• Books and Literature List of twenty-eight families supposedly having the purest bloodlines. The list appeared in the infamous publication ‘Pure-Blood Directory’ in the 1930s. Some families protested being included in the list, others complained because they were not included. The list is: Abbott Avery Black Bulstrode Burke… Read More
• Headlines and advertisements Is Anyone Safe? is a headline from the magical newspaper The New York Ghost in 1926, referring to the dangerous criminal Gellert Grindelwald being on the loose in Europe (WFT). Read More
• Plants Centaurs burn this, observing the fumes and flames to refine the results of their stargazing (OP27). Read More
• Symbols The 1920s No-Maj fanatical group known as the New Salem Philanthropic Society displayed a banner showing hands snapping a wizard’s wand in half over some red and yellow flames, invoking the memory of the Salem Witch Trials and witch-burnings of earlier centuries (WFT). Read More
• Organizations American No-Maj group seeking to expose and destroy witches and wizards in the 1920s led by the extremist Mary Lou Barebone, a descendant of Scourers, and her three adopted children. Their meeting place was the “dingy” New Salem Church in New York City where they ran a soup kitchen for… Read More
• Organizations A Salem-based organisation for witches to support one another in their endeavours (JKR:Tw). Some members of the Institute attended the Quidditch World Cup in 1994 (GF7). Read More
• Hogwarts The Ravenclaw hourglass in the Hogwarts Entrance Hall for recording House Points is filled with blue sapphires (Pm, OP38). Read More
• Glossary A variety of tangerine with a sharp taste, originally from Japan (NSOED). Read More
• Food and drinks Sausages are cylinders of minced meat eaten by Muggles and wizards alike. Read More
• Glossary “Scarramanger” is the term that Vernon Dursley uses, during one of the adult Harry’s dreams about his past, to describe Rubeus Hagrid, when Hagrid finally catches up with them at the Hut-on-the-Rock (CC1.8). Read More
• Diseases and healing Wizards seem to earn their fair share of scars while tangling with Dark Wizards, Dark Creatures, or Dark objects, and can’t seem to hide them with magic. Read More
• Common items • Hogwarts academics Students typically carry bags filled with books, parchment, quills, homework,  wands, potions ingredients and ink. Read More
• Broomsticks Broomsticks and broom sports hold a special place in the hearts of Hogwarts students. Quidditch matches are routinely attended by nearly every student and teacher in the school, and star fliers have near-celebrity status among the student body. Read More
• Timelines and calendars School holidays (US “vacations”) in the British school system are usually spaced around six to seven weeks apart and are often referred to as the “school break”. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, as part of the magical world, operates on a different schedule to most of the other… Read More
• Timelines and calendars The School Year at Hogwarts The year begins on September 1 Hogwarts Express leaves King’s Cross Station at 11 a.m., bringing students to Hogsmeade Station where the 2nd through 7th years ride horseless carriages up to the castle and 1st years cross the lake in boats with Hagrid the start-of-year… Read More
• Quidditch Areas of the pitch marked off by curved lines around the goals, where only the Keeper and one Chaser at a time are allowed (QA6). Read More
• Titles, nicknames, and honorifics One of the nicknames given to Scorpius Malfoy, originating in the alternate timeline where Harry Potter died at Battle of Hogwarts (CC3.2). Read More
• Titles, nicknames, and honorifics Nickname Scorpius Malfoy gives himself after viewing the alternate universe in which The Augurey and the Dark Lord ruled the Wizarding World together (CC3.14). Read More
• Sports teams The Scottish national teams are from Scotland (one of the four countries that together are the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland). Quidditch Scotland lost to Canada in the 1990 Quidditch World Cup. Seeker Hector Lamont blamed his failure to catch the Snitch on the shortness of his fingers,… Read More
• Organizations 17th century – Rogue band of vengeful mercenary wizards who caused a huge problem between wizards and No-Majs in North America. During the early years of the European Wizarding community in America, there was no government or laws. As a result, unscrupulous bands of wizards formed mercenary bands to enforce… Read More
• Books and Literature A book in the Restricted Section of the Hogwarts library that let out a loud, horrific scream when opened (PS12). Read More
• Diseases and healing Scrofungulus is a contagious disease which affects witches and wizards. It is treated on the second floor of St Mungos (OP22).  … Read More
• Insults, Curses, and Interjections
• Plants • Potion ingredients A potion ingredient used to make Confusing and Befuddlement Draughts. The plant is supposed to inflame the brain, and therefore useful to producing hot-headedness and recklessness (OP18). Read More
• Security This sensor is a type of Dark Detector that is golden in color and resembles a squiggly television aerial. It vibrates when it detects concealment and lies (GF20). Read More
• Architecture Secret passages are everywhere in such an old and magical place as Hogwarts; they are concealed in a variety of ways but many have been discovered by more rebellious students such as the Marauders and the Weasley twins, as well as Filch. Read More
• Rules and laws A specific and very serious type of MACUSA law violation that risks exposure of the magical community. Tina Goldstein arrested Newt Scamander for a Section 3A when she learned that he had not wiped the memory of a No-Maj (Jacob Kowalski) who witnessed magic. Read More
• Occupations Security Trolls and Security Warlocks (wizards and/or witches) provide protection services in the Wizarding world. Security Trolls After the Fat Lady’s portrait was slashed by Sirius Black (who later was let into Gryffindor Tower by Sir Cadogan upon producing the passwords), she agreed to return if she… Read More
• Security Ministry watchwizard Eric Munch used a thin, golden rod to scan over Harry’s body before admitting him further into Ministry headquarters. What exactly he was scanning for is unclear (OP7). Read More
• Quidditch The Seeker is the Quidditch player whose objective is to spot and catch the Golden Snitch. The role of the Seeker is often considered extremely important as catching the Snitch gives his or her team 150 points (PS10, CS7). History The position of Seeker was not originally… Read More
• Headlines and advertisements Seekers jinxed as Pride of Portree fall to the Arrows is a Sports headline in the Daily Prophet, following a controversial Quidditch match (DP3). A collision occurred during the race for the Snitch, between Dougal McBride (Pride of Portree) and Gregory Cotton (Appleby Arrows). This led to illegal… Read More
• Occupations A Seer is a witch or wizard with the Inner Eye, that is, the ability to see into the future. Practitioners Cassandra Trelawney was a famous, talented Seer (FW, WW, OP15). Her great-great-granddaughter Sybill Trelawney also possesses the Inner Eye, but she has only… Read More
• Glossary Cellophane tape. In the U.S., we’d say “Scotch tape”. The name of the wizarding equivalent, Spellotape, is a play on this, a pun that is lost in translation for U.S. readers. Read More
• Sports teams The Senegalese National Teams are from the African country of Senegal. Quidditch Senegal lost in the final match of the 1998 Quidditch World Cup to a side from Malawi.  The team had almost refused to play the match after their team mascots, the Yumboes, were arrested… Read More
• Timelines and calendars September is a busy month at Hogwarts as the first school term begins. 1st – Hogwarts Express arrives from London’s Kings Cross Station after dark. The sun sets at 8:16 pm, so the train arrives sometime around 9 pm. 2nd – classes begin week 2 – First years’ flying lessons… Read More
• Glossary One of the threat levels on the giant dial in the Atrium at New York MACUSA Headquarters in 1926 (WFT). The event which triggered this status was the destruction of a brownstone building and a street by a mysterious”dark wind with eyes” which was unexplained until it turned out to… Read More
• Symbols Shamrocks are clovers used as a symbol for Ireland. At the 1994 Quidditch World Cup, Ireland supporters stuck shamrocks to their clothing and belongings (GF7, GF8). Read More
• Food and drinks • Glossary A hard lemon-flavoured candy shell filled with effervescent sherbet powder. Also known as sherbet lemons. Not the same thing as Lemonheads or lemon drops! Sherbet powder is not the same thing as an iced sherbet. Read More
• Food and drinks Sherry is a fortified wine from Spain. Appearances When Harry first visited the Leaky Cauldron, a handful of older women in a corner were drinking small glasses of sherry (PS5). After drinking her fourth glass of sherry, the Riddle family’s cook gave her opinion of Frank… Read More
• Glossary Annoyed; angry. Probably from “to get someone’s shirt out,” to annoy, or “to keep one’s shirt on,” to keep from being annoyed. (NSOED)… Read More
• Broomsticks The Shooting Star is a racing broom manufactured by Universal Brooms Ltd. They were a very popular broom when introduced in 1955, as they were then the most inexpensive racing broom on the market. However, as the broom got older, it had a unfortunate tendency to lose height and speed,… Read More
• Common items A short silver knife is specialized equipment for potions work (HBP9). Students typically have these in their school potions kits (HBP26). Read More
• Magical objects Shrinking keys are an example of a mundane object enchanted by unscrupulous wizards for “muggle-baiting.” The keys are sold to unsuspecting Muggles, who then can’t find them anywhere (CS3). Read More
• Glossary U.S.: a look. This word can be used as either a noun or a verb; it was originally military slang, derived from the Arabic for “have you seen”? (NSOED). Read More
• Sports and competitions Originating in the county of Devon in England, Shuntbumps is a broom game now only played by children. The aim of the game is to knock all other fliers off their brooms (QA2). Read More
• Wizarding culture Sickles are silver coins used in the Wizarding World. Read More
• Broomsticks The Silver Arrow was a popular broom produced by Leonard Jewkes, developed sometime after the Moontrimmer of 1901 and before the advent of the Cleansweep One in 1926. The good-looking Silver Arrow broom achieved higher speeds than either the Moontrimmer or the Oakshaft 79. Its maximum… Read More
• Magical artifacts In Dumbledore’s day (although not in Armando Dippet’s), the office contained a number of spindly-legged tables supporting various frail “curious silver instruments” (CS12), the function of which Harry did not know. They usually whirred and emitted little puffs of smoke. Read More
• Organizations A secretive 18th century duelling club which only admitted those who carried an aspen wand (Pm: Wand woods)… Read More
• Communication Gilderoy Lockhart dispatched a dozen “surly” dwarfs reciting poems for Valentine’s Day in Harry’s Second Year (CS13). Read More
• Wizarding culture Sirius’ will was discovered a few days after his death. He left Harry everything he owned, including his house, personal possessions, and Kreacher. (HBP3)… Read More
• Glossary “To sit an exam” is a British idiom meaning to take an exam or to write an exam. It is still used often in Britain and the Commonwealth. Read More
• Historical events In 1777, MACUSA President Elizabeth McGilliguddy presided over the “Country or Kind” debate during which North American wizardry decided not to officially interfere in the Revolutionary War between Britain and the thirteen colonies. However, many witches and wizards secretly helped protected their No-Maj neighbors (Pm). McGillicuddy sent a message to the… Read More
• Quidditch Skinning is the Quidditch foul of flying to deliberately collide with another player. During the Quidditch World Cup of 1994 the Irish team was awarded a penalty after an incident of skinning by the Bulgarian side (GF8). This foul would have been one of the… Read More
• Glossary U.S.: baseboard. A board placed parallel to the floor at the base of an interior wall, serving as edging. Read More
• Glossary To avoid doing one’s task or duty; to “skive off” is to skip, as in skipping classes at school. Read More
• Games, toys, and jokes A range of sweets to make the eater ill; each different category looks like a different type of sweet and causes a different kind of illness. Each sweet is colour-coded so that one end causes the illness and the other makes the effect lift (OP6). Read More
• Symbols Tea leaf symbol from Unfogging the Future meaning “danger in your path.”  … Read More
• Magical objects Gellert Grindelwald would inhale vapor from a skull-hookah and exhale smoke that displayed illustrative images while he spoke (CG). Read More
• Wizarding culture Like people everywhere, wizards pepper their speech with slang expressions and interjections. Some of these are the same as those used by their Muggle counterparts, but others are more specific to the Wizarding World. Some are even specific to the particular characters and their shared experiences (e.g. “do a… Read More
• Wizarding culture Sleekeazy’s Hair Potion is a concoction which helps manage and style hair (GF24). The motto is “two drops tames even the most bothersome barnet.” Sleakeazy’s was invented by Fleamont Potter in the mid-1900s and the company he built to manufacture and market the potion was very successful (Pm). Read More
• Businesses The Sleekeazy’s Hair Potion Company was founded by Fleamont Potter, grandfather of Harry Potter and the inventor of Sleekeazy’s Hair Potion, which “quadrupled the family gold.” When he retired he sold the company for a “vast profit” which added to the family fortune in the family vault at… Read More
• Quidditch This Quidditch manoeuvre involves a player rolling upside down to avoid a Bludger (QA10). Read More
• Organizations The Slug Club was informally created by Horace Slughorn , who has twice taught Potions at Hogwarts. During both of his tenures he invites an elite group of students to join, chosen because they have influential parents or because Slughorn believes they will be important some day. Slughorn called the get-togethers “parties” or “suppers,”… Read More
• Hogwarts Slytherin House is one of the four houses into which students are Sorted when they start their first year at Hogwarts. Slytherin House was founded by Salazar Slytherin around 990AD. His personal belief in the superiority of Pure Blood wizards still influences the attitudes of Slytherin members today. Head: Professor… Read More
• Dark magic items A heavy gold locket carrying Salazar Slytherin’s mark (an ornate serpentine S). Inherited by Merope Gaunt Riddle, pawned during her pregnancy to Borgin and Burkes, purchased by Hepzibah Smith, and subsequently stolen by Tom Riddle upon her murder (HBP20).  It was made into a Horcrux by Voldemort. At some… Read More
• Sports teams The Slytherin Quidditch Team of Hogwarts is drawn from the students of Slytherin House. The team wear robes of green. The Slytherins field a very strong Quidditch team. They won the Cup for seven years in a row until Gryffindor finally took it away from them in 1994. Slytherin… Read More
• Titles, nicknames, and honorifics Rude nickname given to Albus Potter by fellow-First Year Karl Jenkins during their first flying lesson when Potter’s broomstick refused to rise from the ground when ordered “Up!”  (CC1.4). Karl was implying that Albus did not have magical ability, like a Squib. Read More
• Magical objects Slytherin’s wand contained a fragment of Basilisk horn. It was passed down through the generations to Gormlaith Gaunt, from whom it was stolen by her niece Isolt Sayre. Slytherin taught it to ‘sleep’ when given a certain command in Parseltongue, rendering it inactive; this secret… Read More
• Glossary Self-satisfied, conceited; ingratiating in an oily way. Read More
• Muggle life Smeltings School’s uniform includes knobbly or Smeltings sticks. The students use them “for hitting each other” while the teachers aren’t looking; it is “supposed to be good training for later life” (PS3). Dudley puts his Smelting stick to good use while at Privet Drive, using it in a fight… Read More
• Plants The Snakewood Tree is an unknown species which grew from the buried remains of Salazar Slytherin’s wand at Ilvermorny School in Massachusetts. Read More
• Wandmaking Snallygaster heartstring is a wand core, and is used by Isolt Sayre to make wands for those who come to Ilvermony. Read More
• Organizations The Snallygaster Protection League (founded 1949) is a Maryland-based organization dedicated to obliviating No-Majs who encounter Snallygasters. Because the creatures do not shy away from Muggles, they tend to attract attention; the Snallygaster Protection League was created in response to multiple instances of Snallygaster sightings threatening to expose the magical… Read More
• Plants The pods of the Snargaluff tree are green and pulsating, about the size of a grapefruit. Read More
• Plants The Snargaluff tree is a rather vicious plant which looks like a gnarled stump until it is disturbed, at which its spiky branches attack. Inside the snargaluff are a number of small pods which, when stabbed, emit wriggling tubers. The correct way to juice the tubers is found in the book Flesh-Eating… Read More
• Occupations The Snatchers were roaming mercenary groups of wizards during the second rise of Voldemort (circa 1997-1998) who earned gold from the Ministry of Magic (or Voldemort) for rounding up Muggle-borns and blood traitors (DH19). Read More
• Security The Sneakoscope is a device which looks something like a gyroscope and which gives off a whistling sound when someone untrustworthy is around. Read More
• Plants • Potion ingredients Sneezewort (Achillea ptarmica) is a member of the yarrow family. The white flowers bloom in the summer. Read More
• Sports and competitions Hunting the tiny, highly manoeuvrable, magical Snidget birds was a popular Wizarding sport from the early 1100s until the practice was banned in the mid 1300s. A tapestry in the Museum of Quidditch shows witches and wizards engaged in Snidget-hunting using nets, wands, and even bare hands. The tiny… Read More
• Quidditch A foul in Quidditch which happens when any other player than the Seeker touches the Golden Snitch (QA6). Read More
• Organizations The Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare, or S.P.E.W, was an organization founded in 1994 by Hermione Granger in response to what she saw as gross injustice in the treatment of house-elves. When she founded the society, Hermione appointed Ron as treasurer and Harry as… Read More
• Clothing Socks are clothing for the feet, usually knitted or made from stretchy material. Read More
• Battles A solid brick wall erupted from the exhaust pipe behind the flying motorcycle during the Battle of the Seven Potters to thwart the Death Eaters following Harry and Hagrid (DH4). Read More
• Glossary Br.: An old-fashioned phrase used when speaking to a man or boy, suggesting that he has done something wrong (OP17). Read More
• Plants • Potion ingredients The sopophorous is a magical plant which grows in gloomy marshlands. The roots and the beans are used in potion-making. The white bean produces a silver juice which has magical properties. If drunk straight, the juice will cause a person to lose their memory. The juice is an ingredient in… 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
• Sentient objects Four enormous wooden carvings are in the entrance to Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, one for each of the school’s houses.  These are used to sort the students.  The enchanted carvings react when the new students stand on the Gordian knot in the entrance hall to signal if they want… Read More
• Hogwarts Each year when the First Year students arrive at Hogwarts, they undergo a ceremony to sort them into one of the Four Houses: Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, or Hufflepuff. It is done through the use of the famous Hogwarts Sorting Hat (PS7). A stool is placed in front of the… Read More
• Art and Culture The Hogwarts Sorting Hat opens the Sorting Ceremony at each year’s start-of-term feast with a song that describes its history and the four houses (PS7, OP11). The Hat is known to include warnings in its songs. Nearly-Headless Nick stated: “I have heard the Hat give several warnings before,… Read More
• Magical identities A part of a human being’s spiritual identity which is eternal and leaves the body upon death to go to the afterlife. Read More
• Sports teams The New Spain National Teams come from the North American country of New Spain. This is an old name for the country of Mexico. Quidditch New Spain’s Quidditch team were finalists in the 1809 Quidditch World Cup, a disaster more commonly referred to as “The… Read More
• Glossary A colloquial phrase, meaning either going crazy with worry or getting really agitated/angry. Read More
• Communication A prophecy from an unknown source stating: “When spares are spared, when time is turned, when unseen children murder their fathers: then will the Dark Lord return” (CC3.19, CC3.21). Read More
• Diseases and healing A highly contagious magical malady that causes purple pustules to develop on the skin which may leave pockmarks (DH6, OP23). A sub-strain of the disease, Cerebrumous Spattergroit, causes severe confusion and memory impairment (Pm:QWC). Read More
• Games, toys, and jokes A pair of “psychedelic spectacles”, given away free by The Quibbler during Harry’s sixth year. Read More
• Publications Spellbound: Celebrity Secrets and Spell Tips of the Stars! was a wizarding celebrity magazine (CG). In 1927, the magazine incorrectly announced that Newt was going to marry Leta Lestrange. The cover of that issue showed a picture of Newt with a Niffler, and a photo inside showed Newt, Leta, Theseus,… Read More
• Diseases and healing More dangerous and permanent than a normal injury, spell damage is the worst type of wound a witch or wizard can receive. This damage often leave permanent scars or effects. The Janus Thickey Ward at St. Mungo’s is devoted to the care of those most seriously injured by spell damange. Lockhart… Read More
• Furniture and household items Used to repair magical items. Ron used Spellotape to hold the pieces of his broken wand together throughout 1992, but while it allowed the wand to operate, the wand malfunctioned frequently (CS6). Hermione used it to control her copy of The Monster Book of Monsters (PA6). Ginny used… Read More
• Wizarding culture “The Can’t-Spells” was a term for non-magical humans (CG). This was one of the names for Muggles mentioned by Gellert Grindelwald when he rattled off a list of such terms while speaking to the pure-blood audience in the underground auditorium in Paris (CG). Read More
• Ministry of Magic A division of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures with responsibility for ghosts… Read More
• Glossary A suet pudding made with currants or raisins (NSOED). The name is thought to come from a corruption of the word “pudding”.  … Read More
• Thing There are several squashy armchairs in each of the common rooms at Hogwarts. The Gryffindor common room is “full” of armchairs (PS7), but the “good” ones can be found by the fireplace (PS12). Read More
• Magical identities A Squib is a non-magical person born to at least one magical parent (Pm). They are much rarer than Muggle-born witches and wizards (CS9). Read More
• Plants • Potion ingredients Squill is a mundane flower whose a bulb is used as a potion ingredient. Read More
• Furniture and household items The staff room wardrobe is a large, ugly piece of furniture found in the teachers’ staff room on the ground floor. The teachers keep their robes in that wardrobe. Harry and Ron hid in the wardrobe when they had figured out where the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets was… Read More
• Architecture There are one hundred and forty-two staircases at Hogwarts: wide, sweeping ones; narrow, rickety ones; some that led somewhere different on a Friday; some with a vanishing step halfway up that you had to remember to jump (PS8). One of them, located on the third floor, is described as… Read More
• Books and Literature The Standard Book of Spells is a multi-volume reference work used as a textbook at Hogwarts. The series is divided into “Grades,” with each successive grade containing more difficult and complex spells. The series was written by Miranda Goshawk in the 1900s, probably based on the seminal work… Read More
• Quidditch This Quidditch manoeuvre is used by the Keeper to protect as large an area as possible. To accomplish this move, the Keeper hangs by one hand and one foot from his or her broom, extending the other hand and foot as far out as possible (QA10). Read More
• Headlines and advertisements The Star Letter is the best letter of the day sent in by readers and published in the Daily Prophet (DP1). In this issue, Ethelbald Mordaunt’s letter complains about the antics of his neighbour, Elladora Guffy, who thinks it fun to torment him by putting “amusing” spells… Read More
• Broomsticks Starsweeper XXIs are the brooms ridden by the United States National Team during the Quidditch World Cup tournament of 2014 (Pm). Read More
• Hogwarts • Magical objects Halfway along a third-floor corridor between the staircase leading from the Entrance Hall and the way to Gryffindor Tower, stands a statue of Gunhilda of Gorsemoor, referred to by the students as “the one-eyed, hump-backed witch.” This statue conceals the entrance to a secret passage leading to Honeydukes’ cellar (PA10). Read More
• Food and drinks
• Glossary These two ingredients represent a popular British filling for a pie (normally encased in pastry). Steak and kidney pies are often served with chips and appear on the menu of most British fish and chip shops. Read More
• Food and drinks
• Sports and competitions Stichstock was an ancient broom game played in Germany (QA2). Read More
• Quidditch Nickname for the fans of the Wimbourne Wasps Quidditch team. (QA7)… Read More
• Plants When poked with a sharp instrument, the Mimbulus mimbletonia plant shoots out thick green sap from every pulsating boil. Read More
• Glossary Definitely not a British delicacy. JKR made this up. A stoat is a small mammal similar to a weasel which is found in Britain and Ireland. It is not usually eaten by humans, in sandwiches or any other form. [The Mammal Society]… Read More
• Quidditch Stooging is a formerly allowable Quidditch tactic (now considered a foul) where two of a team’s Chasers would shove the opposing Keeper aside so that the third Chaser could score a goal (QA6). Although it wasn’t technically a foul at the time, it would have been one… Read More
• Books and Literature A Study into Muggle Suspicions About Magic is a Ministry of Magic report warning against the dangers of underestimating how much magic Muggles notice (DP1). Professor Phoebus Penrose headed a committee which produced this report about Muggle suspicions about magic. Among other magical examples, it notes that… Read More
• Books and Literature A Study into the Possibility of Reversing the Actual and Metaphysical Effects of Natural Death, with Particular Regard to the Reintegration of Essence and Matter is an acclaimed book on the possibility of reversing death, written by the renowned wizarding philosopher Bertrand de Pensées-Profondes (TBB). His conclusion – after copious research… Read More
• Glossary “Stuffed frog” is a term used to describe someone looking utterly bewildered, similar to the common Australian slang term “stunned mullet.”… Read More
• Glossary Covered or otherwise sweetened with sugar. For the “covered in sugar” sense, in the U.S. we’d say “glazed”… Read More
• Glossary Long-handled grips used to pick up cube sugar. In Britain, sugar is available granulated or in moulded lumps or small cubes. Cube sugar would be considered posh by someone like Petunia Dursley, but it’s arguably exactly the opposite. Read More
• Sentient objects Suits of armour stand in a number of places around the castle. They are empty, mere metal and leather, but they do seem to have some amount of magical animation and even sentience to them. They seem to move about: The people in the portraits kept going to visit each… Read More
• Sports teams The Sunrays, a professional Quidditch team from Sumbawanga in Tanzania, are known for their formation looping. (QA8)… Read More
• Symbols Tea leaf symbol from Unfogging the Future which means “great happiness.”… Read More
• Publications The Sunday Prophet is a weekend edition of the Daily Prophet, the newspaper of the wizarding world. Read More
• Titles, nicknames, and honorifics The Supreme Mugwump is the title held by the head of the International Confederation of Wizards (ICW). History Pierre Bonaccord was the first Supreme Mugwump of the ICW. His appointment was contested by wizards from Liechtenstein because of his views on troll hunting (OP31). Albus Dumbledore… Read More
• Businesses The most famous sweetshop in the wizarding world would seem to be Honeydukes, which is located in Hogsmeade and owned by Ambrosius Flume (HBP4) and his wife. The shop is filled with “shelves upon shelves of the most succulent-looking sweets imaginable” (PA10). Read More
• Broomsticks The Swiftstick was a broom produced by Ellerby and Spudmore in Germany, who had earlier released the Tinderblast, in 1952. It was never used for Quidditch because of its inability to ascend powerfully (QA9). Read More
• Architecture The swivelling staircase is a magically enchanted staircase in Hogwarts. It is located in the vicinity of the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher’s office on the second floor (OP32). Read More
• Sports and competitions Swivenhodge is played with an inflated bladder, with players sitting backwards on brooms and using the brush end to knock the bladder back and forth across a hedge. A point is awarded every time an opponent misses (QA2). Read More
• Thing A small spiny cocoon houses the large flying creature known as a Swooping Evil, and contains a “luminous venom” which can be squeezed out and used to remove unpleasant memories (WFT). The cocoon unravels to release the creature, and closes up again when the Swooping Evil returns. Read More
• Magical artifacts The sword of Godric Gryffindor is an example of goblin-made armour, and specifically was made by Ragnuk the First; according to Griphook, it is a masterpiece of goblinwork (DH25). It is described as “silver” with a handle “gleaming with rubies the size of eggs”, and has Gryffindor’s name… Read More
• Glossary As a verb, “swot” means to study hard; as a noun, “swot” refers to somebody who does this. Hermione and Percy could both be called swots. Read More
• Sports teams The Syrian National Teams are from the Asian country of Syria. Quidditch Syria won the 1974 Quidditch World Cup after beating a team from Madagascar in the final match. This Quidditch World Cup tournament is mostly remembered for the mass rule-breaking known as “Royston Idlewind and the… Read More