Harry Potter universe

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The fictional universe of J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series of fantasy novels comprises two separate and distinct societies: the wizarding world and the Muggle world. The Muggle world is the series' name for the world inhabited by the non-magical majority, with the wizarding world existing coextensively with it but hidden from the awareness of the non-magical "Muggles". The plot of the series is set in contemporary Great Britain, but in a veiled and separate shadow society in which magic is real, and those who can use it live in self-enforced seclusion, hiding their talents from the real world. The term "wizarding world" refers to the global wizard community that lives hidden in parallel with the Muggle world; the different terms refer to different communities within the same area rather than separate planets or worlds.

Contents 1 Fundamentals 2 Geography 3 Animals and plants 4 Blood purity 4.1 Pure-blood 4.1.1 The Black family 4.2 Half-blood 4.3 Muggle-born 4.4 Squibs 4.5 Mixed species 5 Government and politics 6 Relations 6.1 To the Muggle world 6.2 Internally 6.3 Internationally 7 Education 7.1 Before Hogwarts 7.2 After Hogwarts 7.3 Wizarding Examinations Authority 7.4 Known foreign schools 7.5 Other schools 8 Economy 8.1 Coins 8.2 Exchange rate 9 Games and Sports 10 Communications 10.1 Owls 10.2 Floo Network 10.3 Mirrors 10.4 Patronuses 10.5 Vanishing Cabinets 11 Newspapers and magazines 11.1 The Daily Prophet 11.2 The Quibbler 11.3 Other Magazines 12 Food and beverages 12.1 Magical sweets 12.2 Butterbeer 12.3 Firewhisky 13 See also 14 References 15 External links

Fundamentals

The society of the wizarding world is centred on two facts. The first and most obvious one is the presence and use of magic. Presented as an inborn capability to do otherwise impossible things, magic is honed through study and training into a skill. It permeates every facet of the wizarding world, used as a near-universal tool and imbued in objects (such as wands).

Secondly, it is not considered possible for the Muggle world to knowingly coexist peacefully with the wizarding one. As a result, a great deal of effort is expended in keeping the Muggles unaware of magic. Magical laws have been enacted over the centuries, designed to keep the existence of the Magical World hidden from Muggles, the first and most important being the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy of 1692^[1]. Enchantment of Muggle artifacts is forbidden; underage students are restricted from using magic outside school; and any deliberate revelation of magical ability to the Muggle community is punishable, although allowances are made for the use of magic in the presence of a Muggle: if the wizard or witch is acting in self-defence or in defence of another. These laws are enforced by the Ministry of Magic, while a special arm of it, the Obliviators, has the job of making certain that Muggles who have seen magic in action will be left with no incriminating memories. Exceptions to the secrecy include wizards' Muggle relatives and the highest political leaders, such as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

Some aspects of the wizarding world are depicted as being less-than-modern in comparison to the non-wizarding world, sometimes even very old-fashioned or quaint. The technological development of the wizarding world is substantially behind that of its Muggle counterpart—owls, for example, are a more cumbersome and slower way to send messages than simple phone calls. On the other hand, an owl can be sent to deliver a message without the sender needing to know the recipient's exact location or phone number, it's difficult to tap or trace an owl, owls can deliver packages as large as brooms and, if the owl is owned by the sender, it is effectively free. If one has instant access to magical power, the development of modern technology and science in the wizarding world would seem to be unnecessary. However, a large number of technologically complex devices do exist, and most of these devices exist in the Muggle world. From a certain perspective, it can be seen that Magic and electricity are the equivalents of each other in their respective worlds, but electronic equipment sometimes 'goes haywire' around Hogwarts, and Muggle devices used by wizards (such as cameras and radios) can be made to function using magic instead of electricity. Such examples are rare, however; wizards rarely make use of Muggle technology, nor do they have much interest in doing so, even when such technology might make their lives much easier. Pure-blood Wizards are baffled by how Muggle technology works and most have no interest in understanding it (with occasional exceptions, such as Muggle aficionado Arthur Weasley, whose dearest dream is "to find out how an aeroplane stays up"). "Muggle Studies" classes are offered at Hogwarts for those students with an interest. On several occasions, Harry Potter is depicted as having to explain the workings of commonplace Muggle technology, such as introducing the telephone to Mr Weasley in Chamber of Secrets; at the beginning of Prisoner of Azkaban, Ron Weasley is depicted making his first telephone call. The wizarding world has also not embraced modern Muggle modes of information transfer: instead of pens, paper, pencils, and computers, Hogwarts students are depicted in the novels and films using ink-dipped quills and parchment to take notes and do their homework.

By the time the books take place (1991-1998), some aspects of Muggle pop culture have become mirrored by the wizarding world. Rock music, posters, and tabloids are commonplace. Rebellious young wizards have learned to embrace Muggle culture whole-heartedly; young Sirius Black's room was filled with pictures of Muggle pinup girls, motorcycles and rock bands. Wizards and witches who are Muggle-born, or are Half-bloods (of mixed Muggle and Magical parentage respectively) find it easier to integrate into Muggle society and take on Muggle trends as they are predisposed to Muggle ways growing up. Gryffindor student Dean Thomas has frequent references to the adorning of his part of the dormitory with posters of football club West Ham. Albus Dumbledore has expressed interest in Muggle knitting patterns, as well as their sport of ten pin bowling.

Geography

There is no separate "magical land" in the Harry Potter universe. The wizarding world not only coexists alongside the world of Muggles, but also is embedded within it. Only one village in Britain, being the small town of Hogsmeade, is home to an entirely magical population. The vast majority of Witches and Wizards' locations are integrated within the wider non-magical area. Wizards will often live in small communities of several families within Muggle villages such as Godric's Hollow in the West Country (home of the Dumbledores and the Potters) or Tinworth in Cornwall. The all-Wizard Weasley family, as well as the Diggory, Lovegood, and Fawcett families, live in the Muggle village of Ottery St Catchpole, presumably near the real town of Ottery St Mary, in Devon. Many wizarding houses in the Harry Potter books are depicted as being on the outskirts of towns, usually somewhat isolated from the majority of the town.

Likewise, the Wizard emporium Diagon Alley lies in central London, just off Charing Cross Road. The train to Hogwarts departs from the very real King's Cross Station, albeit from Platform 9¾. These locations are hidden by a combination of Muggle-repelling charms, illusions, other magical protections (many magical locations, such as the island of Drear off the coast of Scotland, and the wizarding prison, Azkaban, are rendered "Unplottable," or impossible to locate on a map) and depend on the natural tendency of everyday, non-magical people to ignore anything they cannot explain or understand. Although wizarding society lives for the most part directly alongside Muggles, interaction between the two communities is virtually non-existent. Few wizards are aware of basic Muggle culture (for example, as a rule, wizards do not understand Muggle clothing customs). On the odd occasions when it may be necessary for a wizard or witch to dress in Muggle clothing, the result is usually comical. Many are also proud of their ignorance. While the series is set in Great Britain, the wizarding world has locations throughout the globe.

Animals and plants

The wizard world is home to a number of magical creatures and plants, many of which are familiar from folklore and myth. Giants, dragons, unicorns and goblins all have roles in the series, while many plants long believed to have magical properties, such as mandrake root, aconite and asphodel, also make appearances. Within the stories, the conceit is that these creatures and their magical powers are in fact real, but have been hidden for centuries from the non-magical world by the efforts of wizards, to the point where they have faded into folklore. In Hogwarts, some types of pets are allowed: cats, owls, rats, and toads. J.K. Rowling wrote a spin-off book about magical creatures to complement the main Harry Potter novels, titled Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

Blood purity

The longstanding separation between the wizarding and Muggle worlds in the Harry Potter universe has led to a number of wizards advocating that the two should be kept apart. This view has in turn led to a minority of wizards seeing Muggles (and wizards of pure Muggle parentage) as untrustworthy, foolish, or, in extreme cases, racially inferior. The common practice of wizards marrying Muggles is viewed by such extremists as miscegenation, and they instead advocate maintaining a so-called "purity of blood."

Pure-blood

Pure-blood is the term applied to wizards and witches who have no Muggle blood, Muggle borns, half-bloods or "blood traitors" at all in their genealogical pedigree. Although technically, pure-bloods have no Muggle ancestors whatsoever, the relatively small wizarding population means that "true" pure-bloods are very rare or even non-existent, with most just ignoring or disowning the few Muggles in their family.^[2] To maintain their blood purity, supremacist families have been known to inbreed into their own families by marrying their cousins; this results in mental instability and violent natures.^[3][4] Over the course of the books, some of the remaining families die out, while others find themselves on the brink of extinction with only one male heir. By the conclusion of the series, the Weasley family is the only known pure-blood family to have several male heirs.

Pure-blood supremacists believe blood purity is a measure of a wizard's magical ability — notwithstanding examples of highly skilled Muggle-born witches like Hermione Granger and Lily Evans — and Muggles to be low-life, having no magic in them, though they consider Muggle-born wizards even lower than Muggles. Dolores Umbridge follows this thought when she accuses a Muggle-born witch of having "stolen" both her wand and her magical powers from an unsuspecting witch or wizard. Supremacists apply the term "blood traitor" to pure-bloods who harbour no prejudice against non-pure-bloods (enjoying their presence and relations with them).

The antagonistic wizards in the Harry Potter books are almost all supremacists, while Harry and his friends disagree with this ideology. Rowling draws several parallels between the pure-blood supremacists and Nazi ideology in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (the belief that pure-blood wizards have the right to subjugate the Muggle world and view themselves as being a "master race", laws requiring Muggle-borns to register with the Ministry of Magic, rounding up Undesirables, etc.).^[5] Lord Voldemort is a pure-blood advocate, even though he is a half-blood (his father was a Muggle).

Not all pure-blood wizards are advocates of pure-blood supremacy: both the Weasleys and Longbottoms are old pure-blood families, but no known members of these families are sympathetic to supremacist aims.^[3][6][7] The Black family, traditionally pure-blood supremacists, also seem to have produced one or two such "black sheep" in every generation.

Several wizards question the notion of blood purity altogether. In The Tales of Beedle the Bard, Dumbledore asserts that the much-vaunted blood purity does not really exist, and is only a fiction maintained by the deceptions of racist wizards.

The Black family

Most of the members of The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black were advocates of blood purity, and many were involved with the Dark Arts. The Black family home, at Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, London, contains many artifacts of dubious origin and/or dangerous powers. The family motto, Toujours Pur, is French for "Always/Still Pure," because the Black family is one of the few remaining lineages of completely pure blood. As depicted in their family tree, the Blacks intermarried with several other pure-blood families, in order to preserve pure-blood witches and wizards. Thus, most remaining pure-blood families are interrelated. The last several generations of Blacks all trace their ancestry back to Phineas Nigellus Black and Ursula Flint. The Blacks believed in Voldemort's idea of "purifying the wizarding race," but many, such as Sirius' parents, refrained from openly supporting him once they saw what he was willing to do for power. Although several living members of the family appear throughout the series, all are either female and married into other families (such as Narcissa Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange), female-line distaff Black descendants (Draco Malfoy), or descendants of disowned family members (Nymphadora Tonks), and none have the surname Black any longer. The last known surviving bearer of the family name, Sirius, is murdered by his cousin Bellatrix Lestrange (née Black) in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

The family tree is described in the fifth book, but it came more directly to public attention in January 2006 when the author donated a version she had hand-drawn to a Book Aid International charity auction. The tree caused a considerable stir amongst fans as it provided new information about elements of the plot of the series in between publication of volumes six and seven. It was eventually purchased for £30,000 on behalf of British actor Daniel Radcliffe, who plays Harry Potter in the film series.^[8]

Half-blood

Half-blood is the term applied to wizards and witches who come from magical and Muggle, Muggle-born and half- or pure-blood, or half- and half-blood parents (all including part-Muggle ancestry). Half-bloods are the most common kind of wizard blood, far outnumbering both pure-bloods and Muggle-borns. Rowling has stated that of the Hogwarts annual intake, 50% are half-bloods. Pure-blood supremacists view Half-bloods as inferior to them, although superior to Muggles and Muggle-borns.^{[citation needed]}

Harry Potter is a half-blood as his father James was pure-blood and his mother, Lily, was a Muggle-born. Voldemort is also a half-blood, as his father, Tom Riddle, Sr., was a Muggle while his mother Merope Riddle was pure blood. Professor Snape is also a half-blood, as his father Tobias Snape was a Muggle. Snape declares himself the Half-Blood Prince in his potions textbook; he is a "Prince" because that was his mother's maiden name (Eileen Prince).

Muggle-born

Muggle-born is the term applied to wizards and witches who come from non-magical parents. According to Rowling, the average Hogwarts annual intake for Muggle-borns is 25%.^{[citation needed]}

Supremacists typically believe Muggle-borns to be magically deficient, despite counter-examples, such as Hermione Granger and Lily Evans, who are exceptionally skilled in their abilities.^[9]

Pure-blood supremacists refer to Muggle-borns with the offensive derogatory term Mudblood. Hermione decided to claim and wear the term "Mudblood" with pride instead of shame, thus defusing its value as a slur.

During Voldemort's rule, Muggle-borns are legally required to register with the Muggle-born Registration Commission. During this time, the Department of Mysteries "discovered" that Muggle-borns acquired their magic by "stealing" magic and wands from real wizards. Some wizards and witches reject this notion, as Ron asks, "How is it possible to steal magic?" After the regime is eradicated, Umbridge (head of the Commission) and the supporters of this ideology are imprisoned for crimes against Muggle-borns.

In the books, it has never been explained how Muggles are occasionally able to produce magical children. However, Rowling revealed that a Muggle-born would have a magical ancestor in their genealogy, possibly numerous generations back.^{[citation needed]}

Squibs

Squib is the term applied to a child born of magical parents but possessing no magical ability; they are considered to be the opposite of Muggle-borns.^[10] Squib births are rare anomalies, the only noted squibs being Argus Filch, Arabella Figg and Molly Weasley's second cousin who was an accountant. The Ministry of Magic does not require them to be registered as part of the Magical Community.^[10] Squibs share some things in common with wizards and they are aware of and comprehend the wizarding world. However, according to Ron's Aunt Muriel, the custom with Squibs has been to send them to Muggle schools and encourage them to integrate into the Muggle world, which is "much kinder" than keeping them in the magical world, where they will always be "second-class."

The "Kwikspell" correspondence course seems to be something of a con-job that plays on Squib insecurities by suggesting that it can help Squibs acquire some measure of magical ability, though it never works for Argus Filch, but this just may be due to the fact that he doesn't have much use for magic as a caretaker.^[10]

Mixed species

Mixed species wizards are not called "part human". Hags, vampires and werewolves are called "part-human"; why this is, is not certain. It is possibly because they maintain a human appearance although they lose their human personality at some points.

Some wizards are the products of unions between humans and magical creatures of human intelligence, such as Fleur Delacour and her sister Gabrielle, (both part Veela) and Hagrid (half giant). In wizard parlance, any creature with human intelligence, including humans, is called a "being". Known beings capable of breeding with humans include goblins, giants, and Veela. Prejudiced wizards (such as Umbridge) often use the insulting term half-breed to refer to mixed-species wizard. This term is also used on werewolves, and to creatures like merpeople and centaurs (who are pure bred within their sole species) because of their part-human/beast appearances and "near-human intelligence".^[HP5]

Government and politics

The Ministry of Magic is the Government for the magical community of Britain. The government is first mentioned in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and makes its first actual appearance in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, with Cornelius Fudge as the Minister for Magic. Throughout the books, the body is depicted as corrupt and blind to actual happenings of the Wizard world, reaching a nadir of corruption during Voldemort's uprising.

Known Ministers for Magic include Cornelius Fudge and Rufus Scrimgeour. After Fudge is removed from office, Rufus Scrimgeour wanted Harry Potter to become the ministry's poster boy, though it is revealed in the book (as a rumour) that in his dying moments (at the hands of Voldemort or his Death Eaters) Scrimgeour refused to divulge Harry's location. After Scrimgeour's murder, Pius Thicknesse becomes the new Minister of Magic, under the control of Lord Voldemort (through the use of the Imperius Curse). After the defeat of Voldemort, Kingsley Shacklebolt, a member of the Order of the Phoenix, becomes the new Minister of Magic.

Relations

To the Muggle world

The Muggles remain—for the most part—oblivious to the wizarding world, a situation considered eminently preferable to the alternative by wizards. Most things of magical nature are hidden or otherwise obscured from Muggles; others (such as Dementors or ghosts) simply cannot be seen by them, although Muggles do experience the same depression and sense of manifest darkness and despair that wizards experience while in the presence of a Dementor. It is commented that Muggles generally have the ability to dismiss anything they cannot explain.

To most magical people, the Muggle world is also unknown. Even if they know it is there somewhere, the regular wizard and witch are oblivious of the functionality and differences of the Muggle world. Their attempts to disguise themselves as Muggles, as when they have to venture out into "normal" streets, often have humorous results. The mispronunciation of common Muggle terms like "telephone," "escalator," "plumber," "firearms" or "policeman," as "fellytone," "escapator," "pumble," "firelegs," and "please-men," respectively is a running gag in the series.

Muggle Studies is an option of study at Hogwarts. However, while some professions require its study, to others it is often considered a "soft option."

The only official relations described with the Muggle world are between the Minister for Magic and the Muggle Prime Minister of Britain. In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince it is revealed that the Minister for Magic privately introduces himself to each new Prime Minister. There is a magical painting in the Prime Minister's office that notifies him of such visits, and a fire that is connected to the Floo Network. Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge informed the Prime Minister of the escape of Sirius Black. Fudge also informed the Prime Minister that several problems he was facing were, in fact, rooted in the war against Voldemort, and that his new secretary Kingsley Shacklebolt was actually an Auror.

The exact extent to which the secrecy and isolation of the wizarding world is maintained varies. Many references are made to the Ministry of Magic performing memory charms to preserve secrecy; however, some Muggles are shown to be aware of the wizarding world. Hermione’s parents are both Muggles, but have been seen in Diagon Alley. They are fully aware that magic exists, but they forbade Hermione to use magic to fix her teeth (as dentists themselves, they felt that this was cheating). The Dursleys are also aware of the wizarding world; Petunia Dursley indicates that she learned of it when her sister, Lily, was accepted to Hogwarts. She apparently shared this information with her husband, who is shown to be contemptuous of the wizarding world even before Harry shows up at their doorstep. There is no indication that Dudley was aware of any of this until Harry himself is told about Hogwarts.

In addition to the families of Muggle-born wizards, there are mixed marriages. Seamus Finnigan reports that his mother was a witch who did not inform his Muggle father until after they were married.

There is also some unspecified financial relationship between the two worlds, as it is possible to exchange Muggle Money into Wizard Money, as Hermione's parents are shown doing in the second book.

Internally

Since a person's most important capability—magical aptitude—does not depend on sex, gender equality is highly advanced in the Wizarding world, and the "battle of the sexes" never became much of an issue (for example, quidditch teams have both male and female players). Similarly, racial equality seems highly advanced in the Wizarding world, with Hogwarts students featuring a wide range of racial and ethnic backgrounds and the black Kingsley Shacklebolt appointed Minister for Magic without any comment. However, in other respects, prejudice and discrimination seem not only endemic to the Wizard world but in some cases ingrained to the level of apartheid.

The most obvious example of wizard prejudice is a longstanding disdain (in some cases, genocidal hatred) for Muggles and wizards and witches of Muggle parentage (Muggle-borns, half-bloods) among certain wizards. This has led to an eugenic philosophy among some of the older Wizarding families, leading to a practice of "pure-blood" intermarriage that has exposed many of them (such as the Gaunt family) to the risks of mental instability.

Other internal tensions include the virtual slavery of House elves and the suspicion or disregard for some species of human intelligence ("beings" in Wizard parlance). Voldemort and his allies frequently exploit these divisions to bring non-human magical creatures, particularly werewolves and giants, over to their cause.

Internationally

The magical governments of the world are to some degree united in the International Confederation of Wizards. This organisation has many responsibilities, mostly to enforce the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy.

There is a reference to the Ministry of Magic's Department of International Magical Cooperation and to various international bodies such as the International Magical Trading Standards Body, the International Magical Office of Law, the International Confederation of Wizards and the International Quidditch Association.

As noted in the depiction of the Quiddich World Championship in "Goblet of Fire", Irish and Bulgarian wizards (and presumably, also those from other countries) can feel a strong national pride and be intensely eager for their country to win - even though Irish and Bulgarian muggles, who form most of the population in the two countries, are not aware that the championship is taking place.

The books make no reference to the degree to which wars and tensions between muggle governments (e.g., the World Wars or the Cold War) influence the relations between the respective wizarding governments, however Rowling it is strongly implied in the final book that the rise of the dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald and his defeat by Dumbledore in 1945 were related to the rise and fall of the Third Reich.

Education

Before Hogwarts

There appears to be no official precursory education; apparently, wizard parents home-school their children in basic non-magical topics, such as literacy and arithmetic. Muggle-born wizards (or Muggle raised wizards), however, clearly experience an ordinary Muggle primary education before enrolling at Hogwarts, something that could be viewed as either a cognitive edge or disadvantage. There are also no compulsory educational laws that exist in the British Wizarding World. Parents may continue to home-school their children, send them to Hogwarts, or send them abroad to other wizarding schools. However, during the time Voldemort had overthrown the Ministry of Magic, attendance at Hogwarts was compulsory, so that his followers could have complete control over the wizarding youth.

After Hogwarts

Following completion of a Hogwarts education, there is no standard tertiary education, and there are no wizard universities. Successful Hogwarts students are considered ready to function as adults, though some wizarding professions do require special, years-long training programmes subsequent to finishing Hogwarts. These include the professions of the Auror and the Healer (the wizard physician). Sometimes, the young wizards travel the world to "observe foreign witches and wizards" after graduation to complete their education. In the Deathly Hallows, Elphias Doge describes how his plans to travel the world with his friend Dumbledore were disrupted by the passing of the latter's mother. Similarly, it is learnt that Professor Quirrell took some time off to get some first hand experience after a celebrated academic career. Also, some students may choose to take up the Dark Arts.

Wizarding Examinations Authority

The Wizarding Examinations Authority is an organization responsible for examining students in their fifth and seventh years taking their O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. exams. The head, Griselda Marchbanks, is an elderly witch who examined a school-aged Dumbledore in his N.E.W.T.s.

Known foreign schools

• Beauxbatons Academy of Magic
• Durmstrang Institute
• Bill Weasley had a pen pal at an unnamed school in Brazil, who took offence when Bill could not afford a student exchange programme and sent him a cursed hat that made his ears shrivel up.
• In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire there is mention of a banner with the name "The Salem Witches Institute" and it is implied that the school is American ^[11]

Other schools

• Wizarding Academy of Dramatic Arts (W.A.D.A.)^[12]

Economy

A fictional system of currency is used by the wizards of the United Kingdom. The currency uses only coins as the units of account. It is based on three types of coin; in order of decreasing value, the gold Galleon, the silver Sickle, and the bronze Knut. Wizarding banks provide money-changing services for those with Muggle currency. The only reference to a bank in Harry Potter is Gringotts, which is located on Diagon Alley in London and has hundreds of vaults. In these vaults, a person can keep whatever he wants (like a security vault). Hagrid indicates that wizards have "just the one" bank.

Coins

The Galleon is the largest and most valuable coin in the British wizard currency. It is gold, round and larger than the other coins are.

Around the rim of the Galleon is inscribed at least one serial number, which identifies the goblin who was responsible for minting the coin. In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Hermione enchants fake Galleons to show the time and date of the next Dumbledore's Army meeting instead of the serial number.

As explained in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone there are 17 silver Sickles to a gold Galleon, and 29 bronze Knuts to a Sickle.

Exchange rate

One Knut is	One Sickle is	One Galleon is
1 Knut	29 Knuts	493 Knuts
0.03448... Sickles	1 Sickle	17 Sickles
0.002028... Galleons	0.05882... Galleons	1 Galleon

In a 2001 interview J. K. Rowling said a Galleon was approximately five pounds (i.e. approximately US$7.50 or €5.50), although "the exchange rate varies."^{[13][dead link]}

In the book Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, it is said that the £174 million raised for charity is equivalent to 34,000,872 Galleons, 14 Sickles, and 7 Knuts (the figure is truncated to 34,000,000 galleons in Quidditch Through the Ages). This means that £5.12 = 1 galleon. However, the book's cover price is £2.50 ($3.99 US), or "14 Sickles and 3 Knuts," which implies either an exchange rate of £3.01 = 1 galleon or a 41% discount to Muggle purchasers.

Games and Sports

Sports, specifically Quidditch, play an important role in the Wizarding world, and in the Harry Potter series. Quidditch is a team sport played up in the air on brooms. Wizards all around the globe fanatically follow it in a similar manner to soccer, and the Quidditch World Cup is a major event in the wizard calendar.

Harry is a great player at Hogwarts and several Harry Potter books detail his activity on the Quidditch pitch. Harry has helped lead Gryffindor to a number of wins. Harry is the Seeker for his team whose role is to try to find and catch the Golden Snitch.^[HP1] Until he graduated from school, Lee Jordan was the commentator for the Quidditch matches at Hogwarts. Contrasting all previous books, Quidditch does not appear in the final book.^[HP7]

Other wizard games and sports include Gobstones (a version of marbles in which the stones squirt foul-smelling liquid into the other player's face when they lose a point), Exploding Snap (a card game in which the cards explode), and Wizard Chess (in which the pieces are alive and under the command of the player). The wizard world is also home to a number of other wizard spectator sports, such as Quodpot (an American variant on Quidditch), Creothceann (a now-banned broom game from Scotland in which players try to catch rocks with cauldrons strapped to their heads), and broom racing.

Communications

Several magical communication methods are available to the wizarding world.

Owls

By far the most popular method of communication is via owls. Owls are used for conveying packages, with multiple owls acting in concert for heavier ones; sending mail; delivering newspapers; and in general acting as a replacement for the Postal Service of the Muggle world. In the event of an owl delivering something such as a newspaper, the recipient places the money for the paper in a small pouch attached to the owl's leg. Not only owls may be used; Sirius makes use of a tropical bird, likely a macaw, on one occasion. The Ministry of Magic regulates Owl Mail.

How the owls find the recipients of the letters they carry is not specifically stated. In some circumstance, letters have extremely explicit addresses to them (specifying particular rooms or locations inside of a building). Other times, there is no mention of an address, and the owl is simply told to whom to deliver. The Ministry of Magic used owls in the past to deliver inter-office mail within the ministry building, but according to Mr Weasley, the mess was incredible, so enchanted memos, which fly throughout the building as paper airplanes, replaced them.

In addition, though owls are portrayed as flying directly to the recipient of their package, it is implied that owl traffic can be monitored and even interrupted. There are several references to "the owls being watched" and Harry uses different owls to communicate with Sirius since his snowy owl, Hedwig, would supposedly attract too much attention. On one occasion Hedwig is injured after being intercepted and searched (supposedly by Umbridge).^[14]

Floo Network

The Floo Network consists of a network of fireplaces magically connected to one another and is frequently used by wizards and witches to travel from place to place. The wizard grabs a handful of Floo Powder out of a container near the fireplace, throws the Floo powder down onto the floor of the fireplace, then steps into the fireplace and states where he wants to go^[15]. The wizard is then engulfed in green flames and is magically transported to his destination. Wizards must clearly state their intended destination when using Floo Powder or there is no telling where they will end up. Floo Powder is also used quite frequently to communicate, typically by inserting your head into the flames. This practice, the wizarding equivalent of a telephone call, is said to be rather uncomfortable, but has the advantage of not requiring further Floo powder for the return journey.

Mirrors

In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Sirius gives Harry a magic mirror which can be used for communication. There must be a pair of mirrors to exist, with one in the possession of each of the persons who wish to communicate. The holder of one mirror needs only to look into the mirror and speak the other person's name. The two persons can then speak to each other through the mirrors.

Patronuses

A Patronus can also be used for communication by certain witches and wizards. Dumbledore has devised a method of using Patronuses to deliver messages, putting it into the exclusive use of the Order of the Phoenix.

Vanishing Cabinets

An object (or person) placed in a vanishing cabinet will translocate to the other of a matching pair of cabinets, as demonstrated in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows when Malfoy uses the vanishing cabinets to transport objects and people back and forth from London to Hogwarts.

Newspapers and magazines

The Daily Prophet

The Daily Prophet is the most widely-read daily newspaper in Britain's wizard community.^[16] The articles include moving pictures.^[17][18] Unfortunately, its journalistic integrity is somewhat lacking; it has been known to be more concerned about sales than about factual accuracy and is often a mouthpiece for the Ministry of Magic, as described by Rita Skeeter "The Prophet exists to sell itself!".^[19]

The Prophet remains respectable for the first three books, but by Goblet of Fire, it has hired Rita Skeeter, an unscrupulous journalist who supplies several thrilling and blatantly false articles.^[20] These include an article that, while correctly asserting that Hagrid is part giant, also makes numerous scurrilous accusations about his personal character, and declares Harry "disturbed and dangerous" on the basis of remarks by Draco Malfoy. When Minister Fudge takes the stance of firmly denying Voldemort's return, the Prophet initiates a smear campaign against Dumbledore and Harry, the most influential proponents of the opposing view. After Fudge is forced to admit that Voldemort has returned, the Prophet changes its stance overnight, calling Harry "a lone voice of truth". The newspaper even buys Harry's interview on Voldemort's return from The Quibbler and claims it to be exclusive.

The editor of The Daily Prophet is Barnabas Cuffe, a former pupil of the Potions master Horace Slughorn. It is unclear how long he has been editor of The Daily Prophet. Ginny Weasley becomes Senior Quidditch correspondent at The Daily Prophet, after her retirement from the Holyhead Harpies.^[21][22] The Daily Prophet has a late edition named The Evening Prophet, and a weekend edition named The Sunday Prophet.^[23]

The Warner Bros. Harry Potter website's news and events page has been named after the paper.^[24]

The Quibbler

The Quibbler is a magazine first mentioned in Order of the Phoenix.

The magazine's editor is Xenophilius Lovegood. The Quibbler mainstays are conspiracy theories and cryptozoology. Articles in The Quibbler have claimed that Fudge has had goblins cooked in pies, and uses the Department of Mysteries to develop terrible poisons, which he supposedly feeds to people who disagree with him, and that he has a secret army of fire-demons called "heliopaths". Numerous (presumably imaginary) beasts are mentioned in The Quibbler, such as Crumple-Horned Snorkacks (which supposedly live in Sweden and cannot fly), the Blibbering Humdinger and Nargles (which are supposed to infest mistletoe).

In Order of the Phoenix, Hermione blackmails Rita into writing an article about Harry's encounter with Voldemort. The interview is published by Xenophilius, and he later sells it to the Daily Prophet for a very good price (enough to finance an expedition to Sweden to hunt for the Crumple-Horned Snorkack). In Deathly Hallows, Xenophilius continues to support Harry in his magazine until Luna Lovegood gets kidnapped to silence him. Harry, Ron, and Hermione visit Xenophilius for information but discover that the latest issue features an anti-Harry story on the cover. Following Voldemort's ultimate defeat, the Quibbler goes back to its condition of advanced lunacy and becomes quite popular, still being appreciated for its unintentional humour.^[25]

Other Magazines

• Warlock at War: an anti-Muggle periodical which was at one point edited by Brutus Malfoy.
• Which Broomstick?: a magazine about flying broomsticks. Harry frequently browses through the magazine when searching for a replacement broomstick in his third year, and it is implied that Sirius uses it to buy Harry's Christmas present, a Firebolt. Ron mentions the magazine when showing off his new Cleansweep, as does Lee Jordan in Prisoner of Azkaban.
• Witch Weekly: a magazine for witches, in the style of the Woman's Weekly. Rita has mentioned Witch Weekly as publishing interviews. Witch Weekly is first mentioned in the second book of the Harry Potter series, Chamber of Secrets, as Gilderoy Lockhart had won its "Most Charming Smile" award five times in a row.
• Transfiguration Today: a periodical journal for the advanced study of Transfiguration. Magical scholars, such as Albus Dumbledore are its contributors and readership.
• Challenges in Charming
• The Practical Potioneer

Food and beverages

The following are food and beverages unique to the wizarding world:

Magical sweets

Multitudes of sweets are produced in the stories; many have a violent or bizarre side effect, especially those created by Fred and George Weasley. Most sweets can be found in the sweetshop Honeydukes. Dumbledore seems to be partial to these as he often uses their names as passwords. ^[26]

Chocolate Frogs are frogs made of chocolate and enchanted with a temporary spell that, according to Ron in Philosopher's Stone, gives them one good jump (once the package is opened). They are each packaged with a collectible card displaying a magical picture and brief biography of a famous witch or wizard of medieval to modern times. Cards named in the Harry Potter series include: Merlin, Dumbledore, Nicolas Flamel, Agrippa, Ptolemy, Morgana, Hengist of Woodcroft, Alberic Grunnion, Circe, Paracelsus, Druidess Cliodna, Crospin Conk, Bertie Bott, Felix Summerbee, Cassandra Vablatsky, Ignatia Wildsmith, and the four founders of Hogwarts. According to a web chat with the author, Harry and his friends are eventually featured on a series of Chocolate Frog cards; Ron calling it "his finest hour".^[25]

Some of the most notable magical sweets such as Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans and Cockroach Clusters have been manufactured in real life, mainly by the Jelly Belly candy company. They have produced real versions of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans odd flavours in and out of the market since 2001. Apart from some "regular" flavours, the company also produces several "unusual" flavours mentioned in the books. Other flavours include bacon, dirt, earthworm, earwax, vomit, rotten egg, sausage, pickle, toast and soup.

Cockroach clusters are mentioned in the 1969 Monty Python sketch "Trade Description Act", which also introduced Crunchy Frog – a chocolate made with real frogs – and a sweet that includes lark's vomit as an ingredient.

Butterbeer

Butterbeer is the drink of choice for younger wizards. Harry is first presented with the beverage in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Although House-elves can become intoxicated on butterbeer, it has not been explicitly stated that there is any alcohol in the drink. In the sixth book, Harry wonders what Ron and Hermione might do at Professor Slughorn's Christmas party "under the influence of Butterbeer", indicating that it could potentially lower inhibitions. J. K. Rowling said in her interview to Bon Appétit magazine that she imagines it "to taste a little bit like less-sickly butterscotch". Butterbeer can be served cold or hot but either way it has a warming effect. Roald Dahl used a similar word play in his book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in chapter 23 when he mentioned the Oompa-Loompas getting drunk on butterscotch and buttergin.

Butterbeer was a real drink however, made from beer, sugar, eggs, nutmeg and butter back in Tudor times. British celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal recreated the drink for his show "Heston's Tudor Feast"^[27].

Firewhisky

Firewhisky is a type of alcohol that wizards under the age of seventeen are not allowed to drink; however, this rule is not always followed. It was consumed by several main characters and order members after Mad-Eye Moody's death in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Firewhisky is described as burning the user's throat as they consume it.

See also

• Magic in Harry Potter
• Places in Harry Potter
• Spells in Harry Potter
• Magical objects in Harry Potter
• Magical creatures (Harry Potter)
• List of fictional books within the Harry Potter series

References

External links

• Wizarding world on Harry Potter Wiki, an external wiki
• The Harry Potter Search Engine
• The Harry Potter Encyclopedia
• Galleons-to-Muggle money converter from the Harry Potter Lexicon
• CNN Harry Potter currency converter
• DIY Harry Potter coins

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