How was this minor detail missed in Harry Potter 4-5?

The author has addressed this question. I remember reading it but not where I saw it.

The explanation as I recall it was that it just took time and the fact that when Harry left school he was still somewhat traumatized.

Something like that. It wasn't like see death, see thestral. It took a while before you'd see them, perhaps you needed time to ponder on things and then they became visible.

Although Harry saw death as an infant, he was too small to understand what happened, so it was the same as if he didn't see it.

If by 'he' you mean HP sees the thestrals for the first time, could be it had to do with how Goblet of Fire ended, with a death HP witnesses (when he is older than an infant.)

If you mean 'they' --perhaps 'they', in some way, witnessed Cedric's death, his body.

If I'm thinking the wrong book regarding Cedric, and

If you don't mean either one, I'll back out of this one now, and wish you luck for a right answer.

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interesting...i never noticed that! it still says "horseless carriages" and even though harry was looking for them before it never specifically says who saw them..although i imagine harry would have, seeing as he had to get in one. hmmm...i wonder if jk rowling just didn't want to have to raise the issue yet since it was the end of the book and all and they became a kinda big part of the fifth's plot.

There are all sorts of mistakes and inconsistencies in the Harry Potter books. There is a place (I think Mugglenet) where people register the ones they have found.

J.K. Rowling later said in an interview that she didn't want to end G.O.B. with a mystery, so she didn't mention the Thestrals. Sorry, I can't find a link to the interview.

:(

Because the death needs to sink in. Cedric's death hadn't really sunk in until he had the summer to think about it, since he was still sort of in shock when he left Hogwarts.

They probably didn't want to bring it up until Harry could see them. But he could see them in his fourth year any way because he saw his mother get killed

no i think the key is to have had a very near-death experience, as in when harry was nearly killed by voldemort in book four, so he saw them at the start of book 5. o wait i get you yeah that doesnt make sense>

Harry Potter is flawed.

Hard to believe, I know.