HEDWIG & PIGWIDGEON, OWL'S INTELLIGENCE & LOYALTY

Today, The Weasleys and The Grandma have known Hedwig and Pigwidgeon, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley's owls.

They are intelligent loyal animals who serve and protect Harry and Ron.

Hedwig is a Bubo scandiacus, a gift from Rubeus Hagrid to Harry.

Pigwidgeon is a miniature scops owl, responsible for the handling of Ron's mail. He was a gift from Sirius Black after the loss of Ron's pet rat.

Before knowing Hedwig and Pigwidgeon, The Grandma has offered a new Cambridge Key English Test A2 Example to her family.

Download Cambridge KET Exam Model (30)

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Hedwig is Harry Potter's pet snowy owl (Bubo scandiacus). Hedwig was an 11th birthday gift from Rubeus Hagrid to Harry. Hagrid purchased her at the Eeylops Owl Emporium.

In addition to delivering mail, the typical use owls are put to, Hedwig was also a close companion to Harry. She remained one of his closest friends.

It was Rubeus Hagrid, while helping Harry Potter purchase his school supplies, who bought Hedwig as a birthday present for Harry in Diagon Alley. Harry was obviously delighted with his new pet and was very grateful to Hagrid. This was the first birthday present Harry had ever received, as the Dursleys never celebrated his birthday. He very quickly grew attached to her.

Harry decided to name her Hedwig after an individual he saw mentioned in A History of Magic. In the days before arriving for his first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Harry avoided the Dursleys by staying in his room. Hedwig stayed with him during this time, his only friend at 4 Privet Drive.

Throughout her life, Hedwig fulfilled the traditional owl's function of delivering mail for Harry, but was also a loyal and affectionate companion; her usual way of showing affection was to gently nibble his ears or fingers.

She also demonstrated that she was fully capable of understanding his wishes and would faithfully follow his orders, such as when he instructed her to find and peck Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger to prompt them to write to him during the summer holidays.

Hedwig was resourceful and intelligent. She once flew to France to get Hermione's thirteenth birthday present to Harry while the former was on holiday there with her parents. During Hedwig's journey, Harry relocated to the Leaky Cauldron, having stormed out of Privet Drive after a particularly bad argument.

Despite not being in contact with Harry, Hedwig did not return to Privet Drive, but went directly to the Leaky Cauldron, arriving five minutes after him, according to Cauldron's landlord, Tom. Further evidence of Hedwig's resourcefulness is found in the fact that she didn't need a specific address to deliver messages, a name alone was sufficient.

Hedwig was a proud and dignified owl. She responded to the behaviour she considered inappropriate by staring or hooting reproachfully. She would sometimes show her displeasure physically, turning her back on Harry, showing him her tail, cuffing him with a wing, or even nipping him a little harder than usual if she was offended. In particular, she seemed disdainful of the hyperactive behaviour of Ron Weasley's pet owl Pigwidgeon.

More information: Wizarding World

In the holidays between Harry's first and second year at Hogwarts, while staying at the Dursleys, Vernon forced Harry to lock Hedwig in her cage, sometimes for weeks at a time to prevent Harry from sending messages to his freaky little friends. This caused Hedwig to grow bored and frustrated, a feeling Harry mirrored.

Harry felt forgotten by his friends and mused that Hedwig was the only proof he had that the wizarding world was real. When the Weasley twins, Fred and George, arrived to rescue Harry from Privet Drive in the flying Ford Anglia, Hedwig flew behind the car all the way to the Burrow.

In subsequent summers, Hedwig's frustrated hooting convinced the Dursleys to allow Harry to let her out to fly, on the condition that he didn't use her to send messages. However, Harry sometimes ignored this instruction, possibly dismissing it entirely after meeting Sirius Black and gaining leverage over the Dursleys.

In the build-up to the Second Wizarding War, Hedwig was constrained in what she could do for Harry, due to the fact that snowy owls aren't native to Britain, which made her conspicuous; this could potentially raise suspicions if onlookers witnessed a Snowy owl always going back and forth from a specific location.

A specific instance of this was during Sirius Black's evasion of the Ministry of Magic.  

Hedwig was keen to deliver messages, but Harry refused to put her at risk and this led to a minorfalling out between them.

Hedwig was attacked by associates of Dolores Umbridge in an effort to intercept Harry's mail, requiring Dobby and Professor Grubby-Plank to nurse her back to health. Harry owned Hedwig throughout the rest of the school year.

Hedwig brought Harry Potter a brand new copy of Advanced Potion-Making from Flourish and Blotts, which was intended as a replacement for the Half-blood prince's copy, but he did not use it nonetheless.

Hedwig was very loyal to Harry and frequently displayed affection for him by nipping him gently. She sometimes fell out with her master, but they always made up with each other before long. Hedwig obeyed Harry's requests and even pecked Ron and Hermione on Harry's orders, in order to get them to write back to him.

More information: Wizarding World

Hedwig was a dignified and proud creature and was disapproving of less mature owls such as Pigwidgeon.

Hedwig would also make a lot of noise if she was locked in her cage for too long. Like most owls, Hedwig was a keen hunter and when possible, was allowed to fly outside free and catch food for herself, such as frogs. She would also eat Eeylops Premium Owl Treats.

J.K Rowling found the name St Hedwig in a book of medieval saints. There are two female saints named Hedwig:

Saint Hedwig of Andechs (1174–1243), Duchess of Silesia, who is the patron saint of orphans.

Saint Hedwig (Jadwiga) (1373–1399), Queen (officially King) of Poland. A St Hedwig's Day dedicated to Hedwig of Andechs has been observed on October 16th every year since she was canonised in 1267.

Hedvig ia a Scandinavian name meaning female warrior or battle.

Harry now carried a large cage that held a beautiful snowy owl,

fast asleep with her head under her wing.

J.K. Rowling

Pigwidgeon, also known as Pig, is Ron Weasley's first pet owl. He is a miniature scops owl. Pig was responsible for the handling of Ron's mail starting, he was a gift from Sirius Black after the loss of Ron's pet rat.

After Scabbers, Ron's old pet rat, disappeared, having been found out to be Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black, who felt partly responsible for Ron's loss of a pet, sent him Pigwidgeon, nicknamed Pig. Upon receiving the owl, Ron to the surprise of Harry and Hermione actually let Crookshanks sniff him to check if he really was an owl.

Pigwidgeon was named by Ginny Weasley, because she thought the name was cute. Though Ron tried to change it, the owl would not answer to another name. Pigwidgeon was exceedingly hyper, loud, bothersome, very small, and had been known to be a show off for other people, this, however, annoyed other owls, forcing Ron to keep him in his room.

Pigwidgeon was described by Harry as resembling a fluffy snitch. He was usually excited for a job to deliver letters, even though most of the time they were usually heavy for him.

Harry borrowed Pigwidgeon during the Triwizard Tournament to communicate with Sirius who was in hiding at the time. Fred and George Weasley also asked to borrow him in order to support their secretive business venture.

Pigwidgeon was occasionally known to hang around the stairways performing for students. This prompted Ron to call him a stupid little feathery git for his attempts to show off rather than promptly bringing Ron the letters. He also delivered food to Sirius when he was hiding in a cave in Hogsmeade, though not without the help of Hogwarts owls, as the food was quite heavy.

Pigwidgeon travelled with Ron to and from Hogwarts during his years in school, although he stayed at The Burrow when Ron skipped his final year at Hogwarts to accompany Harry and Hermione on the hunt for Horcruxes.

Pigwidgeon means small or petty and also can be spelled pigwidgin or pigwiggin. It combines pig with widgeon two species of duck found in North America and Europe, or pidgeon, another name for the rock dove. English author and poet Michael Drayton (1563-1631) had a male fairy named Pigwiggen in his comical poem Nimphidia.

More information: Screen Rant I & II

 

 

Harry stared at the word "Pig,"

and looked up at the tiny owl now fluttering around

the light fixture on the ceiling.

He had never seen anything that looked less like a pig.

J.K. Rowling

THE SPECIAL GUESTS OF THE TRIWIZARD TOURNAMENT

Today, The Weasleys are assisting to The Triwizard Tournament that has had an exception and has accepted two more candidates: Harry Potter and Javier Weasley.

They are spending an amazing day full of adventures and dangerous situations. The Grandma is reporting all these events and she wants to explain what The Triwizard Tournament is and which are its guests and participants.

Four houses are participating this year. Hogwarts, the local team; the Beauxbatons Academy of Magic guided by her headmistress Olympe Maxime; the Durmstrang Institute guided by Professor Igor Karkaroff and The Stones accompanied by The Grandma.

Harry Potter & Cedric Diggory (Hogwarts), Fleur Delacour (The Beauxbatons Academy of Magic), Viktor Krum (The Durmstrang Institute) and Dani Stone (The Stones) are the candidates to win the Cup.

The Triwizard Tournament is a magical contest held between the three largest wizarding schools of Europe: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Durmstrang Institute, and Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, each school being represented by one Champion.

Selected Champions compete in three tasks, traditionally judged by the Headmasters or Headmistresses of the competing schools, designed to test magical ability, intelligence, and courage. Champions competed for the honour and glory of winning the Tournament, for the Triwizard Cup, and a monetary prize. The first Tournament was held sometime around the late 13th century.

The Tournament was notorious for being extremely dangerous: many champions died while competing, and it was discontinued at some point in or after 1792, due to the high death toll.

The Tournament was revived with restrictions in place in an attempt to stop potential deaths. One of these restrictions was that all applicants had to be over the wizarding age of majority, which is 17, or else they would not be allowed to apply to be Champion. The Triwizard Tournament is famous for having had four competing Champions.

The Triwizard Tournament was established approximately seven-hundred years ago as a friendly competition between the wizarding schools the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, and the Durmstrang Institute. Held every five years, the competition would be hosted by each school in turn, the judges for the Tournament comprising the headmasters or headmistresses of the schools.

There have been at least 125 editions of the Tournament: Hogwarts has 63 wins, and Beauxbatons has 62.

Due to the risks involved in overcoming the extremely dangerous tasks, and an increasing number of deaths, the Tournament was eventually discontinued at some point in or after the 1790s.

More information: Wizarding World

The first task is designed to test your daring; Courage in the face of the unknown is an important quality in a wizard.

The First Task of the Triwizard Tournament objective was to retrieve a golden egg that was being guarded by a dragon -the egg would be located within a clutch of real dragon eggs. Using Sleeping Draughts, a team of wizards, including Charlie Weasley, transported nesting mothers of different breeds to Great Britain from a dragon sanctuary in Romania. The dragons were hidden in the Forbidden Forest to stop students from discovering them.

Well, all our champions are ready for the second task, which will start on my whistle. They have precisely an hour to recover what has been taken from them.

The Second Task would involve the Champions swimming into the Black Lake to retrieve something that had been stolen from each of them. On the morning of the Task, Dobby woke Harry up and gave him the gillyweed to use.

Oh, find the cup, if you can, but be careful. You might just lose yourself along the way.

The Third Task was to navigate a maze grown on the Hogwarts Quidditch pitch. The maze was populated by various obstacles and dangers that each Champion had to overcome. Crouch Jr, as Professor Moody, was entrusted with placing the Triwizard Cup at the centre of the maze. While doing this, he enchanted the Cup to be a Portkey that would be activated by touch.

Each competing school is allowed one Champion to represent them during the Tournament. Students wishing to participate write their names and the school they attend on a piece of parchment and enter it into The Goblet of Fire.

The Goblet is an impartial judge, and selects what it considers to be the best student from each school. At the appointed time, The Goblet ejects the names, making each selected student the official Champion for their school. Each selected Champion is then bound by a magical contract to see the Tournament through to the end.

Each Tournament consists of three tasks designed to test the Champions' courage, intelligence, resourcefulness, and magical ability. These tasks are exceedingly dangerous and differ from year to year.

Champions receive marks in each of the tasks from a panel of judges, consisting of the headmasters or headmistresses of the competing schools.

Each Champion is supposed to stand alone during the Tournament, receiving no outside help from anyone, including friends and teachers. Cheating is frowned upon, though it has been known to take place several times during the history of the Tournament, and some people believe it to be a traditional part of the event.

More information: Wizarding World

Eternal glory!

That's what awaits the student

who wins the Triwizard Tournament,

but to do this, that student must survive three tasks.

Three extremely dangerous tasks.

Albus Dumbledore

Madame Olympe Maxime is a French half-giant witch and was the headmistress of Beauxbatons Academy of Magic.

Maxime's preferred mode of transportation was to travel with her students in a powder-blue carriage drawn by twelve winged Abraxan horses, which are bred at Beauxbatons Academy.

Madame Maxime is a half-giantess, although she claims merely to have big bones. This was a necessity, however, as the approach to giants or part-giants is generally hostile in the wizarding world.

Olympe Maxime was born to one magical parent and one giant, making her a half-giantess. She kept this heritage hidden, out of fear of the prejudice that would strike her were it to be revealed. She was likely educated at Beauxbatons in France, where she later became Headmistress. It is unknown exactly when she became Headmistress of Beauxbatons.

Maxime and some of her students went to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for The Triwizard Tournament. She made such an impact on Professor Rubeus Hagrid that he immediately started trying to impress her: he tried to tame his hair, wore his best ill-fitting clothes, and even showed her The Triwizard Tournament dragons while they were still meant to be a secret.

Madam Maxime was described to be a handsome woman: an olive-skinned face with a beak-like nose and large, black, liquid-looking eyes. Her hair was drawn back in a shining knob at the base of her neck. She dresses from head to foot in black satin, and is laden with opal jewellery. Despite her size, she is elegant and graceful, and Dumbledore once stated that she was a wonderful dancer. She is also a swift duellist, being able to cast two Conjunctivitis Curses within seconds of each other.

Olympe is the French word for Olympus, the mountain home of the Greek gods. Maxime is French for principle or maxim, a pun on principal. It is derived from the Latin maxima, the feminine form of maximus, meaning greatest or biggest.

More information: Wizarding World

I 'ave nevair been more insulted in my life!

'Alf-giant? Moi? I 'ave -I 'ave big bones!

Olympe Maxime

Fleur Isabelle Delacour is a French quarter-Veela witch daughter of Apolline Delacour and her husband, and elder sister of Gabrielle.

Fleur attended Beauxbatons Academy of Magic. She was Beauxbatons' champion in The Triwizard Tournament.

In the following summer, Fleur took a part-time job at Gringotts Wizarding Bank to improve her English, and began dating her co-worker Bill Weasley. The pair soon became engaged and Fleur stayed at The Burrow to get to know Bill's family better, a fact that Ginny Weasley greatly disliked, nicknaming her Phlegm.

Fleur arrived in the aftermath of the Battle of the Astronomy Tower during which her fiancé was badly injured by the werewolf Fenrir Greyback. The pair were married in August of that year; however the wedding was disrupted by Death Eaters following the fall of the Ministry of Magic.

Fleur and Bill took up residence at Shell Cottage, and later assisted Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger with Dumbledore's quest following their escape from Malfoy Manor, offering them room and board. Fleur fought alongside her husband in the Battle of Hogwarts.

Fleur was quarter-veela, who grew up in France. She grew up with her parents Monsieur Delacour and her half-veela mother Apolline Delacour. She also had a much younger sister, Gabrielle. Fleur's grandmother was full Veela and at some point contributed a hair, that would later become the core element of Fleur's wand.

According to J. K. Rowling, her name comes from the French phrase fleur de la cour, meaning flower of the court. Fleur's middle name, Isabelle, comes from the French word belle, meaning beautiful. Her full name, Fleur Isabelle Delacour, can be roughly translated as beautiful flower of the court.

More information: Wizarding World I & II

We 'ave all be 'oping to be chosen for weeks and weeks!

Ze honour for our schools!

A thousand Galleons prize money

-zis is a chance many would die for!

Fleur Delacour

Gabrielle Delacour is a quarter-Veela French witch, the daughter of Monsieur Delacour and Apolline Delacour. She had one older sister, Fleur. Through Fleur, Gabrielle was related to the Weasley family. She was saved in the Second Task of the Triwizard Tournament by Harry Potter, whom her sister became good friends with. Through Fleur, she was the aunt of Victoire, Dominique and Louis Weasley.

Gabrielle was born to a wizard, Monsieur Delacour, and a half-Veela witch, Apolline Delacour, in France. Her grandmother was a full Veela, who married a wizard and whose hair is the core of her older sister Fleur's wand. She and her sister Fleur were one-quarter Veela through their mother's side of the family.

Gabrielle's older sister, Fleur was chosen as Beauxbatons Academy of Magic's champion in The Triwizard Tournament, which was understandably considered to be a great honour. Because eight-year-old Gabrielle was treasured by Fleur above anything else she was taken into the Black Lake, under the influence of a magical spell during the Second Task. Fleur failed to reach her due to a grindylow attack and the negative effects of being underwater.

Harry Potter, the fourth champion of the tournament, had already found the hostages and held off a hoard of Merpeople. Harry then brought Gabrielle to the surface of the lake, along with his own hostage and best friend Ron Weasley.

Gabrielle was described as being her older sister, Fleur, in miniature, and therefore breathtakingly beautiful: she had waist-length, silvery-blonde hair, and a smile described as dazzling. Much like her family, Gabrielle appeared to be a gracious and pleasant girl, as she was immensely grateful towards Harry Potter for having honourably saved her in the Second Task of The Triwizard Tournament. She may have even developed a crush on Harry afterwards, as at the wedding of her sister and brother-in-law, she was noted to have given Harry a glowing look and batted her eyelashes, but she might have just been very appreciative of him instead.

Gabrielle is the French feminine form of the Hebrew name Gabriel, meaning man of god. In the bible, Gabriel is the name of a prominent angel. Delacour is formed by the three French words de, la and cour which directly translates to of the court.

More information: Wizarding World

There was also a girl who looked no older than eight,

whose clouds of silvery hair made Harry feel sure

that she was Fleur Delacour's sister, Gabrielle.

J.K. Rowling

Professor Igor Karkaroff is a wizard and Headmaster of Durmstrang Institute.

During the First Wizarding War, he was a Death Eater who served Lord Voldemort. After being captured and briefly imprisoned in Azkaban following his master's defeat, Karkaroff turned in several of his fellow Death Eaters to the Wizengamot in exchange for his crimes being pardoned.

Karkaroff later went on to become Durmstrang's headmaster, leading the school's delegation to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for The Triwizard Tournament. The Triwizard Tournament was held for the first time in many years at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Karkaroff ventured to Hogwarts to supervise his students and to prepare Durmstrang's champion for the Tournament, as well as to serve as one of the five judges. From the moment of his arrival at Hogwarts, it was obvious that Karkaroff was heavily biassed towards the champion from his own school, Viktor Krum.

Like Madame Maxime, the Headmistress of the Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, Karkaroff was outraged when Harry Potter's name was chosen from The Goblet of Fire, giving Hogwarts two champions instead of one.

Karkaroff was described to be tall and thin like Albus Dumbledore, but with an unctuously cheerful demeanour, while his smile didn't reach his eyes, which were blue and remained cold and unmoving.

Karkaroff was a ruthless and immoral man, having been a Death Eater in his youth and a turncoat when it suited him, as well as showing blatant favouritism as a judge of The Triwizard Tournament to increase the chances that his school's champion, Viktor Krum, would win. Karkaroff's betrayal of his Death Eater comrades to avoid Azkaban, as well as his going into hiding following Lord Voldemort's return, indicate that he was not at all a brave nor loyal man, somewhat similar to Peter Pettigrew, who betrayed The Order of the Phoenix out of fear as well. 

Igor is a Slavic name derived from the Scandinavian name Ingvar, meaning protected by Ing; Ing the name of the norse goddess of fertility. Karkar is a name which was common among Kipchaks, a Turkic tribe which inhabited today's Kazakhstan during ca. 10-12c.; off is a possessive suffix meaning son of in Slavic languages turning a given name into a surname which was also attached to non-Slavic names as part of Russification policies in the former USSR. Kark also means the unsettled in Turkish. Also, in several Slavic languages such as Russian kar" is an onomatopoeia word, which represents the sound crows make, an equivalent to English caw.

More information: Wizarding World

You must understand that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named

operated always in the greatest secrecy…

we never knew the names of every one of our fellows.

He alone knew exactly who we all were.

Igor Karkarov

Viktor Krum, in Bulgarian Виктор Крум, is a Bulgarian wizard. He attended the Durmstrang Institute, and was also the Seeker for the Bulgarian National Quidditch team at the age of eighteen while still at school.

He played in the final of the Quidditch World Cup. The Irish won the match, but Viktor caught the Golden Snitch to end the match on his terms. Later in the year, he was part of the Durmstrang delegation sent to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for The Triwizard Tournament. He was selected by The Goblet of Fire as the Durmstrang Champion, and competed bravely.

Viktor was born to Krum and his wife. He grew up in Bulgaria, and attended the Durmstrang Institute. He was one of the last people to purchase a wand from Gregorovitch Zauberstäbe before Mykew Gregorovitch's retirement. During his time at the school, Viktor was confronted by what he believed to be the symbol of Gellert Grindelwald, which was indeed the symbol of the Deathly Hallows, that had been carved into the walls by the wizard himself. Other students at the school began copying the symbol onto their books and clothing as a way of trying to shock and impress. Highly insulted, since his grandfather had been murdered by Grindelwald, Viktor and several other students who had also lost family at the hands of the Dark Wizard taught them the error of their ways.

Viktor was a tall, thin, sallow young man with dark hair and eyes. He had a large, curved nose that he inherited from his father, a sharp profile, thick, black eyebrows. Despite appearing graceful while flying on a broomstick, he was round-shouldered and duck-footed while on the ground. Viktor spoke English with a thick accent, pronouncing w as v and th as s or z, respectively.

Viktor means the victorious one, appropriate for a forceful Quidditch player. Krum is the name of one of the most famous Bulgarian rulers, who ruled in the Ninth century. Krum is, however, not a typical name in modern Bulgaria, being of pagan origin, and is in fact not a surname, but a given name. At the time Bulgarian rulers were known by their first name, as they all rose from the same house/family, Dulu. It could be possible that his real surname is Krumov (Крумов) which would follow the formation of surnames in Bulgarian language, and that Krum was just an Anglicization of it.

More information: Wizarding World

 

 

 ...this is his symbol, I recognised it at vunce:

Grindelvald carved it into a vall at Durmstrang

ven he vos a pupil there.

Viktor Krum

PETER PETTIGREW, A TRAITOR INSIDE THE MARAUDERS

Today, The Weasleys and The Grandma have known an interesting Hogwart's story about The Marauder's Map and one of its creators, Peter Pettigrew aka Wormtail, the most famous traitor in this school of witchcraft and wizardry.

The Weasleys & The Grandma have walked across this wonderful map and they have discovered its magic and its secrets.

The Marauder's Map was a magical document that revealed all of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Not only did it show every classroom, every hallway, and every corner of the castle, but it also showed every inch of the grounds, as well as all the secret passages that were hidden within its walls and the location of every person in the grounds, portrayed by a dot. It was also capable of accurately identifying each person, and was not fooled by animagi, Polyjuice Potions, or invisibility cloaks; even the Hogwarts ghosts were not exempt.

One of the map's possible flaws was that it did not differentiate people who had matching names, the shared names were not given a Junior or Senior at the end. Also, it did not seem to show unplottable rooms, as it was Dobby and not the Map that revealed the existence and location of the Room of Requirement.

More info: Leabharlann Nàiseanta na h-Alba/National Library of Scotland

The Marauder's Map was created by Remus Lupin (Moony), Peter Pettigrew (Wormtail), Sirius Black (Padfoot), and James Potter (Prongs) while they were attending Hogwarts.

The four created the map via the usage of the Homonculous Charm, a powerful and advanced charm that enchanted the Map to track the movements of everyone in the castle, as well as a charm to insult Severus Snape.

The ability of Sirius, Peter, and James to become Animagi enabled them to explore the castle grounds by night undetected. The interior of the castle, meanwhile, was mapped over time with the help of James's Invisibility cloak.

This artefact proved quite useful to the foursome, commonly termed the Marauders, through the years, until it was confiscated by Argus Filch. Although the precise circumstances surrounding the makers' loss of their map is mostly unknown, it is easy to conclude that they eventually over-reached themselves and were cornered by Filch, probably on a tip-off from Snape, whose obsession it had become to expose his arch-rival, James Potter, in wrongdoing. 

The masterpiece of a map was confiscated in Sirius, James, Remus and Peter's final year and none of them were able to steal it back from a well-prepared and suspicious Filch.

Harry used the Map throughout his time as a student at Hogwarts, especially during his third year, when he tried to find his way into Hogsmeade. Then, he used the One-Eyed Witch Passage which led into Honeydukes cellar.

Professor Remus Lupin caught Harry with the Map after Snape found it while interrogating Harry, and subsequently confiscated it, surprising the younger wizard with his knowledge of how to activate it.

More information: Wizarding World

The Map was the real reason Professor Lupin discovered Peter Pettigrew was still alive, leading him to conclude it was indeed the latter that had betrayed Harry's parents, in the process framing their old friend Sirius Black for the crime.

This would go a long way towards repairing the rift between the two co-creators of the map. He would return the map to Harry before leaving Hogwarts at the end of the year, seeing no regret in doing so since he is no longer a teacher, and that he has no further use for the map himself.

The Map is normally disguised as a blank piece of parchment. To view the map, one must tap it with one's wand and recite, I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.

The content of the Map will then reveal itself. To hide the contents of the Map so the parchment appears blank again, one must again tap it and recite, Mischief managed. An added bonus is that if the bearer of the map approaches the entrance to a secret passage protected by a password, the password will appear on the Map, usually as a speech bubble that appears close to the dot representing the Map's holder.

In some rare cases, the map may not be used to the best of its ability. Heading out through the secret passage from the Whomping Willow to the Shrieking Shack will make the person disappear, as Snape mentions, so the Shrieking Shack is not included on the map because it goes off the edge of the map.

It also does not show any person that may be inside the Room of Requirement, as the Room of Requirement is unplottable and it itself does not show up on the map, or the Chamber of Secrets, as it is very unlikely that any of the creators of the map knew of its existence at the time that the map was made.

More information: Screen Rant

Similarly, it identifies animagi by their actual name even when they are in their transformed state. It was by this mechanism that Lupin was able to identify Peter Pettigrew's presence at Hogwarts despite being presumed dead.

The Map is enchanted to insult Severus Snape if he should ever come into possession of it and attempt to use it. It did this when Snape confiscated it from Harry Potter and attempted to discover what information it contains, but it simply insulted him as an ugly git.

The Map also shows how to access the sealed passages by showing the password required to unseal it, displayed as a minuscule speech balloon shown close to the dot representing the user of the map that appears when the Map's holder comes close to the available passages. More importantly, the map shows the name and location of every person within the Hogwarts grounds, even if they are wearing an Invisibility cloak.

More information: Insider

 

 

 Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot,

and Prongs Purveyors of Aids to

Magical Mischief-Makers are proud to present.

The Marauder's Map

Peter Pettigrew, usually referred to as Wormtail or Scabbers, is a wizard and the son of Mr and Mrs Pettigrew. He began attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and was sorted into Gryffindor House after the Sorting Hat pondered over which house he belonged in for over five minutes, a true Hatstall.

During his years at Hogwarts, he became one of the Marauders; he was best friends with Sirius Black, James Potter, and Remus Lupin, and together they created the Marauder's Map.

During the First Wizarding War, Peter was a member of the Order of the Phoenix, but became a spy when he was coerced into joining Lord Voldemort. He was made Secret-Keeper for the Potters when they went into hiding with the use of the Fidelius Charm, and betrayed James, his wife Lily, and their son Harry to Lord Voldemort.

After Voldemort's fall, he faked his own death and framed Sirius for betraying James and Lily, as well as for his own murder and those of the twelve Muggles he killed during his escape.

Peter spent twelve years living in his Animagus form as the Weasley family's pet rat, Scabbers.

However, his identity was exposed by Sirius and Remus in 1994, and Pettigrew, with nowhere else to go, sought protection in returning to the service of Lord Voldemort, whom he found in the forests of Albania.

Pettigrew played a key role in Voldemort's rebirth and continued to serve him during the Second Wizarding War. During the Skirmish at Malfoy Manor, in a moment of rare mercy, he hesitated to strangle Harry. The silver hand Lord Voldemort had given Pettigrew interpreted his hesitation as weakness and/or disloyalty, and strangled him to death, saving Harry and finally finding redemption for his treason.

Pettigrew soon became friends with Sirius Black, James Potter, and Remus Lupin, fellow Gryffindors he idolised for their popularity and talent. The four friends called themselves the Marauders and designed a map to navigate Hogwarts.

More information: Wizarding World

After graduating from Hogwarts, Pettigrew and his friends joined the Order of the Phoenix and fought against Lord Voldemort and the Death Eaters during the First Wizarding War. However, Pettigrew began working as a spy for Voldemort, having come to believe that nothing could be gained from opposing him.

After a prophecy was made regarding Harry Potter and the Dark Lord, James and Lily Potter took their son and went into hiding. In an attempt at misdirection, they were convinced to select Pettigrew as their Secret-Keeper by Sirius Black.

On Hallowe'en night, Pettigrew betrayed his friends, and Voldemort murdered James and Lily, but was unable to do the same to their son when his Killing Curse rebounded, destroying his physical form.

Apart from James and Lily, Sirius Black was the only person who knew that Pettigrew had been their Secret-Keeper. When he realised what Pettigrew had done, as his hiding place was empty with no signs of a struggle, he tracked him down hoping to avenge his friends.

When he closed in on him, Pettigrew screamed that Sirius had betrayed the Potters for everyone to hear, and before Black could draw his wand, Pettigrew swiftly pulled out his from his back and then killed twelve Muggles by blowing up the street with a Blasting Curse, which created a crater large enough that the sewer pipes were showing. He then faked his own death by cutting off a finger and leaving it behind as he transformed into a rat and fled.

Sirius was arrested for being a Death Eater, killing Pettigrew and the Muggles, and betraying the Potters, and was imprisoned in Azkaban without a trial.

The surviving Muggles who witnessed the event had their memories erased and were given an excuse by the Muggle-Worthy Excuse Committee that a gas-leak occurred.

More information: Screen Rant

Pettigrew went into hiding as a rat, hoping to avoid Lord Voldemort's other supporters. Looking for a wizarding family to take him in, he came into the possession of Percy Weasley and, later, Percy's youngest brother Ron. He was taken good care of while living with the Weasleys and was named Scabbers.

Pettigrew was an extremely short man, no taller than Harry when he was thirteen or Hermione when she was fourteen years old, with grubby skin, small watery eyes, and a pointed nose, all of which were lingering attributes of his animagus rat form; he even spoke in a squeaky voice that is another lingering attribute of his rat form. In his youth, his hair was mousy brown, but by his mid-thirties, it had thinned, lost a lot of its colour, and acquired a large bald patch.

Peter Pettigrew was characterised by weakness. Despite having been Sorted into Gryffindor, he did not possess true bravery, possibly proving that the Hat saw potential in him rather than any actual inborn courage, potential that he never lived up to.

More information: Pinterest

 

 

 And you understood Wormtail too...

you knew there was a bit of regret there,

somewhere...

Peter Pettigrew

SAMUEL COOKE, THE TRAGIC END OF THE KING OF SOUL

Today, The Grandma has started her latest course of the year in Sant Boi de Llobregat. It has been a great pleasure to meet again some Stones, some Watsons and some other old and new friends who want to learnt about branding and social networks.

After meeting her old friends, The Grandma has returned at home to prepare new classes for this new course. Meanwhile she has been working, she has been listening to one of her favourite artists, Sam Cook, the American singer and songwriter who was killed on a day like today in 1964 and wrote incredible songs like A Change is Gonna Come, a hymn for Civil Rights.

Artists are eternal because art lives forever meanwhile people remember it. They are eternal brands.

Samuel Cook (January 22, 1931-December 11, 1964), known professionally as Sam Cooke, was an American singer, songwriter, and entrepreneur. 

He was also influential as a composer and producer, and is commonly known as the King of Soul for his distinctive vocals and significance in popular music.

Cooke was born in Mississippi and moved to Chicago with his family at an early age. He began singing as a child and joined the Soul Stirrers before going solo and scoring a string of hit songs including You Send Me, A Change Is Gonna Come, Cupid, Wonderful World, Chain Gang, Twistin' the Night Away, and Bring It On Home to Me.

In 1964, Cooke was shot and killed by the manager of a motel in Los Angeles. After an inquest and investigation, the courts ruled Cooke's death to be a justifiable homicide; his family has since questioned the circumstances of his death.

More information: PAM

Cooke's pioneering contributions to soul music contributed to the rise of Aretha Franklin, Bobby Womack, Al Green, Curtis Mayfield, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, and Billy Preston, and popularized the work of Otis Redding and James Brown. AllMusic biographer Bruce Eder wrote that Cooke was the inventor of soul music, and possessed an incredible natural singing voice and a smooth, effortless delivery that has never been surpassed.

Cooke was born Samuel Cook in Clarksdale, Mississippi, in 1931 (he added the "e" to his last name in 1957 to signify a new start to his life). He was the fifth of eight children of the Rev. Charles Cook, a minister in the Church of Christ (Holiness), and his wife, Annie Mae. One of his younger brothers, L.C. (1932–2017), later became a member of the doo-wop band Johnny Keyes and the Magnificents.

The family moved to Chicago in 1933. Cook attended Doolittle Elementary and Wendell Phillips Academy High School in Chicago, the same school that Nat King Cole had attended a few years earlier.

Sam Cooke began his career with his siblings in a group called the Singing Children when he was six years old. He first became known as lead singer with the Highway Q.C.'s when he was a teenager, having joined the group at the age of 14. During this time, Cooke befriended fellow gospel singer and neighbor Lou Rawls, who sang in a rival gospel group.

In 1950, Cooke replaced gospel tenor R. H. Harris as lead singer of the gospel group the Soul Stirrers, founded by Harris, who had signed with Specialty Records on behalf of the group.

Cooke had 30 U.S. top 40 hits between 1957 and 1964, plus three more posthumously. Major hits like You Send Me, A Change Is Gonna Come, Cupid, Chain Gang, Wonderful World, Another Saturday Night, and Twistin' the Night Away are some of his most popular songs. Twistin' the Night Away was one of his biggest selling albums.

Cooke was also among the first modern black performers and composers to attend to the business side of his musical career. He founded both a record label and a publishing company as an extension of his careers as a singer and composer. He also took an active part in the Civil Rights Movement.

More information: Chicago Tribune

Cooke was killed at the age of 33 on December 11, 1964, at the Hacienda Motel, in Los Angeles, California. Answering separate reports of a shooting and a kidnapping at the motel, police found Cooke's corpse. He had sustained a gunshot wound to the chest, which was later determined to have pierced his heart. The motel's manager, Bertha Franklin, claimed to have shot him in her defense. Her account was immediately disputed by Cooke's acquaintances, none of whom were present at Cooke's killing.

The first funeral service for Cooke was held on December 18, 1964, at A. R. Leak Funeral Home in Chicago; 200,000 fans lined up for more than four city blocks to view his body.

Afterward, his body was flown back to Los Angeles for a second service, at the Mount Sinai Baptist Church on December 19, which included a much-heralded performance of The Angels Keep Watching Over Me by Ray Charles, who stood in for grief-stricken Bessie Griffin. Cooke was interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.

Two singles and an album were released in the month after his death. One of the singles, Shake, reached the top ten of both the pop and R&B charts. The B-side, A Change Is Gonna Come, is considered a classic protest song from the era of the Civil Rights Movement. It was a top 40 pop hit and a top 10 R&B hit. The album, also titled Shake, reached the number one spot for R&B albums.

More information: WBEZ

 Sam Cooke had a huge influence on me.

Aretha Franklin