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Wanna get an idea of the Harry Potter aesthetic? Well, here you go…
“Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus – Never tickle a sleeping dragon”. This fictional wizarding world conjured by author J. K Rowling has enchanted children and adults alike since the release of the first book in the series in 1997. With a motto like that, who wouldn’t want to attend the magical Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone kicked off Harry Potter’s journey to defeat the dark lord and gained immense popularity along the way. And as of today, it has a massive fandom, some very devoted set of fans, and an aesthetic unique to itself.

The Premise of Harry Potter
The Harry Potter series follows the story of Harry Potter, a young wizard who lost his parents at a very young age. Unaware of his magical powers, Harry lives an everyday life until he is 11. Immediately upon turning 11, he receives a magical letter inviting him to attend the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Here he meets his two best friends, Ron and Hermione, and the rest of the books describe their adventures and their quest to defeat the dark lord, also known as Voldemort, who’d killed Harry’s parents years ago. The Boy Who Lived, the title that was given to harry, has become synonymous with several memes in recent years, making Harry a pop culture icon.
Apart from just Harry, J K Rowling ended up creating a slew of iconic characters, each with distinct personalities that have made their way into the hearts and minds of people, regardless of whether they were good or evil.
The Wizarding World is incredibly unique, the first of its kind. Every single item had a magical twist, from chocolate frogs that jumped to a currency of gold and silver stored in a bank run by goblins.
Every aspect of society, from sports to music to transport, has been well thought of and executed so believable that it truly seemed as though a world parallel to ours existed with talking hats and grumpy cats.

Visuals
The Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry divides its students into four houses. The house of the brave and chivalrous Gryffindor is represented by lions and the red and gold color scheme.
Ravenclaw, the house for intellectually advanced students, has an eagle for a mascot, and its students are decked in scarves and hats of shades of blue. The signature colors of the Slytherin house are green and white; as the name suggests, their mascot is a snake. The fourth house, Hufflepuff, has a cute badger motif on a yellow and black background.
Apart from these obvious colors, it’s hard to describe the aesthetic of the Potterverse. Every element has a specific theme and color scheme, and each is more distinct than the other. For example, we often think of vibrant warm shades when we think of Hogsmeade, but the Gringotts Bank and Diagon alley are best described as damp and dark, with a hint of danger lurking around the corner.
Professor Umbridge and professor Snape had opposing aesthetics and decorated their rooms accordingly, both of which play vital roles in harry’s story.
Colors also play an important role in helping the reader understand the spell type and the spell caster’s personality. Powerful magicians like Dumbledore and Hermione are characterized by the bright white light that often accompanies their spells. All of the dark Lord’s spells were green, which is also the color of Slytherin. On the other hand, Harry would have blue or red spells, depending on the spell itself.
While the books were quite successful, the movies bought in a wave of new fans and some distinct imagery. Apart from the four mascots of the Hogwarts houses, people associated Harry’s infamous glasses, the sorting hat, the golden snitch, wands, and owls with Harry Potter, too.
The MWPP Era of the books, which refers to the time James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew were in school, has a fandom of its own, with their animal counterparts being the fandom representatives.
Key Components of the Harry Potter aesthetic
Harry Potter Fashion
In the magical world, people wear green and purple robes and capes to indicate that they are magicians. As for the students, they wear cloaks upon their school uniforms and wear accessories that have the same color scheme as their allotted Hogwarts houses. Even their sports jerseys are of their house colors.
As for regular clothing, there’s not much difference in what they wear and what their muggle counterparts wear. Their accessories, tho, are often charmed. Butterfly earrings that flutter, pendants with moving pictures, and rings that change color based on the person’s mood are only some of the unique accessories they have.
People trying to imitate the Hogwarts aesthetic don’t have to do too much. Simply pairing their house scarf with a British boarding school uniform is enough.
Potterverse food
Every child that reads these books dreams of having butterbeer at least once in their life. If not the fizzy drink, then they’d pray to have a chance of trying out jumping chocolate frogs or Bertie botts every flavor beans. There is no shortage of magical food in harry potter land. Everlasting candy, ice cream that never melts, and the crowd’s favorite, sugar quills.
All these magical foods are barely mentioned in the books and movies, but their addition adds a level of detail to the books that make them all the more interesting to read. It leaves the reader curious about what else this magical world offers.
Apart from these, harry and his friends eat staple British cuisines, such as mashed potatoes, peas, and roast chicken. On special occasions, they have turkey and other similar thanksgiving foods. There is no shortage of desserts in the magical world. Pumpkin pie, sticky toffee pudding, shepherd’s pie, and many more classic English desserts have found their way into J K Rowling’s books.
While they don’t exactly count as food, Potions made by wizards sometimes need to be consumed to have the desired effect, such as the Polyjuice potion. Made in cauldrons with ladles and unique ingredients such as newts and slugs, J K Rowling’s description of potions class is the archetype of what people expect when talking about witches and magic.
Harry Potter Music
There isn’t a lot of reference to magical music in the books. We do know that bands and choirs existed in Potterverse, but the music element in Potterverse was bought in by the movies. Without impactful and magnificent music themes and soundtracks, the movies would’ve felt incomplete. Hedwig’s and Harry Potter’s themes are still regarded as musical masterpieces years later.
The creativity did not end there. Musically inclined fans started bands and youtube channels singing self-written songs related to the Potterverse. Even today, youtube has several harry potter inspire bands such as Draco and the Malfoys, the Wizardrock, swish and flick, and many more.
AVPM. The star kids production, A Very Potter Musical, is a cult classic. A musical put up by the drama and theatre kids was an incredible work of art. Some consider it more nuanced than the book, considering how it handled certain topics, such as Dumbledore’s sexuality and Hermione’s nerdiness.
The Hogwarts Castle
Surrounded by nature that is also enchanted in its own right, the huge Hogwarts castle is a place of wonder. Moving staircases and dynamic pictures that talk back to you. The Hogwarts castle is the dream boarding school. It has elves that clean up after you and password-protected dorms.
Classes everywhere, from roofs to dungeons as well as stables and barns. It is also home to several magical objects. It is also known for the dining hall that hosts thousands of students and staff and is a vast ground for training and flying practice. And who could forget its crown jewel, the quidditch pitch?
In book 4, the goblet of fire, Hogwarts was also the venue for the Triwizard championship, with students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang flying in to participate in the competition. Complete with a magical maze and haunted lake, the Hogwarts castle keeps surprising. Undoubtedly, its best surprise to date was the soldiers that popped out of castle walls to protect the borders.
Since the release of the books, people have been imagining and recreating the castle in their homes using similar décor and imagery to give them magical feels. Whether decorating their rooms in their Hogwarts house colors or basing their rooms on a professor’s office, there is no end to the creativity.
The Harry Potter Influence
Since its release, the harry potter phenomenon has taken the world by storm. People loved the books and series. Since then, numerous fanfictions aBOut every aspect of the book have been written.
Songs and plays written and dedicated to harry potter started to pop up everywhere. People had debates and discussions about all topics under the sun. Harry Potter-inspired comics, toys, tattoos, food, and much more leave their mark on pop culture history.
JK Rowling’s overnight success story was also an inspiration to many. Despite being rejected by several publishers, she didn’t give up hope, and her perseverance made her a billionaire.
It was the first book of its kind to appeal to all readers. It inspired children and adults alike. Adults loved the book just as much as children, thanks to the complex storytelling and incredible character development.
Reading Harry Potter made it cool to be nerdy. People weren’t afraid to show their obsession with Harry Potter, and they weren’t afraid to publicly discuss, argue, and debate the finer details of the books; being well versed in Potterverse was considered quite cool.

The ultimate harry potter aesthetic
Even though harry potter is associated with many colors and themes, it’s best known for popularising the dark academia aesthetic. This social media aesthetic is associated with poetry and literature, the arts, and classic mythology references.
The themes explored are usually dark and heavy, romanticizing studying and researching higher-level education, especially forbidden or illegal topics. It also inspires rebellion and revolution. Its color palette is black, white, beige, browns, dark green, and occasionally navy blue.
Quotes and lessons
JK Rowling was a literary genius. Her characters were so unique that everyone who read them was able to relate to someone or the other. Her wordplay and connection to past events were often lauded. Apart from some great literature, she also managed to teach several life lessons through these lovable characters.
Many of the quotes and dialogues she used in her books still hold meaning and are still quoted today. Some popular ones include – “It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.” or “If you want to know what a man’s like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.”
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Harry Potter series changed the YA fiction game. Before the release of Harry Potter, people would read YA novels in secret. They were ashamed to be caught reading what were considered teen novels.
But Harry Potter was embraced by people of all ages. It immersed itself into every field and aspect of life and today has one of the world’s largest and most loyal fanbases. Its writing is still unparalleled, and the lessons learned through those books are relevant all these years later.
Last Updated on by Himani Rawat