Portraits

Portraits are paintings made of certain individuals, namely witches and warlocks^[1].

The subject of a magical portrait is sentient due to enchantments placed on the portrait by the painter^[2]. The portrait will be able to use some of the subject's favorite phrases and imitate their general demeanor based on how the subject appears to the painter; however, they are limited in what they can say or do^[2].

A portrait can also move from portrait to portrait, or else visit a portrait of them elsewhere in the world^[3].

Bimp, Oliver Cartwright, John Homme, Luxo Karuzos, Pablo Picasso and Leonardo Da Vinci were all expert painters. Magenta Comstock was an experimental painter whose subjects' eyes followed their viewers home^[4].

Depiction[]

A witch or wizard can go to a wizarding painter to have themselves painted^[2]. This is usually done so that the portraitist can enchant the portait to have some characteristics of the subject^[2].

Portrait person[]

A portrait knows little if anything of its subject's life, and therefore could not hold a very interesting conversation about its subject^[2]. The exception to this is of the portraits of Hogwarts headmasters, which are kept in a cupboard from the time of their painting, which is usually very old^[1], until the subject dies^[2]. The headmaster can therefore teach their portrait to act and speak like them so that they can teach their successors^[2].

The person depicted in a portrait can therefore live indefinitely^[5], although a portrait does have reason to fear for their life or well-being^[6].

Magical photographs[]

A witch or wizard may also produce a magical photograph, photographs that have been put through a special potion. These, however, are simply animated images; the subject of the photograph has no sentience whatsoever, and is a mere recording of an already happened event, occurring in a continuous loop^[7]

Known portraits[]

Portrait	Known locations	Notes
Albus Dumbledore	Headmaster's office	During Severus Snape's time as Headmaster the painting hid the Sword of Gryffindor, to keep it safe from Lord Voldemort.
Ambrose Swott	Headmaster's office
Anne Boleyn	Grand Staircase near the 2nd floor landing
Ariana Dumbledore	Aberforth's room at the Hog's Head Inn	In 1997–1998 school year, her portrait concealed a secret passage to the Room of Requirement.
Armando Dippet	Headmaster's office
Barnabas the Barmy	7th floor, Hogwarts Castle
Professor Basil Fronsac	Headmaster's office Grand Staircase Library Dungeons	Secret passages: 1995–1996 school year Grand Staircase to the 2nd floor corridor near the Library 1996–1997 school year Dungeons to the Grand Staircase
Bloody Baron	Near the Potions Classroom	Slytherin House Ghost
Brian Gagwille	Entrance Hall Grand Staircase
Brutus Scrimgeour	Hogwarts Trophy Room	Concealed a secret passage between the Trophy Room and the 4th floor.
Circe	Grand Staircase Entrance Hall side room	Concealed a secret passage between the Grand Staircase and the Entrance Hall side room.
Damara Dodderidge	Grand Staircase Clock Tower Inside Gryffindor Tower	1995 to 1997* Her portrait concealed a secret passage from the Grand Staircase to the Clock Tower.
Dexter Fortescue	Headmaster's office
Dilys Derwent	Headmaster's office St Mungo's main admitting area
Edgar Stroulger	Sixth floor of Hogwarts Castle	Guards a secret passage in 1993
Elfrida Cragg	Headquarters of the British Ministry of Magic
Elizabeth Burke	1991 to 1995Grand Staircase 1995 to 1996Entrance DungeonNear the entrance to the Potions ClassroomThe 7th floor corridor	1995 to 1996 her portrait concealed 2 secret passageways: Entrance Dungeon to the Main Dungeons Near the entrance to the Potions Classroom to the 7th floor corridor 1997 Malfoy Manor
Emeric Switch	Hogwarts Castle
Edessa Sakndenberg	Headmaster's office East Wing Grand Staircase Other Halls
Everard	Headmaster's office British Ministry of Magic Headquarters
Fat Friar	One of the Hogwarts Castle's corridors	Hufflepuff House Ghost
Fat Lady	Guards the Gryffindor Tower
George von Rheticus	1995–1996 school year Grand Staircase 7th floor corridor Viaduct Entrance Next to the Second-floor girls' lavatory 1996–1997 school year Entrance Hall	Secret passages: 1995–1996 school year Between the Grand Staircase and the 7th floor corridor Between the Viaduct Entrance and the Grand Staircase 1996–1997 school year Between the Entrance Hall and the Portrait Room
Giffard Abbott	Grand Staircase, below the first landing Transfiguration Courtyard Clock Tower Corridor outside the library	1995 to 1997 guarded 2 short-cuts: Grand Staircase to the Transfiguration Courtyard Clock Tower to the corridor outside the library
Gilderoy Lockhart	DADA office and classroom	Only during the 1992–1993 school year
Glanmore Peakes	6th floor Glanmore Peakes' Corridor 6th floor landing of the Grand Staircase Entrance Hall side room	Concealed a secret passage between the Grand Staircase and the Entrance Hall side room.
Godric Gryffindor	7th floor landing of the Grand Staircase Entrance Hall side room	Guarded a secret passage between the Grand Staircase and the Entrance Hall side room.One of the founders of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Google Stump	Viaduct Entrance	Concealed a secret passage to the 1st floor corridor.
Greta Catchlove	Grand Staircase Entrance Hall side room	Concealed a secret passage between the Grand Staircase and the Entrance Hall side room.
Günther der Gewalttätige ist der Gewinner	Unknown	Depicts Gunther the Violent
Helena Ravenclaw	Near the Library	Her portrait was non-speaking
Heliotrope Wilkins	Headmaster's office Grand Staircase
Hengist Rawkes	Near the 1st floor landing of the Grand Staircase
Iris Pivis	Hogwarts Castle
Merwyn the Malicious	3rd floor landing of the Grand Staircase Entrance Hall side room	Concealed a secret passage between the Grand Staircase and the Entrance Hall side room.
Mirabella Plunkett	1st floor landing of the Grand Staircase Entrance Hall side room	Concealed a secret passage between the Grand Staircase and the Entrance Hall side room.
Newton Scamander	Headmaster's office
Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington	Hogwarts Castle
Norvel Twonk	5th floor landing of the Grand Staircase Entrance Hall side room	Concealed a secret passage between the Grand Staircase and the Entrance Hall side room.
Oraclitus Spheer	Gryffindor Reading Room
Percival Pratt	Grand Staircase Boathouse	1995–1996 school year Concealed a passage to the Boathouse
Phineas Nigellus Black	Headmaster's office 12 Grimmauld Place
People watching Quidditch	Oxford Corridor, Hogwarts Castle
Professor Walter Aragon	Grand Staircase Headmaster's office
Quentin Trimble	Headmaster's office
Salazar Slytherin	Dungeons antechamber Entrance Hall side room	Concealed a secret passage between the Dungeons antechamber and the Entrance Hall side room.^[8]One of the founders of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Sedley Smirkpaltter	Hogwarts Castle
Severus Snape	Headmaster's office
Sir Cadogan	7th floor, Hogwarts Castle	In 1993, he was temporarily the guard to the Gryffindor Tower while the Fat Lady's portrait was being repaired.
Timothy the Timid	1995–1996 school year 5th floor corridor Herbology Corridor Transfiguration Courtyard 5th floor 1996–1997 school year Grand Staircase Quidditch Gate Portrait Room	Secret Passages: 1995–1996 school year Between the 5th floor and the Herbology Corridor Between the Transfiguration Courtyard and the 5th floor 1996–1997 school year Between the Grand Staircase and the Quidditch Gate Between the Quidditch Gate and the Portrait Room
Tobias Manlethorpe	Hogwarts Castle
Temeritus Shanks	1992–1993 school year Grand Staircase below the ground-floor landing 1995–1996 school year Hogwarts Library Grand Staircase Clock Tower Courtyard	Secret passages: 1995–1996 school year Between the Library and the 4th floor corridor Between the Grand Staircase and the Clock Tower Courtyard 1996–1997 school year Library to the Grand Staircase Library to the 2nd floor corridor
Unidentified red-haired witch	Grand Staircase
Valeria Myriadd	1991–1992 school year Main halls of Hogwarts Castle Grand Staircase Gryffindor Tower 1992–1993 school year Main halls of Hogwarts Castle Grand Staircase In the Library	Secret passage between the Gryffindor Tower to a Disused seventh floor bathroom
Vindictus Viridian	Grand Staircase	Concealed the entrance to the Room of Rewards.
Violet	A small chamber off of the Great Hall	Is friends with the Fat Lady.
Vulpus	Headmaster's office
Walburga Black	12 Grimmauld Place	Magically fixed to the wall with a Permanent Sticking Charm.
Woman in the hospital wing	Hospital wing, Hogwarts Castle

Behind the scenes[]

In the LEGO Harry Potter games, portraits are shown to be far more interactive than in any other media, with objects able to move from the portrait out to the real world and vice versa. Many puzzles in both games revolve around getting a portrait to give you a necessary object, or bringing a real world object into the portrait to assist its occupants.

Appearances[]

Notes and references[]

The Harry Potter Compendium has 9 images related to Portraits.

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 Harry Potter Limited Edition
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 ^2.3 ^2.4 ^2.5 ^2.6 New from J. K. Rowling - Hogwarts Portraits
↑ Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - Chapter 37 (The Lost Prophecy)
↑ Wizard of the Month
↑ As Phineas Nigellus lived for at least seventy-three years after his portrait was painted, seemingly without aging or dying.
↑ Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - Chapter 8 (Flight of the Fat Lady)
↑ Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - Chapter 7 (Mudbloods and Murmurs)
↑ Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (video game) - PC version

[HPLE-1] 1.0 ^1.1 Harry Potter Limited Edition

[pottermore-2] 2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 ^2.3 ^2.4 ^2.5 ^2.6 New from J. K. Rowling - Hogwarts Portraits

[OOTP37-3] Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - Chapter 37 (The Lost Prophecy)

[WotM-4] Wizard of the Month

[immortal-5] As Phineas Nigellus lived for at least seventy-three years after his portrait was painted, seemingly without aging or dying.

[POA8-6] Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - Chapter 8 (Flight of the Fat Lady)

[CoS7-7] Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - Chapter 7 (Mudbloods and Murmurs)

[8] Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (video game) - PC version

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