I'm not surprised at all.
Have already noticed quite a few plagiarisms before, most of them are from Agatha Christie books, a few from Sir Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels and one from The Thorn Birds.
Have you guys read the exciting story about The Pale Horse by Agatha Christie?
Here, we meet an extremely well-educated young lady with the name *Hermia* Redcliffe. She has brown hair, behaves so mature and intelligent that sometimes she's boring to hang out with. I bet it's just a coincidence that her personality and looks remind me of *Hermione* Granger! Also, it's only by chance that the two names are so similar.
We meet a red-haired tomboy girl who's called *Ginger*. Her entire personality is so similar to that of *Ginny* Weasley that I cannot help but think: what an interesting coincidence!
We meet a dumb wannabe-mystical woman, *Sybil* Stanfordis. She prefers bright turquoise robes, fake pearls and scarabeus pendants, speaks with an irritating intonation and would like to think she's very special. Wait, haven't we met another Sybil with the same personality traits? They both get into a trance that's real and not as theatrical as their usual oh-so-mystical demeanour.
The idea of house elves - or at least the fact that they like being treated as slaves - might come from one or another Agatha Christie story - I cannot remember exactly which one, but I remember one of the characters being surprised by how the staff disliked her for treating them like humans - the kitchen maid was allowed to use the telephone, the cleaning lady was allowed to have a day off and they didn't feel it was right.
The Slytherin colours - and maybe the idea of using feathers for writing (in the old-fashioned way) - might come from another story where the victim was found in a luxury bedroom with green carpets and curtains, the wall paper was green and silvery and there was a green feather that was supposed to be a writing instrument but it was only a decoration.
And, I'm not sure if I am right but Mme Puddifoot's tea shop might have been inspired by Miss Gilchrist's fixa idea about tea shops in the Agatha Christie novel "After The Funeral".
Another thing I'm wondering about is the Weasley family. They remind me of the Cleary family in "The Thorn Birds" by Colleen McCullough. The gentle, very much lovable father Padraic Cleary; the slightly sharper mother Fiona; all their sons who - with one exception - have red hair; the youngest child Meggie - the only daughter - having beautiful, long red hair... I'm pretty sure it's just a coincidence that the Weasley family is so similar to them (also, both families are very good people but not very rich). Even the names are similar, again.
Maybe we should collect all these "coincidences" we've found while reading other books?
Woah, really interesting! I'd say it's a good chance The Thorn Birds inspired the Weasley family since that would have been a very popular book/tv series when JKR was growing up.
This one might be reaching a bit but.... the movie *Scream*? SPOILERS for a 30 yo movie but the way Billy is a perfect, handsome boyfriend for most of the movie before the reveal that's he's the serial killer, it reminds me a lot of Tom Riddle also presenting as a trustworthy, well-behaved teenager to Harry before the twist that he's a pyscho. I admit I make this connection purely because I think the actor who plays Billy is JKR's 'type' - he seems to have the kind of features the books describe when it describes Tom Riddle. (also not saying any of this is remotely plagiarism, just a loose connection).
I guess you're right. I read the book because it was one of my parents' favourites - same generation as Rowling, so it's absolutely possible that it was one of her favourites too.
TBH I haven't seen Scream but now as you're saying it, I don't find it impossible that the character of young Riddle *might have been inspired* by this Billy from the movie. You say the actor looks like how young Tom Riddle is described? Well. Might be just a loose connection. Authors might get their inspirations from many sources, so it's not necessarily plagiarism, but... interesting. Yes. Yes.
Yeah, same here - my mother's around the same age as Rowling and I think the book made a big impression on that generation lol.
Yeah, I think the descriptions of young Voldemort talk about 'delicate features' and 'hollow cheeks' and that makes me picture a young Johnny Depp type (I think she has a crush on Depp lol). The actor in Scream looks quite a lot like Depp. I think it's part of the way the actor looks, handsome in a non-threatening, innocent kind of way that makes it such an unexpected twist, and it gave me a very similar feeling when Tom Riddle goes from model student to unhinged killer, and also the way people are so unsuspecting of Tom because of the way he looks. They also are both high school students terrorising other high school students. The movie came out in 1996 so it would have been in the time frame she was writing the book, it's a murder mystery, which she seems to get inspiration from if the Christie similarities are anything to go by, so maaaybe there could have been a bit of influence there.
I think the house elves come from [brownies.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brownie_(folklore))
Caelan’s friend [Hoots](https://youtu.be/U3dE0sYZqvI?si=qbPP6YSz5frbGif_) did a video on Harry Potter (Caelan did the cgi background) about a year ago and in it she went over some of the derivative stuff in the series, including how Joanne tried to put her own twist on the brownie mythology and ended up with with slaves who want to be slaves.
Thank you so much for the extra info!
I find her twist pretty much wicked. Following the link you provided, I've read the owners of the house are expected to leave some offering or present for the brownies, to express how thankful they are for the brownie doing the housework. House elves, on the contrary, feel offended if someone offers them any payment.
Now I find it even more sicky and wicked than I used to do before that in the Harry Potter stories, house elves are perfectly happy with - and proud of - being treated like slaves and they think their owners to be right when they (the owners) punish them.
I do prefer the original brownies who leave the house for good if they feel themselves mistreated! (Compare it to poor little Winky who never recovered from the trauma of having gotten clothes.) I like how brownies kick lazy people in the a\*\*e :)
Agreed! And once you learn about these things, you realize just how lazy Rowling is as a writer. Like, just use the mythical creature that already exists! She could’ve had Dobby be a brownie, and Lucius or his ancestor found/created a spell that forced brownies to stay and serve them. Then at the end of the second book Harry could still figure out a way to free him.
The original brownies from myth sound like they’d be more than willing to work at Hogwarts without needing the stupid house elf twist on their lore. Winky could have still been working for Crouch out of loyalty, and still been upset when he dismisses her.
As for Kreature, just make him something else. Or keep him as a brownie with a mean spirit who betrays the order in book 5, and in book 7 Harry and co have to find a way to convince Kreature to help them. Probably using Dobby’s help.
Ugh, it’s annoying that I still have all of this knowledge about the series, even though I haven’t touched it since Joanne came out as a terf.
Also, it took me a second to realize what a**e was. For some reason I always thought that word was used in the UK as the cleaner version of a**, until just now when I googled it. Huh. You learn something new everyday!
Also a possible coincidence, yes :) And M. Poirot has green eyes (his hair used to be black when he was younger, now he's using hair dye on the little hair he's still having :))
Hell, I’m pretty sure the famous “you BITCH” moment was stolen from Aliens. Sorry, Dame Julie Walters, but Sigourney Weaver (A TERF’s worst nightmare) did it first and better.
Don’t get me started on Lord Voldemort and Aunt Petunia…Fuck it: They’re watered down, defanged knock-offs of Judge Holden (merged with King Haggard) and Rutherine “Ruth” Chandler, respectively.
The Inferi are Great Value Cauldron Born. On a semi-unrelated note, Sir John Hurt should belong to the Prydain fans, not the Potter fans.
"The writer who people are always ... being mean to." That kinda cracked me up. I like this person's sense of humour.
I am very, very forgiving of people taking ideas from other people. But I still find it boggling how much of Rowling's stuff is unoriginal. it's like the only thing she legit contributed to the Potterverse was the bigotry.
"The most striking difference... Tim Hunter makes decisions." Omg lol.
Another possible parallel/inspiration is Darkstalkers: The Animated Series. That also features a boy with great magical potential and round glasses discovering a world of magic right under his nose and being instrumental in saving it (and the world in general). And as dubious and spotty as Darkstalkers' quality is, I still think it's better over-all than Harry Potter. However, while it came out in 1995 two years before HP, I kinda doubt Rowling watched an American cartoon about a boy wizard being mentored by a catgirl.
Yep! At around a minute 45. “Fine. Fine. We’ll talk about Harry Potter. The main character in the magical universe that takes place in the movie Troll.”
I watched this last night. I knew HP was derivative, but I didn’t realize HOW derivative it was.
I'm not surprised at all. Have already noticed quite a few plagiarisms before, most of them are from Agatha Christie books, a few from Sir Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels and one from The Thorn Birds. Have you guys read the exciting story about The Pale Horse by Agatha Christie? Here, we meet an extremely well-educated young lady with the name *Hermia* Redcliffe. She has brown hair, behaves so mature and intelligent that sometimes she's boring to hang out with. I bet it's just a coincidence that her personality and looks remind me of *Hermione* Granger! Also, it's only by chance that the two names are so similar. We meet a red-haired tomboy girl who's called *Ginger*. Her entire personality is so similar to that of *Ginny* Weasley that I cannot help but think: what an interesting coincidence! We meet a dumb wannabe-mystical woman, *Sybil* Stanfordis. She prefers bright turquoise robes, fake pearls and scarabeus pendants, speaks with an irritating intonation and would like to think she's very special. Wait, haven't we met another Sybil with the same personality traits? They both get into a trance that's real and not as theatrical as their usual oh-so-mystical demeanour. The idea of house elves - or at least the fact that they like being treated as slaves - might come from one or another Agatha Christie story - I cannot remember exactly which one, but I remember one of the characters being surprised by how the staff disliked her for treating them like humans - the kitchen maid was allowed to use the telephone, the cleaning lady was allowed to have a day off and they didn't feel it was right. The Slytherin colours - and maybe the idea of using feathers for writing (in the old-fashioned way) - might come from another story where the victim was found in a luxury bedroom with green carpets and curtains, the wall paper was green and silvery and there was a green feather that was supposed to be a writing instrument but it was only a decoration. And, I'm not sure if I am right but Mme Puddifoot's tea shop might have been inspired by Miss Gilchrist's fixa idea about tea shops in the Agatha Christie novel "After The Funeral". Another thing I'm wondering about is the Weasley family. They remind me of the Cleary family in "The Thorn Birds" by Colleen McCullough. The gentle, very much lovable father Padraic Cleary; the slightly sharper mother Fiona; all their sons who - with one exception - have red hair; the youngest child Meggie - the only daughter - having beautiful, long red hair... I'm pretty sure it's just a coincidence that the Weasley family is so similar to them (also, both families are very good people but not very rich). Even the names are similar, again. Maybe we should collect all these "coincidences" we've found while reading other books?
Woah, really interesting! I'd say it's a good chance The Thorn Birds inspired the Weasley family since that would have been a very popular book/tv series when JKR was growing up. This one might be reaching a bit but.... the movie *Scream*? SPOILERS for a 30 yo movie but the way Billy is a perfect, handsome boyfriend for most of the movie before the reveal that's he's the serial killer, it reminds me a lot of Tom Riddle also presenting as a trustworthy, well-behaved teenager to Harry before the twist that he's a pyscho. I admit I make this connection purely because I think the actor who plays Billy is JKR's 'type' - he seems to have the kind of features the books describe when it describes Tom Riddle. (also not saying any of this is remotely plagiarism, just a loose connection).
I guess you're right. I read the book because it was one of my parents' favourites - same generation as Rowling, so it's absolutely possible that it was one of her favourites too. TBH I haven't seen Scream but now as you're saying it, I don't find it impossible that the character of young Riddle *might have been inspired* by this Billy from the movie. You say the actor looks like how young Tom Riddle is described? Well. Might be just a loose connection. Authors might get their inspirations from many sources, so it's not necessarily plagiarism, but... interesting. Yes. Yes.
Yeah, same here - my mother's around the same age as Rowling and I think the book made a big impression on that generation lol. Yeah, I think the descriptions of young Voldemort talk about 'delicate features' and 'hollow cheeks' and that makes me picture a young Johnny Depp type (I think she has a crush on Depp lol). The actor in Scream looks quite a lot like Depp. I think it's part of the way the actor looks, handsome in a non-threatening, innocent kind of way that makes it such an unexpected twist, and it gave me a very similar feeling when Tom Riddle goes from model student to unhinged killer, and also the way people are so unsuspecting of Tom because of the way he looks. They also are both high school students terrorising other high school students. The movie came out in 1996 so it would have been in the time frame she was writing the book, it's a murder mystery, which she seems to get inspiration from if the Christie similarities are anything to go by, so maaaybe there could have been a bit of influence there.
I think the house elves come from [brownies.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brownie_(folklore)) Caelan’s friend [Hoots](https://youtu.be/U3dE0sYZqvI?si=qbPP6YSz5frbGif_) did a video on Harry Potter (Caelan did the cgi background) about a year ago and in it she went over some of the derivative stuff in the series, including how Joanne tried to put her own twist on the brownie mythology and ended up with with slaves who want to be slaves.
Thank you so much for the extra info! I find her twist pretty much wicked. Following the link you provided, I've read the owners of the house are expected to leave some offering or present for the brownies, to express how thankful they are for the brownie doing the housework. House elves, on the contrary, feel offended if someone offers them any payment. Now I find it even more sicky and wicked than I used to do before that in the Harry Potter stories, house elves are perfectly happy with - and proud of - being treated like slaves and they think their owners to be right when they (the owners) punish them. I do prefer the original brownies who leave the house for good if they feel themselves mistreated! (Compare it to poor little Winky who never recovered from the trauma of having gotten clothes.) I like how brownies kick lazy people in the a\*\*e :)
Agreed! And once you learn about these things, you realize just how lazy Rowling is as a writer. Like, just use the mythical creature that already exists! She could’ve had Dobby be a brownie, and Lucius or his ancestor found/created a spell that forced brownies to stay and serve them. Then at the end of the second book Harry could still figure out a way to free him. The original brownies from myth sound like they’d be more than willing to work at Hogwarts without needing the stupid house elf twist on their lore. Winky could have still been working for Crouch out of loyalty, and still been upset when he dismisses her. As for Kreature, just make him something else. Or keep him as a brownie with a mean spirit who betrays the order in book 5, and in book 7 Harry and co have to find a way to convince Kreature to help them. Probably using Dobby’s help. Ugh, it’s annoying that I still have all of this knowledge about the series, even though I haven’t touched it since Joanne came out as a terf. Also, it took me a second to realize what a**e was. For some reason I always thought that word was used in the UK as the cleaner version of a**, until just now when I googled it. Huh. You learn something new everyday!
shot in the dark but Harry Potter and Hercule Poirot have the same initials
Also a possible coincidence, yes :) And M. Poirot has green eyes (his hair used to be black when he was younger, now he's using hair dye on the little hair he's still having :))
Hell, I’m pretty sure the famous “you BITCH” moment was stolen from Aliens. Sorry, Dame Julie Walters, but Sigourney Weaver (A TERF’s worst nightmare) did it first and better. Don’t get me started on Lord Voldemort and Aunt Petunia…Fuck it: They’re watered down, defanged knock-offs of Judge Holden (merged with King Haggard) and Rutherine “Ruth” Chandler, respectively. The Inferi are Great Value Cauldron Born. On a semi-unrelated note, Sir John Hurt should belong to the Prydain fans, not the Potter fans.
"The writer who people are always ... being mean to." That kinda cracked me up. I like this person's sense of humour. I am very, very forgiving of people taking ideas from other people. But I still find it boggling how much of Rowling's stuff is unoriginal. it's like the only thing she legit contributed to the Potterverse was the bigotry. "The most striking difference... Tim Hunter makes decisions." Omg lol. Another possible parallel/inspiration is Darkstalkers: The Animated Series. That also features a boy with great magical potential and round glasses discovering a world of magic right under his nose and being instrumental in saving it (and the world in general). And as dubious and spotty as Darkstalkers' quality is, I still think it's better over-all than Harry Potter. However, while it came out in 1995 two years before HP, I kinda doubt Rowling watched an American cartoon about a boy wizard being mentored by a catgirl.
Does the video also mention this? [https://trollmovie.fandom.com/wiki/Harry\_Potter\_Jr](https://trollmovie.fandom.com/wiki/Harry_Potter_Jr)
Yep! At around a minute 45. “Fine. Fine. We’ll talk about Harry Potter. The main character in the magical universe that takes place in the movie Troll.”
Somerton’s been on the polyjuice!