Personally, my favorite author for foreshadowing is J.K. Rowling. My goodness, the woman is a genius. In the first chapter of the first book she mentions Dumbledore’s crooked nose, and in every book after that there is a passing reference to it. Who would think anything about it other than to see it as a description of a physical quirk to identify Dumbledore? Finally in book seven–BOOK SEVEN!–she reveals Dumbledore’s nose was broken by his brother, Aberforth, at their sister’s funeral while also revealing Dumbledore’s past ties with a great dark wizard. *GASP!* Is it true? Dumbledore wasn’t always the wise wizard Harry Potter looked up to? He was young and full of himself, once, just like any brilliant teenager who thinks he can solve the world’s problems? WHAT’S GOING ON HERE?

What makes Dumbledore’s broken nose so amazing is that Rowling didn’t make any reference to it aside from fewer than half-a-dozen words in each of the first six books. No hint that it would be an important link to Dumbledore’s back-story and tie in with the Wand of Destiny, which Harry would eventually discover belonged to Dumbledore himself. That’s masterful self-restraint.

That’s just one example of foreshadowing in the HP series. Read them all, or read them again, to a master of foreshadowing at work.