Hogbots

After a confrontation with his godfather, Sirius Black, in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry learns that his father was an unregistered Animagus. Not only was James an Animagus, but his friends were as well! A group of teenagers illegally became part-time wild animals! As a reader, I was so focused on deciding whether or not to trust Sirius that I never saw the Animagi reveal coming!

As readers, we pretty much accepted that the Malfoys were an evil family. When Narcissa came on the scene, she seemed loyal to Lucius, Draco, and Voldemort as well. One of the most surprising moments of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was when Narcissa lied to Voldemort. She essentially aided Harry’s cause! Yes, she didn’t change her allegiance and she only helped Harry for selfish reasons, but it was still unexpected. It takes a brave woman to betray the Dark Lord and Narcissa is certainly that!

It will not surprise you to learn that Hogwarts is... huge. In fact, the castle has 142 staircases – and – as Percy Weasley mentions – they ‘like to change’ too – just to make things even more confusing! A shame Hogwarts hasn’t heard of escalators or lifts...

The spells in Harry Potter are made up from Latin words. For example ‘Lumos’ which turns a wand into a torch comes from the Latin word ‘lumen’ which means light and ‘Obliviate’ comes from the Latin word ‘obliviscor’ which means ‘I forget’. The Hogwarts motto is also Latin and says “Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus” which means “Never tickle a sleeping dragon”. Don’t say we didn’t warn you!

The magical nuisance that is Peeves has lived in Hogwarts for a long, long time – despite countless attempts to try and get rid of him! In the 1800s, the Hogwarts staff tried to trap Peeves in a giant bell jar, but unfortunately for them, Peeves smashed out of it and held the school captive for three days! After that, the preference was to simply let him hang out.