History HarryPotter / TropesJToR

** From the books alone, Voldemort's curse on the role of Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher may or may not actually ''be'' a magical curse (although [[WordOfGod Rowling]] confirmed a jinx on the position), and some of it is down to a self-fulfilling prophecy because of the very rumour that it is cursed (Gilderoy Lockhart was the only applicant for that role during Harry's second year). All of the teachers meet their end in very different circumstances, only one directly influenced by Voldemort.

** ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix'': Because of Harry being given multiple detentions by Professor Umbridge, he misses Ron's tryout for the Quidditch team, to the anger of Angelina, the team captain. When he is later banned from playing Quidditch at all, he and Hermione get ready to suffer through Ron's utter humiliation of being the Keeping in the final, when Hagrid shows up to ask them to follow him. They do, discovering that he has a (literal) giant half-brother. When they get back, they hear the crowd chanting a mocking song the Slytherins came up with, and realize the lyrics are now celebrating Ron, and sung by Gryffindors. It turns out Ron started blocking goals like a champ after they left, and while initially put off that they missed the whole thing, Hagrid's problem is enough to make him forgive them.

* MindYourStep: The staircases at Hogwarts have several stairs that your foot will sink through.

* MultipleChoiceChosen: Trelawny's prophecy about TheChosenOne to defeat Lord Voldemort could applied to both Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom at the time that she said it, but Voldemort himself chose Harry when he tried to kill him, which applied the final part of the prophecy to Harry only.

* OurZombiesAreDifferent: The Inferi (singular: "Inferius") are slaves to a master, much like classic zombies, and unlike the Creator/GeorgeRomero flesh-eating version. The word's root is "''inferus'''", which means "below" in latin (it shares its root with "'''Inferni'''", the latin name for the Underworld in Classical Mythology).

* OurZombiesAreDifferent: {{Justified|Trope}} because Inferi is taken from the Latin word for "Dead people". Much like classic zombies they are slaves to a master, unlike the Creator/GeorgeRomero flesh-eating version.

** The Dursley's -- the family that raises Harry -- are a deeply unpleasant group of people who reflexively loathe anything even slightly out of the ordinary, leading them to relentlessly abuse and neglect Harry in an effort to "stamp the magic" out of him. Dudley starts out even worse than his parents, due to being heavily spoiled by every authority figure in his life, and is a gluttonous, brutish bully who is so stupid as to be barely literate.

** Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts, believed to be the most powerful wizard to have ever lived. He's the only wizard that Voldemort, the greatest dark wizard of the age, has ever feared, and is responsible for defeating Voldemort's predecessor Gellert Grindlewald. The final book reveals that the truth is far more complicated than the legend purports, and Dumbledore himself is extremly humble because of it.

** In a more mundane example than fabulous wealth or defying mortality, when Ron complains that his mother can conjure fabulous feasts out of thin air, Henrmione tells him that food is one of the five exceptions to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration (presumably, currency is another). You can summon food if you know where it is, duplicate it if you have it, or transfigure food into different food, but not spontaneous generation. Oddly, this begs the question of whether only prepared food is subject to this, as it is presumably possible to create animals (like Hermione's birds in [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince Book 6]]) or plants that are inedible unless prepared like cashew fruits (which have to be roasted extensively to get rid of the poison).

* MagicAIsMagicA: Rules of magic that are directly stated tend to be followed in the book they first appear in at minimum, although there are some instances of previously mentioned rules being contradicted in later books. For example, it is repeatedly stated that it's impossible to teleport into or out of Hogwarts, which remains true throughout the series. Even during an Apparition test it's explicitly noted that the room they're practicing in has temporarily had the blocking field suspended, so they shouldn't try it after the lesson's over. Whenever someone wants to teleport to Hogwarts, they're instead forced to teleport nearby and travel the rest of the way though another means.

** Much of this is clearly intended to reflect the cultural differences between those who live entirely in Wizarding society and those who mingle in both. For example, by the end of the series Ron, [[spoiler: who is now married to Hermione, a Muggle-born]], has gotten a driver's license. However because electronics do not work in Hogwarts, where young witches and wizards spend a large chunk of their childhoods, they naturally become distanced from technology and learn to get by using magic in their daily lives instead.

** Mrs. Weasley[[spoiler: who kills Bellatrix Lestrange, who had almost killed Ginny Weasley.]]

* MentorOccupationalHazard: Dumbledore is often analogized to [[Franchise/StarWars Obi-Wan Kenobi]] in terms of his appearance, demeanor, and role in Harry's life, so readers naturally expected this to come to pass. [[spoiler: Sure enough, this is exactly what happens the sixth book.]]

** The mental link between Harry and Voldemort potentially allows a two-way channel for either one to search the other's mind. However, whereas Harry can, if willing, look inside Voldemort's mind with relative ease and end up only a few nasty headaches worse for wear, Voldemort can't reach too deeply into Harry's mind without suffering unspeakable pain. Dumbledore theorizes that [[spoiler: Voldemort's unstable maimed soul is unable to come in contact with Harry's pure soul]].

** ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince'' sees Harry suspect Snape and Malfoy yet again, this time of hatching several failed assassination plots from within Hogwarts. By this point, Harry's friends and allies attribute his suspicion to his dislike for both people. [[spoiler: As it turns out, Harry is completely right about both, even if their situations are much more complex than Harry assumed.]]

* OddlyCommonRarity: Hermione says there were only seven Animagi registered with the Ministry during the entire century, but the trio encounters two unregistered Animagi within two years[[note]]and learn of a third, now deceased[[/note]], and another within five years, which strongly implies that it is far more common ability than she belives, and the actual rarity is for the Animagi to be registered. Hermione is just a law-obsessed teenager and doesn't consider that others. It wouldn't be terribly surprising to find out it is the Wizarding equivalent of speeding.

* ThePollyanna: Luna probably suffers more at the hands of her classmates than [[{{Wangst}} Harry]] does, but never complains or shows any signs of self-pity or even annoyance.

** ''Goblet of Fire'' also doesn't explain why the whole complex plot was necesarry in the first case, since the bad guy could have just turned any object into a Portkey. Dumbledore does exactly that in Book 5 when he needs to get Harry and the Weasleys out of Hogwarts in a hurry.

** ''Deathly Hallows'' is neigh-untranslatable so most markets use some approximation of "relics of death".

* PaddingThePaper: The trio talk about writing an essay and Ron suggests they write in huge letters so they can fulfil the length requirement (as their papers are measure by inches of parchment, rather than something like word count). Hermione is not amused.

* RedHerring: The first four books each have at least one:
** [[Literature/HarryPotterAndThePhilosophersStone Philosopher's Stone]]: [[spoiler:Snape]]
** [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets Chamber of Secrets]]: [[spoiler:Hagrid, Lucius and Draco Malfoy, Percy]]
** [[Literature/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban Prisoner of Azkaban]]: [[spoiler:Sirius Black]]
** [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire Goblet of Fire]]: [[spoiler:Igor Karkaroff, Ludo Bagman, Snape (again)]]

* RaisedByHumans: Hagrid tries to raise Norbert(a), a hippogriff. It doesn't work.

* MoeCouplet: Harry and Luna. Luna is a {{Cloudcuckoolander}} who hardly seems troubled by anything and helps her father run the magical equivalent of a tabloid magazine, whereas Harry becomes more [[HurtingHero traumatized as increasing numbers of his friends and loved ones die. Some of them right in front of him.]] Yet, Luna understands what losing a loved one feels like, enabling her to empathize with his grief over Sirius -- and Harry knows what being picked on feels like, so he naturally wants to help her out when people hide Luna's things and mock her behind her back.

* RidiculouslyLonglivedFamilyName: While many old wizarding families in Britain did experience name changes through the centuries [[spoiler:(i.e. the Gaunts were direct descendants of Salazar Slytherin but did not carry the Slytherin name)]], some can trace their surnames back over a thousand years. Justified, since wizards tend to live longer and thus are better able to pass on their family names, and certain wizarding families (usually those associated with Slytherin House) became obsessed with proving their blood purity, so kept strong records.

* RaisedByHumans: Hagrid tries to raise Norbert(a). It doesn't work.

* PerverseSexualLust: Aberforth apparently has a thing for goats.

** Harry (and the narration) freely mock Dudley's weight issues, but when Draco makes fun of Mrs. Weasley's weight, it's treated as crossing some kind of line. However, this is understandable, Dudley is a spoiled fat bully who Harry understandably hates, and the reader is supposed to hate him for his appalling behavior; also, Dudley's known to be the size of a small well because of his spoiled overeating. While Mrs. Weasley has been shown to be a good parent and person despite her flaws and being overbearing, her weight is because of her having multiple children.

** Harry (and the narration) freely mock Dudley's weight issues, but when Draco makes fun of Mrs. Weasley's weight it's treated as crossing some kind of line.