The Harry Potter film series has fans worldwide, which means the movies have been getting the meme treatment since the first one came out in 2001. These vary in their subject matter and scope, but here’s your guide to some of the most popular Harry Potter memes out there.
‘You’re a wizard, Harry’
“You’re a wizard, Harry,” often intentionally misspelled as “Yer a wizard, Harry,” is a meme that originates from the first film in the series, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Hagrid says the line when he reveals to Harry that the protagonist is a wizard, leading Harry to react with surprise.
In 2010, YouTube user GurpageProductions uploaded a parody of the scene. The clip received 2 million views before it was taken down due to a supposed copyright infringement. However, the parody inspired a number of remixes, with many people replacing the “wizard” part of the catchphrase.
Harry and Ron screaming
This meme comes from the second movie, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, when Harry and Ron steal Ron’s father’s magical flying car to take them to school after they’ve missed the train to Hogwarts.
The scene of them screaming was widely used as a reaction image throughout the 2010s, and later gained more popularity after the image was photoshopped along with a leaked picture of the new Sonic the Hedgehog’s original live-action film design.
In 2019, Imugr user Turboners labeled the Sonic in the meme derivative “JK Rowling” and the screaming duo “Characters that aren’t gay yet,” in reference to a series of statements by the book’s author about certain characters in the books being gay.
Expecto Patronum
In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry learns the incantation “Expecto Patronum,” a spell that produces a protector animal to ward off the dreaded “dementors.” This spell only works when the caster concentrates on a happy memory to repel the soul-sucking prison guards.
In 2016, the now-defunct website Pottermore uploaded a quiz allowing fans to discover their own patronuses. It also invited users to share their results on social media with the hashtag #ExpectoPatronum. These quickly resulted in parody posts in which users edited their results to include joke Patronus protectors, including Donald Trump, Gilbert Gottfried, and even a sandwich.
I discovered my Patronus is Trump. Find yours: https://t.co/77drNZ8EET #ExpectoPatronum pic.twitter.com/ZuNqbqgPPg
— Bucket List 127 (@BucketList127) September 22, 2016
Harry Potter chess scene
The Harry Potter chess scene meme originates from the wizard’s chess game that Harry, Ron, and Hermione play towards the end of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. In September 2023, TikTok user @Kimberlypizzo uploaded a recreation of the dialogue in which she played all three characters, exaggerating their accents and mannerisms from the original scene.
@kimberlypizzo NOT ME, NOT HERMIONE, YAOU #fypシ #foryou #foryoupage #harrypotter #ronweasley #hermionegranger #sorcerersstone #philosophersstone #voldemort #dobby
♬ original sound – Kimberly Pizzo
The post exploded on the social media platform, inspiring a number of reposts and remixes. In April 2023, another TikToker, @melsbookspace, overlaid the audio from @Kimberlypizzo’s post on the original scene from the movie, gaining over 3.5 million likes in just three months. In June 2023, another TikToker, who posts under the handle @pablooterodeg, posted a dance video over the parody audio, garnering 3.2 million likes as of this writing.
@pablooterodeg NO YOU CAN’T 😧
♬ Harry Potter _ Chess Scene – Peacock
The audio from @Kimberlypizzo’s post was also used by TikToker @frever_lizzie, who used animated 3D models of the characters doing various dances as the scene played out. This was later duetted by user @zeo_choons, who added a backing house track. The remix inspired a number of offshoots in which users danced and lip-synched to the dialogue.
@zeo_choons duet with @LIZZIE 🦸🏻♀️ #harrypotterchessscene #harrypotterremix #harrypotterclub #techhouseremix #techhousedj #houseremix #musicproducermemes
♬ Harry Potter _ Chess Scene – Peacock