Beech tree on the edge of the Black Lake

Beech tree on the edge of the Black Lake
Location information
Location	Black Lake shore, Hogwarts grounds, Scotland
Owner(s)	Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Affiliation	Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

"The sky was a clear, misty, opalescent blue. Directly ahead of him, Harry could see the towering beech tree below which his father had once tormented Snape."

— Description.

There was a towering beech tree on one of the banks of the Black Lake, at the Hogwarts Grounds, in Scotland.

History

1976

Severus Snape being bullied by the Marauders near this tree

After his Defence Against the Dark Arts Ordinary Wizarding Level exam in 1976, Severus Snape sat under the shade of this beech tree to read through his exam paper. Moments later, James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew arrived. Noticing Snape, James and Sirius started bullying him, having turned him upside-down in midair and exposing his "pair of greying underpants" to the laughing student crowd that had assembled there. Lily Evans came to Severus's defence, but this only made things worse: in a subsequent lashing out at James in an attempt to recover his lost dignity, Severus inadvertently called Lily a Mudblood. Lily refused to forgive him for it, even after his repeated apologies. This would forever be Severus's worst memory.

1995

On 6 October 1995, Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger spent their Sunday catching up with their homework in the shade of this tree. Hermione, however, had already done all her homework, so she brought wool with her and bewitched her knitting needles so that they would produce hats and scarves for the school house-elves, as per her Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare initiative.

1996

Later that school year, on 31 May 1996, the trio spent the warm day revising for their own Ordinary Wizarding Levels under this tree. Ron, however, found it hard not to talk about helping Gryffindor scrape the Quidditch Cup, but Harry and Hermione, who had missed the game, told him all about Grawp.

Behind the scenes

• For the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the scene in which this tree appears was filmed at the cedar of Lebanon tree, which stands in the grounds of Blenheim Palace.

Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (First appearance)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film) (Appears in flashback(s))
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Appears in flashback(s))
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7 (Appears in flashback(s))
• Harry Potter: The Character Vault (Concept art)
• Harry Potter: Magic Awakened (Mentioned only)