One of the reasons I love Harry Potter is the amazingly subtle foreshadowing.
It is a work of art in storytelling planning.
The fact that the main characters play with Slytherin’s locket in the fifth book, completely unaware it will play a massive role in books six and seven.
The fact that Voldemort alludes to his horcruxes (a crucial plot point in book 6 and 7) in the fourth book but Harry takes no notice.
The fact that Harry destroys a horcrux in the second book and only Dumbledore gives it a second thought.
On second reading you realize Harry has unknowingly been tiptoeing around horcruxes for seven books.
One can begin to appreciate all the subtle clues one overlooked on first reading.
It just goes to show, these sequels weren’t hasty reactions to the success of the first but all part of a detailed, well executed plan.
A plan that included seven books and 19 years of writing.
I think Stephen King summarized it best when he said JK Rowling’s seven horcruxes were the seven Harry Potter books.
Thomas Duggan 