Hey, brother!

The festral problem.

It has plagued the Harry Potter fandom for years, and if you don't know what we're

talking about, it has to do with why and when and how Harry can begin to see the festrals.

I can see them too.

You're just as sane as I am.

Festrals as a reminder are the winged black horses that live in the forbidden forest and pull the carriages up to the school and which remain invisible until you have witnessed death.

And some people might say that Harry should have been able to see them the entire time because he was present for the death of his mother as a baby and even has vague memories of the event. Then some others might say that those were too vague and without context, but after the Dementor showed up in Pristair of Ascaband, he should be able to see them then because the memories were clearer and stronger. The don't have you started on like Coral's death in Philosopher Stone, like he was certainly there for that death, wasn't he?

But the real issue and the one that has definitely caused the most amount of speculation comes at the end of Goblet of Fire in the beginning of Order of the Phoenix.

Because upon arriving to school in Harry's fifth year, he can at long last see the Festrules and is confused by the mystery of them for a good portion of the year.

There's nothing

air, Harry. They're pulling themselves like always. Oh, Hermione. You're wrong. They're

not pulling themselves, right? Right. Right. They're festrals, right? Yeah. Am I remembering it correctly?

I'm messing with you.

He-he-he-he. Which, like, there's no problem, right? Like, he saw Cedric die at the end of Goblet of Fire. And yes, now we have a very obvious case of Harry definitely seeing someone die, so the festrels should be visible. The issue though is this passage here at the end of Goblet of Fire, which also takes place after Cedric's death. Hermione turned away, smiling at the horseless carriages that were now trundling toward them up the drive, as Crumb, looking surprised but gratified, signed a fragment of parchment for Ron. Why can't you see the horses yet, Harry? Like, what's the deal? Well, at one last, I think we've finally discovered the true root of the problem and exactly why and how this discrepancy truly exists.

Hey, brother!

Okay, so let's tackle the elephants in the room.

First things, Pronto, because I know we're not the first to tackle this question.

Heck, I'm not even sure that this is even the first time we've tackled this particular

question on this channel.

We've all got some variation of an answer inside of our heads.

Of course, it's happening inside your head, Harry.

...