Themes and Motifs

Harry Potter and the Philosopher‘s/Sorcerer‘s Stone

• Harry lives with his aunt and uncle at number four, Privet Drive.
• The Dursley house has four bedrooms.
• Uncle Dursley's rations for the house on the rock in the sea were a bag of chips and four bananas.
• Ron's mother packed four sandwiches for his first trip on the Hogwarts Express.
• According to Hagrid, no more than four to a boat to get from the train station to Hogwarts.
• There are four Houses at Hogwarts: Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin, named after the school's four founders: Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff,
  and Salazar Slytherin.
• A four-legged stool is used by the first years for their Sorting.
• Nearly Headless Nick says he hadn't eaten in nearly 400 years (but this is an anomaly since he has a 500th deathday party on Halloween).
• Hermione's Wingardium Leviosa spell raised her feather about four feet up from the desk.
• Harry hit the ground on all fours after nearly swallowing the Snitch.
• Charlie Weasley's four friends came to get Norbert at Hogwarts.
• Four balls are used in Quidditch: two Bludgers, one Quaffle, and one Golden Snitch.
• The Great Hall at Hogwarts contains four long House tables.
• Harry's room in Gryffindor Tower had four-poster beds.

⬆ Back to top

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

• An argument breaks out over breakfast at 4 Privet Drive.
• Harry misses sleeping in his four-poster bed in the tower dormitory (among other things) when not at Hogwarts.
• Quidditch is explained as the most popular sport in the wizarding world with six tall goal posts, four flying balls, and fourteen players on broomsticks.
• Harry sympathizes with Dobby about house-elf enslavement, saying he thought he had it bad staying at the Dursleys' another four weeks.
• After Harry is locked in his room after the pudding incident, he wonders if he'll even be alive in four weeks to return to Hogwarts, or if anyone will notice if he doesn't show up.
• Four or five chimneys were perched on the red roof of the Burrow.
• After Harry's rescue by the twins and Ron, their four breakfast plates were clean in a surprisingly short time.
• Mrs. Weasley tried to force Harry to eat fourth helpings at every meal.
• Back at Hogwarts, innumerable candles hovered in midair over four long, crowded tables.
• The Sorting Hat sorted new students into the four Hogwarts Houses every year.

⬆ Back to top

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

• Ron's wand is fourteen inches long and made of willow.
• Dudley was eating his fourth slice of pie.
• Harry's summer homework was to write a discussion on witch-burning in the 14th century.

⬆ Back to top

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

• The Riddle's cook had four sherries while relating what happened at the Riddle house.
• Harry turns 14. Harry is in his fourth year at Hogwarts.
• Harry receives four birthday cakes from Ron, Hermione, Hagrid, and Sirius.
• Dudley's tongue grows to four feet long after eating one of Fred and George's Ton-Tongue Toffees.
• Four beds were squeezed into Ron's room for Ron, Harry, Fred, and George.
• A wizard appeared in plus-fours at the Quidditch World Cup campsite.
• One of the pair of two-man tents for the Weasleys had four bunk beds.
• Harry and Hermione go with the Weasleys to the 422nd Quidditch World Cup.
• The family of four Muggles (the Roberts family) was spun in the air by the Death Eaters after the World cup.
• Mrs. Weasley buys The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 4 for Ron, Hermione, and Harry.
• Moody is the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, meaning Snape has failed to get that job for the fourth year running.
• Harry is held up by Peeves trying to overturn a large vase on him halfway along the fourth-floor corridor while on his way to the owlery.
• Moody puts Harry through the paces four times in a row until he can completely throw off the Imperious Curse.
• Harry, Ron, and Hermione stand in the fourth row in front of Hogwarts awaiting the arrival of Beauxbaton and Durmstrang.
• Filch adds four chairs to the staff table before the announcement of the Triwizard Tournament.
• The Goblet of Fire chooses four champions for the Triwizard Tournament: Viktor Krum, Fleur Delacour, Cedric Diggory, and Harry Potter.
• Moody guesses someone submitted Harry's name under a fourth school to fool the Goblet of Fire.
• Four summers before, on his eleventh birthday, Harry had been to Ollivander's to purchase his wand.
• Four dragons are brought in for the first task (one for each champion): Swedish Short-Snout, Chinese Fireball, Common Welsh Green, and the Hungarian Horntail.
• The date of the first task is November 24. Harry is left with dragon number four, the Hungarian Horntail, when the champions choose their dragons from Ludo Bagman's purple silk sack.
• Karkaroff gives Harry a score of four for the first task.
• The date of the second task is February 24.
• The Yule Ball is only open to fourth years and above (younger students may be invited). Hagrid tells Rita Skeeter that he has never had to tell Harry off in his four years at Hogwarts.
• Cho goes everywhere with an escort of four or five girls.
• Krum tells Hermione that Durmstrang has only four floors.
• The prefects' bathroom is the fourth door to the left of the statue of Boris the Bewildered on the fifth floor.
• According to Hagrid, Unicorns grow horns at about the age of four.
• There are four people bound to the tail of a stone merperson to be rescued by the champions in the second task.
• With his four paws, Sirius easily climbs the mountain to his hiding place.
• The third task takes place on June 24. Four Hogwarts house-elves carry a great silver platter of eclairs to Ron in the kitchens.
• A gray owl lands in front of Hermione, followed by four barn owls to deliver a deluge of mail.
• Harry falls into the Pensieve and sees four people being brought into the Council of Magical Law and placed in four chained chairs for a hearing, one of whom was Barty Crouch, Jr.
• Four-Point Spell: points a wand due north Mrs. Weasley was told off by the Fat Lady for coming back to the dormitory at four in the morning when she was at school at Hogwarts.
• There are four patrollers to watch the perimeter of the maze in the third task: Moody, McGonagall, Flitwick, and Hagrid.
• The Sphinx repeated the last four lines of the riddle for Harry.
• Voldemort speaks of how four years before, Quirrell gave him the means to return.
• Ollivander wrote to Dumbledore, four years before, to inform him Harry had bought the second wand with Fawkes' tail feather.

⬆ Back to top

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

• Harry lies outside number four Privet Drive in a flowerbed to listen to the news through the open window.
• For four solid weeks since he left Hogwarts, Harry felt he had been completely cut off from the magical world.
• Harry taunts Dudley that he needs four mates behind him to beat up a ten-year-old.
• A fourth owl came shooting out of the kitchen fireplace with a note from Sirius to Harry.
• On the fourth night after Harry sent Hedwig out for information, Uncle Vernon came into his room to tell him they were going out.
• When the group of wizards came that night to get Harry, he was very conscious of the fact that he hadn't combed his hair in four days.
• After being confined to his room for four days, and in a very bad mood, Harry's room was a mess. While cleaning Grimmauld Place, a Doxy soared at Harry, its four tiny fists clenched with fury.
• Mr. Weasley told Harry, 'Four more stops...' while taking the Underground to Harry's hearing
• The number Mr. Weasley dialed to get into the Ministry of Magic is '...six' and 'two...four... and another four... and another two...'
• Eric, the security wizard at the Ministry, identifies Harry's wand as being in use for four years.
• Four or five witches get out of the lift as several paper airplanes swoop in.
• Level Four, Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, incorporating Beast, Being and Spirit Divisions, Goblin Liaison Office and Pest Advisory Bureau.'
• George comments on what has happened to the last four Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers as being the problem with Dumbledore getting a new teacher.
• Molly Weasley celebrates Ron becoming the fourth prefect in the family. Ginny is now a fourth-year student.
• The Sorting Hat sings " 'Together we will build and teach!' The four good friends decided" ... and of the four founders.
• .,. and compares the Houses to 'pillars four'
• Harry remembers that the Sorting Hat usually confines itself to describing the different qualities looked for by the four Hogwarts Houses.
• Harry forgets to add syrup of hellebore to his Draught of Peace and proceeds straight to the fourth line of instructions.
• While in Umbridge's detention, Harry sneaks a look at Keeper tryouts, thinking the fourth person was terrible.
• After knowing Percy for four years, Harry wonders why Percy thinks him unbalanced and possibly violent.

⬆ Back to top

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

• Harry sat in a chair by his bedroom window for the best part of four hours, waiting for Dumbledore.
• Mrs. Weasley comments to Harry that she thinks Ron has grown four since she last bought him school robes.
• A group of fourth-year girls were whispering and giggling outside the Hogwarts Express compartment where Harry, Neville, and Luna were sitting.
• Tonks conjures her Patronus – an immense silvery four-legged creature – to the castle to send word that she has found Harry.
• Hermione confiscates a lime-green Fanged Frisbee from a fourth-year boy.
• The Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom is located four floors below the Gryffindor common room.
• Four Slytherins and four Ravenclaws progressed to the NEWT-level Potions class.
• Professor Slughorn was raving about Harry's potions abilities by their fourth lesson. (Thanks to the Prince.)
• Most of the fourth group trying out for the Gryffindor Quidditch team had come without brooms.
• Cormac McLaggen saved four penalties out of five while trying out for the position of Gryffindor Keeper.
• Ron saved one, two, three, four, five penalties in a row when he tried out for Keeper, but later told Hermione he thought he was going to miss the fourth one.
• When Hagrid told them about Aragog dying, Harry thought about the narrow escape he and Ron had had from the gigantic spider four years previously.
• Harry had seen the cursed necklace in Borgin and Burks four years previously.
• Professor McGonagall wanted to talk to the four of them (Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Leanne) about what had happened to Katie Bell.
• Harry lay awake in his four-poster bed wondering about his feelings for Ginny.
• During the first half-hour of the Quidditch match with Gryffindor, Ginny had scored four of their six goals.
• Slughorn introduces Harry to Eldred Worple, who suggests Harry spend four- or five-hour sessions with him to write his biography.
• The four Heads of House shouted for quiet during the first Apparition lesson in the Great Hall.
• Susan Bones Splinched herself on her fourth attempt to Apparate.
• Harry and Ron had to take a shortcut back to the Gryffindor common room when Peeves jammed a door shut on the fourth floor.
• Tom Riddle was due at four to visit Hepzibah Smith with an offer from Mr. Burke for her goblin-made armor.
• Harry could not take his Apparition test because he would not be seventeen for another four months.
• Dumbledore tells Harry that four years ago Harry had handed him proof that Voldemort had split his soul.
• Two Horcruxes are destroyed, and Dumbledore theorizes that four remain of Voldemort's seven-part soul.
• Dumbledore thinks that Slytherin's locket and Hufflepuff's cup became Horcruxes three and four.
• Four objects from the four founders would most likely appeal to Voldemort as objects for his Horcruxes.
• Harry realizes that if Gryffindor loses by more than 100 points to Ravenclaw, they would be in fourth place for the Championship.
• Snape gives Harry detention and then taunts him with the possibility of Gryffindor in fourth place.
• Dumbledore drinks halfway through the fourth goblet of potion in the cave when he staggers and falls forward against the basin, wanting to stop.
• Four people in black robes burst onto the balcony where Malfoy is threatening Dumbledore.
• Snape shouts that Harry's father would never attack him unless it was four on one.

⬆ Back to top

Harry Potter and the Philosopher‘s/Sorcerer‘s Stone

• There are seven obstacles to obtaining the Sorcerer's Stone: Fluffy, Devil's Snare, flying keys, chess game, troll, potions, and the Mirror of Erised.
• One of the obstacles that Harry and Hermione come across while trying to find the Sorcerer's Stone is seven differently shaped bottles and a riddle.

⬆ Back to top

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

• Hogwarts students have to buy all seven of Lockhart's books.

⬆ Back to top

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

• There are seven hidden passageways out of Hogwarts shown on the Marauder's Map.
• When Snape is filling in for Professor Lupin, he instructs the class to turn to page 394. 3 + 9 + 4 = 16: 1+6 = 7.
• Flitwick's office (where Sirius is locked inside) is located on the seventh floor.
• In the US version, the Chapter 15 illustration shows Hagrid's letter to Hermione in regard to Buckbeak's trial with seven teardrops.
• Harry's Quidditch number is 7 in the film.

⬆ Back to top

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

• Frank Bryce was said to be nearing his 77th birthday.
• After the Weasleys, the Diggorys, Harry, and Hermione arrive with the Portkey at the Quidditch World Cup campground, a voice said, "Seven past five from Stoatshead Hill."
• The Triwizard Tournament was first established 700 years before its appearance.
• Fred and George charge seven Sickles for a canary cream.
• There are seven locks for the seven parts of Moody's trunk, and Moody was locked in the seventh one.

⬆ Back to top

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

• After hearing a loud, cracking noise while watching the news, Uncle Vernon waves from the window at "Mrs. Number Seven, who was glaring from behind her net curtains."
• During Harry's trial, Dumbledore states, "... clause seven of the Decree [for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery] states that magic may be used before Muggles in exceptional circumstances..."
• The Room of Requirement, which is used for DA meetings, is on the seventh floor.
• The boggart in the desk changes seven times to reflect Mrs. Weasley's worst fears: dead Ron, Bill, Mr. Weasley, Fred and George, Percy, and Harry.
• The prophecy is in Row 97 in the Department of Mysteries.
• When Harry fell down the stairs into the room with the veil, seven people came to his aid; Neville, Sirius, Lupin, Moody, Tonks, Kingsley, and Dumbledore.
• Harry and his group visit seven rooms in the Department of Mysteries: the circular black room with the blue candles and many doors, the time room, the space room, the room with the veil, the Hall of Prophecy, the locked room, and the room with the brains.

⬆ Back to top

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

• The book was released on July 16, 2005. The month, date, and year all add up to 7!
• Harry took up his position by his bedroom window, where he had been watching for Dumbledore since seven o'clock.
• The Ministry of Magic sends out a purple leaflet with seven ways to protect the home and family against dark forces.
• Harry and Ron both receive seven OWLs.
• Blaise Zabini's mother is a famously beautiful witch who had been married (and widowed) seven times.
• Slughorn took the Felix Felicis potion for the second time in his life when he was 57.
• Quidditch practice is held at seven o'clock in the evening.
• Harry takes the Half-Blood Prince's advice in his book to brew his Draught of Living Death and "... add a clockwise stir after every seventh counterclockwise stir."
• While on his way to Dumbledore's office, Harry hides as Professor Trelawney passes by, shuffling dirty-looking playing cards. The second one she reads is the seven of spades – an ill omen.
• Six or seven Inferi crumpled when Harry hit them with the Full Body-Bind Curse.
• Voldemort thinks 7 is the most powerfully magical number; therefore, Dumbledore believes that he divided his soul into seven pieces: six Horcruxes and himself.

⬆ Back to top

Miscellaneous

• There are seven books in the Harry Potter series.
• There are seven years of studies at Hogwarts.
• Harry's birthday is in July, which is the seventh month of the year.
• The Weasley family has seven children.
• The Unlocking Spell can be found in The Standard Books of Spells, Grade 1, Chapter 7.
• There are seven Quidditch players on a team.
• Add the numbers of platform nine and three-quarters together: 9 + 3 + 4 = 16, and 1 + 6 = 7!
• There are 142 flights of stairs at Hogwarts. 1 + 4 + 2 = 7.
• Gryffindor Tower is located on the seventh floor.
• Gryffindor hadn't won the House Cup for seven years before Harry came.
• Nicolas Flamel and his wife have seven years' age difference.
• There are 700 ways to commit a foul in Quidditch.
• Lily began dating James in their seventh year at Hogwarts.
• There are seven Animagi registered with the Improper Use of Magic Office.
• Dumbledore's office is on the seventh floor of Hogwarts.

⬆ Back to top

Harry Potter and the Philosopher‘s/Sorcerer‘s Stone

• Dumbledore uses his Put-Outer to extinguish the 12 street lamps on Privet Drive.
• Dumbledore's watch has 12 hands.
• The milkman delivers two dozen letter-filled eggs to the Dursleys.
• On Friday, 12 letters arrive for Harry.
• Hagrid is described as being at least twice the height of a normal man.
• If a normal man is around 6 feet tall, that would make Hagrid approximately 12 feet tall.
• Platform 9 3/4 – 9 is 3/4 of 12 Hogwarts school song has 12 lines.
• The troll Quirrell let in on Halloween was 12 feet tall. During the flying lesson, Neville originally rises to 12 feet.
• The Wizards Duel with Draco was supposed to happen at midnight.
• At the first Quidditch match, Neville tells Draco he's worth 12 of him.
• There are 12 Christmas trees in the Great Hall.
• Dumbledore is famous for discovering the 12 uses of Dragon's blood.
• At exactly 12:00 a.m. Harry turns 11, and Hagrid bangs on the door.
• Shortly before the trio leaves to go through the trapdoor, Hermione says that she won't get kicked out because she got 112 percent on Flitwick's exam.
• Harry hears Quirrell sobbing and giving in to someone in a classroom. After Quirrell leaves the room, Harry says he would bet 12 Sorcerer's Stones that the other person in the room was Snape.
• Gryffindor was "in fourth place, with three hundred and twelve points."
• JKR said in an online chat that her favorite chapter out of all the books was Chapter 12, Book 1 (The Mirror of Erised).

⬆ Back to top

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

• Harry turns 12 years old.
• After Dobby drops the pudding on the kitchen floor, Harry receives an owl from the Ministry saying that a Hover Charm was used at 12 minutes past nine.
• Ron tells Harry that he wrote to him about twelve times over the summer to come and stay with him at the Burrow.
• When Draco is complaining about Harry, Lucius cuts him off and says he's heard this a dozen times already.
• There are 12 school governors that sign an Order of Suspension for Dumbledore.
• Lockhart says there are 12 dwarf cupids roaming around the school delivering Valentines.
• Lockhart tells Harry, '... when I was twelve, I was just as much of a nobody as you are now.'
• Lockhart says that in Chapter 12 of his book Wandering with Werewolves, he divulges that his ideal birthday gift is to have peace among all creatures.
• We learn that Bill and Percy both got 12 OWLs.
• Tom Riddle tells Harry that his mother bought him twelve years of borrowed time.

⬆ Back to top

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

• Aunt Marge has 12 bulldogs.
• Sirius escaped from Azkaban after being imprisoned for 12 years.
• To get his mind off of Aunt Marge's insults, Harry tries to remember page 12 of his book: "A Charm to Cure Reluctant Reversers."
• There were no seats, but half a dozen brass bedsteads on the bottom deck of the Knight Bus.
• Harry's Nimbus 2000 was smashed into a dozen pieces.
• Fudge says Black murdered 12 Muggles and 1 wizard with a single curse.
• We should note here that Pettigrew actually DID murder 12 Muggles in total. (Thanks to Joel.)
• At The Leaky Cauldron, Ron and Percy stay in room #12.
• Hermione's bag split as it was crammed with at least a dozen large and heavy books. Buckbeak's wingspan is said to be 12 meters long.
• Snape, substituting for Lupin's Dark Arts class, tells the students to turn to page 394 – if we play with those numbers, we get: 3 + 9 = 12, 3 x 4 = 12, 9 is 3/4 of 12. (Also see "References to the Number 7" regarding this number.)
• Ron tells everyone when he woke, Sirius was standing over him with a 12-inch knife.
• At the Christmas feast, Trelawney counts 12 people at the table and refuses to sit down because she would be thirteen.
• McGonagall isn't happy when Harry asks about the status of his broom for the 12th time.
• Sirius tells Lupin to hurry up with the explanation since he's been waiting 12 years to get back at Pettigrew.
• Trelawney's prophecy states "The Dark Lord lies alone and friendless, abandoned by his followers. His servant has been chained these twelve years."

⬆ Back to top

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

• Frank Bryce estimates Nagini to be 12 feet long.
• While Percy is lamenting about Rita Skeeter's complaints that they should be stamping out vampires instead of quibbling about cauldron thickness, he says: "As if it wasn't specifically stated in chapter 12 of the Guidelines for the Treatment of Non-Wizard Part-Humans–"
• "By 12 o'clock the next day, Harry's school trunk was packed with his school things and all his most prized possessions."
• The Basilisk fang from Harry's second year is described as being 12 inches long.
• At the Quidditch World Cup, the Bulgarians insisted on having 12 more seats in the Top Box.
• Crouch's grandfather used to have a magic carpet that could seat 12.
• The letter Harry sends Sirius after the first task is so heavy that when Harry tosses Pigwidgeon out the window with it, he plummets 12 feet before recovering.
• The Weasley's grandfather clock shows where each family member might be (such as "work," "traveling," etc.). In the position where the number twelve would be, it states "mortal peril."
• As Harry is about to enter the common room after being picked as School Champion, a dozen hands pull him inside.
• In the Great Hall at the Yule Ball, instead of the usual four House tables, there are about a hundred smaller tables, each seating about a dozen people.
• "Harry thought of Sirius, and the tight, tense knot in his chest seemed to ease slightly. He would be speaking to him in just over 12 hours."
• Hagrid tells Harry to meet him at midnight and to bring that cloak with him.
• Sirius tells Harry he would need half a dozen wizards at a time to overcome a dragon.
• Harry, Ron, and Hermione bring Sirius a dozen pieces of chicken.
• While Harry and Ron are making up false predictions for Divination, one of their prediction is that Harry will be stabbed in the back by someone he thought was a friend because Venus is in the 12th house.
• We learn that Dumbledore has been Hagrid's guardian since he was 12 years old when his dad died.
• Mundungus Fletcher put in a claim for a 12-bedroom tent with en-suite Jacuzzi.
• Cedric's wand is 12 inches long.
• Professor Binns drones on about the Goblin Rebellions of 1612.
• 12 Durmstrang students arrive for the Triwizard Tournament.
• During the final task, the spider drops Harry 12 feet.
• Before Harry leaves to get Dumbledore, Crouch tells him that his son, Crouch, Jr., got 12 OWLs.

⬆ Back to top

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

• On the US cover, there are 12 candles in the foreground.
• The headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix is located at number twelve, Grimmauld Place.
• Harry had barely run a dozen steps when he reached Dudley and the dementor.
• Harry thinks it's "galling" to be told not to be rash by someone who had spent 12 years in Azkaban.
• Harry's disciplinary hearing with the Ministry is on the 12th of August.
• Sirius explains to Harry that Voldemort is not going to go up against the Ministry with a dozen Death Eaters.
• While Bill is asking Harry if he's alright, he's gathering up 12 scrolls at once.
• Roughly half a dozen of the Wizengamot vote in favor of conviction.
• Luna Lovegood is looking at page 57 in the Quibbler; add 5 + 7 to get 12
• One of Snape's homework assignments is 12 inches of parchment on the properties of moonstone and its uses in potion-making.
• When Hermione is talking to Harry and Ron in the Great Hall, she glances around and sees half a dozen empty seats around them.
• During Harry's detention with Umbridge, he glances out the window to the Quidditch Pitch and sees half a dozen black figures.
• At midnight, Harry is in the common room when he starts drifting off and almost gets to the door before he's awakened by Dobby.
• Harry sees Dobby picking up a half a dozen hats that Hermione left.
• Before Harry first enters Dumbledore's office after seeing the snake bite Mr. Weasley, Harry thinks it sounds like Dumbledore is entertaining at least a dozen people.
• When the Weasley kids are at Grimmauld Place worrying about their dad, Sirius summons a half a dozen Butterbeers.
• "He was exhausted, he was confused beyond measure, he had experienced terror, relief, and then terror again in the last 12 hours, and still Dumbledore did not want to talk to him."
• Kingsley asks Mr. Weasley for as much information as possible on flying Muggle vehicle sightings in the past 12 months.
• When they meet Lockhart in St. Mungo's, he says, "Well, how about those autographs then? Shall we make it a round dozen?"
• Harry is grumpy about having to go back to Hogwarts and place himself under the tyranny of Dolores Umbridge, who had no doubt managed to force through another dozen decrees in their absence.
• Harry makes a mental note how much more difficult it is to extend his arm 12 inches and touch Cho's hand than to snatch a speeding Snitch from midair.
• Hermione tells Harry to meet her at 12 o'clock in the Three Broomsticks during Harry's date with Cho.
• After the article in the Quibbler is published, Trelawney breaks out in tears during one of her classes and exclaims that Harry would not suffer an early death after all, but would live to a ripe old age, become Minister of Magic, and have 12 children.
• When James disarms Snape, his wand flies 12 feet in the air.
• Harry says he wasn't the sole witness to Voldemort's rebirth and that there was a dozen-odd Death Eaters there too.
• There are a dozen doors in the circular room in the Department of Mysteries.
• When the trio is spread out in the shade of the beech tree near the lake, Ron talks them through his first save of the match for what felt like the dozenth time.
• In the Care of Magical Creatures OWL, the fifth-years have to correctly identify a knarl hidden among a dozen hedgehogs.
• Ron reminds Harry that Hermione got 112% on her Charms exam last year.
• Ravenclaw sixth-year Eddie Carmichael offers Ron and Harry a whole pint of Baruffio's Brain Elixir for 12 Galleons.
• Harry pulls Ron's arm over his shoulder, just as he had done with Dudley months ago, and thinks they have a 1-in-12 chance of getting it right this time.
• There are a dozen death eaters in the Department of Mysteries.
• After Fudge sees Voldemort Disapparate in the Ministry atrium, Dumbledore tells him it's time he listened to sense, and he's been chasing the wrong man for 12 months.
• Dumbledore pulls out his watch with 12 hands and tells Fudge he may have a half-an-hour of his time.
• Fred and George's joke shop is at 93 Diagon Alley. 9 + 3 is 12.

⬆ Back to top

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

• As Harry waited for Dumbledore, the minute hand on the alarm clock reached number twelve and the street lamp outside went dark.
• The bottle of Felix Felicis that Slughorn gives Harry is enough for twelve hours of good luck.
• Ginny shouted at Ron that he had about as much experience with snogging as a twelve-year-old.
• Hagrid delivered the usual twelve Christmas trees to the Great Hall.
• Apparition lessons consist of a twelve-week course. Cost: 12 Galleons.
• Harry wishes he hadn't used the Sectumsempra spell on Malfoy ... "and not just because I've got about a dozen detentions."
• Snape assigns Harry's detention as clearing out old files beginning with box "one thousand and twelve."
• Harry's stomach started rumbling during his detention at half past twelve.
• Dumbledore drinks twelve goblets of green potion to empty the basin in the cave.
• A dozen giant winged palominos pulled the powder-blue carriage of Beauxbatons to the funeral.

⬆ Back to top

Miscellaneous

• Al-bus Per-civ-al Wulf-ric Bri-an Dum-ble-dore. 12 syllables.
• So far, we know of 12-course options offered at Hogwarts: Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, Astronomy, Care of Magical Creatures, Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Divination, Herbology, History of Magic, Muggle Studies, Potions, Transfiguration. (There is a 13th if you include Flying lessons for first years.)

Note: In Half-Blood Prince, Hermione receives 11 OWLs AFTER dropping Divination and Muggle Studies, so that would indicate a total of 13 courses. It's either a mistake (gasp!) or there's another course we haven't heard of yet. (Thanks to Rory.)

⬆ Back to top

Harry Potter and the Philosopher‘s/Sorcerer‘s Stone

• We learn that, in the past, the Dursleys have given Harry an old pair of Uncle Vernon's socks for his birthday.
• The very first time we meet Harry he is in his cupboard looking for socks.
• Dumbledore tells Harry that in the Mirror of Erised he sees himself holding a pair of thick, woolen socks.

⬆ Back to top

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

• At The Burrow, Mrs. Weasley is "fussing over the state of his socks."
• And also at The Burrow: "Mrs. Weasley dashed about in a bad mood looking for spare socks."
• When Dobby explains to Harry that, for a house-elf, clothes mean freedom, he says: "The family is careful not to pass Dobby even a sock, sir."
• Harry tricks Lucius into giving Dobby Harry's sock.

⬆ Back to top

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

• Harry uses Uncle Vernon's old socks to cover his Sneakoscope: "I never wear those socks if I can help it."
• One of the worst birthday presents Harry ever got was that pair of Uncle Vernon's old socks.
• Ron unwraps a pair of maroon socks for Christmas but drops them to check out Harry's new Firebolt.
• The Fat Lady is found hiding in a portrait of Argyllshire, a place famous for socks.

⬆ Back to top

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

• At The Burrow, Mrs. Weasley washes Harry's socks.
• On Christmas morning, Harry gives Uncle Vernon's "foul," "mustard-yellow," and "extra knobbly" socks to Dobby.
• Ron gives Dobby an unwanted violet pair he got from his mum. Dobby is ecstatic. Ron (looking embarrassed) says: "They're only socks..."
• Dobby gives Harry a pair of socks; one red, with broomsticks, the other green with Snitches, that he knitted himself.
• At the Yule Ball, Moody tells Harry ... "Nice socks, Potter."
• Harry resolves to buy Dobby "a pair of socks for every day of the year."
• On the morning of the first task, Harry dressed so inattentively that it was a while before he realized that rather than trying to pull on a sock, he was trying to pull a hat onto his foot.
• While Hermione is arguing with Hagrid about S.P.E.W., Hagrid is putting on socks.
• Harry and Ron have fun in Hogsmeade picking out strange-looking socks for Dobby, including "a pair patterned with flashing gold and silver stars and another that screamed loudly when they became too smelly."

⬆ Back to top

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

• Tonks talks about her mum's knack of getting socks to fold themselves ... "It's a kind of flick-" She flicked her wand hopefully. One of Harry's socks gave a feeble sort of wiggle and flopped back on top of the mess in the trunk.
• Mundungus's pipe had a lingering acrid smell of burning socks.
• "Match his what?" said Mrs. Weasley absently, rolling up a pair of maroon socks and placing them on Ron's pile.
• When Fred and George offer to attach Ron's prefect badge to his forehead with a Permanent Sticking Charm, Ron wraps it tenderly in his maroon socks and locks it in his trunk.
• Seamus dressed at top speed the next morning and left the dormitory before Harry had even put on his socks.
• When Harry looks in the Pensieve at Snape's memories, he sees a group of laughing girls (including Lily Evans) sitting with their shoes and socks off, cooling their feet in the water.

⬆ Back to top

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

• Harry kept his Felix Felicis potion in a pair of rolled-up socks in his trunk (under which he also found his Marauder's Map).
• The Weasley twins get Mrs. Weasley flowers, saying they appreciate her more now that they have to "wash their own socks."

⬆ Back to top

• Harry's birthday is July 31; theoretically, Harry could have been conceived on Halloween.
• Harry's parents were murdered by Voldemort.
• Quirrell lets in the Mountain Troll.
• Nearly Headless Nick was murdered on Halloween in 1492 (of which he marked the 500th anniversary with his deathday party in Chamber of Secrets).
• Harry finds a petrified Mrs. Norris.
• Harry is disappointed that he can't go to Hogsmeade, and Sirius Black slashes the Fat Lady's portrait.
• The Goblet of Fire spits out Harry's name, which will eventually be the cause of Cedric's death.
• Sybill Trelawney made the prophecy about Harry and Lord Voldemort to Dumbledore on Halloween.

In each Harry Potter book, the "bad guy" seems to make their appearance in Chapter 13!

Harry Potter and the Philosopher‘s/Sorcerer‘s Stone

Professor Snape threatens Professor Quirrell, who we think is a decent man for resisting Snape. We soon discover that Professor Quirrell has joined with Lord Voldemort.

⬆ Back to top

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

We learn about T.M. Riddle, which stands for Tom Marvolo Riddle, and is an anagram for I Am Lord Voldemort. We thought at first that Tom was a good person because he led us to believe that he had captured Hagrid with the creature from the Chamber of Secrets.

⬆ Back to top

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Wormtail, or Peter Pettigrew, fakes his death by hiding, making everyone believe that he had been eaten by Hermione's cat, Crookshanks. Of course, he's a rat, so how could we have thought there could possibly be anything wrong with him?

⬆ Back to top

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Mad-Eye Moody, or at least, who we think is Mad-Eye Moody, makes his appearance, and turns Draco Malfoy into a white ferret, leading everyone to believe that he's a cool guy. A little Veritaserum and a short supply of Polyjuice Potion help reveal the truth!

⬆ Back to top

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Harry has detention with Dolores Jane Umbridge, and at no point during the book could anyone have thought that she was even remotely close to being a nice, caring, or loving person.

⬆ Back to top

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Harry and Professor Dumbledore go into the Pensieve and see the first meeting of Professor Dumbledore and Tom Riddle (who is already showing his 'Dark Lord' tendencies) at the orphanage.

⬆ Back to top

Harry Potter and the Philosopher‘s/Sorcerer‘s Stone

• At five o'clock, when Vernon leaves work, he bumps into a man wearing violet (shade of purple) robes.
• Quirrell's turban is purple.
• Hagrid swishes his umbrella down and with a flash of violet light, Dudley sprouts a curly pig's tail
• In Ollivander's window, a single wand sits on a faded, purple pillow.
• Dumbledore wears a purple cloak.
• There's a girl in Harry's class named Lavender Brown. Lavender is a shade of purple.
• Harry sees enormous purple toads in the Magical Menagerie.
• Dedalus Diggle's robes are purple.
• Harry's letter from Hogwarts is sealed with purple wax.
• During the train ride to Hogwarts, the sky is described as being "dark purple."
• The fire engulfing Harry and Hermione in the room with the potions is purple.
• At the end of Chapter 2, Harry recalls "a tiny man in a violet hat bowing to him once while out shopping."
• Harry recalls that "a bald man in a very long purple coat had actually shaken his hand in the street."

⬆ Back to top

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

• At Flourish and Blotts, Lockhart's photographer's camera emits purple smoke every time a picture is taken.
• At one point, Ron's broken wand emits purple bubbles.
• Lockhart's favorite color is lilac, a light shade of purple.
• Fudge is wearing purple boots.
• Lockhart wears plum-colored robes to the Dueling Club.
• "London was soon far behind, replaced by neat green fields that gave way in turn to wide, purplish moors."
• When Filch gets sick his nose turns "unusually" purple.
• Young mandrakes are tufty little purplish-green plants.
• Neville buys a pointed purple crystal, among other things, to protect him from the heir of Slytherin.
• When McGonagall comes out onto the Quidditch field to announce that the game has been canceled, she comes out with an enormous purple megaphone.
• Filch's Kwikspell letter is purple.

⬆ Back to top

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

• The sleeping bags the students slept in are purple.
• The Knight Bus is purple.
• Stan Shunpike is wearing a purple uniform.
• Lee Jordan uses a large, purple megaphone to commentate the game.
•  As Harry, Ron, and Hermione leave Hagrid's hut, the sun was setting and the sky "turned to a clear, purple-tinged grey."

⬆ Back to top

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

• The letter Mrs. Weasley sent to the Dursleys was purple.
• After eating the Ton-Tongue Toffee, Dudley's tongue swells and turns purple.
• Ron gives Dobby a pair of violet socks Mrs. Weasley had made for him.
• The bag that holds the miniature models of the dragons is purple.
• The programs at the Quidditch World Cup are purple.
• A lady in a portrait who hangs out with the Fat Lady is called Violet.
• Mr. Roberts is described as having deep purple shadows under his eyes.
• A group of haggard-looking Ministry wizards rushed past Ludo and the Weasleys, pointing at the distant evidence of some sort of magical fire that was sending violet sparks in the air.
• At the campsite, wizards in long white robes sat together roasting a rabbit over a blazing purple fire.
• When Harry looked at the ceiling that was enchanted to look like the sky outside, he noticed that it was very stormy looking, and the clouds were black and purple.
• The words the Omnioculars' commentary system uses are purple. The stairs are covered in a rich purple at the Quidditch World Cup stadium.
• The chairs in the Top Box of the Quidditch World Cup stadium are purple.
• Rita Skeeter wore a furry, purple-colored shirt.
• Rita Skeeter's photographer's camera emits purple smoke with every flash.
• Ron went purple when Fleur Delacour came to the Gryffindor table to borrow the bouillabaisse.
• The liquid that Madam Pomfrey pours on to Harry's cut after he faces the Horntail is purple. Cornelius Fudge is wearing a purple hat.
• Ludo Bagman wore a purple robe with yellow stars.
• One of the taps in the prefect bathroom gushes out purple bubbles.
• The Sleeping Potion Harry took after his encounter with Voldemort was purple.

⬆ Back to top

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

• After Harry heard the loud crack while outside the Dursleys', two large purple hands reached through the open window and closed tightly around his throat.
• And then Aunt Petunia's thin, horsey face appeared beside Uncle Vernon's wide, purple one.
• Harry stepped into the shadow of a large lilac tree and waited for Dudley.
• Several more references to a purple Uncle Vernon: purple-faced, shouting, his fist still raised; the vein in his purple temple was throbbing worse than ever; Uncle Vernon seemed to be swelling, his great purple face stretching before Harry's eyes; ... his massive purple face coming close to Harry's...
• Tonks was described as having short spiky hair that was a violent shade of violet.
• Dedalus Diggle dropped his violet-colored top hat.
• Mundungus rescued Ron from an ancient set of purple robes that had tried to strangle him.
• Fred and George invent 'puking pastilles' to sell to students – the orange half makes a student throw up to get out of class; the purple half restores them to good health after leaving the class.
• Mrs. Weasley wore a quilted purple dressing gown the morning of Harry's hearing.
• In the Ministry of Magic, Harry noticed several pale violet paper airplanes in the lift.
• Fudge turns a shade of magenta 'of which Uncle Vernon would have been proud.'
• Fudge also turns a slightly deeper shade of puce (which is a dark brownish shade of purple for those of you reaching for a dictionary).
• Mrs. Weasley places a pair of maroon socks on Ron's pile of clothes.
• Tonks wore a purple hat shaped like a pork pie while accompanying Harry to the Hogwarts Express.
• At the staff table, Dumbledore wore deep-purple robes scattered with silvery stars and a matching hat.
• Filch came wheezing into the room.
• There were purple patches on his sunken, veined cheeks.
• Dumbledore was wearing a magnificently embroidered purple and gold dressing gown over a snowy white nightshirt when Harry came to tell him about the snake biting Mr. Weasley.
• Gilderoy Lockhart was wearing a long lilac dressing gown in St. Mungo's.
• A dull purple flush was creeping up Neville's plump face when he unexpectedly met Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny in St. Mungo's.
• Again we meet the purple Knight Bus and Stan Shunpike in his purple uniform.
• Dolores Umbridge's face turned an ugly, patchy violet when she read Harry's interview in the Quibbler.
• Marietta Edgecombe's face was horribly disfigured by close-set purple pustules that spelled out "SNEAK."
• One of Fred and George's fireworks was a large, smoking, purple bat.
• Neville was turning steadily more purple while Crabbe overzealously restrained him in Umbridge's office.
• Neville had a large purple lump swelling above his right eye after escaping Umbridge's office.
• The sky was turned a light, dusky purple littered with tiny silver stars.
• A Death Eater struck Hermione with a streak of what looked like a purple flame.
• Tonks was wearing a bright purple T-shirt bearing the legend "The Weird Sisters."
• And once again, Uncle Vernon turned a deeper shade of puce, this time while glaring at Mr. Weasley.

⬆ Back to top

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

• The Ministry of Magic posts and distributes purple posters and leaflets with security advice and photographs of Death Eaters.
• Vernon Dursley is wearing a puce dressing gown when he opens the door to Dumbledore.
• Horace Slughorn first appears wearing lilac silk pajamas.
• Hermione ends up with a brilliantly purple-black eye after an encounter with Fred and George's telescope.
• Fred and George's shop has a gigantic purple poster in one window with flashing yellow letters about "U-NO-POO."
• Ginny's new pygmy puff, Arnold, is purple.
• Dumbledore wears a 'flamboyantly cut suit of plum velvet' in his Pensieve memory of going to see Tom Riddle at the orphanage.
• A third-year girl delivers two scrolls of parchment tied with a violet ribbon to Harry and Neville.
• Harry's Draught of Living Death turns the exact shade of lilac described by the textbook.
• Hermione's Draught of Living Death is a deep shade of purple.
• A great bang and a puff of purple smoke cleared to show that the Heads of House were able to reunite Susan Bones with her Splinched leg.
• Mundungus was slowly turning purple after Harry pinned him against a wall by the throat for stealing Black family items.
• Ernie MacMillan invented his own potion, which had curdled and formed a purple dumpling at the bottom of his cauldron.
• The merpeople have purplish hair.
• What appears to be Dumbledore is wrapped in purple velvet with golden stars.

⬆ Back to top

Miscellaneous

• Many times throughout the books, characters (especially Vernon, Petunia, and Ron) are described as being purple in the face over something.
• JKR showed up to the movie premiere in a purple dress.
• The Hebridean Black Dragon's eyes are purple.
• The Graphorn has purple horns.
• Pride of Portree, a professional Quidditch team, has purple robes.

⬆ Back to top

Harry Potter and the Philosopher‘s/Sorcerer‘s Stone

• His blue eyes were light, bright, and sparkling behind half-moon spectacles and his nose was very long and crooked, as though it had been broken at least twice. This man's name was Albus Dumbledore.
• She pointed at the last and youngest of her sons. He was tall, thin, and gangling, with freckles, big hands and feet, and a long nose.
• Harry unwrapped his Chocolate Frog and picked up the card. It showed a man's face. He wore half-moon glasses, had a long, crooked nose, and flowing silver hair, beard, and mustache. Underneath the picture was the name Albus Dumbledore.
• Professor Quirrell, in his absurd turban, was talking to a teacher with greasy black hair, a hooked nose, and sallow skin.
• "Fifty points each," said Professor McGonagall, breathing heavily through her long, pointed nose.

⬆ Back to top

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

• The creature slipped off the bed and bowed so low that the end of its long, thin nose touched the carpet. Harry noticed that it was wearing what looked like an old pillowcase, with rips for arm-and-leg holes.
• Harry spun around. There, his black robes rippling in a cold breeze, stood Severus Snape. He was a thin man with sallow skin, a hooked nose, and greasy, shoulder-length black hair, and at this moment, he was smiling in a way that told Harry he and Ron were in very deep trouble.
• Harry's whole body went numb. Dumbledore was looking unusually grave. He stared down his very crooked nose at them, and Harry suddenly found himself wishing he and Ron were still being beaten up by the Whomping Willow.
• The tip of Dumbledore's long, crooked nose was barely an inch from Mrs. Norris's fur. He was looking at her closely through his half-moon spectacles, his long fingers gently prodding and poking.
• The house-elf's goggling tennis ball eyes were peering at Harry through the darkness. A single tear was running down his long, pointed nose.
• Dumbledore took the diary from Harry and peered keenly down his long, crooked nose at its burnt and soggy pages.

⬆ Back to top

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

• Professor Dumbledore, though very old, always gave an impression of great energy. He had several feet of long silver hair and beard, half-moon spectacles, and an extremely crooked nose.
• Snape approached their table, stared down his hooked nose at the roots, then gave Ron an unpleasant smile from beneath his long, greasy black hair.
• Hook-nosed and menacing, Professor Snape stepped out, his eyes flashing at Neville.
• "Mr. Moony presents his compliments to Professor Snape, and begs him to keep his abnormally large nose out of other peoples' business."
• His skin looked grubby, almost like Scabbers's fur, and something of the rat lingered around his pointed nose and his very small, watery eyes.

⬆ Back to top

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

• He amused himself for a moment, picturing Dumbledore, with his long silver beard, full-length wizard's robes, and pointed hat, stretched out on a beach somewhere, rubbing suntan lotion onto his long crooked nose.
• And so he tried to imagine his other best friend, Ron Weasley's, reaction, and in a moment, Ron's red hair and long-nosed, freckled face seemed to swim before Harry, wearing a bemused expression.
• The tiny creature looked up and stretched its fingers, revealing enormous brown eyes and a nose the exact size and shape of a large tomato. It wasn't Dobby – it was, however, unmistakably a house-elf, as Harry's friend Dobby had been. Harry had set Dobby free from his old owners, the Malfoy family.
• Viktor Krum was thin, dark, and sallow-skinned, with a large curved nose and thick black eyebrows. He looked like an overgrown bird of prey. It was hard to believe he was only eighteen.
• On Professor Sinistra's other side was the sallow-faced, hook-nosed, greasy-haired Potions Master, Snape – Harry's least favorite person at Hogwarts.
• Harry's loathing of Snape was matched only by Snape's hatred of him, a hatred which had, if possible, intensified last year, when Harry had helped Sirius escape right under Snape's overlarge nose – Snape and Sirius had been enemies since their own school days.
• [His face] looked as though it had been carved out of weathered wood by someone who had only the vaguest idea of what human faces are supposed to look like, and was none too skilled with a chisel. Every inch of skin seemed to be scarred. The mouth looked like a diagonal gash, and a large chunk of the nose was missing.
• Karkaroff beckoned forward one of his students. As the boy passed, Harry caught a glimpse of a prominent curved nose and thick black eyebrows. He didn't need the punch on the arm Ron gave him, or the hiss in his ear, to recognize that profile.
• Then there was the fact that Cedric looked the part of a champion so much more than he did. Exceptionally handsome, with his straight nose, dark hair, and gray eyes, it was hard to say who was receiving more admiration these days, Cedric or Viktor Krum.
• "Please, sir, I'm supposed to take Harry Potter upstairs." Snape stared down his hooked nose at Colin, whose smile faded from his eager face.
• Dumbledore made a small noise of dissent through his long, crooked nose.
• Cedric and his parents were just inside the door. Viktor Krum was over in a corner, conversing with his dark-haired mother and father in rapid Bulgarian. He had inherited his father's hooked nose.
• "And then, the boy would return to Hogwarts, where he is under the crooked nose of that Muggle-loving fool from morning until night. So how could I take him?"
• Karkaroff beckoned forward one of his students. As the boy passed, Harry caught a glimpse of a prominent curved nose and thick black eyebrows. He didn't need the punch on the arm Ron gave him, or the hiss in his ear, to recognize that profile.
• Then there was the fact that Cedric looked the part of a champion so much more than he did. Exceptionally handsome, with his straight nose, dark hair, and gray eyes, it was hard to say who was receiving more admiration these days, Cedric or Viktor Krum.
• "Please, sir, I'm supposed to take Harry Potter upstairs." Snape stared down his hooked nose at Colin, whose smile faded from his eager face.
• Dumbledore made a small noise of dissent through his long, crooked nose.
• Cedric and his parents were just inside the door. Viktor Krum was over in a corner, conversing with his dark-haired mother and father in rapid Bulgarian. He had inherited his father's hooked nose.
• "And then, the boy would return to Hogwarts, where he is under the crooked nose of that Muggle-loving fool from morning until night. So how could I take him?"

⬆ Back to top

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

• Pressing her finger to her lips, she led him on tiptoe past a pair of long, moth-eaten curtains, behind which Harry supposed there must be another door, and after skirting a large umbrella stand that looked as though it had been made from a severed troll's leg they started up the dark staircase, passing a row of shrunken heads mounted on plaques on the wall. A closer look showed Harry that the heads belonged to house-elves. All of them had the same rather snout-like nose.
• In the very center of the group Harry saw the dark, greasy-haired head and prominent nose of his least favorite teacher at Hogwarts, Professor Snape.
• Opposite Harry, Tonks was entertaining Hermione and Ginny by transforming her nose between mouthfuls. Screwing up her eyes each time with the same pained expression she had worn back in Harry's bedroom, her nose swelled to a beak-like protuberance that resembled Snape's, shrank to the size of a button mushroom and then sprouted a great deal of hair from each nostril. Apparently, this was a regular mealtime entertainment because Hermione and Ginny were soon requesting their favorite noses.
• [Kreacher's] eyes were a bloodshot and watery grey and its fleshy nose was large and rather snoutlike.
• At the sight of Sirius, Kreacher flung himself into a ridiculously low bow that flattened his snoutlike nose on the floor.
• His long silver beard and hair gleamed in the torchlight as he drew level with Harry and looked up at Fudge through the half-moon spectacles that rested halfway down his very crooked nose.
• The gloomy house seemed warmer and more welcoming all of a sudden; even Kreacher looked less ugly as he poked his snoutlike nose into the kitchen to investigate the source of all the noise.
• Mad-Eye Moody was sniffing at a chicken-leg with what remained of his nose ...
• The surface of Hermione's potion, however, was a shimmering mist of silver vapor, and as Snape swept by he looked down his hooked nose at it without comment ...
• He sank into a deep bow so that his pencil-like nose brushed the threadbare surface of the hearthrug and Hedwig gave an indignant hoot and fluttered onto the arm of Harry's chair.
• [Harry] could have counted the freckles on [Cho's] nose.
• Professor McGonagall came hurrying into the dormitory in her tartan dressing gown, her glasses perched lopsidedly on the bridge of her bony nose.
• "He's a good boy," she said, casting a sternly appraising look down her rather bony nose at Neville, "but he hasn't got his father's talent, I'm afraid to say."
• Marietta gave a wail and pulled the neck of her robes right up to her eyes, but not before everyone had seen that her face was horribly disfigured by a series of close-set purple pustules that had spread across her nose and cheeks to form the word "SNEAK."
• Professor McGonagall gave a tiny sigh; Harry saw the nostrils of her sharp nose flare.
• [Harry] put [his glasses] on and raised his head a little to find Dumbledore's crooked nose inches from his own.

⬆ Back to top

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

• The man crept, hunchbacked, down the last few steps and moved into the room. He had small, watery eyes, a pointed nose, and wore an unpleasant simper.
• Half-moon spectacles were perched on his crooked nose, and he was wearing a long black traveling cloak and a pointed hat.
• "It is a long time since my last visit," said Dumbledore, peering down his crooked nose at Uncle Vernon. "I must say, your agapanthus are flourishing."
• There was a loud crack, and a house-elf appeared, with a snout for a nose, giant bat's ears, and enormous bloodshot eyes, crouching on the Dursleys' shag carpet and covered in grimy rags.
• I mean, Tonks is okay-looking when she isn't doing stupid things to her hair and her nose, but..."
• It was not until the glowing yellow light was ten feet away from them, and Harry had pulled off his Invisibility Cloak so that he could be seen, that he recognized, with a rush of pure loathing, the uplit hooked nose and long, black, greasy hair of Severus Snape.
• They waited, and a moment later the vulturelike countenance of Madam Pince appeared around the corner, her sunken cheeks, her skin like parchment, and her long hooked nose illuminated unflatteringly by the lamp she was carrying.
• Trapped, with Slughorn's arm around his shoulders, Snape looked down his hooked nose at Harry, his black eyes narrowed. "Funny, I never had the impression that I managed to teach Potter anything at all."
• Harry stared into the whitened face he knew so well, at the crooked nose and half-moon spectacles, and did not know what to do.
• Harry reached out, straightened the half-moon spectacles upon the crooked nose, and wiped a trickle of blood from the mouth with his own sleeve.
• Dumbledore was slumbering in a golden frame over the desk, his half-moon spectacles perched upon his crooked nose, looking peaceful and untroubled.
• Ron, he saw, was now holding Hermione and stroking her hair while she sobbed into his shoulder, tears dripping from the end of his own long nose.

⬆ Back to top

Harry Potter and the Philosopher‘s/Sorcerer‘s Stone

• Professor McGonagall pulled out a lace handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes beneath her spectacles. Dumbledore gave a great sniff as he took a golden watch from his pocket and examined it. It was a very odd watch. It had twelve hands but no numbers; instead, little planets were moving around the edge. It must have made sense to Dumbledore, though, because he put it back in his pocket and said, "Hagrid's late. I suppose it was he who told you I'd be here, by the way?"
• He was ripping the paper off a gold wristwatch when Aunt Petunia came back from the telephone looking both angry and worried.
• Harry lay in his dark cupboard much later, wishing he had a watch. He didn't know what time it was and he couldn't be sure the Dursleys were asleep yet.
• The lighted dial of Dudley's watch, which was dangling over the edge of the sofa on his fat wrist, told Harry he'd be eleven in ten minutes' time.
• Ron looked at his watch and then glared furiously at Hermione and Neville.
• When Angelina had scored, Harry had done a couple of loop-the-loops to let off his feelings. Now he was back to staring around for the Snitch. Once he caught sight of a flash of gold, but it was just a reflection from one of the Weasleys' wristwatches, and once a Bludger decided to come pelting his way, more like a cannonball than anything, but Harry dodged it and Fred Weasley came chasing after it.

⬆ Back to top

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

• "Hermione, let me read your composition," said Ron desperately, checking his watch.
• "We'd better get going," said Harry, loosening the watch that was cutting into Goyle's thick wrist. "We've still got to find out where the Slytherin common room is. I only hope we can find someone to follow..."
• Harry looked at his watch. Five of their precious sixty minutes had already passed.

⬆ Back to top

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

• Uncle Vernon drained his teacup, glanced at his watch, and added, "I'd better be off in a minute, Petunia. Marge's train gets in at ten."
• "We can't be there yet," said Hermione, checking her watch.
• Ron looked at his watch. "If we hurried, we could go down and see him. It's still quite early..."
• Hermione checked her watch. "We'd better go down, you know, the feast'll be starting in five minutes. . . ." They hurried through the portrait hole and into the crowd, still discussing Snape.
• "She's seeing us all separately," Neville informed them as they went to sit down next to him. He had his copy of Unfogging the Future open on his lap at the pages devoted to crystal gazing. "Have either of you ever seen anything in a crystal ball?" he asked them unhappily.
• "Nope," said Ron in an offhand voice. He kept checking his watch; Harry knew that he was counting down the time until Buckbeak's appeal started.
• "Yeah," said Harry, looking at his own watch. It was now two o'clock. "Wish she'd hurry up..."
• "I am going to lock you in. It is –" he consulted his watch, "five minutes to midnight. Miss Granger, three turns should do it. Good luck."
• "Right, it's nearly time," said Hermione tensely, looking at her watch. "We've got about forty-five minutes until Dumbledore locks the door to the hospital wing. We've got to rescue Sirius and get back into the ward before anybody realizes we're missing...."
• "D'you reckon he's up there yet?" said Harry, checking his watch. He looked up at the castle and began counting the windows to the right of the West Tower.
• Hermione was tugging at his sleeve, staring at her watch. "We've got exactly ten minutes to get back down to the hospital wing without anybody seeing us – before Dumbledore locks the door –"
• "Oh, he's horrible," whispered Hermione, her ear to the door. "I bet he's all excited because the dementors are going to finish off Sirius...." She checked her watch."Three minutes, Harry!"
• "I don't want to think about it!" Hermione moaned, checking her watch again. "One minute!"

⬆ Back to top

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

• Dudley was crammed into an armchair, his porky hands beneath him, clamped firmly around his bottom. Harry couldn't take the tension; he left the room and went and sat on the stairs in the hall, his eyes on his watch and his heart pumping fast from excitement and nerves.
• "Look at the time," Mrs. Weasley said suddenly, checking her wristwatch.
• They trudged down the dark, dank lane toward the village, the silence broken only by their footsteps. The sky lightened very slowly as they made their way through the village, its inky blackness diluting to deepest blue. Harry's hands and feet were freezing. Mr. Weasley kept checking his watch.
• "Must be nearly time," said Mr. Weasley quickly, pulling out his watch again. "Do you know whether we're waiting for anymore, Amos?"
• "Three..." muttered Mr. Weasley, one eye still on his watch, "two...one..."
• Harry disentangled himself from Ron and got to his feet. They had arrived on what appeared to be a deserted stretch of misty moor. In front of them was a pair of tired and grumpy-looking wizards, one of whom was holding a large gold watch, the other a thick roll of parchment and a quill. Both were dressed as Muggles, though very inexpertly: The man with the watch wore a tweed suit with thigh-length galoshes; his colleague, a kilt and a poncho.
• "Nearly six," said Ron, checking his watch and then staring down the drive that led to the front gates. "How d'you reckon they're coming? The train?"
• So far, however, all they had managed to do was get the badges stuck on POTTER STINKS. Harry crept past them to the portrait hole and waited for a minute or so, keeping an eye on his watch.
• And still they walked, Harry getting more and more irritated as he jogged along in their wake, checking his watch every now and then.
• Wand tip alight, he crept along the bookshelves, pulling down more books – books of hexes and charms, books on merpeople and water monsters, books on famous witches and wizards, on magical inventions, on anything at all that might include one passing reference to underwater survival. He carried them over to a table, then set to work, searching them by the narrow beam of his wand, occasionally checking his watch...
• "Ten minutes?" Harry croaked. "Ten – ten minutes?" He looked down at his watch. Dobby was right. It was twenty past nine. A large, dead weight seemed to fall through Harry's chest into his stomach.
• Where were the other champions? Would he have time to take Ron to the surface and come back down for Hermione and the others? Would he be able to find them again? He looked down at his watch to see how much time was left – it had stopped working.
• Harry checked his watch, then remembered it hadn't been working since it had spent over an hour in the lake.
• One of the Nifflers had suddenly leapt up and attempted to bite Pansy Parkinson's watch off her wrist. She shrieked and jumped backward.
• Harry took off his watch, which he was only wearing out of habit, as it didn't work anymore, and stuffed it into his pocket. Then he picked up a Niffler. It put its long snout in Harry's ear and sniffed enthusiastically. It was really quite cuddly.
• History of Magic had rarely gone so slowly. Harry kept checking Ron's watch, having finally discarded his own, but Ron's was moving so slowly he could have sworn it had stopped working too. All three of them were so tired they could happily have put their heads down on the desks and slept; even Hermione wasn't taking her usual notes, but was sitting with her head on her hand, gazing at Professor Binns with her eyes out of focus.
• Hermione looked at her watch. "We haven't done any practicing!" she said, looking shocked. "We were going to do the Impediment Curse! We'll have to really get down to it tomorrow! Come on. Harry, you need to get some sleep."

⬆ Back to top

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

• "He's excellent," said Lupin, who was checking his watch.
• "I don't know, it's just what Mad-Eye says," said Hermione, distractedly looking at her watch. "Wotcher, Harry," she said, winking. "Better hurry up, hadn't we, Molly?" she added, checking her watch.
• "Just a couple of people," Hermione repeated, checking her watch and looking anxiously at the door.
• A few goals and they would be in the lead as usual, Harry assured himself, bobbing and weaving through the other players in pursuit of something shiny that turned out to be Montague's watch strap. . . .
• "So, anyway," he checked his watch, "phase one is about to begin."
• "You will tell your Aurors to stop searching for my Care of Magical Creatures teacher so that he can return to work. I will give you," Dumbledore pulled a watch with twelve hands from his pocket and surveyed it, "half an hour of my time tonight."

⬆ Back to top

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

• Ron receives a heavy gold watch with odd symbols around the edge and tiny moving stars instead of hands from his parents for his seventeenth birthday.

⬆ Back to top

• Arabella Figg
• Fleur Delacour
• Lavender Brown
• Lily Potter
• Madam "Poppy" Pomfrey
• Magnolia Crescent
• Moaning Myrtle
• Narcissa Malfoy
• Pansy Parkinson
• Petunia Dursley
• Privet Drive
• Remus Lupin
• Rose Zeller
• Violet
• Wisteria Walk

• Alphard Black
• Andromeda Tonks
• Aurora Sinistra
• Bellatrix Lestrange
• Cygnus Black
• Draco Malfoy
• Merope Gaunt
• Orion Black
• Rabastan Lestrange
• Regulus Arcturus Black
• Remus Lupin
• Scorpius Malfoy
• Sirius Black

• Hogwarts
• Hogsmeade
• Hog's Head
• Hog's Head sign has a severed boar's head on it.
• Hagrid's dog, Fang, is a boarhound.
• Harry said that Dudley looked like a "pig in a wig." (SS)
• Hagrid said this about Dudley after giving him a pig's tail: "Meant ter turn him into a pig, but I suppose he was so much like a pig anyway there wasn't much left ter do." (SS)
• Dudley's "piggy little eyes" were fixed on the [television] screen. (PoA)
• Aunt Marge was like a vast life buoy with piggy eyes. (PoA)
• Ron's owl's name is Pigwidgeon – "Pig" for short. (GoF)
• Harry asked Dudley if he had been told he looked like a pig that's been taught to walk on its hind legs. (OotP)
• "Pig snout" is used as a Gryffindor password.
• Tonks transformed her nose into a pig snout for Ginny and Hermione. (OotP)
• There are two towering pillars at the entrance gates of Hogwarts on either side, atop which are two winged boars. (OotP)

How Old? – In the "enormous, old" reference book where Flamel is mentioned, it says that he was 665 years old as of "last year." That means he was the big 666 when the book was published.

Mirror, Mirror – There are instances where mirrors talk. In Chapter 4 of Chamber of Secrets, a mirror at the Burrow says to Harry: "Tuck your shirt in, scruffy!" And in Chapter 4 of Prisoner of Azkaban (another Chapter 4!), "'I'm not going to be murdered,' Harry said aloud. 'That's the spirit dear,' said his MIRROR sleepily." Bring to mind a certain two-way mirror Sirius gave Harry in Order of the Phoenix? Maybe it will be useful after all...

Blue Candles – The candles on the walls of Nearly Headless Nick's Death Day party burn an unusual color – blue! Blue-burning candles are also found on the walls of the large, circular, spinning room in the Department of Mysteries. In Sorcerer's Stone, Hermione conjures blue fire and scoops it into a jar. The Goblet of Fire burns with a blue-white flame. And speaking of odd-colored fire, Harry and Hermione encounter purple and black fire conjured by Snape's spell to protect the Sorcerer's Stone.

Alliterations (Doubles) – Several characters and creatures have repeating initials: AA (Archibald Alderton), BB (Bathilda Bagshot, Bellatrix Black, Bertie Botts, Bloody Baron, Broderick Bode), CC (Cho Chang, Chudley Cannons, Colin Creevey), DD (Dudley Dursley, Dedalus Diggle, Dilys Derwent), FF (Fat Friar, Filius Flitwick, Florean Fortescue), GG (Gladys Gudgeon, Godric Gryffindor, Gregory Goyle), HH (Helga Hufflepuff, Holyhead Harpies, Hungarian Horntail), II (Inigo Imago), JJ (Joey Jenkins), LL (Luna Lovegood), MM (Minerva McGonagall, Mad-Eye Moody, Marlene McKinnon, Moaning Myrtle, Morag MacDougal), PP (Peter Pettigrew, Piers Polkiss, Pansy Parkinson, Parvati and Padma Patil, Madam 'Poppy' Pomfrey), QQ (Quirinus Quirrell), RR (Rowena Ravenclaw), SS (Severus Snape, Salazar Slytherin, Stan Shunpike, Swedish Short-Snout), TT (Ted Tonks, Tilden Toots), VV (Vindictus Viridian), WW (Willy Widdershins) and I think we could throw in Barnabas the Barmy, Emeric the Evil, Elfric the Eager, Peeves the Poltergeist, Wendelin the Weird, Wimbourne Wasps and William (Bill) Weasley. And how about Fawkes the Phoenix? A phonetic double!