All Harry Potter

Magic #7

Signs of Seven

In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, we see many references to the
number seven. One example is where Harry is getting fitted for his wand in
Ollivander's shop: "Maple and phoenix feather. Seven inches. Quite whippy.
Try -".1 While we find that the seven-inch wand was not Harry's perfect fit, we do see that "He paid seven gold galleons for his wand." 2 Other references to seven include:

â— We learn there are seven floors in Hogwarts.

â— Gryffindor students are housed on the seventh floor in Hogwarts castle.

â— When Harry, Hermione and Ron travel through the trap door they find seven tasks to win in order to get to the stone.

â— Professor Snape's challenge consists of a logic puzzle containing seven bottles that when solved lead directly to the Mirror of Erised and the seventh task.

â— We learn there are seven players on a Quidditch team.

â— There is a broom called a "Cleansweep Seven."

â— Harry's first training match with Oliver Wood for Quidditch is at seven o'clock.

â— There are seven hundred ways to commit a foul in Quidditch.

â— Gryffindor has the opportunity to overtake Slytherin in the House championship for the first time in seven years.

The references to the number seven continue into The Chamber of Secrets. In chapter one, after Harry has completed all the chores to prepare for the visit of Uncle Vernon's potential clients, "It was half past seven in the evening when at last, exhausted, he heard Aunt Petunia calling him." 3 When Harry visits Ron at the Burrow for the first time he notices that "Ron had covered nearly every inch of the shabby wallpaper with posters of the same seven witches and wizards." 4 More mentions of the number seven in The Chamber of Secrets include:

â— Students are required to buy all seven of Professor Lockhart's books for Defense against the Dark Arts that year.

â— "Nothing seemed to give Colin a bigger thrill than to say, "All right, Harry?" six or seven times a day." 5

â— We learn that Draco has become the Slytherin seeker when "from behind the six large figures before them came a seventh, smaller boy, smirking all over his pale, pointed face." 6

â— "All seven of them held out their broomsticks. Seven highly polished, brand-new handles and seven sets of fine gold lettering spelling the words Nimbus Two Thousand and One gleamed under the Gryffindors' noses in the early morning sun." 7

â— During the same confrontation, "Ron gaped, open-mouthed, at the seven superb broomsticks in front of him." 8

â— When Fred and George mention the Slytherin team and their superb brooms "They reported that the Slytherin team was no more than seven greenish blurs, shooting through the air like missiles." 9

The references to the number seven in The Prisoner of Azkaban begin with a mention of the prize money won by The Weasley family: "I couldn't believe it when Dad won the Daily Prophet Draw. Seven hundred galleons!" 10 Seven is significant when referring to the Weasleys in book three:

â— There are seven Weasley children.

â— Percy is in his seventh and final year at Hogwarts.

â— It is Fred and George Weasley who inform Harry that there are seven secret passageways leading out of the castle.

It is also interesting to note that Ginny is the seventh child in several generations. What does JK Rowling say about this significance?