• Timelines and calendars Life at Hogwarts revolves around classes, naturally. However, as the castle is also the students’ home for most of the year, daily life consists of far more than just academics. The students arrive at Hogwarts on September 1 by Hogwarts Express. For the next nine or ten months they eat, sleep,… Read More
• Publications The Daily Prophet is the newspaper of the Wizarding World. It has been in existence since at least 1883, since Quidditch Through the Ages cites its coverage of Quidditch from that time (QA6). Background The editor in the 1990s is Barnabas Cuffe (HBP4). It has offices… Read More
• Plants • Potion ingredients The daisy is a mundane flowering plant used in potions. Read More
• Books and Literature Like anything else, books can be enchanted or even cursed with dire results for anyone who reads them. Read More
• Organizations The Dark Force Defence League (US: “Dark Force Defense League”) may or may not be directly affiliated with the Ministry of Magic. Gilderoy Lockhart was an honorary member (CS6, GF31, WW). One of the members was interviewed for an article of Rita Skeeter’s, where… Read More
• Titles, nicknames, and honorifics “Dark Lord” is a title used to refer to Lord Voldemort without saying his name. Read More
• Dark magic items Dark Magic items are magical artifacts that contain sinister, dangerous magical powers. Some, like the Hand of Glory, simply give light, but are obviously created using evil magic; a Hand of Glory actually uses a real human hand, for example. Other Dark Magic items are cursed, like the opal necklace in Borgin and Burkes. Horcruxes are… Read More
• Symbols The tattooed shape of a skull with a snake crawling out of its mouth with which Lord Voldemort branded the left forearm of his followers. Read More
• Thing Throughout history, some wizards have attempted to dominate and destroy. They have used Dark Magic but also played off the fears and prejudices of the wizarding population. Some famous Dark Wizards have included: Herpo the Foul Gellert Grindelwald Lord Voldemort Ekrizdis… Read More
• Glossary Dead = really; common in certain British dialects, particularly in the Midlands (i.e. around Birmingham). Read More
• Glossary Dead = really; common in certain British dialects, particularly in the Midlands (i.e. around Birmingham). Read More
• Glossary Dead = really; common in certain British dialects, particularly in the Midlands (i.e. around Birmingham). Read More
• Glossary Dead = really; common in certain British dialects, particularly in the Midlands (i.e. around Birmingham). Read More
• Ministry of Magic The Death Chamber is a room in the Department of Mysteries dominated by a free-standing archway on a raised platform, used to study the mysteries of death. It is located on Level Nine of the Ministry of Magic (OP34). Read More
• Wizarding culture A Deathday Party is held on the anniversary of a witch’s or wizard’s death. Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington celebrated his 500th Deathday on Oct. 31, 1992. Harry, Ron and Hermione were the only living guests. The rest of the guest list were hundreds of Nick’s ghost friends including the… Read More
• Organizations The Death Eaters are those wizards who follow Voldemort. There seems to be a fairly small number of them, although those who Apparate to Voldemort’s side when the Dark Mark on their arms summons them may be the inner circle of his strongest supporters only. Some of the Death Eaters… Read More
• Thing The Death’s-head Hawk Moth is an insect whose chrysalis is an ingredient in the potion used in the process of becoming an Animagus (PmP). Read More
• Magical artifacts Three items–the Elder Wand, Cloak of Invisibility, and Resurrection Stone–reputed to make the owner of all three the Master of Death. Read More
• Symbols An artistic portrayal of the three Deathly Hallows: a line symbolizing the Elder Wand inside a triangle representing the Cloak of Invisibility, both inside a circle that stands for the Resurrection Stone. Read More
• Books and Literature Death Omens: What To Do When You Know The Worst Is Coming is a Divination book. Harry saw a copy of this book on display at Flourish and Blotts while buying his Divination textbook. It has a picture of a Grim on the front cover and Harry… Read More
• Magical objects Also known as the Elder Wand or Wand of Destiny, the Deathstick is one of the three Deathly Hallows.  Made of elder with a Thestral tail hair core, the wand is unbeatable in the hands of its rightful owner. Read More
• Games, toys, and jokes • Magical objects • Security A Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes product used for creating diversions. Read More
• Magical artifacts When attempting to destroy Voldemort’s Horcrux made from Salazar Slytherin’s locket, Regulus Black (R.A.B.) left behind a fake one in the sea cave (HBP26). Read More
• Rules and laws The Decree for Justifiable Confiscation gives the Ministry the power to confiscate the contents of a will to stop wizards passing on Dark artifacts. The Ministry is required to have evidence that the deceased’s possessions are illegal before seizing them. They can only hold the items for 31 days. The Ministry used this… Read More
• Rules and laws The Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery was written in 1875 by the Ministry of Magic (CS2). This law forbids the use of underage magic outside of school, and is enforced by the Improper Use of Magic Office. Warnings are given for violation under paragraph C knowingly,… Read More
• Hogwarts academics Defense Against the Dark Arts is the class that teaches defensive magic to students so they can protect themselves against the Dark Arts. Often simply referred to as DADA class. The position of DADA professor was cursed by Tom Riddle when Dumbledore refused to let him teach at Hogwarts. Every… Read More
• Books and Literature Defensive Magical Theory was a guide which focused only on the theory of defensive magic, not on the actual practice. Its approach seemed to be that a good defense consists of not fighting back and trying to talk about it instead. Read More
• Games, toys, and jokes A deluxe set of fireworks containing Weasley’s Wildfire Whizbangs. Cost is twenty Galleons (OP28). The Twins used their entire supply to disrupt class on the first day that Umbridge was Headmistress. Read More
• Thing Wizarding gardens have to be routinely “de-gnomed” or the gnarly little potato-head creatures will take over. Fantastic beast expert Newt Scamander wrote that gnomes should be caught and swung around in the air, then tossed over a fence or wall (FB). Read More
• Glossary A reference by American witch Tina Goldstein in 1926 invoking the name of a woman accused of witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials in 1693 (WFT). Tina wondered “Why in the name of Deliverance Dane?” Newt Scamancer would allow his pet Niffler to roam free and pillage a bank vault… Read More
• Magical objects A small magical object that looks like a cigarette lighter. When clicked, the Put-outer (or the Deluminator) sucks all light from a place. When reversed with another click, balls of light fly back out of the Deluminator and restores the light or lights that were extinguished. It also has other… Read More
• Magical artifacts The Deluminator is suggested to be the invention of Albus Dumbledore, which is a device that is used to put out lights and restore them.  It is also, less commonly, used as a guide. Read More
• Thing The Dementor’s Kiss is the instance of a Dementor removing a person’s soul from their body. It was formerly used at Azkaban to punish the very worst wizarding criminals. The Dementor puts back its hood and clamps its jaws on the mouth of the victim and sucks out his soul, leaving… Read More
• Clothing The “long, fine, silky and silvery” pelt of a Demiguise is valuable for making invisibility cloaks (FB). Read More
• Hogwarts Hogwarts is a place of many surprises. Not only are the doors and staircases unusual, but also the paintings on the walls and the suits of armor in the corridors act in ways a visitor might not expect. Everything seems to be alive in some fashion. The armor creaks and… Read More
• Ministry of Magic The Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes is the department within the Ministry of Magic which has responsibility for being first on the scene when magical spells go wrong or Muggles become aware of wizarding activity. Read More
• Ministry of Magic The Department of Magical Equipment Control is a department or office in the Ministry of Magic which concerns itself with the many types of magical items and devices which exist in the wizarding world. This section regulates problems with equipment such as faulty wands and loose-bottomed cauldrons (DP1). Read More
• Ministry of Magic The Department of Magical Games and Sports in the Ministry of Magic is responsible for the regulation of Quidditch and other wizarding sports. History Thought to be formed in 1750 (QA6) in the wake of the signing of the Statute of Secrecy in 1692, this Ministry… Read More
• Organizations Set up soon after the Salem Witch Trials (1693) by Josiah Jackson, the first President of the Magical Congress of the United States (MACUSA). The first priority was to hire Aurors who could hunt down the Scourers, evil wizards who had turned against their own kind and sold them out… Read More
• Ministry of Magic The Department of Mysteries is one of the departments of the Ministry of Magic. The witches and wizards who work there research the mysteries of life and living, and their relationship to magic. Personnel Head unknown Other Personnel Broderick Bode: “Unspeakable”, deceased January 1996 (GF7,… Read More
• Ministry of Magic The Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures is a department of the Ministry of Magic which has responsibility for all types of magical creatures, including the difficulties arising from the definition of a “creature.” The Department creates laws and regulations, handles complaints, and manages the well-being and concelament of a… Read More
• Hogwarts Detention is a form of punishment at Hogwarts in which the student has to carry out an unpleasant task after school hours. Punishments vary according to the nature of the crime. Some infractions result in points being deducted from the offender’s House. For other more serious offenses, detentions are handed out, or… Read More
• Plants Devil’s Snare is composed of a mass of soft, springy tendrils and vines that possess some sense of touch. Devil’s Snare uses its creepers and tendrils to ensnare anyone who touches it, binding their arms and legs and eventually choking them. Read More
• Dark magic items The Diadem of Ravenclaw (also called a tiara) bestows wisdom on the wearer. It is etched with the words, “Wit beyond measure is man’s greatest treasure” (DH29, DH31). The diadem was stolen by Helena Ravenclaw in an effort to surpass her mother Rowena Ravenclaw. Helena Ravenclaw then fled to… Read More
• Hogwarts The Hufflepuff hourglass in the Hogwarts Entrance Hall for recording House Points is filled with yellow diamonds (JKR:Tw, Pm). Read More
• Dark magic items The Diary of Tom Riddle is a Dark Magic item which preserves his memory and a bit of his soul, and it became his first Horcrux. It is one of the more interesting and dangerous Dark Magic items. This simple diary, originally purchased by Riddle in a Muggle… Read More
• Books and Literature Why I Didn’t Die When the Augurey Cried was an investigative book on the effects of the Augurey cry. Published in 1824 by Little Red Books, this book contained the results of patient research revealing that far from being a death omen, the cry of the Augurey merely indicates the approach… Read More
• Glossary Used by the Fat Lady as a Gryffindor password in sixth year (HBP12, HBP14). A kind of stew or porridge that historically was offered to the British monarch on coronation day by the lord of the manor of Addington, Surrey (NSOED)… Read More
• Plants Dirigible plums are a small orange fruit growing near the Lovegood house. Luna wears these as earrings (OP13), probably because they are said to help a person accept the unusual (DH20). Harry thinks Luna’s dirigible plum earrings look like “orange radishes” (OP13)… Read More
• Headlines and advertisements Disastrous Opening Ceremony Leads to Questions about Quidditch World Cup Security is an article that appeared in the Daily Prophet on 12 April 2014. Article highlights Inadequate research and planning by the Argentinian Council of Magic before the 2014 Quidditch World Cup tournament meant that the “magnificent exhibition of the diversity of… Read More
• Furniture and household items In the Wizarding World, dishes, cups, and plates have the potential to serve as more than simple dinnerware, though it is certainly also used as such. Read More
• Quidditch Dissimulators are noisy, multicoloured, tube-shaped instruments which make loud shouts of support and give off smoke in national colours (QWC). When wands were banned at the 1974 Quidditch World Cup, canny wizard Quidditch fans transfigured their wands into Dissimulators. When Royston Idlewind, who introduced the ban, appeared… Read More
• Plants • Potion ingredients Dittany is a healing and restorative herb, one of the plants found in One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi (PS14, Pm:SB). It may be eaten raw or applied as a tincture to cure wounds, provided they are not too deep (Pm:SB). A mixture of powdered silver and dittany, when applied… Read More
• Hogwarts academics Divination is magic which attempts to foresee future events. Many in the wizarding world consider this branch of magic to be imprecise at best. There are several types of Divination. The most imprecise is what is commonly known as “fortunetelling,” and this is what Trelawney teaches at Hogwarts. The second kind… Read More
• Ministry of Magic A division of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures with responsibility for the higher-order creatures defined as “beings”… Read More
• Rules and laws • Titles, nicknames, and honorifics One section of MACUSA in the 1920s was devoted to keeping wizards and witches from associating with No-Majs in any way, by order of Rappaports Law separating the two worlds (Pm). This law had no counterpart in England’s Ministry of Magic because they had no such law and allowed interaction,… Read More
• Glossary A pet name for a farm horse, or for any horse used as a working animal to pull carts and the like (NSOED). Read More
• Glossary Unreliable, with slightly criminal or less than honest overtones. Probably derived from “dodging the law”. Read More
• Sports and competitions The Dom is the “ball” (actually the gallbladder of a goat) used in playing Aingingein, a predecessor of the game of Quidditch. It may or may not have actually been an enchanted object (QA2). Read More
• Furniture and household items • Security Sometimes semi-sentient, doors in the Wizarding World may be more protective of that which lies on the other side than those found in the Muggle world. Read More
• Quidditch The Dopplebeater Defence is a difficult Quidditch move which involves both Beaters hitting the same Bludger at the same time (QA10). The resulting increased power and speed of the Bludger can lead to a particularly nasty attack on a player from the opposing team (QA10). Read More
• Hogwarts Hogwarts dormitories, where students sleep and keep their things, are assigned by house and accessed by way of a house common room. Read More
• Glossary A slang term for a place to sleep; by extension, any easy task offering a lot of opportunity for being lazy (NSOED). Read More
• Quidditch The Double Eight Loop is a Quidditch manoeuvre used by Keepers to defend all three goals (QA10). It involves flying in a figure eight formation around the goal posts at a very high rate of speed and is often used to protect the three goals during… Read More
• Clothing • Glossary A fitted garment for a man, covering the upper body and worn over a shirt. A doublet has a very short stiffened little “skirt” that is meant to conceal the “points” at the waistline where the wearer’s trousers are laced on (something like the eyes of a modern shoe, where… Read More
• Potion ingredients Doxy eggs are black in colour illness-inducing to humans when ingested. Fred and George may have sought to exploit this property in the development of their Skiving Snackboxes (OP6). It also caused Cormac McLaggen to miss Quidditch tryouts during his sixth year after he ate a pound of doxy eggs for a… Read More
• Glossary While this can be used to mean “drowsy” or lazy, it’s often used to mean thick. Read More
• Potion ingredients The blood of a dragon, used in potions and other useful mixtures. Albus Dumbledore discovered the twelve uses of dragon’s blood, according to his Chocolate Frog Card (PS6,PS14). The twelfth use is oven cleaner (SFC). Horace Slughorn used his last bottle of dragon’s blood splattered on the… Read More
• Thing Dragon dung is a useful material taken from a dragon. Dragon dung is sold by the barrel in Knockturn Alley (CS4). This may be related to its use as compost in Herbology. Great for sending to Percy Weasley at the Ministry of Magic as, uh, an example of fertilizer. Yeah,… Read More
• Thing Dragon dung is a useful material taken from a dragon. Dragon dung is sold by the barrel in Knockturn Alley (CS4). This may be related to its use as compost in Herbology. Great for sending to Percy Weasley at the Ministry of Magic as, uh, an example of fertilizer. Yeah,… Read More
• Potion ingredients The eggs of a dragon are used for various purposes including, of course, hatching baby dragons. Dragon eggs are Class A Non-Tradeable Goods (FB) Antipodean Opaleye dragon eggs, which are pale grey, may be mistaken for fossils by unwary Muggles (FB). Chinese Fireball dragon eggs are bright red and speckled… Read More
• Clothing The protective gloves may be worn as ordinary clothing on particularly cold days, but are used mainly for their protective purpose (e.g. in Care of Magical Creatures or Herbology when working with particularly dangerous animals or plants)… Read More
• Occupations A magizoologist who studies dragons.  Known dragonologists include Harvey Ridgebit (WoM) and Quong Po (FW); Charlie Weasley is an aspiring dragonologist (PS6). Read More
• Areas of knowledge A field of study focusing on dragons, part of the larger field of magizoology.  Significant contributions to the field were made by Quong Po (FW) and Harvey Ridgebit (WoM). Read More
• Diseases and healing Dragon Pox is a disease which afflicts wizarding folk. While the disease can be very serious, even deadly, lesser cases can clear up by themselves. Symptoms of Dragon Pox In its initial stages, sufferers notice a “nasty green and purple rash” between the toes and begin sneezing sparks (DP3). At… Read More
• Diseases and healing The Dragon Pox cure treats the alarming, disfiguring, contagious and sometimes fatal wizarding disease of Dragon Pox. The talented and much-loved healer Gunhilda of Gorsemoor developed a cure for Dragon Pox in the 16th century (FW). Professor Helbert Spleen, however, replies to Howland Coopey’s letter about his symptoms in the… Read More
• Common items The Dragot is the wizarding currency of the United States (Pm). The symbol for the Dragot is a stylized capital D with a line through it (WFT). Read More
• Glossary U.S.: draft (both in the senses of “air current” and of “a quantity of something to be drunk”). Read More
• Architecture • Glossary Short for “withdrawing room”, a room of a house to which ladies might withdraw, e.g., if the gentlemen at a dinner party have a males-only session of port and cigars after dinner. The use of such a room is not normally restricted to ladies, however. Read More
• Books and Literature Dreadful Denizens of the Deep was a guide to sea creatures. It was one of the books that Harry, Ron, and Hermione examined while preparing for the second task (GF26). Read More
• Schools Sent by the Head of the magical African school Uagadou to children who have been accepted as pupils (Pm). Read More
• Books and Literature Dream Oracle was a guide to dream interpretation, which included a dictionary of symbols and their meanings. Read More
• Glossary A cupboard or set of shelves for dishes or kitchen utensils. [Source: Dictionary.com]… Read More
• Clothing Dress robes are a formal style of robe that witches and wizards wear for special occasions. At Hogwarts, students in their fourth year and above are required to have dress robes to wear to formal events. In the books, this is exemplified at the Yule Ball. Read More
• Food and drinks Drooble’s Best Blowing Gum fills the room with bluebell-colored bubbles that refuse to pop for days (PS6, PA5, PA10, GF23). Alice Longbottom, Neville’s mother, doesn’t recognize her son. However, she does realize he is someone she likes, because she gives Neville an empty Drooble’s wrapper when he… Read More
• Art and Culture A portrait of drunk monks (and a great deal of wine) hung near the Charms corridor at Hogwarts (HBP17). Read More
• Thing On the morning of Harry’s final departure from Privet Drive, Dudley leaves a cup of tea outside Harry’s bedroom. Harry steps on the cup, breaking it, having not realized it was there. At first, Harry believes that the cup was “Dudley’s idea of a clever booby trap”, but then, after… Read More
• Muggle life When Harry was a child, Petunia tried to force one of Dudley’s old jumpers (sweaters) over his head. The jumper was brown with orange bobbles (puff balls) on it. As she struggled to make it fit, the jumper shrank magically. Another time, Aunt Petunia had been trying to force him… Read More
• Wizarding culture Duelling exists as a sport in the same way that fencing is a sport in the Muggle world. While it is a friendly sporting competition, it is essentially a form of combat. Wizard duelling has rules and competitions, but in a battle, the same skills come into play in life… Read More
• Organizations The Duelling Club was a student organization, started by Gilderoy Lockhart, which met during the 1992-1993 school year. Lockhart had received permission from Dumbledore to form the club. He led the group himself, with the assistance of Snape.  … Read More
• Insults, Curses, and Interjections Exclamation of praise, relief, or happiness in the name of the late Albus Dumbledore (CC1.4). Read More
• Magical objects Dumbledore’s will contained three surprising legacies. On Harry’s seventeenth birthday, Minister for Magic Rufus Scrimgeour unexpectedly showed up at the Burrow with Albus Dumbledore’s last will and testament in which Dumbledore had bequeathed items to Harry, Ron and Hermione (DH7). Most of Dumbledore’s possessions, including his… Read More
• Organizations The D.A., or Dumbledore’s Army, was a group of students who were trained by Harry Potter in magical combat during the 1995-1996 school year at Hogwarts. The D.A. fought in several battles against the Death Eaters and suffered casualties. The group loosely reformed during the 1997-1998 school year, led… Read More
• Books and Literature Dumbledore’s Army: The Dark Side of the Demob is a tell-all book by Rita Skeeter about Dumbledore’s Army. In this book, published on July 31st 2014, Rita described the imperfections of the Dumbledore’s Army members. She promoted it during the 2014 Quidditch World Cup in her article “Dumbledore’s… Read More
• Headlines and advertisements Dumbledore’s Army Reunites at Quidditch World Cup Final is a feature article that appeared in the Daily Prophet on 8 July 2014. Background Wasp-penned gossip journalist Rita Skeeter reports on the loves, lives and rivalries of the former members of Dumbledore’s Army when they got together in Argentina to… Read More
• Magical artifacts Dumbledore carries a most unusual pocket watch. It has a dozen hands and also shows planets moving around the outside edge. Dumbledore takes this watch out of his pocket and looks at it while waiting in Privet Drive on November 1, 1991: “Dumbledore gave a great sniff as he took a golden… Read More
• Hogwarts grounds The final resting place of Albus Dumbledore (HBP30) and the Elder Wand (DH36). Located near the Lake on the Hogwarts grounds, it is a tomb of white marble that magically encapsulated Dumbledore’s corpse at his funeral (HBP30). Read More
• Games, toys, and jokes Dungbombs were magical stinkbombs that aided the mischievous in creating odorous diversions. Read More
• Transportation The Durmstrang ship is a magical vessel which can travel between bodies of water, regardless of whether they are physically connected. Before the 1994-5 Triwizard Tournament, the students from Durmstrang arrived at Hogwarts aboard a magical ship which surfaced in the centre of the Lake. “It had a strangely skeletal… Read More
• Magical identities The Durmstrang Institute has a larger student population than Hogwarts (Pm). Durmstrang has a reputation for teaching duelling and other martial magic to its students. During some periods of its history, it has also gained the reputation for teaching them the Dark Arts, and during the headmastership of Igor Karkaroff (c. early… Read More
• Headlines and advertisements Why Dustbins Weren’t Meant to Kick is an article appearing in the Daily Prophet (DP1). Published in the Prophet on 28 June, Ethelbald Mordaunt refers to this article in his “Star Letter” of 31 July. He commended the paper for pointing out the unpleasant consequences of those types of… Read More
• Businesses Publisher of The Philosophy of the Mundane: Why the Muggles Prefer Not To Know by Mordicus Egg, 1963. (FB)… Read More