‘The amount of times I have seen this movie and yet I didn’t even notice!’
Harry Potter has been a staple of many people’s lives for well over 20 years now.
From the books to the films, the theatre productions and a global brand, it is undoubtedly one of the most successful series’ of all time.
Yet for all of its success, there’s still some moments that escape the eye of even the biggest of Harry Potter fans.
One of these concerns an often-overlooked scene from the first film – The Philosopher’s Stone.
An eagle-eyed user on Reddit, who claims to have watched the first film ‘hundreds’ of times, spotted a very confusing and baffling Easter egg involving the complex character of Aunt Petunia – played brilliantly by the talented Fiona Shaw.
Petunia is hardly anyone’s favourite character considering she was a nosy, hostile and repressed woman who took a particular dislike towards Harry and, furthermore, the world of magic.
During one of the opening scenes, Aunt Petunia can been seen cooking in the kitchen as Harry walks through to the living room.
The Reddit user then goes on to explain: “In Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s (Sorcerer’s) Stone, Aunt Petunia is visible in the background of this scene dyeing Dudley’s old clothes grey for Harry’s uniform. This is only ever mentioned in the book.”
As Mr Dursley goes through Harry’s post as he admires the letter from Hogwarts, Petunia can bee seen mixing a pile of clothes in a big, grey pot.
The original book states that the family originally planned on sending Harry to Stonewall High, rather than Dudley’s prestigious Smeltings Academy.
For his uniform, Petunia had dyed some of Dudley’s old clothes grey for Harry to wear, however he was saved at the last moment by his letter from Hogwarts.
Stunned by the scene that had gone unnoticed, fans reacted, with one saying: “The amount of times I have seen this movie is crazy, and I’ve read the book once, absolutely loved it, and yet I didn’t even notice this.
Another added: “That’s actually really cool! Shame the movies cut down so much from the books.”
A third said: “I always wondered what she was doing, I’d clearly forgotten that detail between reading the book and watching the film.”
One other user claimed that the strange action is “explained in deleted scenes.”
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The fact that some people hadn’t noticed the detail until now has seemingly angering some die-hard fans on social media.
A thread talking about what Petunia is doing has attracted many upset comments on X, with one person writing: “I’m convinced people watch movies with their eyes closed.”
Another went as far as to insult viewers because of it: “It’s not an easter egg. It’s in the book so they put it in the film! People really are idiots!”
It wouldn’t be a Harry Potter fan debate if people didn’t let their emotions get the better of them.
