I can never get enough of Harry Potter. Especially now that it’s almost time for Fantastic Beasts, I’m more into it than ever. In my continued exploration of Rowling’s Wizarding World and everything the fandom added, I’ve come across some amazing fun facts. And I wanted to share those with you. I’m sure all of you Potterheads already know most of these, but I hope to surprise with you with some new ones as well.
- Snape hates Neville so much because Neville could have been the Chosen One, meaning Lily would have survived.
- Voldemort cannot love because he was conceived under the effects of a love potion.
- After the horcrux in Harry was destroyed, he lost the ability to speak Parseltongue.
- Hermione Granger returned to Hogwarts to complete her seventh year, Harry and Ron didn’t.
- Severus Snape is the only Death Eater who can produce a Patronus.
- George Weasley would never be able to evoke a Patronus Charm after Fred’s death because all his happy memories contained his brother.
- J. K. Rowling would often get asked how to pronounce Hermione’s name, so to clear up any confusion, se had Hermione teach Victor Krum how to pronounce it in The Goblet of Fire.
- Harry, Ron and Hermione were all put on Chocolate Frog cards. Both Ron and Albus Dumbledore consider this their greatest achievements.
- Harry first arrives at Number 4 Privet Drive in the first book with Hagrid on Sirius’ motorbike. He leaves in the 7th book in the exact same way.
- Lord Voldemort was 71 when he died.
- Merlin, the most famous wizard of all time, was a Slytherin.
- J. K. Rowling created Quidditch in a pub after a fight with her boyfriend.
- Oliver Phelps could only do 5 takes for Fred’s death scene. Seeing his brother pretending to be dead was emotionally exhausting for him.
- J. K. Rowling is the first person to become a billionaire by writing books.
- Dumbledore allowed Snape to be a horrible teacher, because he believed there are lessons in life and horrible teachers are one of them.
- Only Alan Rickman, the actor who played Professor Snape, knew his character’s fate before the release of the last book because Rowling told him.
- Contrary to popular belief, the ‘t’ at the end of Voldemort is silent. The name comes from the French words “vol de mort” meaning “flight of death”.
- Tom Felton auditioned for the roles of Harry Potter and Ron Weasley, but was chosen to play Draco Malfoy instead.
- Dementors, the deadly phantoms that guard Azkaban Prison, represent depression and were based on Rowling’s struggle with the disease.
- During the filming of the kissing scene between the horcrux versions of Harry and Hermione in the final film, Rupert Grint was removed from the set for laughing too much.
There, I hope you enjoyed my top twenty of Harry Potter fun facts. Did you discover anything new, or did you already know everything in this list? And I’d love to find out more about Harry Potter, so feel free to share your fun facts in the comment section!
Happy reading,
Loes M.