• Source Leslie Stahl’s “60 Minutes” interview with Rowling, 12 June 2003. Read More
• Food and drinks Chocolate is a very popular sweet food which has magical properties. Not only does it make a wonderful treat, but it also serves as a particularly powerful antidote for the chilling effect produced by contact with Dementors and other particularly nasty forms of Dark Magic. Lupin carries chocolate with him… Read More
• Plants The Christmas rose is a beautiful evergreen plant that blooms in the winter, often in the snow. It is not actually a rose at all but rather a plant in the same family as the buttercup. Hermione made a wreath of Christmas roses for Harry to place on his parents’ graves… Read More
• Headlines and advertisements Classified Advertisements is a regular page appearing in the Daily Prophet, of great utility to the wizarding community (DP2). This section includes columns listing recruitment opportunities, items for sale, dating/Lonely Hearts and family announcements. The listing on Page 2 of the Prophet included: Jobs “Hit-witch or wizard” for the Magical Law Enforcement Squad Assistant… Read More
• Magical effects There are laws of magic governing what you can conjure and what you can’t, such as Gamp’s Law of Elemental Transfiguration, to which food is one of the five exceptions (you can’t create food out of nothing) (DH29). However, food can be increased or transported from one place to… Read More
• Sports and competitions The Contorting Cereals class is a division in the Annual International Wizard Gardening Competition (DP1). Entries in this class have been seen by Muggles and were the subject of much speculation. A new Ministry of Magic report suggests that this class be therefore banned from future competition (DP1). Read More
• Character Venusia Crickerly was the second ex-Auror to become Minister for Magic, serving from 1903 – 1912 (Pm). She died in a strange mandrake-related accident (Pm). Read More
• Sports and competitions Crop Circles are what the Muggles mistakenly call the entries in the Contorting Cereals class of the Annual International Wizard Gardening Competition (DP1). A Ministry of Magic committee reports that Muggles have been concerned by “crop circles” miraculously appearing in fields, not realising that they are part… Read More
• Magical effects Crop-related charms are various spells which have effects on crops, including charms which affect their growth and form. Read More
• Source Harry, Ron and Hermione decide not to confront Hagrid, as time passes and there are no more attacks. Second-year students choose their courses for the next year, Quidditch practice becomes more frequent, Harry returns to his dormitory to find his belongings ransacked and the… Read More
• Source The entire Weasley family and Harry cram into the Ford Anglia and drive to King’s Cross Station. Harry and Ron cannot get through to the train and decide to fly the car to Hogwarts. The trip is uneventful until the end, when they lose… Read More
• Source Ron receives a Howler, they learn about mandrakes in Herbology, Colin Creevey asks for an autographed photo, Lockhart is the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, and they learn about Cornish pixies. Read More
• Source Culpeper’s Complete Herbal, published in 1653, is a source Rowling used as a reference for herbs and other plants. She told “60 Minutes”: “I used to collect names of plants that sounded witchy, and then I found this, ‘Culpeper’s Complete Herbal,’ and it was the answer to my every prayer: flax… Read More