Treacle tart
Harry Potter’s favourite dessert always reminds us of feasts in the Great Hall. Not only did Harry eat it on his first-ever night at Hogwarts, but don’t you think the two words – particularly starting with the same letter – have that signature wizarding foodie feel about them? Think about Fudge Flies, Bertie Bott’s Every-Flavour Beans, Ton-Tongue Toffee, Cockroach Clusters (well maybe not them) – and you’ll see what we mean.
King’s Cross station
We don’t know about you, but every time we take the train from King’s Cross, we feel a little jolt of excitement, especially if our train is called for platform nine or ten. We like to imagine turning up there on the first of September and boarding that famous scarlet steam engine for Hogwarts. Come on, we know some of you have tried to push that trolley through the barrier too…
Brown leather suitcases
You can thank famous Magizoologist Newt Scamander for this one. Every time we see someone holding a suitcase like Newt’s, we can’t stop ourselves thinking about the fantastic beasts Newt kept in his magical one. We’d swap our own boring bags for a creature-filled valise any day of the week.
Trolleys on trains
‘Anything off the trolley, dears?’ They’re quite rare on trains nowadays, but you can bet we – and any other Harry Potter fans in the vicinity – will have a silly grin on our faces whenever there’s a food and drinks trolley rolling into our carriage. You can be sure we’re still disappointed that they don’t stock Chocolate Frogs – we’d even take a Cockroach Cluster.
Redheads
A red-headed woman walks in front of you. For a split-second, you think: Ginny Weasley? Molly Weasley? Maybe even Lily Potter? And flame-haired boys, don’t even get us started with them – so many Weasley brothers to mistake them for! If we saw two red-headed twins, we’d barely stop ourselves asking them the way to Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes.
Woolly hats
After Hermione’s persistent knitting of woolly hats in honour of S.P.E.W., winter is a time we can’t go five minutes without being reminded of the Wizarding World. Not only do we fondly recall Dobby’s wearing of multiple hats at once, but we chuckle at Ron’s comment that Hermione’s knitted hats looked like ‘woolly bladders’. He might have had a point; you just can’t un-see it.
Mistletoe
‘It’s probably full of Nargles, though’. Mistletoe will be forever changed for us because of Luna Lovegood – and we wouldn’t have it any other way. Who doesn’t want to be reminded of her kind and wacky ways? It also makes us think of a certain kiss between Harry and Cho. Mistletoe really does make Christmas even more magical for Wizarding World fans.
Libraries
Libraries have always been magical places – you can join them for FREE and then you can borrow books for NOTHING! Does it get any better than that? Hermione certainly doesn’t think so. And there we go again..! Libraries and the wizarding world are inextricably linked through our favourite Hogwarts brainbox. Whenever we run our hands along a bookshelf, we imagine the smell of parchment, Madam Pince watching our every move, or – in the case of The Monster Book of Monsters – a particular volume trying to bite our fingers off.
Drills
Although we’re not particular fans of Uncle Vernon, whenever anyone mentions drills, we find ourselves thinking of his firm, Grunnings, which – you guessed it – sold drills. We never found out much about Grunnings or what a day in the working life of Vernon Dursley looked like (thank goodness) – but those drills clearly made a lasting impression.
Sherbet lemons
Professor Dumbledore offered Professor McGonagall a sherbet lemon the very first time we met them in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. She refused it, of course. But the wise headmaster clearly had a liking for them; he even used ‘sherbet lemon’ as a password for his office at Hogwarts. It’s no surprise then that the sherbet lemon is our go-to choice on any sweetshop visit.
