• Games, toys, and jokes A pack of blood-stained cards were for sale at Borgin and Burkes when Harry Potter inadvertently visited ahead of his second year at Hogwarts (CS4). Read More
• Glossary Padfoot was a nickname of Sirius Black, created and used by his friends at Hogwarts who knew he was an animagus. Read More
• Areas of knowledge Palmistry is divination by studying the lines on the palm of the hand. Read More
• Clothing • Glossary U.S.: Briefs, underwear, underpants. In the U.K. the term “trousers” is used to refer to the outer garments covering the legs (a term that is also used in the U.S. but is less common there). Read More
• Communication • Magical objects • Ministry of Magic Paper aeroplanes (US airplane) are enchanted items are used for inter-departmental memos at the Ministry of Magic Headquarters, as Harry learned when he travelled there for his hearing. Owls were used for this purpose when Arthur Weasley was younger, but their droppings created a mess and… Read More
• Insults, Curses, and Interjections Exclamation by Newt Scamander when he realized that Frank the Thunderbird had not escaped from his suitcase (WFT). Paracelus was a famous wizard and alchemist (FW). Peeves the Poltergeist once tried to drop an ugly bust of Paracelsus on unwary students at Hogwarts (OP14). Read More
• Common items Parchment, specially treated animal skin used for writing on, is frequently used in place of paper in the wizarding world. Read More
• Quidditch This move, reportedly invented by the original Parkin family who founded the Wigtown Wanderers, involves three Chasers flying from three different directions at an opposing Chaser (QA10). Read More
• Communication • Languages A Parselmouth is a person who can speak Parseltongue, the language of snakes. It is a very rare ability (HBP13, CS11). Known Parselmouths Herpo the Foul (FB) Corvinus Gaunt (Pm) Gormlaith Gaunt (MNA) Marvolo Gaunt (HBP10) Morfin Gaunt (HBP10)… Read More
• Languages Parseltongue is the language of snakes; to a human who cannot speak it, it sounds like hissing without taking a breath (GF1). A speaker of Parseltongue is referred to as a Parselmouth (CS11). The ability to speak Parseltongue is extremely rare, and is something for which Salazar… Read More
• Food and drinks A kind of hard candy; can also be used to refer to something like a cough drop. Read More
• Food and drinks A sort of pie with a crimped, thick short pastry crust, full of chopped and seasoned meat and potatoes. (Rhymes with nasty). Read More
• Potion ingredients Pearl dust is an expensive, fairly uncommon potion ingredient used in love potions (CC4.5). Read More
• Food and drinks Peas are served at Hogwarts feasts (PS7, PS12). Read More
• Quidditch A penalty is awarded to a team by the Referee when a foul is called in their favour (QA6). Read More
• Quidditch The Quaffle used in modern Quidditch games. The Pennifold Quaffle is bewitched to slow its fall through air to about the speed of falling through water, so that Chasers have a better chance of catching the ball in mid-air, rather than continually retrieving it from the ground… Read More
• Glossary An early form of bicycle with a very large front wheel and a small rear wheel (NSOED). Read More
• Magical artifacts A Pensieve is a shallow stone basin with ancient Saxon runes and symbols carved around the edge used to collect and view memories (GF30, Pm). When in use, a silvery light shines from its contents, which are bright, whitish silver, and cloud-like, moving ceaselessly. Harry thought the stuff in… Read More
• Communication Memories can be physically removed from a wizard’s mind with a wand and placed in a container or the Pensieve. Pensieve Memories: Dumbledore’s memory of the Death Eater Trials, including those of Igor Karkaroff, Bellatrix, the Lestrange Brothers, and Barty Crouch Jr. (GF30) Dumbledore’s memory of 16-year-old Bertha Jorkins… Read More
• Sweets Tiny black candy that makes you “Breathe fire for your friends!” Sold at Honeydukes in Hogsmeade (PA5, PA10). Found in the “Special Effects” section of the sweetshop. Read More
• Plants • Potion ingredients A plant sometimes added to potions or sweets. Read More
• Sweets Peppermint Toads are wizarding sweets found at Honeydukes. They are peppermint creams shaped like toads (“hop realistically in the stomach!”) (PA10). Read More
• Battles • Magical objects Appearing to be small and shabby on the outside, Perkins’ old tent was a roomy “old-fashioned three-room flat” on the inside, complete with bunk beds, a kitchen, and a bathroom (GF7). Read More
• Sports teams The Peruvian National Teams are from the South American country of Peru. Quidditch The game first came to Peru with European wizards who were regulating the numbers of Peruvian Vipertooth dragons (QA8). Peruvian Quidditch players are considered to be highly skilled and Peru could become the first Latin… Read More
• Food and drinks A special dessert made by Harry’s Aunt Petunia Dursley, described as “a masterpiece of a pudding, the mountain of cream and sugared violets” (CS2).  … Read More
• Magical artifacts The most fabulous magic item of them all, the goal of alchemists and wizards for centuries. There was only one such stone known to be in existence, one created by Nicolas Flamel. The Philosopher’s Stone gives unlimited gold and immortality. Rather a nice payoff, but perhaps it isn’t as perfect… Read More
• Magical objects Phoenix feathers are used in wand cores. Both Harry’s holly wand and Voldemort’s yew wand contained feathers given by Fawkes the phoenix. Read More
• Magical identities The song of the phoenix gives strength and hope to those it sings for, ‘increasing the courage of the pure of heart and striking fear into the hearts of the impure’ according to Scamander (FB). When wands sharing a phoenix-feather cores from the same bird are forced to do battle,… Read More
• Diseases and healing The tears of the phoenix have healing powers, and are the only known antidote for Basilisk venom (DH6). Read More
• Quidditch The field of play that is the Quidditch pitch or other defined outdoor games area (U.S. English: pitch = playing field). Read More
• Languages Pixie language consists of shrill squeaks and other high-pitched noises, variously described as “high-pitched jabbering” (FB) and “like listening to a lot of budgies arguing” (CS6). This form of communication is intelligible only to other pixies (FB). Read More
• Headlines and advertisements Place Your Bets with Ludo Bagman is an article that appeared in the Sports section of the Daily Prophet on 2 July 2014. Background A former England and Wimbourne Wasps Beater, inveterate gambler and bookie Bagman analyses the prospects of the four remaining teams in the Semi-finals of… Read More
• Ministry of Magic A room located in the Department of Mysteries on Level Nine of the Ministry of Magic (OP35)… Read More
• Quidditch This seemingly careless Seeker move in Quidditch is named for the fastest Snitch catch in British history, Roderick Plumpton’s capture of the Snitch up his sleeve in 1921 (QA10). Read More
• Clothing A wizarding pocket watch may have an unusual number of hands, or have symbols other than numbers along the edge of the face, or both. Read More
• Organizations The Pocomtuc were an indigenous American people from the New England region of the present-day United States. Isolt Sayre’s Squib daughter Martha married a No-Maj Pocomtuc man who was the brother of a Sayre-Steward family friend (Pm). Read More
• Dark magic items A poisonous candle is presumably a candle that gives off poisonous fumes when burned. Read More
• Glossary “Poisonous toadstools don’t change their spots” is a wizarding phrase meaning “people can’t change who they really are inside.” Ron quotes this sage advice when Hermione says she thought that maybe Snape would be less mean to Harry in their fifth year since the Potions Master was in the Order… Read More
• Sports teams The Polish National Teams are from the European country of Poland. Quidditch In a 1995 game against Ireland, Polish Chaser Ladislaw Zamojski was robbed of a certain goal scoring opportunity by Irish Keeper Barry Ryan’s last-minute save (OP19). At the 2014 Quidditch World Cup, Poland’s … Read More
• Potion ingredients The pomegranate is a mundane fruit whose juice may be used in Strengthening Solution at some stage and is definitely a potions ingredient. Read More
• Headlines and advertisements Poor Memory? is an advertisement for the Mnemosyne Clinic for Memory Modification appearing in the Daily Prophet (DP4). “Poor memory? Forget where you left your wand? Wish you could remember spells without referring to cumbersome books?” The memory clinic says it will help – as long as you remembered… Read More
• Glossary Affectionate term used for a small child, from “poppet,” which is a kind of a puppet or doll. Read More
• Food and drinks Scottish breakfast dish of oatmeal mixed with water and simmered until it is creamy. Can be served with sugar, honey, or salt, according to preference. Eaten throughout Britain. Read More
• Quidditch A Quidditch move by the Chaser who makes as if to dart upward with the Quaffle, drawing the opposing Chaser upwards, then dropping the Quaffle to another Chaser (QA10). Read More
• Games, toys, and jokes The Portable Swamp is a magical spell and effect created by the Weasley twins during their time at Hogwarts. When deployed, creates a swamp covering the target area. The portable swamp eventually filled a complete corridor on the fifth floor in the east wing at Hogwarts, and the Twins left no… Read More
• Transportation A Portkey is an enchanted object which will transport a person to a pre-specified location. The object is usually a supposedly worthless piece of junk so as not to attract Muggle attention (GF6). There are two types of Portkey: the first is activated when touched, and the second only… Read More
• Ministry of Magic A division of the Department of Magical Transportation with responsibility for Portkey registration and use… Read More
• Sentient objects The portrait of Ariana Dumbledore resides over the small fireplace in Aberforth Dumbledore’s sitting room above Hog’s Head. It is a large oil painting of the young blonde girl. Ariana is described as gazing out of the portrait with “a kind of vacant sweetness.” The mirror that once belonged to Sirius sits beneath the portrait… Read More
• Hogwarts The portrait hole is the entrance to the Gryffindor common room located behind the painting of the Fat Lady on the seventh floor of Hogwarts Castle. The hole is only revealed when someone gives the correct password to the Fat Lady causing her to swing aside. Gryffindor students must then… Read More
• Art and Culture Hogwarts is a place of many surprises. Not only are the doors and staircases unusual, but also the paintings on the walls act in ways a visitor might not expect. The paintings are practically full-fledged Beings. They speak and interact, not just with the humans in the castle but even… Read More
• Ministry of Magic A “small, dirty oil painting” of the first Minister for Magic, Ulick Gamp, with his frog-like face and silver wig (HBP1). The portrait hangs in the office of the Muggle Prime Minister at number 10 Downing Street in London, and serves as a liason between the two worlds during… Read More
• Magical objects A magical painting of Sirius Black’s horribly deranged mother, Walburga, resides in his old home at twelve, Grimmauld Place. Often when the doorbell rings, she starts screaming and ranting until someone closes the “moth-eaten velvet” curtains that surround her painting. Read More
• Titles, nicknames, and honorifics Potioneer is a title used for someone who makes potions, either as a profession or as an advanced student. Read More
• Headlines and advertisements New Potion Gives Hope for Hags is an article on the front page of the Daily Prophet announcing research developments for the control of hag appetites for human flesh (DP4). Coverage of Professor Regulus Moonshine’s press conference about his potion raised some scepticism about his results… Read More
• Potion ingredients A wide variety of plants and animal parts are used in making potions. These ingredients can be magical or mundane. Some of the plants are grown in the greenhouses and some of the animal parts come from magical creatures living in the Forbidden Forest, such as unicorn hair. Potion ingredients… Read More
• Thing A potion-making kit is a set of materials for potion-making. Hogwarts students used potion-making kits in Potions class (GF10). Read More
• Areas of knowledge • Hogwarts academics Potions are magical liquids created by mixing various ingredients in a cauldron according to very specific rules. These mixtures must usually be drunk to give their magical effect. The ingredients in potions range from the mundane to the bizarre and fantastic, and the procedures for creating some potions can be… Read More
• Hogwarts academics Potions class is the study of potion-making. All students take potions through their fifth year and take the potions O.W.L., but only selected students continue on through sixth and seventh years to take N.E.W.T.s in the subject. The study of potions directly relates to the study of Herbology and Care of… Read More
• Hogwarts Potions classes take place in one of the Hogwarts dungeons, where the air is cooler than the rest of the castle (PS8). Jars full of pickled “slimy things” suspended in liquids line shelfs around the walls (CS5). Possibly the same place as “Dungeon Five” where some “third years… Read More
• Titles, nicknames, and honorifics The potions professor at Hogwarts is the Potions Master, therefore it is a job title that goes with the position. Read More
• Wizarding culture The so-called “potions riddle” was a logic puzzle set up at Hogwarts to protect the Philosopher’s Stone. The riddle was devised by Severus Snape on the assumption that many brilliant practitioners of magic were very poor logicians. Read More
• Glossary Potted plant, a plant grown in a pot as opposed to in the ground. (Note: although in the U.S. this would refer to a marijuana plant, that’s not what it means here.)… Read More
• Historical events A memorial statue of the Potter family found in Godric’s Hollow to commemorate the deaths of James and Lily, and the survival of baby Harry. Read More
• Magical objects A wooden sign with golden letters found in front of the ruined cottage where James and Lily Potter died, commemorating their sacrifice. When Harry and Hermione visitied Godric’s Hollow, a touch of the gate made the sign rise out of the ground. Many witches and wizards had visited the site… Read More
• Magical objects The Potter Stinks/Support Cedric Diggory badges were insulting badges handed out by Draco Malfoy. Background They were also worn by Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw members in a rare collaboration against Harry Potter when his name emerged from the Goblet of Fire, which was seen by other… Read More
• Communication Potterwatch was a rebel radio programme broadcast during the Second Wizarding War, hosted by Lee Jordan and featuring members of the Order of the Phoenix. During the Second Wizarding War, after Lord Voldemort, his Death Eaters and other followers had taken over the Ministry of Magic, all magical media were rigidly… Read More
• Glossary A low, soft, stuffed seat (possibly in the form of a beanbag, ottoman, or couch). Read More
• Publications One of the scholarly journals of the wizarding world; Albus Dumbledore had at least one paper published in it when he was still quite young (DH2). Read More
• Glossary Slang term for a fool; also for a person’s backside. Read More
• Thing The Predictions of Tycho Dodonus was a book published before 1927 in which the author, Tycho Dodonus, put forth a number of poetic prophecies. Many in the Wizarding community were familiar with the book including Albus Dumbledore, Yusuf Kama, Porpentina Goldstein, and Torquil Travers (CG). Read More
• Hogwarts Prefect badges are badges bearing the letter “P” that are worn by Hogwarts prefects to indicate that they are prefects. Badges are sent to new prefects just before they start their fifth year (OP9). Read More
• Glossary • Titles, nicknames, and honorifics Some of the older pupils (students) in many secondary (12-18) schools are given duties supervising the younger children and assisting the teachers in maintaining discipline. Prefects are usually the most outstanding or best behaved students, but in some schools all the upper year pupils share prefect duties. Read More
• Wandmaking Prickly Ash is a North American tree used as a wand wood by James Steward to make a wand for his adopted son Chadwick Boot when he turned eleven. Read More
• Sports teams Scottish Quidditch team from Portree on the Isle of Skye in the Hebrides (QA7) robes: deep purple with gold star (QA7) home: Portree… Read More
• Titles, nicknames, and honorifics The head of the executive branch of government of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (NSOED). The Prime Minister’s official residence is number ten, Downing Street in London. Read More
• Books and Literature The Prince’s copy of Advanced Potion-Making by Libatius Borage was given to Harry Potter out of a cabinet by Professor Horace Slughorn on the first day of N.E.W.T. level Potions class in his sixth year. Appearances Unlike Ron Weasley’s copy from the same cabinet,… Read More
• Plants • Potion ingredients Pritcher’s Porritch is a magical plant with pods that secrete a lumpy blue substance. It is considered to be dangerous, but used in preparation of the Potion of All Potential (BoP)… Read More
• Security A long, thin, flexible golden rod used like a Muggle security wand, which detects spells of concealment and hidden magical objects (OP7, DH26). Read More
• Headlines and advertisements The Problem Page is a feature appearing in the Daily Prophet (DP3). Originally published on pages 12 & 13, the letters to the Problem Page are answered by experts brought in by the Daily Prophet (DP3). Letters answered in this issue HOW MUCH REVENGE IS SAFE? MAKING IT… Read More
• Areas of knowledge A magical law that states that while using a Time-Turner, no one can travel back in history further than five hours without doing serious harm to themselves or others (CC2.16). Read More
• Communication The prophecy made by Sybill Trelawney to Albus Dumbledore foretold the birth of the person who would be able to defeat Voldemort.  … Read More
• Rules and laws The Protective Order on Thunderbirds was an edict issued by Seraphina Picquery that protected Thunderbirds at a time when MACUSA had a kill-to-curse policy on all magical creatures. Later, the order was expanded to cover all magical creatures (FB). Read More
• Glossary Short for “public house”; an establishment where alcohol is sold and drunk. U.S.: a bar. Read More
• Glossary What in the U.S. would be termed a private school; it’s “public” in the sense that the kids are attending a school rather than having a private tutor at home. See also comprehensive.  … Read More
• Wizarding culture Many books are produced in the Wizarding World. Some of them are recreational, others are scholarly. Some are used as textbooks at Hogwarts. Known publishers are listed here, along with books they are known to have published: Dust & Mildew The Philosophy of the Mundane: Why the Muggles Prefer Not… Read More
• Food and drinks • Glossary The dessert course of a meal. Read More
• Headlines and advertisements Puddlemere Chaser vanishes amid chaos at Holyhead match is an article in the Sports section of the Daily Prophet reporting the events of the Puddlemere United v Holyhead Harpies grudge match (DP4). Ministry fears of violence at the match between traditional rivals Holyhead Harpies and Puddlemere United were… Read More
• Sports teams Puddlemere United were the first professional Quidditch team, founded in 1163 (QA7). Robes: the colour changed in the 1990s from mud brown (DP1) to the current blue with two crossed gold bulrushes Home: Puddlemere Team anthem: “Beat Back Those Bludgers, Boys, and Chuck… Read More
• Headlines and advertisements Puddlemere United is a small feature article appearing on the Sports page of the Daily Prophet (DP1). Team manager Philbert Deverill told the Prophet that the Puddlemere United team will be making a change away from their current mud-brown coloured robes to blue ones, as the team needs “a change… Read More
• Sports teams Puddlemere United‘s Reserves are their second string Quidditch team. Oliver Wood signed with Puddlemere United after leaving Hogwarts, joining their reserve team (GF7). Read More
• Games, toys, and jokes • Sweets One of the range of sweets found in a Skiving Snackbox. Each end of the sweet is colour-coded, so that one end causes the eater to vomit and the other cancels the effect. Fred and George had trouble with the prototype until they got the effect balanced so that the… Read More
• Thing Pukwudgie is one of the four houses of Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The name was chosen by James Steward. Pukwudgie house stands for the heart of the wizard and is the house for healers. Read More
• Food and drinks Pumpkin fizz is a wizarding beverage. When Gryffindor beat Ravenclaw at Quidditch in Harry’s third year, the Gryffindors were planning  to drink some pumpkin fizz in celebration before the found the Fat Lady’s painting had been attacked (PA13). Read More
• Food and drinks Pumpkin juice, which is usually served iced, available on the Hogwarts Express and at Hogwarts (GF12, GF31). Read More
• Food and drinks A small pie filled with pumpkin, sold on the Hogwarts Express sweet trolley. Harry shares some with Ron on their first trip to Hogwarts (PS6). Read More
• Food and drinks The Hogwarts Express Trolley Witch threw a Pumpkin Pasty that exploded like a hand grenade as Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy  jumped from the roof of the train (CC1.11)… Read More
• Food and drinks • Plants Pumpkins are a squash, a vegetable used for food, drink, and ornamental purposes. Cultivation Hagrid maintains a pumpkin patch outside his hut, which produces the pumpkins used to decorate the Great Hall for the Hallowe’en feast. Although the plants aren’t inherently magical, Hagrid gives them some “help”… Read More
• Food and drinks Pumpkin tarts were a food served at the welcome feast at the beginning of Harry’s third year (PA5). Read More
• Games, toys, and jokes The punching telescope is a trick telescope that when squeezed emits a cloud of black smoke, a bang, and a tiny fist springs out to give the user a black eye. Read More
• Plants • Potion ingredients A pungous onions ia a particularly intense onion bulb used in potion-making. It is sometimes included in the Boil Cure Potion (BoP)… Read More
• Hogwarts Punishment for rule-breaking students at Hogwarts varied significantly depending on the authority figure doling it out. Some members of the Hogwarts staff and faculty were excessively harsh in disciplining student. Generally, students might have had house points taken away or receive detention. Read More
• Glossary (noun) A long, narrow, flat-bottomed boat used on inland waterways (like the Isis river that flows through Oxford). It’s a kind of pole-boat. As a verb, “to punt” means to push a boat along by a long pole; the punter pushes the pole against the bottom of the river to… Read More
• Magical identities A witch or wizard who supposedly has magical blood on both sides of the family going back generations. Read More
• Publications The Pure-Blood Directory is an infamous publication from the 1930s which listed the so-called ‘Sacred Twenty-Eight’ families who have maintained a pure bloodline through history. The stated goal of the directory was to help pure-blood families keep their bloodlines pure by knowing with which families to intermarry. Some of these… Read More
• Organizations • Wizarding culture Pure-blood extremist groups are dangerous radical groups who will use violence against Muggles to promote their supremacist, prejudiced views. A number of these groups were active during the tenure of Maximillian Crowdy as Minister for Magic, but he exposed them and routed them out. Some suggest that his death in… Read More
• Thing After the giant game of chess on the night they sought the Philosopher’s Stone, Harry and Hermione crossed a threshold into the room with the Potions riddle and purple flames appeared behind them (PS16). 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