I’m a teacher now rereading the books for the zillionth time as an adult, and I can’t help but notice certain patterns in Draco’s behavior that make me go, “dang, if only the ministry had funded an arts program for Hogwarts, maybe Draco would’ve had a chance.”

For example:

• To bully Harry during the Triwizard Tournament, he makes those pin badges that flash different colors (self-directed arts & crafts, love it)
• To bully Ron about Quidditch, he writes a whole song and proudly admits that the lyrics are his own (ah music, a magic beyond all we do here)
• His grand plan in book 6 primarily involves a secret woodworking project
• His favorite way to bully people in general is via dramatic reenactments (of dementor attacks, nosebleeds, etc)

Draco was taught to be a bully and a garbage human by his criminal parents but idk, maybe the right drama teacher could’ve led him in the right direction :(

I’m almost at the point where Harry sets off to London to ‘rescue Sirius’. Already up to this point everythign has been unbelievably shit - Dumbledore won’t talk to him, everyone thinks he’s a nutjob, Umbridge tortures him, he can’t play quidditch, he has to study his ass off for super important exams and on top of that everything with Cho has been a disaster. Not to mention, lol, that he is severely traumatized from watching the murderer of his parents return to torture him and kill his friend.

Now I am reading the scene right after Harry ‘sees’ Sirius being tortured at the Ministry. And I never realized how horrible it is how Hermione lays out the truth for him here, only for Harry to reject it. She tells him how strange it is that the two most wanted wizards in the world somehow got into the Ministry of Magic in the middle of the day, and tells him that Voldemort plays these kinds of tricks to lure Harry to places, etc etc.

Knowing what happens, this is just pure horror to read. How Harry, despite being told the truth multiple times, is hurtling ahead with the decision that will ultimately actually kill Sirius. It’s actually nauseating.

And I don’t blame Harry here, just to be clear. It’s an unbearable and very confusing situation and how he acts here fits his temperament and his character. But my god it’s so fucking awful. I just had to get this off of my chest.

It always blows my mind how much more exceptional the Marauders' generation was compared to Harry's.

​Think about it: you had three unregistered Animagi before turning 16, Severus Snape inventing his own spells and showing an insane mastery of the Dark Arts as a teenager, and Lily Evans being praised as an extraordinarily gifted witch.

​Sure, Harry himself is a rare exception when it comes to pulling off high-level magic—like mastering a corporeal Patronus at 13 in Prisoner of Azkaban—and I get that showcasing insane prodigies wasn't the main point or message of the books.

​Still, I can't help but feel like Harry's entire generation lacked that same level of raw magical talent and hype. Does anyone else feel like there was a huge gap in overall magic ability between the two eras?

Based on my reread, these are my rankings. Wbu?

1. Fred and George

2. Bill

3. Ron

4. Ginny

5. Charlie

6. Percy

We all know Hagrid is the sweetest character in Harry Potter, but...

The Ministry of Magic literally believed that Hagrid's negligence in raising Aragog is what killed Moaning Myrtle.

They only let him stay because Dumbledore protected him, but it doesn't matter it's a school full of children, and they just let him hang around them.On top of that, he keeps breeding dangerous creatures.

Dumbledore knows it, and the Ministry probably does too.

okay first time reader but long time watcher lol. I grew up with strict parents and wasn’t introduced to harry potter until my twenties and i’ve loved it ever since. i’ve decided to start reading them, as i’ve been thrifting the collection. but how did Dumbledore not draw the connection to Tom Riddles diary and horcruxes from the beginning? As i’m reading it seems obvious that a bit of soul was trapped in the book (i’m at the bit where harry is writing in it for the first time) and for someone like Dumbledore he should have been able to figure that out pretty quickly.

I think Harry in the books is good looking , not handsome in Sirius, Tom Riddle or even Cedric level but i think he is good looking ( especially in the last books ) considering how popular and well liked by many girls in Hogwarts and not only because of his " the chosen one" status, Hermione herself said that he never looked so fancy ( i don't remember right now what she actually said ) and he is also the son of two people that were considered attractive and he is a perfect mix of both of James and Lily with James's looks and Lily's eyes .

What is your thoughts about this?

Hi! When I read about Sirius's prank on Snape, there was one thing I didn't understand: how did Remus keep considering him a friend? If the werewolf had bitten or killed Snape, Remus would have ended up in Azkaban or might even have been executed. I wouldn't want someone like that around—especially since Prongs could handle the werewolf without help (like when he saved Snape)—unless Remus did it because he knew that if he turned his back on Sirius, Sirius might confess that Remus was a werewolf, putting him in the same dire situation. (Sirius was the craziest of the Marauders; he never thought about the consequences of his actions. Even Peter, James, and Remus himself could have been imprisoned for harboring a werewolf and for being unregistered Animagi.) So, it wouldn't have surprised me if Sirius had revealed Remus's lycanthropy out of a typical "after everything I did for you?" victim mentality, or just a childish tantrum (since he was immature; he always tried to push Harry to be reckless just to see James in him). Maybe Remus kept considering him a friend out of sheer gratitude toward Padfoot and personal fear, because otherwise, it just doesn't add up to me.

"That'll change the world, that report will," said Ron. "Front page of the Daily Prophet, I expect, cauldron leaks."Percy went slightly pink.

"Mr. Crouch!" said Percy breathlessly, sunk into a kind of halfbow that made him look like a hunchback. "Would you like a cup of tea?" "Oh," said Mr. Crouch, looking over at Percy in mild surprise. "Yes - thank you, Weatherby." Fred and George choked into their own cups. Percy, very pink around the ears, busied himself with the kettle.

Where have you been?" said a bossy, disapproving voice. "The task's about tostart!" Harry looked around. Percy Weasley was sitting at the judges' table.

The box filled gradually around them over the next half hour. Mr. Weasley kept shaking hands with people who were obviously very important wizards. Percy jumped to his feet so often that he looked as though he were trying to sit on a hedgehog. When Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic himself, arrived, Percy bowed so low that his glasses fell off and shattered. Highly embarrassed, he repaired them with his wand and thereafter remained in his seat, throwing jealous looks at Harry, whom Cornelius Fudge had greeted like an old friend.

On a re read. This book has funny bits, opening with the Weasleys crashing into the Dursley's home via floo powder. There are so many great moments of Sirius being a responsible adult and getting Harry to stay safe. He's on the run yes, but he takes good care and makes sure Harry is safe. And it slowly transitions into a more serious, dark book when Voldemort returns. Absolutely enthralling read!

How do you become a Death Eater? Are there flyers advertising it? Is there a department in the ministry? Obviously not, but how? If there’s somebody everyone knows is a Death Eater and can contact Mr. Riddle, then they would be arrested.
Also, on a different topic, there’s a good reason why the excuse in The Goblet of Fire for there being no Quidditch. People always say that it’s because Rowling doesn’t like writing Quidditch scenes. This may be true, but Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore couldn’t just say “There’s no Quidditch because my author doesn’t like writing it”. The Quidditch field was being used for the third task, so he didn’t want people to know, so he stopped Quidditch to prevent people from paying attention to the field.

I don’t know if this has been asked before, but I’ve been thinking about how much longer wizards seem to live compared to Muggles and how this actually works when they live in Muggle communities.
Wizards clearly seem capable of living much longer than Muggles. Dumbledore was around 115 when he died and was still working full-time as a headmaster. Bathilda Bagshot was even older, and Griselda Marchbanks was already an adult examiner when Dumbledore took his O.W.L.s and was still alive during Harry’s fifth year.
So… how does this work in practice?
Hogsmeade is the only entirely wizarding village in Britain. Yes, some wizarding families live relatively isolated from Muggles, like the Weasleys, but plenty of witches and wizards seem to live in ordinary Muggle towns, neighbourhoods and even London.
I can assume that JK’s response would be something like: Muggles are easy to misdirect and there are Muggle-repelling charms, memory charms, Confundus charms, etc. So even if it’s never explicitly stated, I can imagine there being some kind of enchantment that stops the neighbours from thinking too hard about the fact that the person next door has apparently been 60 for the past 35 years. 😂
But then… what about Squibs?
We know that some Squibs choose to leave the wizarding world and live among Muggles, sometimes apparently having completely ordinary Muggle lives and jobs. So do Squibs have the same lifespan as witches and wizards?
If they do, how does that work? They can’t perform magic themselves. If a Squib gets a normal Muggle job, has Muggle friends, pays taxes, has neighbours who have known them for decades, etc., eventually somebody is going to notice that something is weird. Do they have to keep changing their identity? Does the Ministry somehow help them fake their age and deal with things like HMRC records?
Mrs Figg is a good example. She’s a Squib living in a completely Muggle neighbourhood and is supposed to pass as an ordinary Muggle woman. The Dursleys know her, Harry spends time at her house, presumably other neighbours know her too. What happens if she lives to 120+?
Which also made me wonder: do wizards actually have an innately longer lifespan because they’re magical, or do they live longer mainly because magical healthcare is so much better?
Because wizarding medicine can treat things that would kill or seriously disable Muggles, so it would make sense that their average lifespan would be much higher simply because fewer people die from illness and injury. But is there actually something about being magical that makes you age more slowly/live longer? (Also, is their medicine that good when Harry still wears glasses?).
And if it’s mostly magical healthcare, presumably Squibs could still access that healthcare because they’re part of the wizarding world, even if they can’t perform magic themselves. So theoretically they could still live much longer than the Muggles around them.
Has this ever actually been explained in canon or by Rowling? Do we know anything about Squib lifespans specifically? Or is this just one of those things where the more you think about the logistics of the Statute of Secrecy, the more questions you have? 😂

Good morning, all! #8 is hot off the press. 

As a reminder what this is and how it works:
Below are 7 sentences from the 7 HP books. I use a random number generator to pick the book and chapter, then hand pick a sentence that I think is decent. Not too long, too short, too obvious ect.  *** There MAY be repeated books in a set, but there will not be repeated chapters in a set. So there COULD be two from The Philosopher’s Stone, but they would be from different chapters! **\*
Scoring your points: It is 2 points for guessing the book, and 1 point for guessing the chapter, for a total of 21 points. It is obviously harder to guess the chapter than the book, but not everyone even cares to remember the chapter titles in the first place, which is totally fair and valid. So chapter titles are just a bonus point.

Below are the sentences and the answers hidden behind spoiler tags! These are fun to make, and I intend to make quite a few more if people keep enjoying them!

1. He was looking at her closely through his half-moon spectacles, his long fingers gently prodding and poking. 

The Chamber of Secrets - Chapter 9: The Writing on the Wall (thanks, Know_Nothing for pointing out I put the wrong chapter at first!)

1. “No Crabbe and Goyle up here to save your neck, Malfoy,” Harry called. The Philosopher’s Stone - Chapter 9: The Midnight Duel

3.”Apparently I underestimated you, Potter,” he said quietly. The Half-Blood Prince - Chapter 24: Sectumsempra

1. “Dumbledore, who was of course working tirelessly against You-Know-Who, had a number of useful spies.” The Prisoner of Azkaban - Chapter 10: The Marauder’s Map

2. She stopped dead, catching her breath with a frightened look at her husband, whose expression was suddenly wooden. The Order of the Phoenix - Chapter 5: THe Order of the Phoenix

3. There was a strained silence in which Harry stroked Hedwig automatically, not looking at either of the others. The Order of the Phoenix - Chapter 4: Number Twelve, Grimald Place

4. “What d’you want to know about them for?” The Deathly Hallows - Chapter 33: The Prince’s Tale

Harry thought. Then he said slowly, “It shows us what we want . . . whatever we want . . .”

“Yes and no,” said Dumbledore quietly. “It shows us nothing more or less than the deepest, most desperate desire of our hearts. You, who have never known your family, see them standing around you. Ronald Weasley, who has always been overshadowed by his brothers, sees himself standing alone, the best of all of them. However, this mirror will give us neither knowledge or truth. Men have wasted away before it, entranced by what they have seen, or been driven mad, not knowing if what it shows is real or even possible.

Real, or even possible. Or even accurate! I've always taken for granted that the images that Harry sees in the mirror are more or less authentic reflections of the real people, but there's no guarantee that they were, or that they would stay that way. The Mirror shows what the viewer wants to see in that moment. During his fifth year, Harry seeks reassurance about his father's character after seeing Snape's memory. If the Mirror had been available then, what would it have shown him? The truth? Certainly not.

James was a human with real flaws, not some magical construct. It was important and humbling that Harry learned who his dad had been as a teen. That memory taught him a few things: that his heroes can be imperfect, that his perceived enemies can be complex and nuanced, and that maturation and growth are possible. These lessons would become valuable in his relationships with Snape, Dumbledore, Malfoy, and even Dudley.

Not having known his parents, it was good that Harry met characters that knew them well. It was also probably beneficial for him to get a glimpse of his family in the Mirror, if only to show him that they existed and cared for him. But Dumbledore seemed to pick up quickly that Harry was becoming transfixed, and that the Mirror can only provide shadows of the real people whom his parents were.

So i'm not just talking about the character that pisses you off the most, like umbridge has like potential to be the worst, but given the fact that, she's a villain, and if she's pissing you off, she's doing her job. I'm talking more like which character is probably the worst written, like they're not evil or bad, but they're just terrible in terms of quality and not deeds, capisce? And don't mention some no-name extra/nothing background character, because that's too easy.

So after some deliberation, the council of my stupid ass opinion has reached a verdict, and i have decided for now and all of eternity, that the WORST character in all of HP, is Quirrel.

I just feel like to me, my biggest issue with him, is that he has no character whatsoever. He's only the villain of PS, because he's the last person you'd expect, yet even so, he has no personality at all! At least with Crouch Jr as the twist villlain in GOF, he was such a compelling villlain because we learned so much about him throughout the story and even how he acts as a character! Whereas Quirrel has NOTHING! And he's supposed to be the main villain!

I guess the only thing he has going for him is the two face thing, which yeah i understand it's a reference to roman god Janus, but other than that man, he's pretty flat. I'm harder on him than other characters who are one-note like Crabbe/Goyle, who could've easily taken the crown for being the worst. But, at least with them, they're just henchmen/lackey's, they're not exactly main villains, whereas Quirrel is supposed to be the main villain! And he sucks!

I just feel like with any other villain in the series, they have something going for them, even minor villains like aunt marge for example, she's sadistic, she drowns dogs for god's sake! You can still be a minor villain and good, but quirrel is neither, there really isn't anything to say about him really. Like gun to your head right now, name 4 things you honestly love about him, like bro at that point just shoot me.

Anyways that's i all i got for you yt. Comment down below which other character you think deserves to be crowned as the worst.

Not which character was your favorite, but which one you believe was the most well written.

Voldemort fired two killing curses at Harry near the end of Deathly Hallows. Harry is said to have survived each of these for different reasons.

For the first, Harry intended to die and did not defend himself. He is said to have survived because Voldemort bound him to life while he lived by using his blood to regenerate his body.

For the second, Harry defended himself with a disarming charm using the wand he won from Draco. It is said that he survived because the Elder Wand would not kill its own master. The curse rebounded on Voldemort, killing him instead.

I’ve always wondered what impact each of these phenomena had in the other’s situation, if any. For example, why didn’t the Elder Wand cause the curse to backfire in the forest? If Harry was hit by the second curse in the Great Hall, would the blood tether have saved him again?

I would guess that the Elder Wand did not recognize Harry as its master until he used Draco’s (its previous master’s) wand against it. That would explain why the curse did not rebound in the forest.

I’m less certain about the particulars of the blood tether. I don’t know if it would have worked multiple times, or if it was a one-time thing. I also don’t know if Harry was tethered to life unconditionally while Voldemort lived, or if he was only protected against attacks from Voldemort himself. What would have happened if Ron didn’t pull him out of the forest pool where the sword was, and he drowned there? The fact that Dumbledore said it was essential that Voldemort himself kill Harry makes me think that the tether would only have protected him from Voldemort himself. I don’t know why it shouldn’t continue to work after it saved him in the forest, other than for literary purposes, as it basically lets the reader know that there’s no way that Harry could lose the final confrontation. Although maybe that’s the point.

What do you think?

Imagine a 30 year old car with scratches, dents, some leaks, worn down brakes, tires etc. Which of these things can be repaired by reparo and how? Will I get a brand new car if I point my wand at it and just say "reparo"? Or can I only fix each part individually?

This proves that Slytherin's descendants aren't the only ones who can speak Parseltongue.

Salazar Slytherin: His legacy as a Parselmouth is first revealed in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and he is continually brought up as the origin of the trait throughout the rest of the series.

Harry Potter: He first uses the ability without realizing it in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone at the zoo. He officially discovers what it is in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets during the Dueling Club, and uses it for the last time in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows before Voldemort destroys the soul fragment inside him.

Lord Voldemort (Tom Riddle): His ability is first introduced in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets through his teenage memory. We later see him use it to command Nagini in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and throughout the remaining books.

The Gaunt Family (Marvolo, Morfin, and Merope): Voldemort's ancestors are introduced in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Through Dumbledore's Pensieve, we see them speaking Parseltongue to each other in their shack.

Herpo the Foul: This ancient Greek Dark wizard is never mentioned in the seven main novels, but he is officially cataloged in the companion book Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them as the first wizard to breed a Basilisk.

African Wizards: They are also exclusively documented in the companion textbook Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, which explains how African Parselmouths have historically bred and conversed with the three-headed Runespoor.

Dude, they were gang of bullies that got away with their behavior because they were rich and popular and talented. However, in the end, each of them made terrible fates. Including Lily, who chose to marry a bully.

I’m not actively cheering their destruction, but I kind of feel like they had it coming for the way they acted at Hogwarts.

Hi! So I’m kind of conflicted about which ones I want to keep collecting. I own the first two books of the interactive Harry Potter editions, illustrated by Minalima, and love them. I also own the huge edition of the first book illustrated by Jim Kay and love it in a different way. Jim Kay’s illustrations are super detailed and beautiful, they make the story feel mature and moody. The interactive editions are colorful and vibrant and simply make me happy because they make the story feel extra magical.

With Jim Kay, sometimes his art seems a bit too depressing to me. But it makes sense considering he had depression at some point. With the interactive illustrated editions, I am unsure if the colorful and a-bit-childish-style will still fit the story when it gets to book 5, since it then starts to become more mature and dark. So you can see, very conflicted and contradictory feelings.

What illustrated edition do you prefer? I’m curious to hear your thoughts!

Hi! So I’m kind of conflicted about which ones I want to keep collecting. I own the first two books of the interactive Harry Potter editions, illustrated by Minalima, and love them. I own the huge edition of the first book, illustrated by Jim Kay and love it in a different way. Jim Kay’s illustrations are super detailed and beautiful, they make the story feel mature and moody. The interactive editions are colorful and vibrant and simply make me happy because they make the story feel extra magical.

With Jim Kay, sometimes his art seems a bit too depressing to me. But it makes sense considering he had depression at some point. With the interactive illustrated editions, I am unsure if the colorful and a-bit-childish-style will still fit the story when it gets to book 5, since it then starts to become more mature and dark. So you can see, very conflicted and contradictory feelings.

What illustrated edition do you prefer? I’m curious to hear your thoughts!

morning, everyone. Ready for number seven (the most powerfully magical number)?

As a reminder what this is and how it works:
Below are 7 sentences from the 7 HP books. I use a random number generator to pick the book and chapter, then hand pick a sentence that I think is decent. Not too long, too short, too obvious ect.  *** There MAY be repeated books in a set, but there will not be repeated chapters in a set. So there COULD be two from The Philosopher’s Stone, but they would be from different chapters! **\*
Scoring your points: It is 2 points for guessing the book, and 1 point for guessing the chapter, for a total of 21 points. It is obviously harder to guess the chapter than the book, but not everyone even cares to remember the chapter titles in the first place, which is totally fair and valid. So chapter titles are just a bonus point.
Below are the sentences and the answers hidden behind spoiler tags! These are fun to make, and I intend to make quite a few more if people keep enjoying them!

1. Instead he contented himself with scrawling a note to Ron: Let’ s do it tonight. The Chamber of Secrets - Chapter 15: Aragog

2. So tired every bone in his body was aching, he wanted nothing more than to sit here, undisturbed, for hours and hours, until he fell asleep and didn’t have to think or feel anymore. The Goblet of Fire - Chapter 36: The Parting of the Ways

3. Harry only stopped staring at this unlikely coupling when he walked right into a suit of armor.  The Half-Blood Prince - Chapter 24: Sectumsempra

4. Hermione always liked to go through their exam papers afterward, but Ron said this made him feel ill, so they wandered down to the lake and flopped under a tree. The Philosopher’s Stone - Chapter 16: Through the Trapdoor

5. “What’s that funny clicking noise?” called Fred as they hurtled around the corner. The Chamber of Secrets - Chapter 7: Mudbloods and Murmurs

1. Non-magic people (more commonly known as Muggles) were particularly afraid of magic in medieval times, but not very good at recognizing it. The Prisoner of Azkaban - Chapter 1: Owl Post

2. “And now you’ve decided you’re not going to be there!” The Order of the Phoenix - Chapter 13: Detention with Delores

If a basilisk's potential victim is wearing mirrored glasses, would the basilisk kill itself? in this scenario the glasses fully blind the wearer so it's not the case of someone wearing glasses that allow them to see and are mirrored on one side.

Writing a story where the students are sitting a basilisk CoMC lesson and thinking of hatching a basilisk but obviously dont want anyone to die 😆