Your Hogwarts letter has arrived!

Out come the quills as Medha Rao asks kids about their favourite magical subjects

Run through the brick wall into Platform 9 and 3/4 and hop on the train to Hogwarts as it’s that time of the year. Harry Potter’s birthday falls on July 31. To celebrate the special day, Open Sesame asked potterheads to talk about their favourite subject at Hogwarts.

Aarav H Gowda

Bengaluru, 13

Aarav’s favourite subject is ‘transfiguration’, the family of magical spells that are used for changing objects from one type of thing into another. The Bengaluru boy says, “I like transfiguration as it is something that’s not there in the actual world.” The 13-year-old adds, “This magic they learn at Hogwarts is dangerous and complex. The practising witch or wizard has to get the spell exactly right for the transfiguration to be successful. More advanced wizards can perform the Animagus spell which turns the wielder into an animal.”

Jeevan H Gowda

Bengaluru, 13

Another difficult subject to master is ‘potions’, which is basically ‘magical chemistry’. Students learn to brew concoctions made in certain ways and with inherently magical ingredients. One mistake can lead to disaster. Yet, Jeevan from Bengaluru, loves this subject.

The young boy says, “It is my favourite subject because it is taught by Professor Severus Snape. He risked his own life for Harry. His intentions made me cry at the end of the book.” Some of the best potions used by Harry Potter and his friends are Polyjuice Potion (which transforms you into another person for an hour), Draught of Living Death (which makes a person fall into a near-death sleep) and Felix Felicis, also known as ‘liquid luck’, among others.

Allen Philip Rasquinha

Mangaluru, 13

Allen thinks that ‘charms’ is the coolest subject at Hogwarts. It teaches most of the common spells used in the wizarding world. Accio lets you summon objects, Wingardium Leviosa is the levitation spell, Scourgify helps you clean and Episkey heals minor injuries.

“Harry Potter simply wouldn’t be Harry Potter without spells and charms. When I read the first levitation scene in the first book, I thought to myself that it would be fun if it was real. If ‘charms’ was a subject taught in school, then our everyday lives would be a lot easier and filled with fun and magic,” he adds.

Nainika V

Chennai, 11

The most popular subject, however, is ‘defense against the dark arts’. In this class, they were taught spells that were necessary for survival in the magical world. The teaching involved dueling with boggarts, dementors, the death eaters and even Lord Voldermort himself. The chapters in the DADA classroom were some of the most adventurous ones in the series.

Nainika, a 11-year-old from Chennai, says “DADA is my favourite subject because it is one of the most important subjects taught at Hogwarts in which we can learn how to defend ourselves in dark times. I like the disarming spell, ‘Expelliarmus’, which is also Harry’s favorite spell. My favourite DADA teacher is Remus J Lupin, who is a werewolf.”

Gargee R Mitra

Bengaluru, 15

Gargee, from Bengaluru, echoes Nainika’s sentiment. “The fact that aceing in DADA and getting the job of an auror or something that involves fighting dark forces makes this subject a lot more commendable. Let’s face it, Aurors are basically spies with magic.”