50 Fun Facts About Hogwarts Houses

What animal is Gryffindor's mascot?

Rowling matched the house roughly to the element of fire.

What are Gryffindor's house colours?

The House Cup winner's colours hang in the Great Hall for the whole of the following year.

Who is Head of Gryffindor House?

She doubles as deputy headmistress and Transfiguration teacher, and buys Harry his first racing broom.

According to Rowling, Gryffindor corresponds roughly to which element?

Each house gets one: the others are earth, air and water.

What animal is Hufflepuff's mascot?

The house prizes hard work, patience, justice and loyalty over flashier virtues.

What are Hufflepuff's house colours?

Rowling links the house to the element of earth, which fits its Herbology-teaching head.

Who is Head of Hufflepuff House?

The Herbology professor is played on film by Miriam Margolyes.

Rowling matched Hufflepuff to which element?

The dormitories are literally underground, tucked beneath the kitchens of the Great Hall.

Where are the Hufflepuff dormitories located?

They sit under the Great Hall's kitchens, which may explain the house's reputation for hospitality.

How do Hufflepuffs open their barrel-shaped common-room entrance?

Get the rhythm wrong on the wrong barrel and, by reputation, you get doused in vinegar.

In the novels, which bird is Ravenclaw's mascot?

The films swapped it for a raven, which is the version most merchandise uses.

What are Ravenclaw's house colours in the novels?

The films lean silver, another small departure from the books.

Who is Head of Ravenclaw House in the novels?

The tiny Charms master has distant goblin ancestry.

Rowling linked Ravenclaw to which element?

Fitting for a house that lives at the top of a tower and prizes wit and learning.

How do Ravenclaws gain entry to their tower common room?

It is the only house whose door can lock out its own members if they are not clever enough that day.

What is Slytherin's mascot?

The house values ambition, cunning, leadership and resourcefulness.

What are Slytherin's house colours?

Rowling matched the house to water, and its dormitories sit beneath the lake.

Who heads Slytherin House until he becomes headmaster?

Alan Rickman's Potions master keeps the role for six books before the Death Eaters hand him the school.

Who takes over as Head of Slytherin after Snape becomes headmaster?

He had held the post before Snape, and once taught a young Tom Riddle about Horcruxes.

Rowling assigned Slytherin which element?

Its common room is entered through a stone wall in the dungeons.

Where are the Slytherin dormitories?

A password spoken to a bare stone wall opens a hidden door.

Which founder was a Parselmouth, a Legilimens and a proponent of pureblood supremacy?

The Sorting Hat describes him as power-hungry; his locket became one of Voldemort's Horcruxes.

Which founder did Rowling call "the most accomplished dueller of his time"?

She also called him an enlightened fighter against Muggle-discrimination; his relics are the sword and the Sorting Hat.

Which founder's small golden cup was stolen by Voldemort and made a Horcrux?

He murdered its owner, her descendant Hepzibah Smith, to make it; it ends up in the Lestrange vault.

Whose daughter Helena stole her mother's diadem hoping to become cleverer than her?

Voldemort found the diadem decades later and hid it in the Room of Requirement as a Horcrux.

Who crafted the Sword of Gryffindor?

It can present itself to any member of its house who needs it, and it took on Basilisk venom when Harry killed the snake.

Where did Helena hide the stolen diadem?

Voldemort later tracked it there and turned it into his fifth Horcrux by murdering a peasant.

Which house ghost murdered Helena Ravenclaw and then killed himself?

He wears chains as a reminder of the crime and is one of the few beings who can control Peeves.

Which ghost is barred from a famous hunt because his execution was botched?

Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington's botched execution left his head hanging by a strip of skin.

Which Monty Python member plays Gryffindor's house ghost in the first two films?

The ghost does not return after Chamber of Secrets in the film series.

Which cheerful, helpful ghost represents Hufflepuff?

Simon Fisher-Becker plays him in the film of Philosopher's Stone.

By what name is Helena Ravenclaw known as a ghost?

Kelly Macdonald plays her in Deathly Hallows – Part 2, where she finally tells Harry where the diadem is.

Which Gryffindor became Head Boy and then a Ministry of Magic employee?

He becomes estranged from his family but fights beside them in the Battle of Hogwarts.

Which Hufflepuff Seeker won the Triwizard Tournament alongside Harry?

He is killed on Voldemort's orders moments after touching the cup in the graveyard.

Which Ravenclaw Seeker was Harry's first love interest?

She is among the first students to believe Harry's claim that Voldemort has returned.

Which Ravenclaw student betrayed Dumbledore's Army to Umbridge?

Hermione's jinx on the sign-up sheet left the word SNEAK in pimples across her face.

Which Slytherin Seeker joined Umbridge's Inquisitorial Squad and became a Death Eater?

Tom Felton played him across all eight films.

Which Muggle-born Ravenclaw was killed by the Basilisk and now haunts a bathroom?

Voldemort used her death to make his very first Horcrux, the diary.

Which of these is one of the four houses at Ilvermorny, the American school?

The others are Horned Serpent, Thunderbird and Wampus, each representing an aspect of the ideal wizard.

Which West Country village, home to the Potters, is named after a founder?

Dumbledore and Bathilda Bagshot lived there too, and the war memorial turns into a statue of the Potters for wizards.

Who destroys Slytherin's locket with the Sword of Gryffindor?

The real locket had been swiped from the cave by Regulus Black, the R.A.B. of the fake one's note.

In the novel, whose Fiendfyre destroys Ravenclaw's diadem?

He dies in his own flames; the film gives the job to Harry, a Basilisk fang and Ron's boot.

Which actor was reportedly the only one Rowling specifically requested for the films?

She played the Head of Gryffindor in seven of the eight films, missing only Deathly Hallows – Part 1.

Who plays the Herbology professor and Head of Hufflepuff on film?

She appears in Chamber of Secrets and returns for Deathly Hallows – Part 2.

Which actor plays the Charms master who heads Ravenclaw?

He also plays Griphook the goblin, and the character himself has goblin ancestry.

What role do Ron and Hermione both take up in their fifth year?

Harry is passed over, which Dumbledore later admits was to spare him more pressure.

Which Gryffindor serves as the school's Quidditch commentator?

He later runs the pirate radio show Potterwatch during Voldemort's rule.

Hufflepuff values hard work, patience, justice and what?

Helga Hufflepuff herself favoured loyalty, honesty and dedication.

Gryffindor values courage, nerve and what?

Its founder valued courage, determination and strength of heart.

Slytherin values ambition, cunning, resourcefulness and what?

Dumbledore says its founder prized resourcefulness, determination, cunning and ambition in his students.