Weird Sisters

Warning! At least some content in this article is derived from information featured in Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery. Spoilers will be present within the article.

The Weird Sisters were a very popular band in the wizarding world and on the Wizarding Wireless Network. Albus Dumbledore booked them to perform in Hogwarts at the 1994 Yule Ball. Despite their name, all eight known members are male.

In 1995, the band was popular enough that the marriage of their bass player, Donaghan Tremlett, made front-page news in the Daily Prophet.^[1]

Overview

Known band members

• Heathcote Barbary - Rhythm guitar
• Gideon Crumb - Bagpipes
• Kirley Duke - Lead guitar
• Merton Graves - Cello
• Orsino Thruston - Drums
• Donaghan Tremlett - Bass
• Myron Wagtail - Lead singer
• Herman Wintringham - Lute

Known songs

• "Do the Hippogriff"^[2]
• "Magic Works"^[2]
• "This Is the Night"^[2]

History

1980s debut performance

By the 1985–1986 school year, Hogwarts students Myron Wagtail and Kirley Duke, accompanied by Orsino Thruston, had formed the band, and wanted to perform in the Hogwarts Castle.^[3]

After the performance, Wagtail informed Jacob's sibling that they found a talented newcomer, Donaghan Tremlett.^[3]

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1994 Yule Ball

Upon the announcement of the Yule Ball, one of the rumours discussed in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, was that Albus Dumbledore had booked the Weird Sisters for the ball, which turned out to be true.^[4]

On 25 December, 1994, the band performed in the Great Hall on a magically-appearing stage. Among the band's instruments were a set of drums, several guitars, a cello, a lute, a double bass and some bagpipes. During this performance, Harry Potter noted that all members of the band were extremely hairy and all wearing black robes that had been artfully torn.^[5]

Behind the scenes

• Nymphadora Tonks and Ginny Weasley are both fans of the Weird Sisters.
• In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the band which performs at the Yule Ball deliberately goes unnamed throughout the film because of a legal dispute between the film studio and Canadian folk band Wyrd Sisters.^[6] The band is simply introduced as "The band that needs no introduction!" Because they are identified in the book as the Weird Sisters, it's safe to assume the band in the film was designed to be them.
  • Thirteen years after the film's release, despite the legal dispute, Warner Bros. used the name to identify a trio of teenage witches in the 2018 Netflix Original Series, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.
• Members Merton Graves and Herman Wintringham do not make an appearance in the film.
• In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, piper Gideon Crumb plays keyboards as well as bagpipes. In the book series, however, there is no mention of the band having a keyboard player.
• The band's songs were written by Jarvis Cocker, who plays singer Myron Wagtail. "Do the Hippogriff" was a collaboration between Cocker and rhythm guitarist Jason Buckle (Heathcote Barbary).
• The Scottish band Franz Ferdinand, self-professed fans of the books, were originally invited to play the Weird Sisters.^[7]
• In an interview, J. K. Rowling stated that the instruments that they played included bagpipes, cello and electric guitar and that they were Harry Potter's favourite band.^[8]
• At least as portrayed in the Harry Potter films, the Weird Sisters are considered to be a wizard rock band.^[9]
• Profiles of female members of the Weird Sisters can be seen in the PC video game of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets​.^{[citation needed]}
• All appear on Chocolate Frog Cards at the Harry Potter Exhibition.^{[citation needed]}

Portrayers of the Weird Sisters

• Jarvis Cocker (of Pulp) as Myron Wagtail – vocals
• Jonny Greenwood (of Radiohead) as Kirley Duke – lead guitar
• Jason Buckle (of All Seeing I) as Heathcote Barbary – rhythm guitar
• Steve Mackey (of Pulp) as Donaghan Tremlett – bass
• Steven Claydon (of Add N to (X)) as Gideon Crumb – keyboards and bagpipes
• Phil Selway (of Radiohead) as Orsino Thruston – drums

Etymology

• The term "Weird Sisters" was the name given to the three prophetic witches in the play "Macbeth," by William Shakespeare ("weïrd" being Old English for "fate" or "destiny").
  • Macbeth, stated to be quite possibly the favourite Shakespeare play of Harry Potter series author J. K. Rowling,^[10] had another allusion in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film), where the Frog Choir sings "Double Double Toil and Trouble", a direct quote from the play.
  • Interestingly, the Spanish edition of the books refers to the band by the name las Brujas de Macbeth, meaning "Macbeth's Witches".
• As it is unconfirmed as to from where J. K. Rowling got the idea for the band's name, other possibilities include:
  • A variant of the name, Wyrd Sisters, was used as the title of a 1988 Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett.
  • A play on the heavy rock band, Twisted Sister.

Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (video game) (PC version) (Appears in portrait(s))
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (First appearance)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Mentioned on a shirt) (Mentioned in the Daily Prophet)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (At the funeral for Albus Dumbledore)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Mentioned on a poster)
• Pottermore
• Harry Potter: The Character Vault (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery

Notes and references

The Weird Sisters
Lead singer	Lead guitar	Rhythm guitar	Bass guitar
Myron Wagtail	Kirley Duke	Heathcote Barbary	Donaghan Tremlett
Bagpipes	Drums	Cello	Lute
Gideon Crumb	Orsino Thruston	Merton Graves	Herman Wintringham
Known songs
Do The Hippogriff · Magic Works · This Is The Night