Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Kenzie Stewart
Professor Stone
ENGL 2710
18 October 2020
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of
Witchcraft and Wizardry. Students shall be required to report to the Chamber of Reception upon
Please ensure that the utmost attention be made to the list of requirements attached
herewith. We very much look forward to receiving you as a part of the new generation of
Hogwarts’ heritage.
Yours Sincerely,
Professor McGonagall
(MinaLima)
Could you imagine receiving that letter? Well there are many potterheads all around the
world that have dreamed of receiving that letter! Now, if you are new to the wizarding world,
welcome, if you aren’t new, hello! Now, for those who have no idea what I am talking about,
let’s start with introducing you to Hogwarts, The School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. On the
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Wizarding World Website, Pottermore gives us an entire background on Hogwarts, at some point
in the tenth century, four of the greatest witches and wizards that ever-lived founded Hogwarts
School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Their names were Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenlclaw,
Helga Hufflepuff and Salazar Slytherin. The tenth century was a dangerous time for witches and
wizards, who were being persecuted by Muggles (those who do not have magic) who were
hostile to magic. Therefore, Hogwarts was built somewhere in the Scottish Highlands, and
concealed with numerous charms and spells to make it impossible for Muggles to trespass
(Pottermore, 2017). Now, let’s introduce you to The Sorting Hat, the day you arrive at Hogwarts,
everyone meets in the Dining Hall and all of the new students take their turn putting the sorting
hat on, the sorting hats job is to sort students into their houses. The houses follow each witch and
wizard that founded Hogwarts, there is Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin.
Gryffindor students are known for their bravery and courage; Ravenclaw students are known for
their knowledge and wit; Hufflepuff for their loyalty, fairness, and kindness; while Slytherin
students are known for their cunning, wise, and sly personalities. I’m assuming this far in, you’re
wondering, “what’s the fuss about?” I’m sure it’s surprising to see how many people are in love
with the world of Harry Potter and although it seems very simple, there is a lot more that
happens within the walls of Hogwarts (and outside of Hogwarts of course), so I ask you to stick
around awhile longer, and please, don’t judge a book by its cover, now let’s dive in!
Now, where it all began was with the series, Harry Potter which was written by J.K.
Rowling, which is about a boy who is raised with his aunt, uncle, and cousin, who treat him very
poorly and how he soon uncovers his crazy past about the Wizarding World and how it impacts
his future. In the article “Harry Potter – History of the Books,” by Andrew Sims, he says,
“Collectively, the seven Harry Potter books have sold nearly 500 million copies since the
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publication of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in 1997, making Harry Potter the
bestselling book series of all time.” (Sims, 2012). Harry Potter is a very caring boy, he was
raised in a household with his aunt, uncle, and cousin because his parents died when he was a
baby at the hand of Lord Voldemort. At the age of 11, Harry receives his acceptance letter to
Hogwarts, he was very surprised considering he was raised in a family that didn’t want him to
know about his powers, so his aunt and uncle hid it from him. Upon his arrival, he meets a
Granger, Draco Malfoy, and Neville Longbottom. Harry, Ron, and Hermione quickly become
the best of friends, Hermione being the smart, witty, and brave girl, Ron being the silly, brave,
and clever, and Harry being brave, courageous, and smart. All three of them get sorted into the
house of Gryffindor, which suits them perfectly considering their bravery, courage, and wisdom.
The series has a total of 7 books, all in which the power trio face obstacles of all kinds as they
uncover more and more or Harry’s past which includes the juicy details about the famous Lord
Voldemort AKA “he who should not be named” and the past of the school itself. Later into the
first book, the first rivalry we have against the trio is Draco Malfoy, the son of Lucius Malfoy.
Draco Malfoy who is a Slytherin, soon because an enemy of the trio, and throughout both the
books and the movies, there is always some Draco drama that happens.
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If the plot hasn’t grasped your attention yet, don’t worry, there are so many amazing things
within the Harry Potter world that are so beautiful, funny, and
cool to see played out in the books and movies, for instance
giant spider named Aragog, and so many more and all thanks
as well, like the wonderful owls, which are a huge symbol for
Harry Potter. In the article, “Every Magical Creature Ever Shown in a ‘Harry Potter’ Movie,” by
Christina Schoellkopf, she explains, “The entire franchise begins with a shot of an owl perched
on the Privet Drive street sign, overlooking baby Harry Potter’s arrival in the muggle village of
Little Whinging, and within the first 30 minutes of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, we’ve
met his loyal pet Hedwig.” (Schoellkopf, 2016). Of course in Harry Potter we have the creatures
we would suspect in a magical world, like Goblins, Giants, Ghosts, Trolls, Centaurs, and of
course the lovely Unicorns who actually play a big role in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’ Stone
which is the first book, in the same article by Christina Schoellkopf, she says, “Unicorns are one
of the most majestic creatures of J.K. Rowling’s world, they are born the color gold, turn silver
by age four and have a pure white coat by adulthood.” She continues, “The blood of these horned
beings is silver and when drunk can keep a dying person alive, but with grave consequences,
after consuming its blood, a person is doomed to live a cursed life.” (Schoellkopf, 2016). In
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, unicorns are very important because Hagrid comes across
two unicorns that had been killed by Professor Quirrell who used the blood of the unicorns to
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help keep Lord Voldemort alive. So although Harry Potter might just seem like some boring
series about spells, potions, dragons, witches, and wizards, there is a lot more that goes into the
story.
Although I could talk about the books, movies, creatures, and characters all day long, I
also want to bring attention to Potterheads, one of the biggest fandoms that I have heard of. We
are a rare group, and I know that you have probably heard a lot about Potterheads, some things
may be true, some things may be false, but one thing I can say for sure, is that Potterheads are
inspiring, positive, uplifting, and we all have such big dreams. Yes, Potterheads are often
associated with being nerdy, quirky, or even lame, but we are a group of people that believe in
magic, good, evil, happiness, redemption, hope, and we are willing to forgive people and let
them redeem themselves. We have all learned from the very best, Professor Snape who did
everything he could to keep his promise to the woman he loved, the trio of Harry, Hermione, and
Ron, who taught us to be brave, courageous, smart, kind, and stand up for what is right. Neville
Longbottom who taught us to stand up and be yourself, Albus Dumbledore who we loved
comfort in because she had a way of taking care of everyone, she is basically our fictional mom.
So yes, it sounds crazy to be so in love with a story that talks about magical spells and creatures,
wizards and witches, and everything in between but us Potterheads would never change that
because for us, Hogwarts reminds us of home, comfort, and love and the characters will always
hold a special place in our hearts because we went through the love, the loss, the grief and the
happiness with all of the characters and we will always keep Harry Potter in our hearts, forever
and like the lovely J.K. Rowling once told us, “Whether you come back by page, or by the big
- J. K. Rowling
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Work Cited
1. “Harry Potter's Hogwarts Acceptance Letter Tea Towel Set.” MinaLima, 6 Oct. 2020,
minalima.com/product/hogwarts-acceptance-envelope-tea-towel/.
www.wizardingworld.com/features/origins-of-hogwarts-school-of-witchcraft-and-
wizardry.
potter/book-history/.
5. Schoellkopf, Christina. “Every Magical Creature Ever Shown in a 'Harry Potter' Movie.”
magical-creature-shown-movies-937760.
6. Thebcws. “‘Hogwarts Will Always Be There to Welcome You Home.".” Flickr, Yahoo!,
7. Holland, Amy, and Bridget Bartlett. “Fluffy.” Harry Potter Lexicon, 18 May 2020,
www.hp-lexicon.org/character/fluffy/.
8. “15 Ways J.K. Rowling's 'Harry Potter' Series Changed My Life for the Better.” Sweety