• Event In a rainy Quidditch match against the Slytherin Quidditch Team, a rogue Bludger breaks Harry’s arm. During the game one Bludger persistently followed his every move, making it impossible for Harry to look for the Snitch or for Gryffindor’s Beaters to protect their Chasers (CS10). Determined… Read More
• Event When Professor McGonagall finds Harry in the hallway near the petrified Justin Finch-Fletchly and Nearly Headless Nick (CS11), she takes him to Dumbledore’s Office, using the password “Sherbet Lemon” (CS12). While waiting, Harry looks around at the many sleeping Headmaster portraits on the wall, as well as Dumbledore’s… Read More
• Event Harry, who has spent the last ten years of his life being rather poorly fed, is astonished to see a vast display of delicious food appear on the golden plates after the Sorting: Harry’s mouth fell open. The dishes in front of him were now piled with food. He had… Read More
• Event The Gryffindor Quidditch Team loses to Hufflepuff in a match played in a howling thunderstorm. Hermione casts a spell on Harry’s glasses so that they repel water which at least allows him to see. In the midst of the match he sees a large dog in the stands… Read More
• Character Harry Potter is the Boy Who Lived, the Chosen One, the hero of the Wizarding world. He grew up with Muggles, and then came to Hogwarts where he faced dangers and terrors beyond his years. He, along with his friends Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley and Neville Longbottom, destroyed Voldemort’s Horcruxes. Read More
• Source Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone is the first in the series of Harry Potter novels by J.K. Rowling. It was published in the U.S. as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone a year after being published in the UK. First British printing: July 1, 1997, Bloomsbury Books First American printing: September 1,… Read More
• Event At the Sorting Ceremony, Harry is worried that he won’t be accepted, that the Hat will tell him he has to go back to the Dursleys. He thinks, “The hat seemed to be asking rather a lot; [he] didn’t feel brave or quick-witted or any of it at the moment. If… Read More
• Event For this important Gryffindor v Slytherin Quidditch match – Harry Potter’s first ever, Harry’s friends in the audience support him with a banner reading “Potter for President” and cheer him on. From the stands, Professor Quirrell tries to knock Harry off his broom with magic during the… Read More
• Event September 19, 1991 — Harry brings his new Nimbus 2000 broom to the Quidditch pitch at 7 pm. While waiting for Gryffindor Quidditch Captain Oliver Wood to show up, Harry flies around the goal posts, reveling in the responsiveness of the broom. When Wood arrives, he complements Harry’s… Read More
• Event When Professor McGonagall saw Harry fly for the first time, she knew he would be a natural Seeker for the Gryffindor team. On the day of his first practice with Gryffindor Captain Oliver Wood, a brand new Nimbus 2000 arrives for Harry, courtesy of McGonagall. It is accompanied by a… Read More
• Event Harry had duelled with Draco Malfoy and used the Dark spell Sectumsempra, leaving Draco bleeding on the floor until Professor Snape arrived to save his life. As a result, Harry  had to serve a detention with Snape on Saturday instead of playing in the last Quidditch match… Read More
• Source Harry discovers his newfound popularity, learns that Stan Shunpike has been arrested, and holds a frustratingly massive Quidditch tryout that includes a run-in with Cormac McLaggen. They visit Hagrid and learn that Aragog is dying, Harry confronts Hermione about having confunded McLaggen… Read More
• Source Hermione and Ron discuss the Slug Club in Herbology class and Harry notices an attraction between them. Dean Thomas takes Katie Bell’s place on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, and Harry and Ron run into Ginny Weasley and Dean kissing. Ron gets… Read More
• Source Harry discusses Ron’s poisoning with the Weasleys, Hagrid tells Harry that he overheard Professors Dumbledore and Snape arguing. Cormac McLaggen accosts Harry to ensure he can play in Ron’s place in the upcoming Quidditch match, and Harry finds that Ron has… Read More
• Source Ron and Ginny Weasley are both single again. Katie Bell returns to Hogwarts, but can’t remember what happened to her. Harry sees Draco Malfoy with Moaning Myrtle on the Marauder’s Map and runs to eavesdrop, but is shocked when he sees Malfoy… Read More
• Source Harry speaks with Mrs. Weasley (and later Mr. Weasley) about the latest Ministry of Magic news. We see Fleur Delacour, who was nicknamed Phlegm by Ginny, and learn that she and Bill Weasley are engaged, to his family’s dismay. Harry tells Ron and… Read More
• Source Gryffindors get their course schedules. Harry, Ron and Hermione discuss Malfoy and Quidditch trials, then go to their first day of classes.  In Defence Against the Dark Arts Harry fights back against Snape’s attempt to jinx him and gets detention, during break he hears his first lesson with Dumbledore will… Read More
• Hogwarts Each of the four Hogwarts Houses has a Head, a staff member who is responsible for the students in that house. During Harry’s years at Hogwarts, the Heads were: Slytherin – Severus Snape Gryffindor – Minerva McGonagall Ravenclaw – Filius Flitwick Hufflepuff – Pomona Sprout In what… Read More
• Character Nearly Headless Nick is the nickname of the ghost of Sir Nicholas de Mimsy Porpington, a wizard who died in a botched execution on October 31, 1492. He was hit forty-five times in the neck with a blunt axe, but a half-inch of skin and sinew remained connecting his head… Read More
• Character Resourceful, principled and brilliant, Hermione Jean Granger is easily the brightest witch of her generation. She, along with Ron Weasley, is one of Harry Potter’s closest friends. She is also Muggle-born (her parents were dentists – PS12), and so is a living, breathing example of the fallacy of pureblood… Read More
• Historical events • Hogwarts Over a thousand years ago, the four greatest witches and wizards of the age shared a dream, to create a school where young people of the wizarding world could study and be trained in the magical arts they needed to become skilled, fully-trained wizards. These four great wizards each founded… Read More
• Magical identities There are at least twenty ghosts that reside at Hogwarts (PS7). Each of the four houses has their own house ghost; Nearly-Headless Nick is Gryffindor’s ghost, the Bloody Baron is Slytherin’s, the Fat Friar is Hufflepuff’s and the Grey Lady is Ravenclaw’s. When ghost-related decisions must be made, they… Read More
• Hogwarts Four giant hourglasses – one for each house – stand in niches in a corner opposite the main doors in Hogwarts’ Entrance Hall; they automatically track house points (PS15). Read More
• Hogwarts Students at Hogwarts are grouped into four houses: Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. Read More
• Schools Hogwarts is one of the world’s finest wizarding schools, located in a massive castle in Scotland. Hogwarts takes students from all over Great Britain, starting at the age of 11. The students leave school after their seventh year. The students at Hogwarts are sorted at the beginning of their first… Read More
• Event Growing distrust on the part of Muggles for wizards and witches compels the four greatest witches and wizards of the age – Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin – to found Hogwarts. Ravenclaw is said to have dreamed of a warty hog leading her to a particular cliff… Read More
• Hogwarts Hogwarts students come from across the United Kingdom and Ireland. They are sorted into one of four houses and spend most of their time with their fellow house members for the seven years they attend Hogwarts. All British and Irish wizarding children are invited to attend Hogwarts and most do,… Read More
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Posted by in Harry Potter Lexicon Minute
When did House Ghosts become a recognized part of life at Hogwarts? Nearly-Headless Nick celebrates the 500th anniversary of his death in Chapter 8 of Chamber of Secrets. In the following chapter, Professor Binns states that Hogwarts was founded more than a thousand years… Read More
• Hogwarts • Hogwarts academics Points are given or taken away to reward or punish the behavior of students. Points are accumulated over the course of the school year, at the end of which a House Cup is awarded to the house with the most. Giant hourglasses set in niches along one wall in a… Read More
• Source In 2001, the BBC did an interview with Rowling and turned it into a television special. This special, called “Harry Potter and Me,” was exciting for fans for a number of reasons. Probably the most exciting part was when she showed bits from her notes. Rowling was shown revisiting some… Read More