- "Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,
If you've a ready mind,
Where those of wit and learning,
Will always find their kind." - —The Sorting Hat[src]
Ravenclaw is one of the four Houses of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, founded by Rowena Ravenclaw. Members of this house are characterised by their wit, learning, and wisdom. Its house colors are blue and bronze, and its symbol is the eagle.[3] The house ghost, who in life was the daughter of the house's founder Rowena Ravenclaw, is the Grey Lady[4]. Many great wizards and witches have come from this house, including Filius Flitwick, Garrick Ollivander and Luna Lovegood.
Ravenclaw roughly corresponds with the element of air.[5]
Common Room[]
- Luna: "What do you think, Harry?"
- Harry: "What? Isn't there a password? What if you get it wrong?"
- Luna: "Well, you have to wait for somebody who gets it right. That way you learn, you see?"
- — Luna Lovegood and Harry Potter entering the Ravenclaw common room.[src]
Ravenclaw's founder, Rowena Ravenclaw
Ravenclaw common room
The Ravenclaw common room is in one of the castle's towers and is wide and circular. You have to climb a tight spiral staircase to get there. It has graceful arched windows, and the walls are hung with blue and bronze silks. The domed ceiling is painted with stars, which are echoed in the midnight-blue carpet. Tables, chairs, and bookcases cover the expanse of the floor, and a white-marble statue of Rowena Ravenclaw sits next to the door that leads to the dormitories above. Harry Potter entered the common room in 1998 while searching for clues to the location of one of Voldemort's Horcruxes.
Ravenclaw's symbol
Unlike the other common rooms in the school, a logical riddle given by a bronze eagle-shaped knocker must be answered to enter.[4] This could prove troublesome as anyone with enough intellect could intrude into the dormitory, as is shown in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows where Professor McGonagall had no trouble entering by answering the riddle correctly (though she was a "hat stall" between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw). However, Hermione stated in her first year when figuring out the complicated riddle, beneath the trapdoor, that most wizards and witches do not have much sense of logic, which might be something that Ravenclaw noticed herself and decided to use clever riddles instead of passwords. As they are safer than some words.
Traits[]
- "Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure."
- —Rowena Ravenclaw[src]
Ravenclaw House prizes learning, wisdom, wit, and intellect in its members.[3] Thus, many Ravenclaws tend to be academically motivated and talented students. Hermione Granger, an extremely intelligent witch and the top student in her year, was sorted into Gryffindor, though she admitted that the Sorting Hat had seriously considered placing her in Ravenclaw.[6]
Slytherin prefect Gemma Farley did note that Ravenclaws are so competitive when it comes to academic success that they are known to backstab each other, and likely other students, in order to get the top marks, while Hufflepuff prefect Gabriel Truman noted that they are so proud of the success of famous members, such as Laverne de Montmorency, that they claim any intelligent wizard as a member of Ravenclaw, such as Bridget Wenlock, who was in fact a Hufflepuff.
Ravenclaw House appears to have little rivalry with the other houses, except in Quidditch (in which case it is most fiercely competitive with Hufflepuff). Harry Potter believed that they tended to side with Gryffindor in its rivalry with Slytherin, as did Hufflepuff house. However, during the 1994 Triwizard Tournament, Ravenclaws supported Hufflepuff Champion Cedric Diggory over Harry[7]. Notably, many Ravenclaws joined Dumbledore's Army and fought in the Battle of Hogwarts along with Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs.
Known Ravenclaws[]
Behind the scenes[]
- The Ravenclaw colors in the films are blue and silver. In the books, Ravenclaw colors are blue and bronze. Likewise, Ravenclaw's symbol is an eagle in the books and a raven in the films.
- Eagles are a symbol for a broader vision and strength of mind and heart.
- It is revealed in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix that the Sorting Hat had originally considered putting Hermione Granger in Ravenclaw, due to her intelligence, but ultimately decided on Gryffindor.
- Basil Fronsac was likely a Ravenclaw.
- Gilderoy Lockhart was a Ravenclaw, based on his Quidditch robes from a picture of his past while in Hogwarts.
- In the Romanian version, the Ravenclaw house is changed to "Ochi-de-șoim", literally "Eye-of-Hawk", possibly because ravens are better known as signs of death or danger, and the members of the house have a broader way of thinking, being smart and witty, thus the name of the house.
- In the original Italian edition of first three books, the Ravenclaw's house name was changed in Pecoranera (black sheep). Subsequently, the name was changed in Corvonero (Black crow or Black raven).
- In the Brazilian version, the Ravenclaw house is changed to "Corvinal". As the word "raven" means "corvo" in Portuguese.
- The Ravenclaw Common Room does not appear in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, but it is still possible to glimpse the stairwell inside the Tower. The Common Room's door can also be glimpsed at.
Appearances[]
- All official Harry Potter media
See also[]
- Rowena Ravenclaw
- Helena Ravenclaw
- Ravenclaw Tower
- Rowena Ravenclaw's Diadem
- Ravenclaw Quidditch team
- Slytherin
- Gryffindor
- Hufflepuff
Notes and references[]
- ↑ Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - Chapter 3, "Letters from No One"
- ↑ Pottermore introduction for Ravenclaws (transcription available here)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
- ↑ The Leaky Cauldron and Mugglenet interview Joanne Kathleen Rowling
- ↑ Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
- ↑ Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 F.A.Q. question on J.K. Rowling's Official Site
- ↑ Pottermore introduction for Ravenclaws (transcription available here)
- ↑ Pottermore introduction for Ravenclaws (transcription available here)
- ↑ Pottermore introduction for Ravenclaws (transcription available here)
- ↑ Pottermore introduction for Ravenclaws (transcription available here)
- ↑ Pottermore introduction for Ravenclaws (transcription available here)
- ↑ Pottermore background information on Ollivander (transcription available here)
- ↑ F.A.Q. question on J.K. Rowling's Official Site
- ↑ Pottermore introduction for Ravenclaws (transcription available here)
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 Lockhart wears Ravenclaw Quidditch robes in a photo taken for the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, which can be seen in the "Lockhart's Classroom" feature on Disc 2 of the DVD, and in the picture-in-picture feature on Disc 1 of the Ultimate Collector's Edition Blu-ray.
- ↑ Pottermore background information for Quirinus Quirrell (screenshot available here)
- ↑ Pottermore introduction for Ravenclaws (transcription available here)
- ↑ Roger must be older than Harry Potter, as Fleur Delacour dismissed him as a "little boy" but attended the Yule Ball with Roger. He was captain of Ravenclaw's Quidditch team for at least Harry's third year, fourth year, and fifth year, making him approximately two years older than Harry.
