Using a Harry Potter Themed Pencil – United States (Jea Mo)

Title: Using a Harry Potter Themed Pencil (United States)

General Information:

Informant:

MK is a sophomore at New York University who is from Concord, Massachusetts. He described himself as a “huge Harry Potter fan” who has an obsession with Harry Potter items. He also said that his Harry Potter house was Ravenclaw, the house known for its intellect and wits.

Contextual Data:

Cultural Context: The Harry Potter series, both book and movie, have been very popular among children and young adults for many years. It has been a trend for fans of the series to do the Harry Potter Sorting Hat test and collect relevant items such as socks, pencils, hats, scarves, etc.
Social Context: The item was conducted over a zoom call with the informant. The informant mentioned that the item is a superstition that is endorsed not only by himself, but also by his close circle of middle school friends who are all fans of Harry Potter.

Item:

When taking an important test, the informant would use his Harry Potter themed pencil that has the markings of the house Ravenclaw.

Associated File:

Transcript:

“I always use my Harry Potter pencil when I take a test. I know some people think it’s, um, a little childish. But I think it helps me a lot. I think it’s maybe because I’m in Ravenclaw. You know, Ravenclaw is known to be smart and all that. I feel like if I’m using my Ravenclaw pencil, I somehow think I’m enhancing my intellect.”

Informant’s comments:

“My favorite color and my lucky color also happens to be blue. So, it kind of matches. Also, if I don’t have a Ravenclaw pencil at hand, I’d use a Hufflepuff pencil because it’s the next house I identify with.”

Collector’s comments:

I thought it was interesting that using an object of a certain identity that one identifies with boosts one’s sense of confidence.

Collector’s name: Jea Mo

Tags/Keywords

Dartmouth Folklore Archive