Seeing Thestrals

[scoutmom21113]

No: HPFGUIDX 72347

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "sing2wine" 
<bonnie.abrams at c...> wrote:
> Please forgive me if this question was asked and I missed it, but 
I 
> haven't posted since OoP. If Harry could hear his mother's death 
> screams in PoA and was obviously present at her death, why 
couldn't 
> he see thestrals until after he saw Cedric killed?
> 
> Bonnie sing2wine

JKR explained it herself during the webcast 
(http://www.msn.co.uk/liveevents/harrypotter/transcript/)
Email: "Harry saw his parents die so why hasn't he been able to see 
the Thestrals before?" 

JK Rowling: I knew I was going to get that one
that is an excellent 
question. And here is the truth. At the end of Goblet of Fire we 
sent Harry home more depressed than he had ever been leaving 
Howarts. I knew that Thestrals were coming, and I can prove that 
because they're in the book I'd produced for Comic Relief 
(UK) "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them".

These are lucky Black Winged Horses. However, if Harry had seen them 
and it had not been explained then it would cheat the reader. So, to 
explain that to myself, I decided you had to have seen the death and 
allowed it to sink in a bit
 slowly
these creatures became solid in 
front of you. So that's how I'm going to sneak past that one. 

Ravenclaw Bookworm