The Harry Potter films are full of fun little surprises that you might not expect – otherwise known as Easter eggs! We’ve rounded up a few of our favourites…

A professor with a secret Quidditch past

Our first Easter egg involves a professor with a Quidditch past that she kept under wraps… Yes! Professor McGonagall was also a Quidditch Champion during her time at school. In Philosopher’s Stone, if you look closely at the trophy case, you’ll spot McGonagall’s name alongside James Potter’s. Although McGonagall gave up Quidditch after leaving Hogwarts, she never lost her passion for it – keeping an eye out for fresh new talent – like Harry!

A special appearance on the Marauder’s Map

In Prisoner of Azkaban, there was one unexpected name that appeared on the Marauder’s Map. They’re not a student or a professor… but its someone from the wizarding world that we all know well – Newt Scamander! Blink and you’ll miss this famous Magizoologist. Was he visiting Dumbledore? Did the map make a mistake? We’ll never know for sure… but it is fun to guess!

Dragon safety is taken very seriously

In Goblet of Fire, it’s the dragons that take centre stage. Some might argue they’re the real stars – what with all the dramatic fire breathing, fabulous flying and their all-round excellent performances. With that in mind, we’re glad to see that they were treated well during filming… if the end credits are anything to go by. If you watch carefully, you might just spot this disclaimer ‘No dragons were harmed in the making of this movie’.

An interesting code…

When Harry visited the Ministry of Magic, he entered a code to access the building. You’d be forgiven for thinking that it was just a random collection of numbers, but it wasn’t. Turns out that the access code spells ‘magic’ – pretty apt for a Ministry that is all about, well, magic.

Harry's Quidditch number…

The number seven holds a lot of weight in the Harry Potter stories – seven books, seven years at Hogwarts, seven Potters leaving Privet Drive and even seven Horcruxes. So, Harry’s Quidditch jersey being the number seven was a nice little Easter egg… Incidentally, there are also seven members of a Quidditch team – it’s everywhere!

Who am I?

Chamber of Secrets was the only Harry Potter film to have a sneaky post-credit scene – did you see it? It gave a hint about Lockhart’s fate after his run-in with his own backfiring Memory Charm. True to Lockhart form, he appeared to have written yet another book – maybe this one will actually be about him!

Always

This is one to tug at your heartstrings. We found out in Deathly Hallows that Snape had always loved Lily. However, this important nugget of information was teased as far back as Philosopher’s Stone, when he asked Harry what he would get if he added ‘powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood.’ But how does this foreshadow his love for Lily? Well, an asphodel is a type of lily and means ‘remembered beyond the tomb’ or ‘my regrets follow you to the grave’. Wormwood is a flower that symbolises sorrow or regret… Put them together and you could say that Snape was telling Harry how much he bitterly regretted Lily’s death.

Forgetting something Neville?

Oh Neville – he would forget his own head if it wasn’t attached to his body! Fortunately, his Gran tried to remedy that by sending him a Remembrall in Philosopher’s Stone. Unfortunately, when Neville was showing it off, it turned red to signal he had forgotten something – but what could it be? Now, we think we might have figured it out. In that scene, you’ll see that every student was wearing their robes… except for one. And yes, it was Neville. Could this be what the Remembrall was desperately trying to remind him of?

Everything about Lockhart is fake

Turns out that the five-time winner of Witch Weekly’s Most-Charming-Smile Award was a great big fraud. Lockhart wasn’t the grand adventurer he made out to be. He didn’t go Gadding with Ghouls or on Voyages with Vampires. The only talent he had was for stealing people’s stories and erasing their memories. In fact, he was such a big liar – even his hair was fake! When trying to make a quick escape from Hogwarts, Lockhart was seen to be packing a wig – we knew those lustrous golden curls were too good to be true.