History HarryPotter / TropesAToI

** In addition to being the Butt-Monkey of Houses, every named Hufflepuff character except Ernie has their moments:

*** Susan Bones has had most of her family, including aunt Amelia in Book 6, die, and gets Splinched in Apparition lessons;
*** Justin Finch-Fletchley gets freaked out at the duelling club and is later Petrified;
*** Zacharias Smith is the Butt-Monkey of the D.A.

** Ginny's plot in the second book is that of an impressionable young girl who's recently been through a huge life change and having a hard time adjusting (moving from a home where she has six older brothers to keep her company to a boarding school where they all have other things to do) falling prey to an older, manipulative boy. Said older boy just happens to have gone to school fifty years previously and is doing all this preying from a magical diary that contains a piece of his soul.

* EvilCannotComprehendGood: Voldemort was conceived through the use of a love potion, [[FridgeHorror making this]] the magical equivalent to a ChildByRape. When his father was released from the enchantment, he (not unreasonably) left his pregnant "wife" and returned home, and his mother Merope subsequently [[DeathByChildbirth died giving birth to him]]. She seemingly [[DeathByDespair wanted to die]] and left him to be raised in an orphanage. Since it was the 1920s/1930s, this meant Tom Riddle got no treatment for his AmbiguousDisorder and he grew up without learning how to understand love at all.

* CoolAndUnusualPunishment: Receiving a Howler: a reprimanding letter in a red envelope, which screams the words for everyone to hear, before bursting into flames. Ron receives a humiliating one from his mother in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets''; Neville receives one from his grandmother in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban''; and Hermione receives several from her ill-wishers after Rita Skeeter's article about her.

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* AwesomeMcCoolName: A couple stand out, but '''Kingsley Shacklebolt''' and '''Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore''' win the prize.

* ItCanThink: The castle of Hogwarts is possibly sentient. A great deal of what the school does assists the Power Trio and hampers their antagonists, such as the stairs moving in the first book to take Harry, Ron, and Hermione to where Fluffy is guarding the trapdoor, the Room of Requirement being unusually helpful, etc.

* CanisLatinicus: Expelliarmus, Wingardium Leviosa, Petrificus Totalus, Riddikulus. There ''are'' real Latin spells as well.

* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: In book 1, Harry is hated near the end for helping his house lose 150 points. In book 2, Harry is hated because his fellow students think he's attacking them. In book 4, Harry is hated because his fellow students think he sneaked his way into the Triwizard Tournament. In book 5, Harry is hated because almost all the students think he's a crazy, attention-seeking brat. In book 7, [[UpToEleven Harry is labelled "Undesirable No. 1" by the government]] — [[JustifiedTrope though in that case, it's because the government has been taken over by Death Eaters.]]

* FromZeroToHero: Harry Potter, a short boy living with an abusive family, receives a letter from a half-giant who informs him that he is a wizard, enrols in the the magic school Hogwarts and finds that he is incredibly famous in the wizarding world. From there on, he runs into several adventures and becomes a talented wizard, all leading up to his final confrontation with the dark wizard Voldemort.

* AwesomeMcCoolname: A couple stand out, but '''Kingsley Shacklebolt''' and '''Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore''' win the prize.

** In ''Chamber of Secrets'', Peeves the poltergeist breaks an "incredibly valuable" vanishing cabinet at the behest of Nearly Headless Nick. In ''Order of the Phoenix'', Fred and George stuff Montague into the same cabinet in order to shut him up. In the very next book, the cabinet becomes one of the most lethal parts of [[ChekhovsArmoury Chekhov's Armoury]] in the entire series, [[spoiler: allowing the Death Eaters to enter Hogwarts and usurp the current management.]]

* BrickJoke: In what is perhaps the most elusive brick joke in the series, at the start of book 5, Harry and Dudley are attacked by Dementors. After Harry fights them off, he attempts to explain to his aunt and uncle what happened, only to realize it's hopeless because neither of them have any idea what he's talking about. Petunia finally says that "they guard the wizard prison, Azkaban", and Harry asks how she could possibly know that. Petunia responds with "I overheard — that awful boy — telling ''her'' about them, years ago." At the time (and even after finishing the series), everyone simply assumed "that awful boy" to be Harry's father, James Potter. However, at the very end of book 7, we find out that it was actually [[spoiler:Severus Snape]]. While watching his memories, Harry witnesses the scene "first-hand", but it's played so quickly and amidst so many other things very few people pick up on it.

** [[spoiler:Gellert Grindelwald]] was the love of [[spoiler:Albus Dumbledore]]'s life. Unfortunately for [[spoiler:Dumbledore]], his love did not reciprocate his feelings, and also wasn't above manipulating them for his own gain.

** The exceptions are Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange. Bellatrix doesn't seem to care about Rodolphus except as a fellow Death Eaters [[spoiler: and even cheats on him with Voldemort]]; [[spoiler: Merope Gaunt and Tom Riddle, who never would have married if she hadn't drugged him with a love potion]]; and [[spoiler: Eileen and Tobias Snape, who abused her]].

** The exceptions are Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange, who don't seem to care about each other except as fellow Death Eaters; [[spoiler: Merope Gaunt and Tom Riddle, who never would have married if she hadn't drugged him with a love potion]]; and [[spoiler: Eileen and Tobias Snape, who abused her]].

* IncestIsRelative:
** Just look at every pureblood family tree; Sirius's parents themselves were second cousins, and it is possible that Lucius and Narcissa are related, too, in some way or another.
** Also, the Gaunts, heirs of Salazar Slytherin and Voldemort's family, were apelike and extremely stupid and unattractive. According to Rowling, this is due to generations of inbreeding (''close'' inbreeding) to preserve not only their pureblood status but also their Parseltongue abilities. Handsome young Voldemort got all of his looks from his Muggle father.
--->'''Dumbledore:''' [The Gaunts] were known for a violent streak that flourished in the family, due to their habit of marrying their own cousins.