Hoggy Warty Hogwarts

Hoggy Warty Hogwarts
Song information
Performed by	Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry staff and students
Tune	Random

"Everybody finished the song at different times. At last, only the Weasley twins were left singing along to a very slow funeral march. Dumbledore conducted their last few lines with his wand, and when they had finished, he was one of those who clapped loudest."

— How the Hogwarts song finished in Harry Potter's first year

"Hoggy Warty Hogwarts" was the school song of Hogwarts. It was typically performed by students at the Start-of-Term Feast at the start of a new school year.

History

The Hogwarts staff singing the song

The song apparently had no set tune, tempo, or duration. In 1991, Albus Dumbledore instructed students to simply "pick their favourite tune", conjuring an animated ribbon from the tip of his wand to write the lyrics in the air. This led to everyone finishing at different times. Fred and George Weasley, who chose to sing the song as "a slow funeral march", were the very last to finish.

Dumbledore called for the school song when he was "feeling particularly buoyant". It was not performed after Harry Potter's first year due to times becoming darker.

Lyrics

"Hoggy Warty Hogwarts" lyric sheet

Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,
Teach us something please,
Whether we be old and bald,
Or young with scabby knees,

Our heads could do with filling,
With some interesting stuff,
For now they're bare and full of air,
Dead flies and bits of fluff,

So teach us things worth knowing,
Bring back what we've forgot,
Just do your best, we'll do the rest,
And learn until our brains all rot.

Alternate Lyrics to Final Stanza

So we bid you truly welcome,
You are a funny lot.
But any guest of Hoggy Warty Hogwarts
Cannot be all rot.

Behind the scenes

• The song first appeared in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. However, it was not included in the book's film adaptation.
• In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, after Rubeus Hagrid says Harry Potter is soon to be "the youngest Triwizard champion there's ever been!", he, Ron Weasley and Hermione sing the Hogwarts school song, just before Harry finds Barty Crouch Snr's dead body. The song is also featured in an earlier deleted scene where the students of Hogwarts sing it in order to welcome their guest from Beauxbatons Academy of Magic and Durmstrang Institute. As depicted in the deleted scene, Harry, Hermione and, bizarrely, Vincent Crabbe appear to enjoy singing it, while the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students and Draco Malfoy appear uncomfortable.
• Despite the song not having a specific tune in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, in the deleted scene from the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the students seem to sing it as a canon in two, all in the same tune.
• The tune that the song is sung to in the the Goblet of Fire film was written by director Mike Newell.
• The last shot of the song in the Goblet of Fire film shows new lyrics being sung, which were not in the original novel.
• One of the achievements for Wonderbook: Book of Spells is "Teach us something please," obtained after beating the Chapter 1 test.
• In Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery, when asking Rowan Khanna to distract Severus Snape, the player can choose a way Rowan distract him, one of which is singing a song. If this player choose this way, Rowan will point out that the school song is the only song they know, to which the player say it is perfect. Rowan proceeds to sing the song in front of Snape, and the latter says he likes the part about students' heads being full of air.

Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (First appearance)
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film) (Cut from final edit)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film) (Sung in the final edit and a cut scene)
• Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery
• Harry Potter: Magic Awakened