History YMMV / HARRYPOTTER

** ''Fanfic/MyImmortal'': Ebony Dark'ness Dementia Raven Way appears in many fanworks that parody the original fic. Her popularity has transcended fanfiction, as she has appeared in fan art, comics, web videos, and many other works.

** It is accepted by almost everyone as solid fact that Merope used a love potion to make Tom Riddle Sr. fall in love with her, based on what Dumbledore said. What he actually said is that it was ''more likely'' that she used a love potion than the Imperius Curse.

** It is accepted by almost everyone as solid fact that Merope used a love potion to make Tom Riddle Sr. fall in love with her, based on what Dumbledore said. What he actually said is that it was ''more likely'' that she used a love potion than the Imperius Curse.

* FairForItsDay: Upon its release, ''Chamber of Secrets'' was almost universally praised as an EvenBetterSequel for its darker tone, improved effects, and better performances by the child actors compared to the first film. As the later films got even darker and improved on the other aspects, people began to see ''Chamber of Secrets'' as more tame and repetitive of the first.

** Though it is assumed by many to be a fictional creation and is sold alongside other 'wizarding' candies at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter's Honeydukes stores, Dumbledore's favourite candy, Sherbert Lemon, is actually a common real-life candy in Britain. The first book [[CulturalTranslation culturally translated]] it into "lemon drop", which is... ''similar''.

* CommonKnowledge: The novel's perception is greatly shaped and influenced by the movies, which paradoxically mislead new readers precisely because they are highly faithful, with just enough small but crucial changes and alterations to give the wrong impression:

* EsotericHappyEnding: One of the major reasons the epilogue is so divisive is because of this trope, [[spoiler:as it ends up being almost tooth-rottenly cheerful despite the many issues from the book that remain apparently intact. [[StatusQuoIsGod That nothing seems to have substantially changed in the Magical Society]] from what is shown hasn't helped, either. The House system at Hogwarts, which has been demonstrated many times in the very last book to be [[AbsurdlyDividedSchool needlessly divisive and breeding a toxic environment of tribalism]], hasn't changed one iota, TheMasquerade remains firmly in place, and slavery of the House-Elves is still so accepted that Harry has one. This means that the systems that allowed Voldemort to rise to power and cause such devastating damage to the Wizarding society both times are still in place. Add in [[InferredHolocaust the likely massive death toll]] from the events of the last book and the established low numbers of wizards in general, and it could be likely that British wizards are heading towards extinction]].

** It's very common in {{Flash Forward Fic}}s to have a minor character [[DeadGuyJunior named after Colin Creevey]], with the implicit understanding that his father is Colin's brother, Dennis.

* LargeHam talking portrait Sir Cadogan only has a few scenes, mainly in the third book, but is a popular character who adds some nice color to Hogwarts.

** Narcissa Malfoy is one of the most popular of them all due to having MamaBear moments that make her one of the least evil and simultaneously bravest members.
** Dumbledore's cynical brother Aberforth and ReasonableAuthorityFigure Kingsley Shacklebolt don't get many scenes but are easily among the most popular Order of the Phoenix members.

** EpilepticTrees: Lots of them, especially while the series was still ongoing. This was greatly helped along by Rowling's love of {{Red Herring}}s and [[ChekhovsArmoury Chekhov's Armouries]], which encouraged many fans to consider seemingly established facts as misleading while considering seemingly unimportant details as important. [[https://time.com/3997347/jk-rowling-harry-potter-theories/ This]] ''[[Magazine/TimeMagazine Time]]'' article lists a few that popped up over the years.

* [[EnsembleDarkHorse/HarryPotter Ensemble Darkhorse]]

* EnsembleDarkHorse: [[EnsembleDarkHorse/HarryPotter Has its own page]].
* EpilepticTrees: Lots of them, especially while the series was still ongoing. This was greatly helped along by Rowling's love of {{Red Herring}}s and [[ChekhovsArmoury Chekhov's Armouries]], which encouraged many fans to consider seemingly established facts as misleading while considering seemingly unimportant details as important. [[https://time.com/3997347/jk-rowling-harry-potter-theories/ This]] ''[[Magazine/TimeMagazine Time]]'' article lists a few that popped up over the years.

* EnsembleDarkHorse:
** The Marauders in general (although Sirius and Lupin get this a lot), to the point where there's an entire sub-genre of fanfiction focused on their exploits.
** Peter Mullen's portrayal of Yaxley as a classy gangster helped make him one.
** The near-universal fandom hatred for Umbridge resulted in much greater love for her good counterpart Professor [=McGonagall=] after Book 5.
** Umbridge herself is very popular in the fandom in a LoveToHate way. Many consider her a more menacing villain than Voldemort himself.
** The Death Eaters in general get this. It's pretty easy to find fanart of almost every Death Eater mentioned, even ones that have nothing about their appearance described.
*** Narcissa Malfoy is one of the most popular of them all due to having MamaBear moments that make her one of the least evil and simultaneously bravest members.
** Dumbledore's cynical brother Aberforth and ReasonableAuthorityFigure Kingsley Shacklebolt don't get many scenes but are easily among the most popular Order of the Phoenix members.
** Half-goblin badass Flitwick and NotSoPhonyPsychic Trelawney tend to be favorites among the secondary Hogwarts professors.
** Hufflepuff and Slytherin surprisingly have the most vocal fans among the four Hogwarts houses -- even though most of the villains are Slytherins, and Hufflepuff has such a mediocre reputation that it's the TropeNamer for [[HufflepuffHouse a trope about insignificant characters]]. Many fans seem to feel responsible for reversing both Houses' in-universe {{Flanderization}}; if you meet any self-identified Hufflepuff or Slytherin fans, you can look forward to some long, detailed lectures about how there's more to both Houses than most people think. (The short version is: [[BewareTheNiceOnes Hufflepuff is underestimated]], and [[NotEvilJustMisunderstood Slytherin is just misunderstood]].) Susan Bones of Hufflepuff (a NiceGirl who lost family in the First Wizarding War) and Slytherin CoolOldGuy Horace Slughorn tend to be the most frequently beloved members of each house despite only having a few speaking scenes and taking until Book 6 to debut, respectively.

* FailedASpotCheck: The fact that the Weasleys never considered how odd it was that Scabbers had been in the family for at least seven years when they knew the concept of animagi was almost unforgiveable. Rats normally don't live past a year and a half to two years.