This comprehensive tome examines the endless details of life at Hogwarts, the most famous school in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Inside, readers will find an extraordinary assortment of insights and information about how the school works, how it's organized, what classes are taught, who teaches them, what secrets or mysteries might be discovered and much more!
Certain to make reading (or re-reading) the Harry Potter series that much more intriguing, this book explores the traditional and extraordinary in equal measure, uncovering details about the school that readers will savor, including:
- The history and traditions of Hogwarts, including notable alumni - Details of the four founders, Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin - How the school is organized with teachers, prefects, headboys and headgirls - Holidays, feasts and celebrations - The castle layout, classrooms, common rooms, courtyards, dungeons, secret rooms and more - Details into the "living" artwork throughout the castle - Artifacts, enchantments, protections and secret passageways - Hagrid's Hut, the Whomping Willow, The Forbidden Forest and beyond! - A visitor's guide to Hogsmeade - Castle inhabitants, including professors, ghosts and staff - Details of student life, academics, text books and much more!
The Unofficial Harry Potter Hogwarts Handbook is the next best thing to attending Hogwarts itself, providing more Wizarding World insight, detail and fun than ever before recorded in a single book.
If you need a refresher, this is probably good, but I found it difficult to get past the frequent run-on sentences & other odd choices. They never refer to Rowling by name; they insist on referring to Norbert as Norbert(a); instead of giving us a map of Hogwarts' grounds & Hogsmede, they describe the layout (I'm a visual learner - this would've been SO helpful); in general, some illustrations would've been nice; it gets repetitive; and, the most puzzling of all, they counted Cursed Child as part of the series. I'm guessing budgetary reasons prevented them from having illustrations, but it would've added SO much to this.
Very helpful and thorough. This also clarified some things that I was not fully clear about after reading the series. Great supplemental reading for HP fans.
I feel like this is the perfect book for someone who's a big fan of the Harry Potter series. Granted, I am VERY new here and haven't retained everything just yet. *whispers* I'm also more of a Marauders girl than a golden trio, but that's a whole other story for another time.
Now, this book was a great refresher, and it was so cool to see all the details that these authors found about the series. I really enjoyed remembering snippets of the series that I really enjoyed. Yes, I cried again when they mentioned the way Kreacher led the army of house elves into battle. Kreacher, my beloved, I will never forget you.
I also learned a few things while reading this that I either didn't catch while reading the books or that they learned from, I suppose, interviews and so on from the author. PS. I love the way they didn't refer to the author by name.
For instance, this book was how I learned that Dumbledore was queer and had romantic feelings for Grindelwald. Like hello??? Was I just supposed to guess about that? It wasn't as straightforward as Wolfstar was, and look what "the author" had to say about Sirius and Remus. (an absolute coward!)
Anyways, I really liked reading through this book, and I'd recommend it to any Harry Potter fan's collection.
This is mostly just a summary of the general knowledge regarding Hogwarts. There were a few tidbits and fun facts that I didn’t know having not read the companion books, but for the most part this handbook just acted as a list of important elements of the school with short retellings of the associated plot. This is a great book to read if you have a short term memory, but should never be used as a guide while reading the books for the first time – nearly every excerpt contains “Deathly Hallows” spoilers. Great attention to detail, though!
Slightly repetitive in some sections (we are talking basic facts retold at least four times throughout), it’s a book about Hogwarts so it gets all the stars. I wish the Hogwarts library book list was longer of the known books in the collections, but that’s just the librarian in me taking.
It was quite dry, and I was hoping it would include more speculation… got some fun new facts in the last chapter, but otherwise it just tells what we already know from the books.
Lucky you - you've just received the letter you've been waiting for forever - you've been accepted to (gasp!) Hogwarts!!! Once you recover your heart rhythm you will need this book to guide you through what comes next, and you may just be surprised and what does come next. If you want to be prepared to get through Platform 9 3/4, get on the train, and have everything ready for your first step onto those hollowed grounds, you need to read this.
This book is filled with so much information about the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and is a must have for Harry Potter fans. The only thing this book was missing for me was maybe some maps and pictures to go with the volume of information in the book.
I loved this book. I did come across several things that I did not know or had forgotten over the years. Some sections were a bit repetitive but I did not mind. Overall great read for anyone who loves the Wizarding World.
This book was so informational and interesting, with a good summary of the building, teachers, and history of hogwarts that helps both refresh the plot of the books and share less known details perfectly for fans to enjoy.
This is the closest to Hogwarts, A History we’ll get. I took a star off because parts of it were kind of redundant and bordered on retelling, but overall an enjoyable read.
Another great book to read to get a closer look at the Harry Potter Universe. In this case, A more intense look at Hogwarts, the grounds, and Hogsmeade.
The Unofficial Harry Potter Hogwarts Handbook is one of those companion books that's especially enjoyable if you already love rereading the series and lingering in the details of the world. This book has a lot on the history of Hogwarts that makes rereading the series more fun than it usually is, and that's where it shines the most.
What I appreciated most was how much attention is given to the everyday workings of the school. You're able to learn a lot about how the school normally functions, from classes to traditions to castle logistics--things that are often glassed over in the main series. Because of that, it highlights something I hadn't really though about before: Harry rarely got to witness more than a passing glance of normal school life because of his adventurous yet dangerous school life. Seeing Hogwarts outside of constant crises adds a refreshing layer to the setting.
That said, the book doesn't always feel essential. Some sections are more engaging than others, and longtime fans may already know a fair amount of the information presented. It's more of a supplement than a must-read, and its unofficial status means it leans heavily on interpretation rather than new revelations.
Overall, this is a solid, enjoyable read for fans who love world-building and want to sink deeper into Hogwarts itself. Not groundbreaking, but definitely a fun addition to a Potterhead's shelf.
Title: The Unofficial Harry Potter Hogwarts Handbook Author: Mugglenet Genre: Low Fantasy Rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑 Series Rating: 🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑 Ranking among every book I’ve read: 20th
🥈Book of the Month September 2025🥈
No new information, but the info in this book was spread sporadically throughout the series, so it was nice to have it all in one place.