Hogwarts Entire-Whomping Willow

> People used to play a game, trying to get near enough to touch the trunk. In the end, a boy called Davey Gudgeon nearly lost an eye, and we were forbidden to go near it.
>
> Remus Lupin regarding the violent nature of this tree, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

A **Whomping Willow** was located on grounds of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It was planted in ***1971*** to disguise the opening of a secret passage leading from the Hogwarts grounds to the ***Shrieking Shack***, a building located in the village of Hogsmeade. A very violent plant, it was known to attack anyone who disturbed its branches.Template:Plant

## Description

**Severus Snape**: "*[holding up a newspaper article about their flying car at King's Cross Station] You were seen by no less than seven Muggles! [furiously throws the newspaper aside and glares at them] Do you have any idea how serious this is? You have risked the exposure of our world. Not to mention the damage you inflicted on a Whomping Willow that's been on these grounds since before you were born!*"
**Ron Weasley**: "*Honestly, Professor Snape, I think it did more damage to us.*"
— Severus Snape mentioning the value of this tree, whilst scolding Ron Weasley and Harry Potter[src]

Whomping Willows were a very valuable, very violent species of magical plant. As was eloquently put by Ron Weasley, it was the only tree in the world that would hit back. A deciduous plant, its limbs functioned as arms and any damage to them was treated in much the same way.

## History

### Early history

> I told you, months ago, that the Whomping Willow was planted the year I came to Hogwarts. The truth is that it was planted because I came to Hogwarts.
>
> How the Willow came to be at Hogwarts, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

 File:Hogwarts Whomping Willow GIF.gif
The Whomping Willow was a very valuable, very violent tree planted alone in the middle of the school grounds. It was planted the same year that ***Remus Lupin*** arrived at Hogwarts (c. 1971) to disguise the opening to a secret passage from Hogwarts to the ***Shrieking Shack***. Lupin would go through a hole in the Willow’s roots every month and through a tunnel to transform into a ***werewolf*** in the Shack where he couldn't hurt anyone. The Willow was so dangerous that it kept other people from entering the passage and encountering the werewolf.

### 1992–1998

> Brilliant! Inspired! What an entrance! Flying a car right into the Whomping Willow, people'll be talking about that one for years —
>
> Lee Jordan to Harry Potter and Ron Weasley about their crash into the Whomping Willow, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

The Whomping Willow was injured when Harry Potter and Ron Weasley crashed Mr Weasley's flying Ford Anglia into it at the beginning of their second year. The following day, the Herbology Professor Pomona Sprout had to bandage some of the tree's limbs to try and repair the damage, possibly assisted (or hindered) by then-Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor Gilderoy Lockhart.
In 1993, Harry Potter's Nimbus 2000 broomstick was destroyed when it fell from the air into the Whomping Willow's branches.

## Behind the scenes

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* In the film adaptation of *Harry Potter and the Chamber-Of Secrets*, the Whomping Willow is located in the Training Grounds, whereas in *Harry Potter and the Prisoner Of Azkaban* (film), the tree is on a hill, far from the castle.
	+ For the console versions where it is the largest to date, it has a single eye with slanted mouth as its face has its non-existent right-side "buried" into the ground with the roots, as well as a pair of hidden giant tree wood-hands used to attack Harry with (its right hand lifting the Ford Anglia and attempting to smash Harry with it, and its left being used to throw boulders; both hands may try to smash-punch Harry however) that only reveal themselves during the boss battle. Harry must cast the Knockback Jinx at its palms' open crevices when they reveal themselves in order to cause its knot-branch (holding Ron captive) to swing around, allowing Harry to jinx its eye and cause damage. The Xbox/Gamecube version of the arena is slightly larger than in the PS2 version, and has more fire-coloured lighting as opposed to a blueish tone in the scenery.
	+ The PS1 version however, is not as big, and its branches resemble hands with two-to-three fingers. It only instead has a mouth which is its weak point. The branches also will attempt to slap Harry as opposed to also using the prior smashing attacks.
	+ The PC version has its size fixed between the sizes of the PS1 and other console versions, and instead has it act as a hostile element. Just like the PS2/Xbox/Gamecube versions however, there is a knot-branch where Ron is held captive by the tree prior. Its "weak point" is instead a small spiral which Harry must cast Flipendo on, and the branch holding Ron has a small platform on it where he stands.
	+ The GBA version of the tree is akin to the one in the films, only it acts as a part of the scenery and there is no interaction with it whatsoever, aside from having the car crash into it.
* The Whomping Willow inspired a ***wizard rock*** band called The Whomping Willows. Often the band speaks as though it were the Whomping Willow. In one song, the Whomping Willow wasn't allowed to be sorted so it created a new house, The House of Awesome.
* The tree also appeared on the Marauder's Map that was included in the ***Harry Potter* 5 video game** box. It was drawn with the letters WHOMPING WILLOW, instead of with lines. The tree's appearance on the map is quite strange, because the tree didn't appear in the game itself.
* In *Harry Potter and the Prisoner Of Azkaban* (film), Remus Lupin immobilises the Whomping Willow. However, in the book, someone has to touch the knot in the tree.
* In the films, the Whomping Willow is similar to what is known in reality as a knotted willow. *Pottermore* however, depicts a more traditional willow with low hanging branches and green curtains of leaves.
* The Whomping Willow and its attack on Harry and Ron may have been inspired by a similar tree and scene in J. R. R. Tolkien's *The Lord of the Rings*. In that novel's first part, *The Fellowship of the Ring*, the hobbits Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin are attacked by a sentient tree called Old Man Willow, who objects to their intrusion into his forest.

## Appearances

**The 5D-Shared-Combined Crossovers for An The-Good/Evil-Hybrid Wiki** has 0 images related to ***Hogwarts Entire-Whomping Willow***.
* *Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets* (film) (First Entire Appearance)
* *Harry Potter and the Prisoner Of Azkaban* (film)
* *Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows (film)*
* *Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows (film) (Appears In Flashback(s))*

## Notes and references

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 , Chapter 5 (*To Diagon Alley*)
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 , Chapter 6 (*Flourish and Blotts*)
3. ↑ *Harry Potter and the Prisoner Of Azkaban* (film)