Archive of Riddles

mona amon - Jul 16, 2008 2:56 am (#1291 of 2993)
Edited Jul 16, 2008 4:52 am

A most intriguing riddle, Freshwater! What on earth can it be???

EDIT: Oh, is it the number of letters that Harry received from Hogwarts before he knew he was a wizard? I was just re-reading PS for the read-along!

(NOTE: This is the riddle-solver’s explanation for the answer since the riddle-creator did not post an explanation.)

mona amon - Jul 17, 2008 10:35 am (#1316 of 2993)
Edited Jul 17, 2008 11:38 am

Ha, you got it Pesky! The answer to my riddle is The Invisible Book of Invisibility.

I practice what I preach
The book is about invisibility, and is itself invisible.

I am what I teach
Same as above.

impossible to find
At Flourish and Blotts they bought 200 copies of the book, and never saw them again!

Difficult to bind
I'm assuming that it would have been rather difficult to bind a book that you cannot see.

Looking forward to the next Pesky riddle!

PeskyPixie - Jul 23, 2008 1:38 pm (#1452 of 2993)
Edited Jul 23, 2008 2:44 pm

Julia put the two clues together and arrived at the correct solution ... Bathildagini!

I admit defeat to the Gryffindor as my riddle was nowhere near as pesky as her previous one!

I Am Ancient, I Am Old =>Nagini is a member of the 'ancient' race of snakes known as Nagas. Bathilda is just plain 'old'.

I Am Silver, I Am Gold =>'Silver' refers to Nagini's Slytherin connection (both as a snake and Riddle's pet), 'Gold' refers to Bathilda's ties to Gryffindor (she resides in 'Godric's Hollow').

I Am Faithful, I Am True =>Nagini is a very faithful and true pet. Bathilda also seems to fit this definition from what little we know of her: she keeps Dumbledore's secrets about Grindelwald until she's 'ga-ga', she appears to be in on the Potters' Fidelius Charm, Harry instinctively trusts her enough to believe that Gryffindor's sword is with her.

Call For Help, I'll Come To You =>Harry calls out to Bathilda for help and Nagini answers this call readily.
Hint 1: In essence, divided. =>Bathildagini exists as one being, but Bathilda and Nagini are still distinct within it.

Hint 2: A noble lady in a tattered gown. =>In mythology a Nagini is a royal female snake. This Nagini 'wears' a corpse. Sorry, I know it's rather gruesome.

Congratulations, Julia! The riddle goblet passes over to you!

Julia H. - Jul 27, 2008 11:34 am (#1555 of 2993)
Edited Jul 27, 2008 1:08 pm

Yes, Anna, congratulations! The riddle is solved! (What a relief! I can leave tomorrow. ) The answer is the book-covered secret door (or bookcase) hiding the secret staircase in Spinner's End.

Here is the explanation:

Knowledge inside
The knowledge is in the books.

a way behind
The secret staircase behind the books leading to Wormtail's room .

In front of me, I came to find
Here comes a description of the "Spinner's End" scene, the other side of the door:

Secrets and lies
They talk about a secret plan, Snape has his secrets as well and he tells a series of lies to Bellatrix.

Wherefores and whys
Lots of "whys" are asked (by Bellatrix and Narcissa - "Why Draco?") and answered (by Snape).

Darkness and light
Reference to the appearance of the two sisters, the dark one and the fair one.

Despair and plight.
Narcissa's despair and plight.

Who or what am I? - The book-covered secret door.

Hint 1: The way leads upwards.
The stairs behind the door/books go upwards.

Hint 2: A rodent on the way.
Wormtail listening behind the door.

Well done, Anna! The next riddle is yours.

Anna L. Black - Jul 28, 2008 10:27 pm (#1601 of 2993)
Edited Jul 28, 2008 11:28 pm

It is not the Deathday cake, but freshwater has it - it is the Weasleys' "ghoul in pajamas"!

Surely, this is not a treat,
The ghoul was supposed to trick those who'd come looking for Ron (and "trick" is surely not a treat )

I will scare all those I meet.
as he supposedly has spattergroit

While they stay away I will
Keep my purpose, never ill.
he's supposed to scare them all away, so they won't look more closely, but he's not actually sick

The riddle is yours, freshwater

freshwater - Jul 29, 2008 5:44 pm (#1633 of 2993)
Edited Jul 29, 2008 6:50 pm

I agree with megfox: your answer makes a lot of sense, PatPat...because you are exactly right! The riddle task is now yours.

Made for the earth and the skies,
part eagle, part horse.

Color of fog with sun in my eyes.
Buckbeak was grey with orange eyes.

Proud, yet pride I despise.
hippogriffs are easily offended, particularly by arrogance or a lack of respect in those who approach them.

I may have passed before your eyes,
Unseen.
owners of hippogriffs are required to keep them under Disillusionment Charms to prevent their being seen by Muggles.

Three homes I've had.
the Forbidden Forest/Hagrid, the cave w/Sirius, #12 Grimmauld Place.

Three adventures: one sad, one glad, one mad.
leaving w/Sirius, giving Harry a ride, slashing Draco.

Creature, beware my disdainful stare.
Kreacher injured Buckbeak to occupy Sirius in OotP.

PatPat - Aug 4, 2008 1:28 pm (#1727 of 2993)
Edited Aug 4, 2008 2:36 pm

I thought someone might get it after that last hint. Julia (and Pesky), it is the Elixir to induce Euphoria. Well done!

And then there were three
The day Harry concocted the Euphoria potion there were only three students in class because the rest were taking their apparition test.

when he chose me.
Harry flipped through the potions book and chose Euphoria as he felt it satisfied Slughorn's requirement of something "amusing" and also might put him in a good mood so he could retrieve the memory.

An aid in his plight?
Harry was hoping the potion would help him retrieve Slughorn's memory.

The color of light.
The potion is described as "sunshine yellow", therefore the color of sunlight.

A laugh and a smile
It is meant to induce Euphoria!

and maybe beguile.
Harry was hoping it would help him trick Slughorn into giving up the memory.

Hint 1: Help from me?
But fled did he. When Harry tried to use the potion to retrieve the memory, Slughorn "hurried away as fast as he could."

Hint 2: I can, you know, be used for fun
But, also, we hope, to get the job done. Again, it is meant to induce euphoria, but Harry wanted to use it to help him in his assignment.

Hint 3: Help he had
to compose me.
Aromatic I am.
Brilliant? is he. Harry, of course, used the Half-Blood Prince's Potions book to make the potion. It smelled like peppermint and Slughorn felt this was brilliant. But, of course, it wasn't Harry's brilliance. It was Snape's!

Well done, Julia! Next riddle is yours.

Julia H. - Aug 5, 2008 7:54 am (#1745 of 2993)
Edited Aug 5, 2008 8:56 am

Hah! That was a short-lived riddle! But of course ... Dryleaves has done it again! The answer is indeed Snape's eyes. Well done! In case anyone needs an explanation, here it is:

Entering without a door
Legilimency.

Made of ice? Not quite.
Snape's eyes are described as cold (even though they are not exactly made of ice).

Seeing little, seeing more
In some ways, Snape sees too little, especially where Harry is concerned, he cannot see Harry for what he is. In other ways, he can see more than most people (legilimency again).

And think of the night.
Snape's eyes are dark.

I like PAH's "wrong" guess because it points out the similarity between the dark, icy lake and Snape's dark, cold eyes and indeed: Snape is watching Harry while Harry is diving into the lake to find the means of destroying Voldemort's soul bits; then later, when they meet face to face, Harry looks into Snape's eyes and afterwards dives into his memories and finds out the ultimate way of defeating Voldemort. Symbols, symbols...

Congratulations, Dryleaves, I am looking forward to your next riddle!

Dryleaves - Aug 6, 2008 12:29 pm (#1769 of 2993)

Then the riddle: The answer is not the Knight Bus, not Vapormort, not the ghosts of Hogwarts, not Peeves and not 12 Grimmauld Place. But yes, Julia, it is indeed Nearly Headless Nick's Deathday Party!

Come from the warmth and the light
Harry, Ron and Hermione skips the Halloween feast in the Great Hall to go to the deathday party instead.

To me, I am cold, the colour of night
The party is held in a dungeon, where it is cold, and the lights are midnight blue.

Part of me screeches, part of me smells
The saw orchestra and the rotten food.

Part of me you see through, part of me yells
Most of the guests are ghosts, which are transparent.

and shows off and rudely ruins the fun
The party is wrecked by the Headless Hunt, that make a lot of noice and plays head hockey when Nick is going to give a speech.

I am the result of a job badly done
Nick died by decapitation, but though he at last died, the job wasn't done properly as his head never was completely severed.

Well, Julia, you did a good job, anyway! Congratulations! It is your turn to make the riddle again!

Julia H. - Aug 8, 2008 3:10 am (#1786 of 2993)
Edited Aug 8, 2008 4:26 am

.... Any guesses for the riddle?

EDIT: Oh, yes, I see it now! Yes, Dryleaves, you have got it again! Congratulations, the answer is indeed the DADA teachers.

I have just thought of four other lines for the riddle in case you need it but I see it was quite unnecessary. So the explanation:

The darkness inside
We may try to hide
But it never fades
In different shades.
All 7 DADA teachers have some kind of darkness in them, often a dark secret. They try to hide it (except for "Professor Carrow") but it always comes out sooner or later. The "different shades" expression refers to the different shades or degrees of darkness in them: for example, Quirrell has Voldemort in him while Lupin has only a wolf in him. Umbridge is totally evil while Snape has a dark past and the dark ability to cast an AK although he does it for the cause of the light side.

Numbered are our days
They all have one year to teach DADA.

Seven are our ways
Seven different teachers, seven different teaching styles, preferences etc. (Snape mentions this, too, in HBP.)

Evil is our art
I think that is a give-away clue: they all deal with the dark arts.

But we must depart.
They all have to leave at the end of the school-year one way or another.

Dryleaves- Aug 9, 2008 1:33 am (#1805 of 2993)

But of course Julia, you are correct. The answer to the riddle is Polyjuice Potion. Congratulations again!

I tell the truth and provide a lie
When you add a hair from a person to Polyjuice Potion, the potion changes colour and taste after what this person is like, and it seems if you are a bad person you will not taste good, vice versa. The potion provides a lie as you can pretend to be another person by looking like him/her.

I may be the friend of the cunning spy
For example the trio uses it to spy on Malfoy to see if he is the heir of Slytherin.

I can shelter the thief, hide the refugee
They use it when robbing Gringott's, Barty Crouch Jr. uses it to get out of Azkaban, etc.

I need someone else for company
The potion is not complete until you add something from the one you want to impersonate, for example a hair.

Looking forwards to your next riddle, Julia!

Julia H. - Aug 9, 2008 3:44 pm (#1816 of 2993)

Ah, Orion, so you don't think the clues fit well! And I thought this riddle would be a piece of cake! So I am going to explain because the answer is indeed Remus Lupin, the werewolf.

Here it is:

Coldness and light over me reign
Lupin's condition is influenced / ruled by the moon and its cold light.

I hide under despised disguise
The wolf's shape and fur hide and disguise Lupin's real self when the full moon comes. This "disguise" is generally despised by people and Lupin also is ashamed of it.

I bear the loss and feel the pain
The loss of his human shape and consciousness and the pain of transforming into a wolf.

Sound and fury begin to rise.
The howl and the murderous impulse of the wolf rising in poor Remus as the transfiguration is finished.

Congratulations, Orion! It is your turn to do a riddle now!

Orion - Aug 10, 2008 10:52 am (#1841 of 2993)

Julia got it in the very second guess! Brilliant, Julia, congratulations. The solutions:

One owned me twice. Hagrid, before and after Sirius.
One owned me once. Sirius.
One was quite nice. Harry was civil and got to ride me.
One was a dunce. Stupid Draco!
One I escaped. MacNair.
One I pursued. Snape.
Choose me a name. Buckbeak or Witherwings, whatever you like best.
Just don’t be rude. Or you'll get pecked. Big beak, big pecking.

Looking forward to your next riddle, Julia.

Julia H. - Aug 15, 2008 9:59 am (#1908 of 2993)

Perfect guess, Dryleaves! The riddle is yours!

A humble present passed from hand to hand
Ordinary but its purpose is grand
Dobby's first sock. As a present, it is a rather ordinary one but its great purpose is to free Dobby - quite "grand" for a sock.

Harmless and good you may find the next one
In innocent hands much harm it has done
Winky's butterbeer (any of the six daily bottles). It must be good and quite harmless because kids drink butterbeer all the time, yet, it is too much for innocent little Winky...

The third one could tell tales of defiance
Obedience and a new alliance
The false locket: Regulus's defiance (of LV's plan), Kreacher's obedience to Regulus and his new alliance with Harry.

One is the cause of much anger and joy
The sock: anger for Lucius, joy for Dobby.

Another should be something to enjoy
The beer.

The third is empty and false without sin
And much better than its full and true twin
The false locket is better than the real one.

Different texture and different looks
Connected by their owners in the books.
Very different objects but all owned at some point by the house elves Harry knows.

Congratulations, Dryleaves!

Dryleaves - Aug 17, 2008 10:11 am (#1948 of 2993)

Yes, PatPat, how about that? (Thank you for ending my misery!) Yes, the answer I had intended is indeed Snape's office and the explanation I had thought of is here:

It is not my trade but I think you will find
That I know a lot about the criminal mind
It is the potion teacher's office after all, but students who have broken some rule often end up there, for example Harry.

There are the accused ones; they confess or deny
I hear them explain, make excuses and lie
For example Harry and Ron try to explain themselves after the flying car incident, Harry lies about having been to Hogsmead, etc.

The guilty will be making amends for their crime
Harry, for example, has been doing detention there.

I watch atonement most of the time
Snape himself is atoning for what he has done wrong, and he ought to spend some time in his own office.

From the dark shadows, far from the skies
The office is often described as shadowy, dimly lit, and it is located down in the dungeons.

I watch them all with my slimy eyes
The jars with pickled animals are a part of the office.

The innocent’s story I also can tell
I have after all been a victim as well
The office has been robbed at several occasions.

Sorry for being more confusing than necessary! I will now crawl back into the snail's shell I came from, but probably I will peep out and make a guess on your next riddle, PatPat. Congratulations!

Was that explanation enough, Julia?

PatPat - Aug 27, 2008 4:33 pm (#1987 of 2993)

And we have a winner, folks! Verity, it is Hermes, Percy's owl. Well done! Here is the explanation:

A prize for power
Percy was given Hermes as a reward for making Prefect.

an aid in love.
Percy used Hermes to send love letters to his girlfriend, Penelope Clearwater.

A mood I sour.
The arrival of Hermes with Percy's letter to Ron in OoP, caused Ron to get very angry and rip the letter to shreds.

Advice to speak of
The OoP letter contained advice from Percy to Ron

with Godlike tongue.
Dual meaning here. Hermes was the Greek messenger God. In addition, Percy speaks to Ron in his letters with a kind of superior attitude.

Short and long
Hermes brought two letters to Ron. One that was short and angry in GoF. And a long one full of advice in OoP.

and twice he's wrong.
In both letters, Percy was wrong. He told Ron that Crouch was ill and he was sure the letters were from him. Wrong. He told Ron he should follow Umbridge rather than Harry and Dumbledore. Wrong again.

Hint 1: Different are I and he
But definitely related are we.
This clue was given because a couple of the guessers seemed confused by whether the "I" and the "he" in the riddle were the same. "I" is Hermes. "He" is Percy. But they are related in that Hermes is Percy's owl.

Hint 2: News from above?
Definitely not a dove!
Hermes is an Owl which brings messages. Ron gets messages from Percy in GoF hoping for news about Crouch. The message is definitely not peaceful (like a dove) but very angry and irritated.

Way to go, Verity! I look forward to your next riddle.

Verity Weasley - Aug 30, 2008 11:26 pm (#87 of 171)

Congratulations Julia! I knew you'd get there in the end. It is indeed Ron's half eyebrow that was the cause of his Apparition test failure!

Face the facts
The key word here is 'face' - a big clue!

I'm the cause of failure
The half-eyebrow left behind was the reason Ron failed his Apparition test.

On the fringes of a famous family.
'Fringe' is a hint that hair is involved. In fact, a dictionary definition of eyebrow is 'a fringe of hair above the eye'. Famous family obviously refers to the Weasleys.

But not all of me.
We're only talking about half of the eyebrow, not all of it!

I'm not wrong,
But I might not be right either.
If something is not wrong, and not right, then it must be left! Actually, we aren't told whether it was Ron's right or left eyebrow that caused the problem, so these two lines hint at that.

Hint: Apparently, I was here, instead of there. 'Apparently' was the closest I could get to Apparition without actually using the word. The eyebrow was left behind when it should have been on Ron's face!

Congratulations again Julia! Full marks for persistence. I look forward to your next riddle.

Julia H. - Aug 31, 2008 4:16 pm (#96 of 171)

A very good guess, Dryleaves! The best one, actually. The answer is indeed the book Hogwarts: A History. This is the explanation:

I focus on time, I focus on place
Time is history and the place is Hogwarts.

My knowledge to know is not a disgrace
At least Hermione recommends the book.

I know what it is that you cannot do
The book contains the information that it is impossible to Apparate and Disapparate in Hogwarts castle and grounds.

I know how to keep a big secret, too
Another piece of information from the book is how Hogwarts is concealed from muggle eyes. Quite a "big" secret.

Some tiny details I may overlook
I miss what it takes to clean, wash and cook
The book makes no mention of the Hogwarts house elves.

Discovering me just keep this in mind:
Inside what I am inside me you find.
You can find some copies of the book (I guess) at Hogwarts but Hogwarts is also the contents of the book so it is both inside and around the book.

Congratulations, Dryleaves! I can hardly wait to read your next riddle!

Dryleaves - Sep 1, 2008 7:03 am (#111 of 171)

Well, I suspected this riddle would have a short life. It's not Azkaban, Orion, but yes, Julia, as the connection between our minds works in two ways, it is St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. Congratulations!

I am no knight
It's a hospital.

But what's evil I fight
It fights to cure magical maladies and injuries
Some will not go

Whatever I do
Everything can't be cured and some patients stay for a long time, like the Longbottoms.

Speak to the ear
That does not hear
To enter St Mungo's you have to speak to a dummy in the window of a closed shop.

Great is my shame
If you leave as you came
It's not a good hospital if the patients leave without having been cured.

I look forward to your new riddle, Julia.

Julia H. - Sep 1, 2008 12:44 pm (#114 of 171)

Dryleaves, your Legilimency skills are as good as ever. The answer is indeed the OWL and NEWT exams.

We both appear to come from eggs
If we look at the names of the exams, we think of a bird and a reptile, which would both come from eggs.

We have no wings, we have no legs
But they are neither birds nor reptiles.

We wait for you as you can tell
Hogwarts students must face these exams and they know it.

We are on time. Are you as well?
There is a specific time when each exam is taken (after the fifth and the seventh year) so they are "on time" but the students also must arrive on time to start the exam.

Congratulations, Dryleaves! It is your turn again!

Dryleaves - Sep 2, 2008 7:15 am (#131 of 171)

Well, well, one would have thought that an information meeting for parents at my daughter's school right after dinner last evening would provide one with a completely blank mind, but alas! My Occlumency skills are as rubbish as Harry's. The answer to the riddle is not the elder wand, but, as Julia and rcs so correctly guessed: The Shrieking Shack.

Where it ends
The tunnel that starts by the Whomping Willow ends in the Shrieking Shack.

I saw agony, I saw friends
It was built for Lupin's transformations but after a while the other Marauders were there with him.

The meeting of enemies I have seen
Snape and Sirius.

I saw an enemy where a friend once had been
Peter Pettigrew is revealed as a traitor there.

But I also saw enemies meet almost like friends
When it ends
Harry and Snape meeting when Snape is dying.

Unless you want to duel about it, I declare Julia the winner as she gave the answer first. Congratulations!

Julia H. - Sep 2, 2008 10:19 pm (#147 of 171)

Well, Dryleaves, if it is only a wrong guess from you that can blow the twin theory ... You either read my mind or my riddles must be very easy because you have guessed it again! (And that's only the very first guess!) The answer is indeed the NEWT subjects required for a future Auror, i.e. the ones Harry takes in HBP. (I've just noticed that my riddles have recently become quite school-centred.)

For one the living and the whole
Herbology deals with living plants.

For one the partial and the dead
The ingredients used in the Potions classes are typically the various parts of dead plants and animals.

One makes a way between the two
Transfiguration can turn living beings into lifeless objects and back.

One deals with both when all is said.
Lots of various spells are learned in Charms and these can be used on both living beings and lifeless things.

The living may be kept alive
By still another of the five
This is Defense Against the Dark Arts.

You want to join the famous team
If you want to become an Auror (like Harry)...

They help you, child, achieve your dream.
... these subjects are needed and useful.

Congratulations, Dryleaves!

Dryleaves - Sep 7, 2008 6:03 am (#2040 of 2993)

The riddle:

No, it has nothing to do with Harry and Ginny at Bill and Fleur's wedding, but, yes, Julia, you are right again: it is Harry visiting his parents' grave in Godric's Hollow with Hermione.

Lips meeting lips as you come and leave
You enter the churchyard through a kissing gate.

Secretly, a girl and a boy
Harry and Hermione are a boy and a girl, but use polyjuice potion when visiting the graveyard to look like a middle-aged Muggle couple.

In the emptiness you try to conceive
In Godric's Hollow Harry is thinking of what could have been if his parents had not died.

What’s lost. Sorrow on a night of joy
It is Christmas Eve.

Searching in the past and the cold
The graveyard is a place for people who are gone since long. It is winter and snow.

Looking for future’s path to unfold
They go to Godric's Hollow partly because they don't know how to proceed with the search for the horcruxes.

Reminded of a story yet to be told
They see a tombstone decorated with the sign of the Hallows, but they do not know what the sign means yet, they will learn this when they visit Xenophilius Lovegood and read the tale of the three brothers.

Finding the place of the hidden gold.
They find the grave of Dumbledore's mother and sister, with the inscription: Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Congratulations, Julia! It is your turn to make a new riddle again.

Julia H. - Sep 12, 2008 11:18 am (#2057 of 2993)
Edited Sep 12, 2008 12:22 pm

Well, that is a good enough answer, Dryleaves! My answer was the stuffed vulture hat with and without the Christmas cracker around it. (You've been practising Legilimency, haven't you? I must ask my Occlumency teacher to give me lessons more often from now on.)

Given with a gesture kind
Dumbledore offers the cracker with the hat in it to Snape.

Taken with a mirthless mind
Snape takes it reluctantly.

Given in a manner rude
Snape pushes the hat back to DD immediately after receiving it.

Taken in a merry mood.
DD takes the hat and puts it on.

Hint:
Two to give and two to take
Two givers: DD and Snape. Two takers: Snape and DD.

What will two and two now make?
Two and two usually make four but here two givers and two takers make two people only.

Congratulations, Dryleaves! It is your turn again!

Dryleaves - Sep 13, 2008 5:02 am (#2064 of 2993)

I certainly will ask Professor Snape to give up his evenings to the tedious job of teaching me Occlumency (or I will have to come up with more difficult riddles), for of course the answer is the Triwizard Egg.

A stolen child
It is an egg, taken from a dragon in the first Triwizard task.

Of theft will speak
The song you hear when you open the egg under water is about taking something the champion sorely will miss.

In night and white
At night Harry goes to the Prefects' bathroom, where everything is made of white marble.

Its heart you seek
Harry goes there to learn what the message inside the egg is.

Congratulations, Julia! Well, you're on it again!