Skip to main content

harry potter - How do people at Hogwarts usually tell the time?


Classes and lessons at Hogwarts are presumably scheduled at fixed times of day. The first class might start, for example at nine in the morning.



To be on time for one's lessons, it is therefore crucial to know the current time but we know that electric watches of course do not work at Hogwarts because of all the magical interference. Are there magic watches? Is there maybe a spell to tell the time?


How do people at Hogwarts usually tell the time?



Answer



Film Canon


In the film adaptation, Hogwarts has an enormous Clock Tower in the centre of the main courtyard. It seems to chime on the hour and half-hour throughout the day


enter image description here


Book canon


They have clocks on the walls



The following week dragged by. Wednesday night found Hermione and Harry sitting alone in the common room, long after everyone else had gone to bed. The clock on the wall had just chimed midnight when the portrait hole burst open. Ron appeared out of nowhere as he pulled off Harry’s Invisibility Cloak. He had been down at Hagrid’s hut, helping him feed Norbert, who was now eating dead rats by the crate.HP:Philosopher's Stone - Chapter 14




and upright clocks



‘No, no, no,’ said Hermione. ‘No, we’re not. Why don’t you go to bed, Neville?’ Harry looked at the grandfather clock by the door. They couldn’t afford to waste any more time, Snape might even now be playing Fluffy to sleep. HP:Philosopher's Stone - Chapter 16



Presumably these clocks are literally clockwork, which wouldn't be affected by magic restrictions on electronics.


Our three heroes wear wrist-watches




‘Nearly six,’ said Ron, checking his watch and then staring down the drive which led to the front gates. ‘How d’you reckon they’re coming? The train?’






Harry crept past them to the portrait hole and waited for a minute or so, keeping an eye on his watch. Then Hermione opened the Fat Lady for him from outside as they had planned. He slipped past her with a whispered ‘Thanks!’ and set off through the castle.





Hermione was tugging at his sleeve, staring at her watch. ‘We’ve got exactly ten minutes to get back down to the hospital wing without anybody seeing us – before Dumbledore locks the door’






For the record, there may be magical watches (Dumbledore seems to have one) but the rest of the characters seem to rely on mundane clocks and wristwatches, all of which seem to work fine inside Hogwarts:



Professor McGonagall pulled out a lace handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes beneath her spectacles. Dumbledore gave a great sniff as he took a golden watch from his pocket and examined it. It was a very odd watch. It had twelve hands but no numbers; instead, little planets were moving around the edge. It must have made sense to Dumbledore, though, because he put it back in his pocket and said, ‘Hagrid’s late. I suppose it was he who told you I’d be here, by the way?’





Peeves will tell you the time if you're unlucky



Peeves cackled.
‘Wandering around at midnight, ickle firsties? Tut, tut, tut. Naughty, naughty, you’ll get caughty.’




The portraits can also tell you the time in a limited fashion



By the time he got up to the portrait of the Fat Lady and pulled off his Invisibility Cloak, he was not surprised to find her in a most unhelpful mood. ‘What sort of time do you call this?’ ‘I’m really sorry – I had to go out for something important –’ ‘Well, the password changed at midnight, so you’ll just have to sleep in the corridor, won’t you?’



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.

harry potter - How could Expelliarmus beat Avada Kedavra?

I want to be very careful about how I ask this question – I am not asking How did Voldemort die? [CLOSED] Below the text is the relevant passages from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows if anyone wants to review them (I'm sorry for the amount of text). How did Expelliarmus beat Avada Kedavra and kill Voldemort? I feel the reason Harry's Expelliarmus overpowered Voldemort's Avada Kedavra curse has to do with who was master of the Elder Wand and how the Elder Wand works. I've always had trouble understanding fully how the Elder Wand works, though. How much did the fact that Voldemort never truly won or mastered the Elder Wand factor into how Expelliarmus reacted to Avada Kedavra and caused Avada Kedavra to rebound and kill Voldemort? An answer based in book canon would be especially welcome, but any canon source really is fine. Harry heard the high voice shriek as he, too, yelled his best hope to the heavens, pointing Draco’s wand: ‘ Avada Kedavra !’ ‘ Expelliarmus !...

game of thrones - Is Syrio Forel dead?

In the episode 'The Pointy End' (Season 1 Episode 8) when Arya runs from the Lannister guards you hear the sound of a sword being dropped (around 4:56): [embedded content] After that neither Syrio or Ser Meryn Trant is never mentioned or seen in the show again, except when Arya mentions to the Hound that Ser Meryn Trant killed Syrio. Is there any mention in the books that Syrio actually dies?

tolkiens legendarium - Difference between elves and dwarves blacksmithing in the Lord of the Rings

Both the elves and the dwarves were famous for their metal work in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but what is the difference between what they made, and which one had the better skill of making amours and swords? Answer James Christopher's answer sums up the second part of your question well, but as to the difference in what they made, a little more detail is needed. Once the Elves learned to forge with steel, the shape of the sword changed, now being able to take on the form of a great broadsword or a light and agile curved sword. Additionally, they took great pride in decorating their swords. As we see in the Lord of the Rings , some swords like Sting had magical properties such as glowing blue when orcs are near. As far as the use of Mithril, lotr.wikia has two contradictory passages: Thus, Elven blades became renowned as great weapons, capable of performing deeds beyond the skill of their handlers and were even more glorious when the use of Mithril was allowed to the Elves. ...