In the first book, our expectation is that Professor Snape wants the Sorcerer’s Stone. All the evidence points to Professor Snape for wanting the Sorcerer’s Stone. J.K. Rowling makes it seem that with Snape’s dark presence that he is always the guilty one. You can never picture him as the nice guy because he is the guy that apparently hates Harry Potter. But J.K. Rowling loves to give twisted ends to the story, in reality, Professor Quirrel was partnering with Lord Voldemort where he was using his body as a host since he couldn’t survive on his own. Professor Quirrel was the guilty one the whole time. Who could ever believe it was poor old stuttering Quirrel? J.K. Rowling loves surprises.
In the second book, the question is who is Slytherin’s Heir? Possible people are Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy or someone in Gryffindor. What everybody is led to believe is that the Heir is Harry Potter since he can speak parselmouth and Slytherin is the only person to have that ability. J.K. Rowling misleads the reader again making you believe that the person guilty is actually innocent. How could it be Tom Riddle, he was a hero at Hogwarts back in the day? But you don’t find out until the end like in the first book that Tom Riddle actually stands for Lord Voldemort. Again, J.K. Rowling fools the reader.
It is important to raise the expectation then to fail to fulfill it because it gives the reader a cliff hanger in a way wanting to know what other twists there might be as the reader goes on. Twists usually get more intense and complex as the series goes on and in any series not just Harry Potter. The complexity and connections small or large engage the reader as the story grows and grows.
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