• Character Cadwallader is a burly Chaser on the Hufflepuff Quidditch team in the 1990s. Luna Lovegood misidentifies him while commentating their match with Gryffindor. She thought his name might be Bibble or Buggins. During the match, Cadwallader scored at least two goals (HBP19). Read More
• Regions, counties, and territories Caithness is a county in the Scottish Highlands facing the North Sea. Read More
• Hogwarts castle and grounds A secret room hidden in the roots of the Whomping Willow – direct access is via a hatch at the back of the Professor Snape’s Potions classroom (CC3.5, CC3.6, CC3.7). Read More
• Character S. Capper was a Hogwarts student who borrowed Quidditch Through the Ages from the Hogwarts library one winter during Harry Potter’s time at Hogwarts (QA). Read More
• Hogwarts academics Hogwarts students receive career advice from their Heads of House in their OWL year, some weeks prior to the examinations, to help establish what subjects the students need to concentrate on to achieve the required OWL and NEWT scores for their chosen occupations. Background notes In the… Read More
• Occupations A caretaker is a person employed to look after a building. Read More
• Character Rancorous Carpe was a Hogwarts caretaker (circa 1876) who made a spectacularly unsuccessful attempt to trap Peeves and rid the castle of him. He put out various weapons to lure the Poltergeist, and hoped to drop a “vast enchanted bell jar” on top of him and keep him there with… Read More
• Character Alecto and Amycus Carrow (JKR) were Death Eaters, a brother and sister, part of the group of Death Eaters that invaded Hogwarts in June of 1997 (HBP27); Snape implies that they were never sent to Azkaban (HBP2). When Voldemort took over Hogwarts, Alecto Carrow became the Muggle Studies teacher… Read More
• Character Amycus Carrow was a squat, “lumpy” looking wizard with a lopsided leer and a wheezy giggle. Part of the group of Death Eaters who participated in the Battle of the Tower, where Amycus egged on Draco to kill Dumbledore, and had fun trying to curse Ginny Weasley (HBP27). Snape… Read More
• Magical objects Cauldrons are a basic item for any witch or wizard. These versatile items are used to brew potions, but can also be used to carry supplies, and, in a pinch, to clobber an attacker.    … Read More
• Source CBBC’s interview with Alfonso Cuaron, the director of Prisoner of Azkaban, in which he tells what it’s like collaborating with Rowling and what she told him about the Hogwarts grounds. Read More
• Source Leslie Stahl’s “60 Minutes” interview with Rowling, 12 June 2003. Read More
• Source The first act of the play “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.” Harry and Ginny bring their children to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters to board the train to Hogwarts. Aboard the train, Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy become friends. Albus and Harry’s relationship becomes difficult over the next three years. Read More
• Character Chambers was a Chaser on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team during the 1995-96 school year. He attempted to score a goal in the final Quidditch match of 1996, but had it deflected by Keeper Ron Weasley (OP31). Read More
• Creatures' homes, lairs, and territories • Mysterious places The Chamber of Secrets is a legendary secret room constructed by Salazar Slytherin to house a monster which would finish his “noble work.” This noble work would be accomplished when his true heir would open the Chamber and release the monster which lived within to rid the school of non-pureblood… Read More
• Event Growing friction between Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin erupts into violence, with the result that Slytherin leaves Hogwarts after creating the Chamber of Secrets. He places a basilisk within the Chamber, someday to be released to finish his “noble work” of ridding the castle of those he considered to be… Read More
• Event This time the Chamber is opened by Ginny Weasley, under the influence of Tom Riddle, by means of his diary. Harry first hears the voice of the Basilisk during his detention with Lockhart. Read More
• Character Cho Chang was a popular, pretty Ravenclaw student in the year above Harry who was his girlfriend for awhile. She loved Quidditch — she was a fan of the Tutshill Tornados since she was six — and was the Seeker for the Ravenclaw Quidditch team (PA13,… Read More
• Character Polly Chapman was an attractive, confident Hogwarts student in the same year as Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy – neither of whom she held in particularly high regard. She tended to say rather harsh – but honest – things (CC1.4, CC2.11, CC3.2, CC4.14). Read More
• Character Charity Burbage was a professor of Muggle Studies at Hogwarts (DH2). She wrote an impassioned defense of Muggle-borns in the Daily Prophet during the summer of 1997; in retaliation, she was taken prisoner, then killed personally by Voldemort less than a week later at Malfoy Manor, at which point… Read More
• Hogwarts academics Classwork involves trying and practicing various charms. The Hogwarts Charms teacher is Professor Flitwick (PS8). Read More
• Hogwarts castle and grounds • Rooms, chambers, and floors The Charms classroom is located in the Charms Corridor on the third floor of Hogwarts. It is located “miles from the trophy room”, but close to the forbidden corridor where Fluffy was being kept in Harry’s first year (PS9). It has one window that overlooks the front entrance of Hogwarts… Read More
• Hogwarts • Organizations The Charms Club is one of the student societies and organizations at Hogwarts. In 1995, Vicky Frobisher was a member of the Charms Club (OP13). Read More
• Hogwarts castle and grounds • Rooms, chambers, and floors The Charms corridor, so-called because it is the location of Professor Flitwick‘s Charms Classroom, is located on the third floor of Hogwarts. The forbidden corridor which housed Fluffy in Harry’s first year is nearby. Read More
• Glossary A small ornamental box or chest for holding jewels, letters, or other valuable objects. Read More
• Glossary A religious or secular winter holiday celebrated by Muggles and Wizards alike on December 25. Christmas celebrations at Hogwarts are very memorable. Read More
• Hogwarts For those who stay at Hogwarts for the Christmas holidays, enchantment and extravagance await. Harry has fond memories of spending Christmas at Hogwarts, since he never had any fun with the Dursleys. When he and Hermione visit Godric’s Hollow, the carols coming from the church remind him of “Peeves bellowing… Read More
• Hogwarts Several kinds of living creatures are used as Christmas ornaments as well as many inanimate objects, including bubbles, everlasting candles, everlasting icicles, and enchanted snow. Wizards use real, live fairies as fairy lights. Flitwick once decorated his classroom with them (PA10) and the garden was decorated with them… Read More
• Hogwarts Each year the teachers at Hogwarts decorate twelve Christmas trees for the Great Hall. Read More
• Event Ron confronts Cho Chang about the Tutshill Tornados, after which Hermione tells him off (OP12). From this point on, Hermione tends to drag Ron out of the way when Cho wants to talk with Harry. Harry is given a week’s worth of detentions by Umbridge and a biscuit by… Read More
• Source The Class List, also known as “The Original Forty,” is a list of forty students in Harry’s year from Rowling’s notes from the early 1990s as she was creating her world. During the BBC television interview “Harry Potter and Me,” Rowling showed a page from her notebooks which details every… Read More
• Hogwarts castle and grounds • Rooms, chambers, and floors A classroom located down the corridor leading off the Entrance Hall on the side opposite the Great Hall. This is one of several unused classrooms on the ground floor. Dumbledore arranged for this room to look like the middle of a forest clearing; Firenze, who couldn’t easily negotiate the stairs,… Read More
• Broomsticks The Cleansweep Eleven, manufactured by the Cleansweep Broom Company, was released in 1995, making it the latest broomstick in the series. Ron Weasley received one as a reward upon being made a Prefect (OP9) and was very happy about it. He tried out for and became… Read More
• Character Edgar Cloggs is a ghost who has been hanging around the Hogwarts Quidditch pitch as long as anyone can remember. Edgar was obviously a pretty good player in his day (Games). Read More
• Clothing • Hogwarts Hogwarts students are required to have three sets of plain black work robes, a plain black pointed hat, a black winter cloak with silver fastenings, and a pair of protective gloves (made of dragon hide or similar material). Read More
• Event Colin Creevey interrupts a particularly unpleasant period of Double Potions with the task of retrieving Harry for some sort of Tournament-related business. Professor Snape angrily tells Harry to leave, and Colin leads Harry to the classroom where the Weighing of the Wands will take… Read More
• Hogwarts The common room in a school is a room to which all members in a certain category have common access for social or business purposes. At Hogwarts, each of the Houses has a common room where the students of that House congregate for meetings, to study, and to socialize. A… Read More
• Hogwarts Filch has a drawer in his filing cabinet marked this. Naturally, the Weasley twins dove right in and discovered the Marauder’s Map (PA10). Remus Lupin told Harry he also found a Boggart for Patronus practice lurking in the filing cabinet (PA12). It’s possible he was looking for the Map… Read More
• Spells Attempted by caretaker Rancorous Carpe in 1876 to keep Peeves the poltergeist inside a “vast enchanted bell jar,” but the plan failed when Peeves broke the glass and escaped armed with weaponry (Pm). If only he had used an Unbreakable Charm, too. Read More
• Character Ritchie Coote was a student at Hogwarts in Gryffindor House. He was a Beater on the Gryffindor Quidditch team for the 1996-1997 school year (HBP11). Read More
• Character Cormac McLaggen was a “large, wiry-haired youth” and member of the Slug Club. He had a famous “Uncle Tiberius” who was a favorite student of Horace Slughorn’s (HBP7). During his seventh year Cormac tried out for Keeper of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, but was beaten… Read More
• Event In their first Defense Against the Dark Arts class as second years, Harry and his classmates are tested on minutiae about their new professor. Many students do poorly on this quiz focused on details from Lockhart’s books, but Hermione answers every question correctly. Many students are not taking Lockhart seriously… Read More
• Character An 18th-century descendant of Salazar Slytherin who made sure the hidden entrance to the Chamber of Secrets was well-protected when “new-fangled plumbing” was built around it, which later became Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom (Pm:Chamber of Secrets). Obviously Corvinus was a Parselmouth, like many in the Slytherin family line, including Tom Riddle. Read More
• Hogwarts castle and grounds A space where students can spend free time between classes or other breaks. To get to the courtyard, there is a door down the corridor off of the Entrance Hall. Read More
• Hogwarts The courtyard is an open area within the Hogwarts castle compound on the ground floor. The students are required to go outside for their break between classes. They hang out in the courtyard (PS11, CS6, OP12, OP17, OP18, HBP18, HBP22), no matter how… Read More
• Event Craig Bowker Jr boards the Hogwarts Express on Platform Nine and Three-quarters at King’s Cross to start his first year at Hogwarts. He is surprised that a Potter is sorted into Slytherin (CC1.3), although it is unclear at that point which house he has himself been sorted into. Craig… Read More
• Character Dirk Cresswell was a gifted Muggle-born student who went on to become the Head of the Goblin Liaison Office (HBP4). He attended Hogwarts from 1972 to 1979, a year below Lily and the Marauders, and was one of Slughorn’s favourite students (and so probably a member of the Slug… Read More
• Glossary • Plants A small plant typically found in the southern United States. Rowling saw hogwort at Kew Gardens circa 1992 and the name stuck in her mind. Read More
• Source A note from Professor Lockhart gets Harry, Ron and Hermione into the Restricted Section and a book on making Polyjuice Potion. At the Quidditch match a rogue Bludger chases Harry, breaking his arm but not stopping him from getting the Snitch. Read More
• Source Harry is hauled before Professor Dumbledore, witnesses the phoenix burning, and learns Dumbledore does not suspect him of wrongdoing. Christmas Day, presents are opened, the Polyjuice Potion is ready, Crabbe and Goyle are drugged and hair stolen and the potion drunk by Harry,… Read More
• Source Myrtle’s toilet floods, Harry finds Tom Riddle’s diary which he shows to a now fur-free Hermione, and they begin a search to discover who the owner was. Lockhart stages a Valentine’s party complete with dwarfs as cupids. That night Harry learns the secret of the diary, goes… Read More
• Source Harry, Ron and Hermione decide not to confront Hagrid, as time passes and there are no more attacks. Second-year students choose their courses for the next year, Quidditch practice becomes more frequent, Harry returns to his dormitory to find his belongings ransacked and the… Read More
• Source The students learn that exams will be held as usual, Ginny acts strangely, Harry and Ron visit Hermione in hospital, find she has the answer to the Chamber’s secret (a basilisk), eavesdrop on the teachers, and learn Ginny has been taken by the monster. Lockhart attempts… Read More
• Source Harry finds an unconscious Ginny, meets Tom Riddle (who has had Ginny in his power through the diary), and hears his story. Fawkes the phoenix arrives with the Sorting Hat. Riddle (Voldemort) calls the basilisk to kill Harry, but Fawkes intervenes and together they… Read More
• Source Harry tells his story to Dumbledore, McGonagall, Arthur Weasley, and Molly Weasley, Ginny and Lockhart are sent to hospital, Lucius Malfoy arrives with Dobby, and Harry tricks Lucius into freeing Dobby. Read More
• Source The entire Weasley family and Harry cram into the Ford Anglia and drive to King’s Cross Station. Harry and Ron cannot get through to the train and decide to fly the car to Hogwarts. The trip is uneventful until the end, when they lose… Read More
• Source Harry, Ron and Hermione are questioned about the Petrified cat, Hermione asks Professor Binns about the Chamber of Secrets, Harry, Ron and Hermione return to the scene of the crime, consult Moaning Myrtle, and speculate about the mystery. Read More
• Magical effects The curse on the Defense Against the Darks Arts teaching post at Hogwarts was cast by Voldemort after Dumbledore rejected his offer to teach the subject. Voldemort, in what must have been a fit of pique, basically decided that if he couldn’t have the job, no one else would be… Read More