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Each student is allowed to bring a cat, toad, or owl. First year students require equipment for their different subjects. Equipment listed in the acceptance letter includes a wand, a standard size 2 pewter cauldron, a set of brass scales, a set of glass or crystal phials, a kit of basic potion ingredients (for Potions), and a telescope (for Astronomy). The Hogwarts uniform consists of plain work robes in black, as well as a plain black hat, a pair of protective gloves, and a black winter cloak with silver fastenings. Most students buy their cloaks from Madam Malkin's shop, in Diagon Alley. Each uniform must contain the wearer's nametag. First years are not allowed a broomstick of their own, though an exception to this rule is made for Harry in his first year after it is discovered that he has an excellent ability as a Seeker in Quidditch.
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Gryffindor:
Gryffindor values courage, daring, nerve and chivalry. Its mascot is the lion, and its colours are scarlet and gold. The Head of this house is the Transfiguration teacher, Minerva McGonagall, and the house ghost is Nearly Headless Nick. According to Rowling, Gryffindor corresponds roughly to the element of fire. The founder of the house is Godric Gryffindor.
Though Gryffindor is the house of most of the major protagonists, not all Gryffindors fall into that category. Cormac McLaggen is the negative qualities of Gryffindor personified; he is ill-tempered and pushy. Romilda Vane is underhanded and displays a deceptive and devious nature by trying unsuccessfully to ply Harry with a love potion. On the Hogwarts Express, she is somewhat condescending towards Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood. However, both McLaggen and Vane certainly are bold, and show confidence, two very Gryffindor qualities, and were therefore sorted into the house. Death Eater Peter Pettigrew also went into this house.
The Gryffindor common room is located in one of the castle's highest towers, the entrance to which is located on the seventh floor in the east wing of the castle and is guarded by a painting of The Fat Lady, who is garbed in a pink dress. She permits entry only after being given the correct password.
Hufflepuff:
Hufflepuff, founded by Helga Hufflepuff, values hard work, loyalty, tolerance, and fair play. The house mascot is the badger, and canary yellow and black are its colours. The Head of this house is the Herbology teacher Pomona Sprout, and the house ghost is The Fat Friar. According to Rowling, Hufflepuff corresponds roughly to the element of earth. The Hufflepuff dormitories and common room are located somewhere in the basement, their entrance found through a still-life painting that is somewhere near the kitchens. Students must give a password to the painting to enter. The Hufflepuff common room is filled with yellow hangings and fat armchairs and it has little underground tunnels leading to the dormitories, all of which have perfectly round doors, like barrel tops (very much like a badger sett).[16]
Ravenclaw:
Ravenclaw values intelligence, creativity, wit, and wisdom. "Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure" is an oft-repeated Ravenclaw proverb. The house mascot is an eagle, the house colours are blue and bronze (changed to blue and silver in the movies). The head of this house is the Charms professor, Filius Flitwick, and the house ghost is The Grey Lady. According to Rowling, Ravenclaw corresponds roughly to the element of air. The founder of this house is Rowena Ravenclaw.
The dormitories are located in Ravenclaw Tower on the west side of the school. The common room, which went undescribed in the series until the climax of Deathly Hallows, is round and filled with blue hangings and fat armchairs, has a domed ceiling painted with stars, and also features a replica statue of Rowena Ravenclaw wearing her diadem. Harry also notes that, by day, the Ravenclaws "would have a spectacular view of the surrounding mountains." A logical riddle must be solved in order to gain entry, whereas the Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Slytherin common rooms only require a password.
Slytherin:
Like Salazar Slytherin, its founder, Slytherin house values ambition, cunning, and resourcefulness. The book also suggests that the hunger for power is a characteristic of Slytherins. The animal representing Slytherin is the serpent, and the house colours are green and silver. The Head of this house is Severus Snape in the first five books and most of the sixth book. At the end of the sixth book and in the seventh book, the old Potions master and previous Head of House who has come out of retirement, Horace Slughorn, reassumes authority of the house. The ghost of Slytherin house is The Bloody Baron. According to Rowling, Slytherin corresponds roughly to the element of water. The Slytherin dormitories and common room are reached through a bare stone wall in the dungeons. The Slytherin common room is a long, low, dungeon-style room, located under the Hogwarts Lake, furnished with green lamps and carved armchairs.
Harry developed a negative view of Slytherin and asked the Sorting Hat not to place him in that house because of its sinister reputation. Rubeus Hagrid told him, "There isn't a witch or wizard who went bad who wasn't in Slytherin." This seems to be an exaggeration on Hagrid's part, as at the time, he believed that Sirius Black, a Gryffindor, was a Death Eater. Still, Slytherin House seems to have attracted more evil wizards than any other house, including Voldemort himself and almost all of his supporters. However, Slytherin itself is not evil; it is just that having ambition as a core quality results in a disproportionate amount of self-important, competitive students. There are some good Slytherins such as Slughorn, Andromeda Tonks, and Snape.
The Sorting Hat claims that blood purity is a factor in selecting Slytherins, although this is not mentioned until the fifth book. There is no reason to believe, however, that Muggle-born students are not sorted there, merely that pure-blooded students are more desirable to that house, as there are several examples of half-bloods in the house. In Deathly Hallows, a group of Snatchers claim that "not many Mudbloods" are sorted into Slytherin, which suggests that while Muggle-born Slytherins may be uncommon, they are not unknown.
When believing Harry to be dead and thinking that he has final victory in his grasp, Voldemort proclaims his intention to abolish the other three houses and force all Hogwarts students into Slytherin. This design is foiled by his defeat and death, after which Slytherin becomes more diluted in its blood purity, no longer remaining the pureblood bastion it once was. Its dark reputation, however, does linger
Transfiguration:
Transfiguration is essentially the art of changing the properties of an object. Transfiguration is a theory-based subject, including topics such as "Switching Spells" (altering only a part of some object, such as giving a human rabbit's ears); Vanishing Spells (causing an object to completely disappear) and Conjuring Spells (creating objects out of thin air). It is possible to change inanimate objects into animate ones and vice versa — McGonagall transfigures her desk into a pig in Philosopher's Stone.
Defence Against the Dark Arts:
Commonly shortened to D.A.D.A., this class teaches defensive techniques to block spells, charms, curses, hexes and jinxes cast by other wizards, counteract the Dark Arts, and to be protected from Dark creatures.
The subject has an extraordinarily high turnover of staff members — throughout the series no Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher has remained at Hogwarts for more than one school year. It is suggested by Hagrid in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets that "They're startin' ter think the job's jinxed. No one's lasted long for a while now." In Half-Blood Prince, Dumbledore suggests that Voldemort cursed the position because his application for it was rejected. The existence of the jinx was eventually confirmed by Rowling. The position had also been coveted by Snape, but he was denied the position as well. Rowling explained that Dumbledore believed that teaching D.A.D.A would bring out Snape's worst side. Snape was finally appointed D.A.D.A. professor in Half-Blood Prince. Rowling announced in an interview that once Voldemort had died, the jinx he placed on the office was lifted and a permanent professor had been teaching the subject between the end of Deathly Hallows and the epilogue, set nineteen years afterwards. Furthermore, she imagines that Harry Potter occasionally comes to the class to give lectures on the subject.
Charms:
If Transfiguration involves changing the properties of an object, Rowling has described Charms as a type of magic spell concerned with giving an object new and unexpected properties. Charms classes are described as notoriously noisy and chaotic, as the lessons are largely practical. Many of the exposition sequences in the books are set in Charms classes, which are on the second floor of Hogwarts.
Potions:
Potions is described as the art of creating mixtures with magical effects. It requires the correct mixing and stirring of ingredients at the right times and temperatures. It is most common to the english subject Chemistry, but with a more sinister twist. As to the question of whether a Muggle could brew a potion, given the correct magical ingredients, Rowling has said, "Potions seems, on the face of it, to be the most Muggle-friendly subject. But there does come a point in which you need do more than stir. Snape's lessons are depicted as unhappy, oppressing times set in a gloomy dungeon in the basement of the castle.
Astronomy:
Astronomy is the only field of study at Hogwarts which has a direct equivalent in the Muggle world. Astronomy classes take place in the Astronomy Tower, the tallest tower in Hogwarts. Lessons involve observations of the night skies with telescopes. No Astronomy lesson, or even a fragment of one, is ever depicted in the books or movies. However, Rowling does describe one of Harry's Astronomy exams in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Known student homework activities include learning the names of stars, constellations and planets, as well as their location and movements, and describing the environments of planets and moons.
History of Magic:
The study of magical history. Cuthbert Binns' lessons are depicted as some of the most boring at Hogwarts. They are only theoretical, and a topic that seems to be covered often is Goblin Rebellions.
Herbology:
The study of magical plants and how to take care of, utilise and/or combat them. There are at least three greenhouses described in the books, holding a variety of magical plants of varying degrees of lethality. Herbology is also the only subject in which Neville excels; it is explained in the epilogue to Deathly Hallows that he later becomes the Herbology teacher.
Arithmancy:
Arithmancy is a branch of magic concerned with the magical properties of numbers. As this class is taken neither by Harry, nor by Ron, almost nothing is known about it. It is, however, a favourite subject of Hermione. Arithmancy is reportedly very difficult, as it requires memorizing or working with large number charts.
Ancient Runes:
A mostly theoretical subject that studies the ancient runic scripts. It is studied by Hermione but not by Harry or Ron, so little else is known about this subject.
Divination:
Divination is the art of predicting the future. Various methods are described, including tea leaves, fire omens, crystal balls, palmistry, cartomancy (including the reading of conventional playing cards and the tarot), astrology, and dream interpretations. Divination is described as "one of the most imprecise branches of magic". Supporters of the subject claim that it is an inexact science that requires innate gifts. Those opposed claim that the subject is irrelevant and fraudulent.
Care of Magical Creatures:
This subject instructs students about and how to care for magical beasts. Classes are held outside the castle. Although very experienced and knowledgeable of magical creatures, Hagrid's lessons are usually depicted as chaotic if not outright dangerous, as Hagrid is consistently unable to judge accurately the level of risk that the animals he uses in his lessons pose to his students.
Muggle Studies:
This course involves the study of Muggles "from a wizarding point of view". There is apparently a need for witches and wizards to learn about Muggle ways and means, if only to ensure they are able to avoid them or blend in. As the class is only mentioned as being taken by Hermione, and for just one year, little is known about its curriculum. In the opening chapter of the final book, Voldemort murders Professor Charity Burbage because she portrays Muggles in a positive light and is opposed to limiting wizardry to only people of pure-blood origins. For the remainder of the academic year covered by Deathly Hallows, the Death Eater Alecto Carrow teaches Muggle Studies. However, her "lessons" (which are made compulsory) mainly describe Muggles and Muggle-borns as subhuman and worthy of persecution.
Flying:
The use of enchanted broomsticks is taught to first years only in Hogwarts' only physical-education class. Only one flying lesson is depicted in the series (in Philosopher's Stone).
Apparition:
Apparition, the art of magically disappearing from one place and reappearing in another, requires a license and may only be legally performed by people over seventeen years of age. The described reason for the restriction is that Apparition is dangerous if done improperly: body parts can be left behind in an unfortunate side-effect known as "splinching". Although, as Hermione points out innumerable times throughout the series, magical enchantments on Hogwarts castle and grounds prohibit Apparition and Disapparition inside the castle, it is explained in Half-Blood Prince that these protections are temporarily relaxed within the Great Hall for short periods to permit students to practice Apparition. Wilkie Twycross, a "Ministry of Magic Apparition Instructor" offers lessons in Apparition in Half-Blood Prince.
Passing Grades
O = Outstanding
E = Exceeds Expectations
A = Acceptable
Failing Grades
P = Poor
D = Dreadful
T = Troll