• Glossary Originally (when referring to a small dog) to yap or bark – the word “waff”‘s sound imitates a puppy’s bark (NSOED). When referring to the noises people make, the word has come to mean empty or aimless talk or writing, and can be used as a noun to describe the… Read More
• Glossary U.S.: vest. Note that this is not just the kind of vest worn with a formal suit, but any kind of vest. Read More
• Sports teams The Welsh National Teams are from Wales (one of the four countries that together are the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland). Quidditch During the qualifying rounds of the 1994 Quidditch World Cup competition, the Welsh National Quidditch Team lost to a team from Uganda (GF5). The World Cup tournament of… Read More
• Books and Literature • Wizarding culture The Wallop the Wombat Revision Course is a study course for the W.O.M.B.A.T Examination created by the Kwikspell Company, described in the adverts as a “a crammer course of evening classes.” This is recommended to those who achieve only a Poor on the Grade 3 test (JKR-W3). Read More
• Thing The Wampanoag are an indigenous American tribe. Young Wampanoag witches and wizards were among the earliest students at Ilvermorny (Pm). Read More
• Wandmaking Wampus hair is used as a wand core, and is used by Isolt Sayre to make wands for those who come to Ilvermony. Read More
• Thing Wampus is one of the four houses of Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The name was chosen by Webster Steward. Wampus house stands for the body of the wizard and is the house for warriors. Read More
• Rules and laws The Wand Ban of 1631 is another name for the First Article of the Wizards’ Convention, which made it illegal for non-human magical beings to carry wands. This restriction is particularly galling to the Goblins, who over the years have risen up in a number of rebellions in protest… Read More
• Magical objects Another name for the Elder Wand, one of the Deathly Hallows (DH21, DH24, TBB/TTB). Read More
• Magical identities The wandless were individuals who, under the Death Eater-run government, were stripped of their wands under suspicion of not being real witches and wizards and had to resort to begging to get by (DH26). Hermione, Ron, Harry, and Griphook encounter a group of desperate wandless people in Diagon Alley… Read More
• Areas of knowledge Wandlore is a mysterious and ancient branch of magic that involves the study of wand ownership and wand power. Read More
• Rules and laws A wand permit is required for all foreign wizards visiting the United States. The Wand Permit Office is tucked away in a dingy basement corner at MACUSA (WFT). Tina Goldstein looks for Newt Scamander’s wand permit application after she finds him using magic in front of a… Read More
• Magical objects A complicated device made with feathers used by the Wand-shine Elf to polish wands in the MACUSA Lobby in 1926 (WFT). Read More
• Magical objects Most human magic is done using a wand. The wand serves as a tool to focus and control the magical energy of the spell. It is possible to cast spells without using a wand, but for most wizards results are unfocused (CR). House-elves and goblins are not permitted to carry wands,… Read More
• Glossary Common way of saying “Put your wands away,” meaning “No magic allowed.” The phrase, when spoken by a teacher at Hogwarts, means that the upcoming lesson will be a theory lesson without any actual magic practice. The students are never particularly excited to hear that order at the beginning of… Read More
• Wandmaking A “single sibilant word” in the snake-language Parseltongue that when uttered made the wand of Salazar Slytherin go to sleep and become unusable (Pm). Read More
• Glossary A large piece of furniture with a door, used for storing clothes and fitted with rails, shelves, hooks and the like, sometimes with a mirror on the inside of the door. Wardrobes tend to be used in places that don’t have built-in closets. Read More
• Glossary Warlock is an ancient wizarding term originally used to denote a wizard who is trained in martial skills such as dueling. The meaning has been diluted somewhat over the centuries and is now used for a wizard who looks particularly fierce or as a title of achievement (WHH). Read More
• Communication A Horned Serpent in the creek near Ilvermorny School gave Isolt Sayre the same warning over and over: “Until I am part of your family, your family is doomed” (Pm). Read More
• Magical artifacts Wartcap Powder is a substance which causes the skin of a person who touches it to form a thick hard crust (OP6).  … Read More
• Glossary “Plaster” used in this sense is roughly equivalent to a bandage or band-aid, often with some sort of medicine in/on it. Read More
• Common items A wastepaper basket is a container in which to collect trash. Most rooms at Hogwarts have at least one wastepaper basket. Peeves like throwing them at people’s heads (PS8). In Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, an enchanted wastepaper basket in the room used by Harry and Ron swallowed paper thrown… Read More
• Occupations A security guard is called a watchwizard in the Wizarding world. Eric Munch was the watchwizard on duty in the Atrium of the Ministry of Magic when Harry visited for his hearing (OP7). Watchwizards with more responsibility can be Security Warlocks. These were on duty during the 2014… Read More
• Glossary When Fred and George Weasley caused chaos for Dolores Umbridge and flew away into the sunset (OP29), other students began wish they could also “do a Weasley” and leave Hogwarts (and Umbridge) behind them (OP30). Read More
• Furniture and household items Grandfather clock with nine golden hands. Located in the Weasley living room, this fine clock is completely useless if you need to know the time. Each hand is engraved with the name of a member of the Weasley family . These hands point to inscriptions around the face which… Read More
• Quidditch Weasley is Our King is the title of the song sung first by Slytherins – and then by Gryffindors – during Hogwarts Quidditch matches. After Ron Weasley was appointed Keeper on the Gryffindor Team, Draco Malfoy wrote this song to undermine Ron’s confidence during Quidditch matches. He also… Read More
• Clothing The Weasley sweater (Weasley jumper) is a hand-made piece of clothing worn by the children of the Weasley family, and by Harry Potter once he becomes Ron’s friend at school. Background Every Christmas, Molly Weasley knitted new Christmas jumpers (US “sweaters”) for her children and Harry… Read More
• Games, toys, and jokes Fred and George Weasley used their whole stock of their inventive fireworks to disrupt the school on Umbridge’s first day as Headmistress (OP28). Trying to make them vanish only multiplied them by ten each time. Cost was five Galleons for a Basic Blaze Box, and 20 for “Deflagration Deluxe.”… Read More
• Games, toys, and jokes See Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes Store Fred and George Weasley created a variety of products, which were sold in their Diagon Alley store beginning in 1996. These products including: Basic Blaze Box (OP28) price: 5 Galleons A basic selection of Weasleys’ Wild-Fire Whiz-Bangs, the… Read More
• Art and Culture The Weird Sisters is a very popular all-male rock band in the wizarding world. This musical group is very popular on the WWN (GF22). The band’s instruments consist of a set of drums, several guitars, a lute, a cello, a bass guitar, and some bagpipes. They were “all… Read More
• Ministry of Magic A part of the Beast Division of the Department for the Care and Regulation of Magical Creatures (FB)… Read More
• Rules and laws An ultimately unsuccessful rule framework developed by the Ministry of Magic in 1637 for the control of Werewolves (Pm)… Read More
• Ministry of Magic A part of the Beast Division of the Department for the Care and Regulation of Magical Creatures (FB)… Read More
• Sports teams West Ham United is a Muggle football club, founded in 1895, and based in West Ham, East London. Dean Thomas is a West Ham fan (PS9, PS11, OP11). Every year Dean pins a poster of the club up over his bed in… Read More
• Glossary A joke, especially a joke that has been repeated a great deal. Often referred to in the phrase ‘old wheeze’. Read More
• Glossary The whelk is a type of marine mollusk with a spiral shell, usually eaten with vinegar. The flesh is usually scooped out with a pin, so it’s not the sort of thing a sophisticated lady would eat. This indicates that Marge is rather common in her tastes. Read More
• Glossary complaining or whining persistently and in a peevish or irritating way… Read More
• Games, toys, and jokes The whizzing worm is a joke item presumably worm-shaped and makes a whizzing noise. Read More
• Plants The Whomping Willow is a very valuable, very violent tree planted alone in the middle of the school grounds. It was planted the same year that Lupin arrived at Hogwarts (c. 1971) to disguise the opening to a secret passage from Hogwarts to the Shrieking Shack. Lupin would go through… Read More
• Plants • Potion ingredients A magical tree with useful bark used in the Wiggenweld Potion. Read More
• Books and Literature The Wonder of Wigtown Wanderers by Kennilworthy Whisp is a book about the Wigtown Wanderers Quidditch team. According to the author’s biographical information for Quidditch Through the Ages, Whisp is a Wanderers fan (QA). Read More
• Sports teams The Wigtown Wanderers are a British Quidditch team, founded in 1422 and based in Wigtown in Scotland (QA7). robes: blood-red robes with a silver meat cleaver upon the chest (QA7) home: Wigtown The original team was formed in 1422 by the four sons and three daughters of… Read More
• Headlines and advertisements Wilda wallops the Wigs is a Quidditch article appearing in the Sports section of the Daily Prophet, about Puddlemere United’s robe colour change and their new Chaser signing (DP2). Goals scored by Puddlemere’s new Chaser Wilda Griffiths propelled them to victory in their match against the… Read More
• Wandmaking Willow is a tree which produces wand wood (Pm). Read More
• Sports teams The Wimbourne Wasps are an English Quidditch team from Wimbourne in Dorset, founded in 1312 (QA7). robes: thick horizontal stripes of bright yellow and black, with a picture of a wasp on the front (GF7, QA7) home: Wimbourne Ludo Bagman, Beater c.1980 (GF7, GF9,… Read More
• Glossary To tease someone, especially by deliberately misleading the person about something (NSOED)… Read More
• Magical objects A flock of winged keys were one of the protections for the Philosopher’s Stone, put in place by Filius Flitwick. The swarm of winged keys filled a well-lit chamber blocking the way to the hiding place of the Mirror of Erised and the Philosopher’s Stone within. The keys had shiny, brightly colored… Read More
• Glossary (referring to part of an automobile) a rear-view mirror projecting from the side of a motor vehicle (NSOED)… Read More
• Plants • Potion ingredients A rare magical water plant from the Far East with a throbbing red bulb. Read More
• Art and Culture A popular show on the Wizard’s Wireless hosted by Glenda Chittock (FW). Read More
• Publications A fairly well-known women’s magazine that Mrs. Weasley subscribes to for its recipes (GF28) and that St. Mungo’s Hospital keeps lying around its waiting room (OP22). The magazine gives an annual “Most Charming Smile” award, which Gilderoy Lockhart has won five times – a feat which he seems… Read More
• Glossary Apart from the obvious (and in Muggle English, archaic) meaning of “associated with wizards or wizardry”, this is also a British slang term for “excellent.” (NSOED)… Read More
• Games, toys, and jokes The rules of wizard chess are exactly the same as muggle chess. However, the pieces are animate and commanded by the player like troops on a battlefield (PS12). Read More
• Ministry of Magic A section probably within the Ministry of Magic with responsibility for administering the O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s to Hogwarts students every year… Read More
• Occupations A witch or wizard who studies magical plants and animals in their native habitats. A magizoologist is a type of wizarding naturalist who specifically studies animals. Read More
• Sports and competitions The Wizarding Schools Potions Championship was a competition held to challenge potion-makers to prove their potion-making skills by completing various challenges and brewing various potions. The winner received a gold cauldron. Read More
• Art and Culture The Wizarding Suite is a musical composition written in the 1500s by Musidora Barkwith which featured an exploding instrument, possibly a “serpent.” The Suite was performed only once, in 1902, when the exploding instrument used was a tuba. The explosion blew up the Ackerly Town Hall (FW). Read More
• Organizations The Wizards’ Council was one of several bodies which governed the British magical community before the creation of the Ministry of Magic in 1707 (FB, MoM). It was also referred to as the “Warlock’s Council” (FW, WotM). The leader of the Council was called the… Read More
• Wizarding culture Infants magic quill at Hogwarts notes the birth of a magical child and his or her name goes on list for Hogwarts magic not always apparent in a child can be born a Squib but this might not be known for several for years can be born to Muggles Children… Read More
• Communication The equivalent of a Muggle radio; the Weasleys have one of these in their kitchen. The WWN (Wizarding Wireless Network) is listened to by many in the wizarding world. Read More
• Ministry of Magic The Wizengamot is the high court of wizarding law in Britain. The head of the Wizengamot is called the Chief Warlock, an old-fashioned title that denotes “particular skill or achievements” similar to a Muggle knighthood (TBB-WHT). Read More
• Plants • Potion ingredients Wolfsbane, also known as monkshood and aconite, is a plant used in potion-making. The plant is highly poisonous and must be handled with extreme care. Wolfsbane can be found in the book One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi (Pm:SB). Read More
• Games, toys, and jokes WonderWitch Products are a line of beauty potions and other tricks that are aimed at the women in the wizarding world. These were invented by the Weasley twins for their joke shop, Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes. They include Love potions and Guaranteed Ten-Second Pimple Vanisher. Read More
• Glossary Unsteady, shaky, unreliable. This might be used to describe something that’s so badly put together that it’s about to fall down. Read More
• Titles, nicknames, and honorifics Lavender’s nick-name for Ron while they were dating in sixth year (HBP17). Harry privately thought that if Ron started calling her “Lav-Lav,” he would have to put a stop to it (HBP18). Read More
• Magical objects Hagrid gave Harry a carved wooden flute for Christmas his first year at Hogwarts (PS12). It made a sound like an owl hooting. Read More
• Quidditch The Woollongong Shimmy is a high-speed zig-zag Quidditch manoeuvre performed to throw off the opposing team’s Chasers. It was perfected by an Australian team, the Woollongong Warriors (QA10). Read More
• Sports teams The Woollongong Warriors are a Quidditch team from Australia. The Warriors dominate the Australian league, along with their traditional rivals, the Thundelarra Thunderers. No one wants to referee matches between the two teams for fear of personal injury from potentially violent fans or players (QA8). Besides the fiercely competitive rivalry… Read More
• Headlines and advertisements A Word in Support of Hags is the title of a letter from Annis Black, which was published in the Daily Prophet (DP1). A hag defends her race and offers baby-sitting services (DP1). Read More
• Magical objects Given as a replacement after Wormtail sacrificed his right hand so the Dark Lord could be reborn in the graveyard (GF33). Read More
• Plants • Potion ingredients Plant used in Draught of Living Death. Read More
• Glossary Newt Scamander told Jacob Kowalski that his philosophy was that “Worrying means you suffer twice” when Jacob expressed fear about stalking a dangerous Erumpent at the Central Park Zoo in 1926 (WFT). Read More
• Glossary A greeting, shortened form of “what cheer!” Also spelled “Wotcha”. [Mainly London use]… Read More
• Common items Wristwatches are used by Muggles and wizards alike, but they have a special significance in the wizarding world as a traditional 17th-birthday gift. Ron received a new gold wristwatch from his parents for his seventeenth birthday (HBP19, DH7). On Harry’s seventeenth birthday, the Weasleys gave him a slightly damaged… Read More
• Occupations The writers and employees known to work for the Daily Prophet: Personnel Ludo Bagman – wrote a feature article during the 2014 Quidditch World Cup (QWC) Bozo (surname unknown) – Rita’s photographer partner (GF18, GF24) Betty Braithwaite – interviewed Rita Skeeter about… Read More
• Quidditch The Wronski Defensive Feint is a dangerous Quidditch move where one Seeker dives toward the ground as if he sees the Snitch, drawing the opposing Seeker into a similar dive and driving him into the ground (QA10). History This manoeuvre was invented by famous and extremely talented… Read More