Ravenclaw

"Point me!"

This article is about the Hogwarts house. You may be looking for the founder of this house, Rowena Ravenclaw.

"Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,
If you've a ready mind,
Where those of wit and learning,
Will always find their kind."

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 colours are blue and bronze, and its symbol is an eagle.^[3] The house ghost, who in life was the daughter of the house's founder Rowena Ravenclaw, is the Grey Lady^[4].

Ravenclaw roughly corresponds with the element of air^[5]; the House colours blue and bronze were chosen to represent the sky and eagle feathers respectively, both having much to do with air^[6].

Traits

"Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure."

—Rowena Ravenclaw^[src]

Rowena Ravenclaw WWHP — Rowena Ravenclaw, founder of Ravenclaw

Ravenclaw House prizes learning, wisdom, wit, and intellect in its members.^[3] Thus, many Ravenclaws tend to be academically motivated and talented students. Ravenclaws also pride themselves in being original in their ideas, and methods. It's not unusual to find Ravenclaw students practising especially different types of magic that other houses might shun. 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.^[7]

Students in Ravenclaw can also be quirky and possess unusual intellectual interests. Ravenclaws usually accept and celebrate these eccentrics.

Reputation

"I got into big trouble during my third year for duelling a Ravenclaw prefect who insisted that Bridget Wenlock had come from his house, not mine."

—A Hufflepuff with an intelligent witch in their house^[src]

According to Slytherin prefect Gemma Farley Ravenclaws are so competitive when it comes to academic success that they are known to back stab each other, and likely other students, in order to get 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 House, such as Bridget Wenlock, who was, in fact a Hufflepuff.

Ravenclaw House appears to have a 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, most Ravenclaws supported Hufflepuff Champion Cedric Diggory over Harry.^[8] They believed that Harry had in fact cheated his way into being a champion and that the true Hogwarts champion was Cedric. Notably, many Ravenclaws(such as Cho Chang) joined Dumbledore's Army and fought in the Battle of Hogwarts along with Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs. They rouse at almost at the exact moment as the Hufflepuffs and turned their wands uponPansy Parkinson and Slytherin House in Harry Potter's defence, when the former wished to hand Harry over to Lord Voldemort and his army of Death Eaters.

Common Room

Knocker: "Which came first, the phoenix or the flame?"

Luna Lovegood: "I think the answer is that a circle has no beginning."

Knocker: "Well reasoned."

— Luna solving a riddle to enter Ravenclaw tower^[src]

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.

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 1998 where Professor McGonagall had no trouble entering by answering the riddle correctly (though she was a "hatstall" 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.

Head of House

The head of house before and during Harry Potter's time was Filius Flitwick. It is unknown when he became head of house, but it is known that he was teaching Charms in 1971. It is also unknown who he succeeded.

Known Ravenclaws

Ravenclaw	Period Attending Hogwarts	Notes
Helena Ravenclaw	Founder's time	Daughter of the house founder, Rowena Ravenclaw and house ghost.
Uric the Oddball	Medieval	Famous for his eccentric habits, such as wearing a jellyfish as a hat, and sleeping in a room with fifty pet Augureys.
Ignatia Wildsmith	c. 1238 - 1245	Inventor of Floo Powder.
Lorcan McLaird	Unknown	Was Minister for Magic from 1923 - 1925.
Laverne de Montmorency	c. 1834 - 1841	Inventor of the several Love Potions.
Basil Fronsac	Mid-19th century (most likely)	Was Headmaster sometime prior to Armando Dippet
Perpetua Fancourt	c. 1911 - 1918	Inventor of the lunascope.
Garrick Ollivander	unknown	Talented and famous wandmaker.
Paul Howell	unknown	Head Auror Howell. Grandfather of future minister of Magic Finn and Head Auror Brody
Myrtle Warren	1940s	Was killed by Salazar Slytherin's Basilisk and is now a ghost that haunts the Second-floor girls' lavatory.
Millicent Bagnold	Unknown	Minister for Magic from 1980 to 1990.
Whitney Houston	Unknown	Later became Professor and Head of Ravenclaw House.
Lise Howell	Unknown	Former Ravenclaw student.
Gilderoy Lockhart	1975 - 1982	Celebrity author and adventurer, later exposed as a fraud. Served as Professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts in the 1992-1993 school year.
Sybill Trelawney	Unknown	Divination teacher in Hogwarts since 1981. Prophesized the birth of the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord.
Quirinus Quirrell	1960s or 1970s (possibly)	Muggle Studies professor, Defence Against the Dark Arts professor during the 1991-1992 school year, and host to Lord Voldemort's disembodied soul.
Robert Hilliard	1980s and 1990s	A Prefect.
Penelope Clearwater	1987 - 1994	A Prefect, dated Percy Weasley in 1992.
Quinn Fabray	1990 - 1997	Girlfriend of Finn Hudson, and being the Keeper and co-captain of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team.
Justin Russo		Older brother of Alex Russo and Max Russo. Captain and Seeker of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team.
Gabe Howell		One of the Chaser of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team.
Raven Reyes		Beater of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team.
Lydia Martin	1991 - 1998	Muggle-born Ravenclaw.
Frannie Fabray		Sister of Quinn Fabray. Married Gryffindor Archie Andrews.
Jonas Patterson		One of the Beaters of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team.
August Doww		One of the Chaser of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team.
Jughead Jones		Muggle-born Ravenclaw.
Carl Howell	1992 - 1999	Son of Lise and brother of Gabe.
Lynn Hudson	2016 - 2023	Lynn Carole Judy Hudson is a Pure-blood witch, the eldest and only daughter of Finn Hudson and Quinn Hudson.
Paul Hudson	2021 - 2028	Paul Justin Hudson is a Pure-blood wizard, son of Finn Hudson and Quinn Hudson.

Behind the scenes

In the books, Ravenclaw colours are blue and bronze; however, in the films they were changed to blue and silver. Likewise, Ravenclaw's symbol is an eagle in the books and a raven in the films (though in the last film an eagle does appear as the Ravenclaw mascot).
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. This can be seen on his Quidditch robes from a picture of his past while at Hogwarts, and was later confirmed by J. K. Rowling on Pottermore.
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.
In the French version, Ravenclaw house is changed to "Serdaigle" which means in English "Eagle's claw".
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. This is the same for LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7.
Minerva McGonagall was a hatstall, having approximately equal Ravenclaw and Gryffindor traits; the Hat finally Sorted her into Gryffindor. Hermione Granger was also considered being Sorted into Ravenclaw but Gryffindor was chosen once again. Filius Flitwick was in the same situation at the time of his Sorting, but in his case the Hat decided on Ravenclaw instead of Gryffindor.
Ravenclaw is the only House from which no head students have been named

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Hogwarts Houses:

Namesake Founders: Godric Gryffindor · Helga Hufflepuff · Rowena Ravenclaw · Salazar Slytherin
Heads of House: Minerva McGonagall · Pomona Sprout · Whitney Houston · Severus Snape
House Ghosts: Nearly Headless Nick · Fat Friar · Grey Lady · Bloody Baron

Ravenclaw

Contents

Traits

Reputation

Common Room

Head of House

Known Ravenclaws

Behind the scenes

See also

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