The four Houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards . . . I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever House becomes yours.

[Dumbledore]’s a genius! Best wizard in the world! But he is a bit mad, yes.

And then, once you managed to find them, there were the classes themselves. There was a lot more to magic, as Harry quickly found out, than waving your wand and saying a few funny words.

Harry thought that none of the lessons he’d had so far had given him as much to think about as tea with Hagrid.