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"Like them, Potter? And this isn’t all they do — look!"
— Draco Malfoy showing Harry Potter the insulting badges[src]

The Potter Stinks badges were magical badges made during the 1994–1995 school year at Hogwarts.[1]

History[]

"The Slytherins howled with laughter. Each of them pressed their badges too, until the message POTTER STINKS was shining brightly all around Harry. He felt the heat rise in his face and neck."
— Slytherin students mocking Harry Potter with their badges[src]

When Harry Potter was mysteriously selected to compete in the Triwizard Tournament in 1994, many students began wearing badges that flashed between the phrases "Support Cedric Diggory -- The Real Hogwarts Champion" in luminous red letters and "Potter Stinks" in glowing green letters; this function was activated by pressing on the badge.[1]

Many Slytherins and Hufflepuffs wore the badges prior to the First Task for their own reasons: the Slytherins had a long-standing animosity towards Gryffindor, but the Hufflepuffs thought that Harry had stolen their glory by rivalling Cedric, and wore the badges to intimidate him.[1] The Hufflepuffs eased off somewhat once the First Task was over, mostly at Cedric's request, but the Slytherins wore them throughout the year, due to their general contempt for Harry.[5] At one point, Colin and Dennis Creevey attempted to change the badges to say "Support Harry Potter", but could only manage to get them stuck at "Potter Stinks", and then eventually "Potter Really Stinks".[4]

Cho Chang refused to wear one of these badges, something that cheered Harry up, however slightly.[2]

Harry Potter later found one of these badges in his school trunk in July 1997 when he was sorting out his belongings before leaving 4 Privet Drive to begin the search for Lord Voldemort's Horcruxes.[3]

Behind the scenes[]

  • In the film adaptation, the badges, when turning into "Support Cedric", simply read "Cedric Diggory" instead.
  • It is noted that Harry found one of the badges while cleaning out his trunk.[3] Exactly why he would wish to have one is unknown, but it is possible that someone slipped one into his belongings while he wasn't looking. It is possible that it was one of the badges that the Creevey brothers were trying to modify, which Harry threw at Ronald Weasley, or that Harry had chosen to keep the badge as a tribute to the late Cedric.

Appearances[]

Notes and references[]

  1. 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 18 (The Weighing of the Wands)
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Chapter 2 (In Memoriam)
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 19 (The Hungarian Horntail)
  5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 26 (The Second Task)
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