The author reveals the name of a Jewish wizard from the first Harry Potter book and assures fans ‘the only people I never imagined there are Wiccans’

These are happy days for Harry Potter fans. Not only are they getting daily snippets of a new Harry Potter “ghost plot” that JK Rowling is unveiling for Advent on her website Pottermore, but the author - always very active on Twitter - has also taken to the social network to confirm that Hogwarts was, or is, a diverse school.

In response to inquiries from her Jewish fans, Rowling clarified last night that there were Jewish students at the wizardry school and revealed the name of one of them, Anthony Goldstein, who was among the original 40 students she created for the first book in the series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. She also assured fans there would be LGBT students in the school, as well as anyone from any “religion/belief/non-belief system” – except for Wiccans (a reference perhaps to the longrunning debate among American fundamentalists as to whether the saga promoted witchcraft).



Asked whether there were any Jewish characters at Hogwarts by a fan, the author responded:

J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) .@benjaminroffman Anthony Goldstein, Ravenclaw, Jewish wizard.

J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) .@GredxForgex Me too! But it's a different concept of magic to the one laid out in the books, so I don't really see how they can co-exist.

Later, she would clarify:

J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) OK, let me clarify that! Anthony isn't the first Jewish student, nor is he the only one. I just have reasons for knowing most about him!

Rowling made the case for diversity in Hogwarts with these tweets:

J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) To everyone asking whether their religion/belief/non-belief system is represented at Hogwarts: the only people I never imagined there 1/2

J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) are Wiccans.

... which some fans picked up on:

J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) .@HikePenido No, I am happy to confirm that you are entirely normal.

J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) .@indigo_15 Exactly. He's one of the original forty students I created in Harry's year.

Without specifying any characters, she also assured another fan that Hogwarts would be a safe school for LGBT students: