This Month in HP History

23rd June 1991, Harry Potter visited the London Zoo together with the Dursleys and Piers Polkiss. There, he spoke Parseltongue for the first time with a boa constrictor, which he also freed by vanishing the glass.

Maxim Trevelyan
Writer, Ravenclaw

It seems that a lot of important things happen in June. It is one of the pivotal months in the Harry Potter series, so it comes as no surprise that a lot of events happen in it as well.

Our first takes us to 1992 on June 4th, when after the exams, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger follow the Philoshoper’s Stone thief through the trapdoor. At first they think this is Severus Snape, but after many obstacles, Harry faces Quirinius Quirrell, who shares his body with Lord Voldemort. This ends in Quirrell’s death, Voldemort flying away as a bodiless entity and Harry wounding up in the Hospital Wing.

Two days and two years later, on June 6th 1994, Professor Trelawney makes a second true prophecy in the presence of Harry Potter. Scabbers is exposed as being Peter Pettigrew, the true traitor of the Potters. He manages to escape when Remus Lupin transforms into a werewolf during the full moon. This all results in Sirius Black's capture and Lupin's dismissal from the school. Harry and Hermione use a Time Turner to go a few hours into the past and rescue not only Sirius, but Buckbeak as well.

Almost 50 years ago from the previous event, on June 13th, Tom Riddle accuses Aragog and by extension, Rubeus Hagrid of the death of Myrtle Warren, who later becomes Moaning Myrtle, a ghost haunting the girls' bathroom. As a consequence, Hagrid is expelled from Hogwarts in his third year.

18th of June, in 1996, Harry Potter has a vision of Sirius Black being tortured by Lord Voldemort at the Ministry of Magic. Harry then tries to contact his Godfather through the fireplace in Dolores Umbridge’s office to check if the vision was real. Harry and his friends get caught and in order to get to the Ministry and not be punished at the same time, they trick Umbridge into going to the Forbidden Forest, where she is carried off by the centaurs. Then, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Luna, Ginny and Neville go to the Ministry of Magic to save Sirius. There, they get into a fight for their lives with the Death Eaters after stepping into the trap, which is when the Order of the Phoenix joins them. The ensuing battle claims the life of Sirius Black, but now, at least everyone believes that Lord Voldemort is indeed back.

23rd June 1991, Harry Potter visited the London Zoo together with the Dursleys and Piers Polkiss. There, he spoke Parseltongue for the first time with a boa constrictor, which he also freed by vanishing the glass.

In 1995, June 24th marked the start of the Third Task of the Triwizard Tournament, where the Champions had to navigate a maze filled with many obstacles. Harry and Cedric Diggory both touched the Cup, which was a Portkey that took them to a graveyard. Cedric died from Avada Kedavra being cast by Peter Pettigrew while Harry got restrained. Using a ritualistic potion, Lord Voldemort got himself a physical body and he attempted to kill Harry in a duel. After a successful escape, it is revealed that Alastor Moody is in fact Barty Crouch Jr., a Death Eater who got Harry involved in the Tournament.

On 29th of June, 1997, Harry Potter receives a message from the Headmaster, telling him they will go and search for a horcrux. They travel to a cave on the seaside and retrieve the item, not yet realizing it is a fake. They return to Hogsmeade when they notice that someone put up a Dark Mark over Hogwarts.

Our last event happened only a few hours later from the previous one, when on June 30th, in 1997, Harry and Albus Dumbledore return from the search of a horcrux. They are accosted by Draco Malfoy and a small group of Death Eaters on top of the Astronomy Tower. As per Dumbledore’s instruction, Severus Snape kills the headmaster.

As always, to end the article on a more cheerful note, we will also mention the June birthdays. Draco Malfoy was born at the beginning of the month, on the 5th. Another of Harry’s “enemies”, his cousin Dudley, was born on the 23rd, while the free house-elf, Dobby, was born on the 28th of June.



Sources

https://harrypotter.fandom.com/wiki/June