lupin), he does hear a bit of his father:

White fog obscured his senses....big blurred shapes were moving around him....then came a new voice, a man's voice, shouting, panicking --
'Lily, take Harry and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off --'
The sounds of someone stumbling from a room -- a door bursting open -- a cackle of high-pitched laughter --

It's page 178 in the Brit version. And Harry only sees thestrals after Cedric's death because according to JK even if he had witnessed his parents deaths as a baby, you must be able to comprehend what you have seen. That's why Harry doesn`t see thestrals at the end of book four right after Cedric`s death. He must process it first, as a baby that would be a difficult feat.

I fully agree with remus black!!!!!!

Besides the fact that Harry was in another room when James died, Lily sacrificed herself for Harry. That could be another reason why he only heard her.

Harry only hears his mother's death because his mother was in the room with him when she died. James was killed in another room, so Harry likely didn't hear his death. Harry also saw his mother getting killed. So that most likely affected him in a very profound way. It is probably why he faints whenever a dementor gets near enough to him to suck his happy thoughts out--he has to relive his mother's horrifying death over and over.

he was in the other room with lily and didnt hear his fathers death.....but he witnessed his mothers so that is what he remembrers the most

Yes they are true. James was in other room only lily was near Harry thats y he hears her voice.