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Ravenclaw House

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"Wit beyond measure is mans greatest treasure." -- Rowena Ravenclaw (DH20)

Ravenclaw House

Ravenclaw House is one of the four houses at Hogwart into which the students are Sorted when they start their first year. Ravenclaw is the Hogwarts house of founder Rowena Ravenclaw. The House places high value on intelligence, wit, and learning. During Harry’s time at Hogwarts, the head of Ravenclaw House was Filius Flitwick.

Blazon: azure, an eagle or (that is, a golden eagle on a blue field, hence the Ravenclaw colours of blue and bronze)

Ghost: Helena Ravenclaw, the Grey Lady

Sorting Hat’s description:

Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw
If you’ve a ready mind
Where those of wit and learning
Will always find their kind.

LocationRavenclaw Tower, which is located on the west side of the castle (OP18); the entrance is a door at the top of a tightly winding spiral staircase that leads up from the fifth floor. The door has neither handle nor keyhole, but a talking bronze knocker in the shape of an eagle. Rather than asking for a conventional password, the knocker will ask a question; if answered correctly, the knocker will compliment the person on the answer and the door will swing open (DH29).

The common room, like the other House common rooms, is decorated in House colours (blue and bronze silk wall hangings, in this case, and a midnight-blue carpet decorated with stars). The room is wide, circular, and very airy, with a domed ceiling painted with stars, and walls with graceful arched windows that provide a spectacular view of the surrounding mountains. There are bookcases, tables, and chairs, and opposite the entrance is another door leading to the dormitories. Beside this door is a plinth on which stands a life-size statue in white marble of Rowena Ravenclaw wearing her diadem (DH29).

Ravenclaw Quidditch team
Wears blue robes

Known Ravenclaws, Past and Present:

For each known Ravenclaw below, his or her name is given, together with the years he or she was a student in Ravenclaw. See the individual students’ entries for more information (e.g., who they are, more detailed analysis for how we know that they’re Ravenclaws, how we know what years they were in, etc.).

Helena Ravenclaw, The Grey Lady
c. 1000s

Flitwick, Filius (JKR)
unknown year

Myrtle Elizabeth Warren (Moaning Myrtle) (JKR, JKR:Tw)
1940s

Perpetua Fancourt
c. 1911-1918

Laverne de Montmorency
c. 1834-1841

Ignatia Wildsmith
c. 1238-1245

Millicent Bagnold
c. mid-1900s

Lorcan McLaird
c. 1900

Uric the Oddball
medieval

Gilderoy Lockhart
1975-1982

Contemporaries of Harry Potter:

Clearwater, Penelope – 1988 – 1996

Davies, Roger (PA13, GF23, OP25) – 1989-1996 (fairly certain)
Davies is older than Harry – Fleur Delacour thought of Harry as a “little boy” but went to the Yule Ball with Davies, and Davies was captain of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team during Harry’s third year. The earliest possible year for Davies is two years above Harry, since he was still captain of the team during Harry’s fifth year.

 

1990 – 1997

  • Carmichael, Eddie (OP31)
  • Chang, Cho (PA13)
  • Edgecombe, Marietta
    Likely the same year as her friend, Cho Chang.
  • Marcus Belby (HBP7)

 

1991 – 1998

  • Boot, Terry (PS7)
  • Brocklehurst, Mandy (PS7)
  • Corner, Michael [1]
  • Cornfoot, Stephen (appears in HPM but not in books)
  • Entwhistle, Kevin (appears in HPM but not in books)
  • Goldstein, Anthony [1]
  • Li, Su (HPM)
  • McDougal, Morag (PS7, HPM)
  • Patil, Padma (PS7, GF)
  • Turpin, Lisa (PS7)

 

1992 – 1999

  • Lovegood, Luna (OP10)

 

1994 – 2001

  • Ackerley, Stewart (GF12)
  • Quirke, Orla (GF12)

 

Robert Hilliard – c. 2007-2014
Prefect in 2012 (Pm)

Years unknown:

Bradley (male) (OP30, OP31)
The earliest possible year for Bradley is two years above Harry while the latest is three years below, because Bradley was on the Ravenclaw Quidditch teamin Harry’s fifth year.

Chambers (OP31)
The earliest possible year for Chambers is two years above Harry while the latest is three years below, because Chambers was on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team in Harry’s fifth year.

Fawcett, S. (CS11, GF16)
No more than a year below Harry since she was at the Duelling Club. She isn’t on the list of students in Harry’s own year (HPM), and can be no more than two years above him since she wasn’t of age at the beginning of Harry’s fourth year.

Commentary

Notes

The Ravenclaw House colors are blue and bronze. However, the films made Ravenclaw's colors blue and silver. Another hotly contested part of Ravenclaw House is that the House animal is an eagle, though many think that the animal should be a raven because of the House name.

Pensieve (Comments)

Tags: blue bronze houses learning silver tower wisdom wit

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