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"They had arrived in what seemed to be a crowded reception area where rows of witches and wizards sat upon rickety wooden chairs, some looking perfectly normal and perusing out-of-date copies of Witch Weekly..."
— Copies of Witch Weekly in the reception area at St Mungo's[src]

Witch Weekly was a popular magazine for witches created by Tobias Misslethorpe.[1] It included articles, quizzes, advice columns, and recipes. It also reported a great deal of celebrity news, as Harry Potter and Quidditch players were featured often in it.

History[]

During the Hogwarts anniversary celebrations in the 1984–1985 school year, the magazine ran an article on Minerva McGonagall, who was featured on the front page of that issue. They also gave her a personal copy to keep, which she then later gave to Jacob's sibling after signing it.[2]

Molly Weasley was one subscriber; St Mungo's also kept it stocked in their waiting room.[3] It gave a regular Most Charming Smile Award in association with the Witches' League (of which Lady Wimborne was president), which Gilderoy Lockhart had won five times by 1992.[4]

Near the start of the 1991–1992 school year, the magazine ran a "Celebration of Sorting!" edition with stories devoted to what to wear for sorting day and potions that might affect the Sorting Hat's decision.[5]

HermioneHateMail

Hermione's hate mail, one of which is filled with Bubotuber pus

Witch Weekly had published several interviews by Rita Skeeter, including one written in the spring of 1995, "Harry Potter's Secret Heartache", which falsely accused Hermione Granger of leading on both Viktor Krum and Harry Potter by use of love potions to "satisfy her taste for celebrity wizards".[6] The article was widely read enough that Hermione received quite a bit of hate mail.[7]

Hermione was dismayed at Easter, when the Easter egg that Molly Weasley sent to Harry was about the size of an ostrich egg, and Hermione's was the size of a chicken egg. This misunderstanding was not cleared up until the Weasleys came to cheer Harry on in the Third Task; Harry informed Molly that Hermione was never his girlfriend.[8]

Known editions[]

Behind the scenes[]

  • Witch Weekly is presumably based on Woman's Weekly, a popular British magazine targeted at women.
  • In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Rita Skeeter's article on Hermione appears in the Daily Prophet instead.
  • The cover of the special "Celebration of Sorting" edition of Witch Weekly featured in Harry Potter: Puzzles & Spells shows that it is its 8952314th issue.[9] If that was the case, and assuming a weekly frequency, counting back from September 1991, this would mean that the magazine would have been established in around the year 169580 B.C., which is something that defies reasonable credence.

Translations[]

  • Albanian: E Perjavshmja e Magjistricave
  • Bulgarian: Седмичник на магьосницата (Sedmichnik na magyosnitzata) (literal)
  • Catalan: Cor de Bruixa ("Witch's heart")
  • Chinese (Simplified): 女巫周刊 (changed to 巫师周刊 in the revised translated edition of the Order of Phoenix)
  • Chinese (Traditional): 女巫週刊
  • Croatian: Vještičji tjednik
  • Czech: Týdenník čarodějek
  • Danish: Alt for Heksene ("Everything for the witches", a pun on the Danish magazine Alt for Damerne, "Everything for the ladies")
  • Dutch: Heks en Haard ("Witch and Fireplace"; haard is also used to express something homey or cosy)
  • Estonian: Nõidade Nädalaleht
  • Faroese: Gívragaman and Vikutíðindi fyri gandafólk (Gívragaman in the Chamber of Secrets and Vikutíðindi fyri gandafólk in the Goblet of Fire)
  • Finnish: Me Noidat ("We Witches", wordplay on women's magazine Me Naiset)
  • French: Sorcière-Hebdo (from sorcière "witch" and hebdomadaire "weekly publication")
  • German: Hexenwoche (semi-literal)
  • Greek, Modern: Τα εβδομαδιαία των μαγισσών
  • Hebrew: למכשפה ("For the Witch"; wordplay on women's magazine לאשה - "For the Woman")
  • Hindi: चुड़ैल साप्ताहिक (chudail sāptāhik) (literal)
  • Hungarian: Szombati Boszorkány ("Saturday Witch", wordplay on boszorkányszombat "Witches' Sabbath")
  • Icelandic: Nýtt nornalíf
  • Italian: Settimanale delle Streghe (literal)
  • Japanese: 週間魔女 (Shūkan Majo) (literal)
  • Latvian: Raganu nedēļa
  • Lithuanian: Raganų Savaitraštis
  • Norwegian: Heks og Hør (a pun on the popular Norwegian tabloid magazine Se og Hør)
  • Polish: tygodnik „Czarownica”
  • Portuguese: Semanário da Feiticeira ("Witches' Weekly Magazine") or Witch Weekly
  • Portuguese (Brazil): Semanário da Bruxa ("Witches' Weekly Magazine")
  • Romanian: Saptamanalul Vrajitoarelor ("Witches' Weekly Magazin")
  • Russian: Журнал "Ведьмин досуг ("Witches' Leisure" Magazine)
  • Serbian: Вештичији недељник (Veštičji Nedeljnik) ("Witches' Weekly Magazine")
  • Slovak: Čarodejnica ("The Witch")
  • Slovenian: Čarovničin tednik
  • Spanish: Corazón de bruja ("Witch's heart")
  • Swedish: Häxornas värld
  • Turkish: cadı gündemi
  • Ukrainian: Відьомський тижневик (Vidyoms'kiy tyzhnevyk)
  • Vietnamese: Tuần san Nữ phù thủy ("Female Socerer Weekly Magazine")

Appearances[]

Notes and references[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film) (see this image)
  2. Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery, Year 2, "McGONAGALL'S HONOUR" Achievement
  3. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 22 (St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries)
  4. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Chapter 6 (Gilderoy Lockhart)
  5. Harry Potter: Puzzles & Spells
  6. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 27 (Padfoot Returns)
  7. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 28 (The Madness of Mr Crouch)
  8. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 31 (The Third Task)
  9. Harry Potter: Puzzles & Spells (see this image)
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