The Whomping Willow is a deciduous tree which is violent towards anything that gets within range of its branches. It first appears in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
About[]
The Whomping Willow is a valuable but vicious tree. Its branches are limbs which function like arms that have to be treated when damaged.[1] The tree was planted to hide a secret passageway underneath it which leads to the Shrieking Shack.[2]
The tree is temporarily paralysed if the knot on the trunk is tapped[2], and people have been known to use a long branch to reach it.[3] The knot is very difficult to get to because the branches of the tree whip round trying to hit anyone who goes near it.[2] The passageway under the tree is entered through the roots. The passageway is on the Marauder's Map, but it doesn't show where the path goes to because the Shrieking Shack is in Hogsmeade and not within school grounds.[2]
History[]
The tree was planted by Professor Dumbledore Hogwarts for a new student, Lupin who started attending the school in 1971. The purpose of the tree was to guard an entrance to the Shrieking Shack where Lupin had to go every time he transformed into a werewolf. He used a stick to paralyse the tree and was taken by Poppy Pomfrey.[3]
Students used to play a game when it was first planted. They had to try and get close enough to the trunk to touch it, but Davey Gudgeon nearly lost an eye and they were forbidden to go near it again.[4]
James Potter, Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew later joined Lupin when they learned how to turn Animagus. Being a tiny rat, Peter could slip pass the tree's branches to get to the knot to paralyse it. Lupin was once spotted being taken to the tree by a curious student they bullied, Severus Snape. Black thought it was funny to tell Snape how to prod a knot on the tree to get into the passageway, and Potter had to intervene to stop Snape getting too close to Lupin to be attacked.[3]
In September 1992, Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley was driving the Ford Anglia when it run out of power and dropped into the tree. It began violently beating the car and broke Ron's wand.[5] They damaged the tree and Professor Sprout had to mend it by putting a lot of its branches in bandages and slings.[1]
In 1993, Harry's Nimbus 2000 fell into the Whomping Willow when he attacked by Dementors. The tree beat up the broom into a dozen pieces of splintered wood and twigs. Professor Flitwick fetched it and gave the pieces back to Harry but it could never be healed.[6]
In June 1994, Ron was dragged to the tree by Sirius Black because he was holding Scabbers (Peter Pettigrew). Harry and Hermione pursued Ron, but even though Black had tapped the knot, the tree had woken up again when they got to it. They were knocked over by the branches until Crookshanks helped. He got round the branches and tapped the knot. The three then headed down the passageway under it to the Shrieking Shack.[2] Harry dropped the Cloak of Invisibility near the entrance. Snape later found it. Lupin also entered the Shrieking Shack via the Whomping Willow.[3]
Notes and sources[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Chapter 6
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Chapter 17
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Chapter 18
- ↑ Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Chapter 10
- ↑ Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Chapter 5
- ↑ Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Chapter 9