Hog's Head Inn

Hog's Head Inn
Location information
Location	Hogsmeade, Highlands, Scotland, Great Britain
Owner(s)	Aberforth Dumbledore
Permanent residents	Aberforth Dumbledore
Affiliation	Order of the Phoenix Dumbledore's Army

"Yeh get a lot o' funny folk in the Hog's Head..."

— The Hog's Head's interesting clientele

The Hog's Head Inn is a slightly disreputable inn and pub in the all wizarding village of Hogsmeade. It is located one or two streets off of the High Street, the Hog’s Head Inn has been a fixture of Hogsmeade for several years. The Inn is owned and operated by Aberforth Dumbledore.

A worn-out wooden sign hangs over the door, advertising with a “wild boar’s severed head leaking blood onto the white cloth around it”. It’s known for its cheapness, at least relative to the Three Broomsticks down the street, and according to Albus Dumbledore attracts an interesting clientele.

Description

Inside the tavern

The bar in the Hog’s Head is small and extraordinarily dirty and strewn with sawdust with the windows nearly opaque and the floor all but invisible beneath the dirt. There is an “ancient wooden till” behind the bar that serves as cash register, and the entire room smells strongly of “something that might have been goats.” Even the rags behind the bar seem filthy; at one point, as Aberforth Dumbledore continued to wipe a glass, Harry Potter noted that it seems to be getting dirtier.

Behind the bar is a “rickety wooden staircase” leading up to a sitting room, most likely an open area between the guest rooms, with a fireplace and a curtained window looking down at the street. The guest rooms themselves are located above the bar, and like the bar itself are not noted for being especially clean. Sybill Trelawney, for example, warns Harry against bedbugs.

Above the fireplace in the upstairs sitting room is a portrait of Ariana Dumbledore. Through this portrait is a secret passage, leading into the Room of Requirement in Hogwarts. This passage “opened up” when Neville Longbottom began living in the room in the spring of 1998, though we have no way to know whether the portrait might have led to another part of Hogwarts prior to that time.

Reputation

Hog's head

The Hog's Head is known for being the kind of disreputable establishment that the shady type like to frequent. Due to the shadiness of the place, it is somewhat a sense of fashion for the customers to keep their faces hidden, and Aberforth had never had a large number of customers inside at once prior to the recruiting meeting of Dumbledore's Army.

Mundungus Fletcher was thrown out for life of the Hog's Head some years ago for an unspecified offence, however, it can be assumed that he was using the place as a venue for his dealing in questionable and stolen merchandise. Filius Flitwick confirmed to Hermione Granger that students are permitted to pay patronage to Hog's Head, though he strongly advised her to bring her own cup, as Aberforth was seen cleaning a cup with a rather dirty rag, only making it more dirty. The owner was also rather not fond of large amount of customers, as he looked irritated when about 28 students came to visit for the meeting.

Despite being such a run down and visually unappealing avenue, it has been the place of a fair share of remarkable events, including: the making of Harry Potter's prophecy, the revelation of how to get to the Philosopher's Stone, the first gathering of Dumbledore's Army, and supplying rebels against Death Eaters at Hogwarts food and drink in their hideout. None other than the waiting place of Mulciber, Rosier, Dolohov, and Nott when Tom Riddle came to Hogsmeade requesting to secure a post with Headmaster Dumbledore.

History

Making of the Prophecy

In 1979, Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry travelled to the Hog's Head to interview an applicant for the post of Divination Teacher: Sybill Trelawney. It was in the Hog's Head that Trelawney made one of her only two known actual prophecies, this one made to Albus Dumbledore himself about "The Dark Lord and Harry Potter".

As it transpired, a Death Eater spy, revealed to be Severus Snape, was listening at the door of the private room where Trelawney and Dumbledore were having their meeting. Snape was thrown out of the building before he could hear the whole prophecy, however, he did hear enough to make the Dark Lord attack and kill Harry Potter's parents, and attempt to kill Harry when the information was conveyed to him.

The Philosopher's Stone

"Won it, las' night I was down in the village havin' a few drinks an' got into a game o' cards with a stranger. Think he was quite glad ter get rid of it, ter be honest."

— Hagrid on the events that took place in the Inn

Rubeus Hagrid drinking in the Hog's Head with the hooded stranger

Rubeus Hagrid was known to frequent the Hog's Head. It was here that he allowed a hooded stranger to purchase him a series of drinks that intoxicated Hagrid enough to make him let slip how to get past Fluffy, Hagrid's pet three headed dog. During the same encounter, Hagrid played, and won a game of cards, earning him a prize in the form of a Norwegian Ridgeback dragon egg.

Dumbledore's Army

"Uhm, hi, you all know why we're here. We need a teacher. A proper teacher. One who's had real experience defending themselves against the Dark Arts."

— Hermione opens the meeting at the Hog's Head

It was the inn's infamously shady reputation that made Hermione Granger pick the Hog's Head as the first meeting place for Dumbledore's Army, to their detriment. Mundungus Fletcher, disguised as a witch wearing a thick black veil that fell to his toes, was spying on the proceedings under the orders of Albus Dumbledore, while Willy Widdershins, who was heavily wrapped in bandages, overheard the group planning their defence lessons, and reported it to Dolores Umbridge and Cornelius Fudge. The meeting was so peculiar for the inn's normally quiet nature that even Aberforth was apparently listening in on the meeting (though he is also a member of the Order of the Phoenix).

Dumbledore's Army gathering in the Hog's Head

Hermione had thought that meeting in such a secluded and disreputable place would lessen their chances of meeting anyone who would give them up, however, Sirius Black would later point out that having their first meeting in such a quiet place was rather unwise, and suggested that the Three Broomsticks Inn would probably have been a wiser choice for a first meeting. It was in this meeting that the foundation for Dumbledore's Army was made and each member attending signed their name on a piece of parchment to bide their loyalty.

Second Wizarding War

"A tiny white dot had reappeared at the end of the painted tunnel, and now Ariana was walking back towards them, growing bigger and bigger as she came. But there was somebody else with her now, someone taller than she was, who was limping along looking excited."

— Neville Longbottom arrives through the secret passage to meet Harry

Ariana Dumbledore's portrait, the secret passage

For about two weeks before the Battle of Hogwarts there was a tunnel connecting the Hog's Head to the Room of Requirement at Hogwarts. The opening to the tunnel was hidden behind a picture of Ariana Dumbledore. The tunnel was used as a means to allow people from the outside world into the Room of Requirement, which was acting as the safe haven for the reformed Dumbledore's Army. This tunnel was destroyed by Neville's grandmother Augusta Longbottom once everyone was through so no one else could use it. The Inn was also used by Death Eaters to "traffick potions and poisons" as said by Aberforth.

Interior

Behind the scenes

• A "hogshead" is a measurement of an alcholic bevarge, such as beer or wine, that measures ~240 litres.
• According to Hermione Granger, in Sites of Historical Sorcery it was mentioned that the inn at Hogsmeade served as human headquarters for the 1612 goblin rebellion. It is unknown if the inn mentioned in the book is the Hog's Head.
• A sign hung in the Hog's Head, declaring that the sale of unicorn blood was forbidden and warning customers not to ask about it
• In LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7, Aberforth Dumbledore has a picture of him and his brother Albus Dumbledore hanging on the wall, unlike in the book and film where there are no pictures of Albus anywhere in the pub.

Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (First mentioned)
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film) (Mentioned as "pub")
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (video game) (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (First appearance)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (Seen in Two-way mirror)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (video game)
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7
• Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery
• Harry Potter Trading Card Game
• The Wizarding World of Harry Potter