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Kenzie Stewart

Professor Stone

ENGL 2710

18 October 2020

Portrait of a Folk Group: Potterheads

Dear Mr. Potter,

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

arrival, the dates for which shall be duly advised.

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

handful of people, including Rubeus

Hagrid the wonderful professor of the

Care of Magical Creatures who helps

prepare Harry by taking him to Diagon

Alley to get his wand, books, owl, and all

his necessities, Ron Weasley, Hermione

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

the magical creatures, the three-headed dog named Fluffy, the

giant spider named Aragog, and so many more and all thanks

to Professor Hagrid, we learn all about how to care for

magical creatures. Not only do people fall in love with the

characters, but us Potterheads fall in love with all the creatures

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

tremendously because of his

kindness, fairness and how he

always saw the best in people,

the Weasley twins who made us

all laugh and never failed to

make us smile and last but not

least, Molly Weasley, who is

Ron, the twins, and Jinny’s

mom, who we could all find

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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

screen, Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home.”

- 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/.

2. Pottermore. “The Origins of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.” Wizarding

World, Wizarding World Digital, 2 Oct. 2019,

www.wizardingworld.com/features/origins-of-hogwarts-school-of-witchcraft-and-

wizardry.

3. “Harry Potter - History of the Books.” Hypable, 20 May 2019, www.hypable.com/harry-

potter/book-history/.

4. Wizarding World – the Official Home of Harry Potter, www.wizardingworld.com/.

5. Schoellkopf, Christina. “Every Magical Creature Ever Shown in a 'Harry Potter' Movie.”

The Hollywood Reporter, 18 Nov. 2016, www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/harry-potter-

magical-creature-shown-movies-937760.

6. Thebcws. “‘Hogwarts Will Always Be There to Welcome You Home.".” Flickr, Yahoo!,

17 July 2011, www.flickr.com/photos/gjmh/5947904867/.

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

High, 31 July 2017, www.sweetyhigh.com/read/jk-rowling-birthday-harry-potter-073117.

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