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Get into the competitive *spirit* with our latest puzzle, the perfect Hallowe'en treat. 

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*If you're enjoying our puzzles, look out for more in our [Potter Puzzles hub](https://www.wizardingworld.com/collections/potter-puzzles). [Gold Members](https://www.wizardingworld.com/harry-potter-fan-club) can play regular challenges in our app feed, with a few treats thrown in for free-users too.*

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What if Snape was never sorted into Slytherin? 

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Albus Dumbledore once said that 'the consequences of our actions are always so complicated, so diverse, that predicting the future is a very difficult business indeed', and he was right. The fickle nature of fate and prophecies comes up time and time again throughout the Harry Potter series. While Harry Potter became the Chosen One, there were so many different roads that the story could have taken; if Voldemort had gone after Neville instead of Harry, for instance, or if Albus hadn't invited Tom Riddle to Hogwarts.

With all of this in mind, I still reckon that the wizarding world's fate was sealed the moment the Sorting Hat yelled 'Slytherin!' after being placed on an 11-year-old Severus' head. Here's how things might have been different if Snape was never sorted into Slytherin. 

Firstly, a quick disclaimer for the proud snakes out there. We know that Slytherin is a great house. It is for the smart, the ambitious and the quick-thinking, and it deserves to be respected. However, back in the day when Voldemort was growing in power and gaining followers, Slytherin's reputation became murky. Salazar Slytherin's influence on the house also encouraged certain students to carry the thoughts that 'pure bloods' were somehow better than others, from Tom Riddle - all the way up to Malfoy 50 years later.

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When Snape first met Lily, the pair instantly hit it off and became very close, with Severus sharing everything with her: from what she needed to know about magic, to his own unhappy home life. But when they went to Hogwarts, everything changed. The pair were parted when the Sorting Hat placed Severus in Slytherin and Lily in Gryffindor, and while Lily thrived in her new, magical life, Snape was essentially placed in close quarters with the likes of Lucius Malfoy, Avery and Mulciber. Mulciber! 

If he had been sorted into Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw or Gryffindor, perhaps Snape stood a chance at making a much safer choice of pals. And it has to be said, he was relentlessly bullied by James and Sirius, since the pair had an innate dislike of Slytherin before they even got to know Snape at all, causing him to be angry, bitter, and make up spells like 'Sectumsempra' in his spare time...  

While Lily thrived at Potions and bickered with James, Severus was getting into some seriously heavy stuff. Surrounded by friends fascinated by the Dark Arts, he became more and more involved in the wrong side of magic and fascinated by Voldemort's teachings, so much so that he called the one good influence in his life a 'Mudblood'.

Yes, he had been humiliated by James Potter and wasn't thinking, and yes he was suspicious that Lily liked James, but this unforgivable slur forced Lily to end their friendship once and for all. And thus, Lily and James started going out, and the rest is history.

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Should Snape have never been sorted into Slytherin, he wouldn't have spent nearly as much time with the wrong sort of people, he wouldn't have received James and Sirius' disdain, and his friendship with Lily wouldn't have abruptly ended. Lily's good influence on Snape was now lost. Maybe Lily and James wouldn't have got together. Think, if Harry had been sorted into Slytherin, he most likely wouldn't have been friends with Ron and Hermione. What then? Well, [we pondered that scenario here, actually.](https://www.wizardingworld.com/features/what-if-harry-ron-and-hermione-had-never-made-friends-in-philosophers-stone)

But the domino effect of Snape's placement doesn't change everything. If Snape hadn't been in Slytherin, Voldemort would have still risen to power, yes. But Snape might well have been on the good side from the start, and wouldn't have betrayed Trelawney's prediction to Lord Voldemort. Maybe the first wizarding war would have ended differently.

But for Severus, it was just the beginning of his heartbreaking story arc which saw him badly bullied, make a decision which caused him to lose his one true love, then die while redeeming himself and bringing Voldemort down once and for all.

Who knows what could have been, had the Sorting Hat chosen a different road - or if Snape would have still made too many wrong decisions.

The extra hard wordsearch of scary things 

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Fill in the blank letters of these magical words and then, once you've figured them out, drag your cursor across the letters on the board.

How quickly can you find them all? As this is an extra-scary wordsearch, you only have one chance to get them right! We do enjoy a trick more than a treat sometimes... 

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For more crosswords and wordsearches, [visit our puzzles hub](https://www.wizardingworld.com/collections/potter-puzzles) or you can enjoy even more Wizarding World challenges in our app. [Gold Members](https://www.wizardingworld.com/harry-potter-fan-club) can also expect weekly puzzle drops. 

The scariest Harry Potter moments 

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Here are some of the most frightening incidents from the stories.

## Is that dog looking at me?

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> ‘Lumos,’ Harry muttered, and a light appeared at the end of his wand, almost dazzling him. He held it high over his head, and the pebble-dashed walls of number two suddenly sparkled; the garage door gleamed, and between them, Harry saw, quite distinctly, the hulking outline of something very big, with wide, gleaming eyes.<br>
>*Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban*
>

We’ll start off with one of the nicer ones. 

There are few more unsettling things than feeling like you’re being watched. When Harry caught the Knight Bus from Magnolia Crescent, he thought he could discern a mysterious (‘but massive’) dog skulking in the shadows. Back at Hogwarts, Ron unhelpfully suggested it might have been a Grim, which would have resulted in Harry’s immediate death. Thanks, Ron!

Later, during a game of Quidditch, he almost came off his broom when he saw ‘the silhouette of an enormous shaggy black dog’ in the otherwise empty top row of seats in the stand. As it happened, a pitch invasion of about a hundred Dementors made sure of that. The dog later dragged Ron into a gap of the roots of the Whomping Willow, breaking his leg in the process. Although it is soon revealed as Sirius, the sightings of the giant black dog provide the unsettling undercurrent throughout *Prisoner of Azkaban*.

## Give us a kiss

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We get introduced to the wraith-like Dementors, guardians of Azkaban, in *Prisoner of Azkaban*. But it’s actually the opening of the *Order of the Phoenix* where they make their most frightening intervention. Up until this point, you might have been under the impression that Little Whinging was a relatively safe – positively boring - haven for Harry. But after a bitter altercation with Dudley, in which Harry threatened him with his wand, something strange happened.

> The balmy evening was suddenly piercingly, bitingly cold. They were surrounded by total, impenetrable, silent darkness, as though some giant hand had dropped a thick, icy mantle over the entire alleyway, blinding them.<br>
>*Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix*
>

The sound of ‘long, hoarse, rattling breaths’ can only mean one thing and the pair are swiftly ambushed by two Dementors. The smell of the Dementor’s putrid breath filling the air, his head a confusion of shrill laughter, all his happiness leaving him, it took all of Harry’s resolve to cast his Patronus to save Dudley from the Dementor crouched over him, preparing to kiss.

Harry Potter is full of deadly creatures – but the thought of having your soul sucked out is scarier than all of them put together. 

## When the Inferi made us never want to go back into the water

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Inferi being fought off with Dumbledore's flames in Horcrux Cave

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Hordes of zombies can be disconcerting, at the best of times. Early on in *Half-Blood Prince*, when Dumbledore explained the origins of the Inferi to Harry – that they are dead bodies bewitched to do a Dark wizard’s bidding, and that Voldemort had killed enough people to make an army of them – perhaps we should have taken that as a strong warning of what was to come.

> A slimy white hand had gripped his wrist, and the creature to whom it belonged was pulling him, slowly, backwards across the rock. The surface of the lake was no longer mirror-smooth; it was churning, and everywhere Harry looked, white heads and hands were emerging from the dark water, men and women and children with sunken, sightless eyes were moving towards the rock: an army of the dead rising from the black water.<br>
>*Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince*
>

In this climactic sequence in the cave, Dumbledore was prostrate on the floor having drained a cup of potion one too many times. As Harry desperately tried to revive him, he was helpless to repel the numbers of Inferi climbing out of the icy water that surrounded them – he tried numerous ineffective spells in the process (in fact, you could say he had an *Inferi-ority* complex). Even Sectumsempra was useless when the assailants had no blood left to spill. Luckily, Dumbledore snapped out of it in time to unleash a huge ring of fire, which consumed the Inferi and led to their escape – but the mere memory of them still sends icy chills.

## That Bathilda Bagshot moment

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Close-up film still of Bathilda Bagshot holding candle

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Following one of the most moving sequences in the stories, where Harry visited the grave of his parents, so cruelly murdered by Voldemort, the visit to Bathilda Bagshot’s cottage came as a huge shock. Maybe Harry and Hermione should have read the signs of the bad smell, or the poor state of Bathilda’s skin, or the fact that she doesn’t seem to be up for a chat. And certainly Bathilda’s seeming insistence for Harry to go upstairs with her, *just the two of them*. When he thought she had led him directly to the sword of Godric Gryffindor… Well, you know the rest… 

> And in the instant that he looked away, his eyes raking the tangled mess for a sword hilt, a ruby, she moved weirdly: he saw it out of the corner of his eye; panic made him turn and horror paralysed him as he saw the old body collapsing and the great snake pouring from the place where her neck had been.<br>
>*Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows*
>

## Harry encounters a baby Lord Voldemort at Kings Cross station 

> He recoiled. He had spotted the thing that was making the noises. It had the form of a small, naked child, curled on the ground, its skin raw and rough, flayed-looking, and it lay shuddering under a seat where it had been left, unwanted, stuffed out of sight, struggling for breath.<br>
>*Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows*
>

There is no more surreal and disturbing scene than when Harry awoke in a white space full of cloudy vapour – at some strange point between life and death. The place, it transpired, was King’s Cross, with its glittering glass roof high above him. It seemed empty, apart from the ‘thumping and whimpering noises’ coming from the horrible creature he then encountered, which he instinctively wanted to comfort, but it repulsed him too much. 

Dumbledore appeared in this dream-like space to explain how Harry was Voldemort’s seventh Horcrux and to relate his own history with Grindelwald, during which Harry has to ignore the creature whimpering behind them. It is a revelatory moment in the stories, but the creature’s presence makes it a strange and horrifying pause before Harry finally fulfils his destiny.

## Lavender’s horrible sweetheart necklace

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> ‘It’s from Lavender,’ said Ron, sounding revolted. ‘She can’t honestly think I’d wear…’<br>
>*Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince*
>

One for all you lovers out there… sometimes the scariest things can come in strange forms. Never mind giant spiders, Ron’s Christmas present from Lavender Brown in *Half-Blood Prince* had the power of nightmares, and the essence of bad dreams for many teenage boys. The thick gold chain might have been bad enough, but the large gold letters spelling the words *‘My Sweetheart’* certainly sealed the deal. We’re sure Lavender meant well, but the level of saccharine is too much to handle. 

What are some of your favourite (or least favourite) scary moments? Let us know on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/pottermore).

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Celebrate Hallowe'en with the Wizarding World 

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Fantastic Beasts: The Wonder of Nature exhibition to open December 2020 

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A new exhibition, which celebrates the magical creatures of the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts stories alongside spellbinding real-world animals of the natural world, is coming very soon to the Natural History Museum. 

Fantastic Beasts: The Wonder of Nature

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The exciting new showcase is a collaboration between the Natural History Museum, Warner Bros. Consumer Products and BBC Studios and is set to display 120 exhibits. Expect everything from Nifflers and Bowtruckles (as seen in the Fantastic Beasts films) to real-life artefacts, such as the remains of a dinosaur named the Dracorex Hogwartsia – inspired by a certain magical school! 

For every instance of a magical creature, as introduced to us in the Wizarding World, the exhibit will teach you about a real-world wonder of the animal kingdom too. For example, you can learn about Occamys, which can magically change size in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, while also learning about the very real Galapagos marine iguana, which can shrink its body size by twenty percent. The exhibition will also feature the Erumpent, an endangered species according to Newt Scamander, alongside real endangered species of the Muggle world. 

From ancient tales of mermaids and other mysterious sea beasts, to ancient accounts of unicorns, marvel as the Wizarding World and natural world come together in this unique new exhibition. Prepare to be bewitched by the powerful combination of science, nature and imagination.

Fantastic Beasts: The Wonder of Nature is sponsored by Google Arts and Culture and will open at the Natural History Museum on Wednesday 9th December. For more details, such as ticketing and booking information, be sure to [visit the official website](https://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit/exhibitions/fantastic-beasts-the-wonder-of-nature.html). You can also learn about the exhibition’s [covid safety measures.  ](https://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit.html#safety-information?find=accordion)

A complimentary book will be available alongside the exhibition, being published by Bloomsbury ([more details here](https://harrypotter.bloomsbury.com/uk/fantastic-beasts-the-wonder-of-nature-the-book-of-the-exhibition-9781526624031/?ewid=1957&utm_content=1603722497&utm_medium=social&utm_source=instagram)) and an upcoming BBC documentary will follow next year. 

**Calling all Gold Members!**

*Gold Members will get three days priority early access to tickets starting from Monday 9th November. They can also save 10% when purchasing tickets during the first two days of the priority early access window.*<br> 

*[Fan Club Members](https://www.wizardingworld.com/harry-potter-fan-club) will get 24 hour early access to tickets starting from Wednesday 11th November with General Admission to follow a day later.* 

Marks & Spencer launch new Harry Potter collection 

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We are in love with this new, [family-friendly range of Harry Potter products from M&S](https://www.marksandspencer.com/l/harry-potter), who have added a touch of magic to this new collection which includes homeware, children’s clothing and beyond.

![jumpers-stacked-m&s](//images.ctfassets.net/usf1vwtuqyxm/167AlYi0Ewi6U9WsUFAuRa/2f2903ceeea16ad306a4e1399a655276/jumpers_stacked.png)
For the youngsters, there are pyjamas, backpacks, hoodies, dressing gowns, dresses, shirts, socks, slipper boots, joggers and even Harry Potter-style rompers for the tiniest of Wizarding World fans.

![red-boots-3](//images.ctfassets.net/usf1vwtuqyxm/2htCBv0cyhAKRyw3XL6y3l/571857c0b817f853dfd114f31951837b/boots.png)

With winter on the way, the collection boasts a number of cosy additions too, such as adorable hats, scarves and glove sets. Expect every item in the collection to be complimented with magical motifs, such as nods to Harry’s glasses, the school crest, magical creatures, and of course, the four colours of the Hogwarts houses. 

![hat-and-scarf-2-m&s](//images.ctfassets.net/usf1vwtuqyxm/48kuEiVYLsAEL9UDSfCyj8/d09eddadb7a9c1e753da837ed1b64a76/hat_scarf.png)
Also look out for Harry Potter-themed homeware in the collection and perhaps a few stocking fillers (yes, we know it’s only October, but still...) all on the [Marks & Spencer’s official website](https://www.marksandspencer.com/l/harry-potter) or in selected stores in the UK. 

Harry Potter: Diagon Alley Pop-Up Book out now

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Diagon Alley has been, quite literally, elevated, with this beautiful new pop-up book. 

![pop-up-book-cover](//images.ctfassets.net/usf1vwtuqyxm/1HGiVeeG5CTb3fwqshjtB7/29fa84ebd57a025045bb092fa84baa44/diagon_alley_book.png)

Using intricate pop-up spreads, each page brings a different Diagon Alley shop to life, ranging from Ollivanders’ wand shop to Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes. Fans will be able to interact with the book too, such as pulling tabs to recreate different moments from the Harry Potter stories. For example, you could find yourself rescuing the Ukranian Ironbelly dragon from Gringotts on one page - or helping Harry navigate Knockturn Alley on another.

You’ll even be able to open the whole book up to create a 3D diorama when you’re finished exploring! 

__Harry Potter: Diagon Alley Pop-Up Book is available from 20th October from various retailers.__

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