Prior to Book 1

Events Prior to Book 1 (Through 1990)

382 B.C.

Ollivanders or some ancestor thereof begins the manufacture of wizarding wands.

962

Earliest known usage of flying broomsticks.

10th Century

The annual Swedish broom race from Kopparberg to Arjeplog begins.

11th Century

The earliest form of Quidditch begins to be played in Queerditch Marsh.

c 1000

Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry is founded. The school houses are named after the founders: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin. Slytherin begins to think that only students from all-magic families should be admitted. Slytherin and Gryffindor have a serious argument, and Slytherin leaves the school. Before his departure Slytherin creates a basilisk that he seals inside the Chamber of Secrets.

1163

The Puddlemere United Quidditch team is founded.

1203

The Holyhead Harpies Quidditch team is founded.

1269

Chief of the Wizards' Council Barberus Bragge brings a caged Golden Snidget to a Quidditch match. He promises one-hundred fifty Galleons to the player who catches it during the course of the game. The bird is saved by Modesty Rabnot, but the practice of using Snidgets in Quidditch becomes popular and widepsread.

1289

An International Warlock Convention is held.

1291

The Kenmare Kestrels Quidditch team is founded.

1292

The Pride of Portree Quidditch team is founded.

c 1294

The Triwizard Tournament is first held.

14th Century

Wizard's Council Chief Burdock Muldoon grants the status of "being" to all creatures who can walk on two legs. A subsequent summit of magical "beings" is an utter disaster.

Madame Elfrida Clagg amends the definition of "being" as any creature who could speak the human tongue. The subsequent meeting is promptly disrupted by trolls who were taught a scant few words by the goblins.

1312

The Wimbourne Wasps Quidditch team is founded.

1323

Perenelle (Flamel) is born.

1326

Nicholas Flamel is born.

1362

The Wizards' Council outlaws Quidditch-playing within fifty miles of any town.

1368

The Wizards' Council outlaws Quidditch-playing within one-hundred miles of any town.

1398

Zacharias Mumps sets down the first full description of the game of Quidditch.

1402

The Welsh Catapults Quidditch team is founded.

1419

The Wizards' Council decrees that Quidditch should not be played "anywhere near any place where there is the slightest chance a Muggle might be watching or we'll see how well you can play whilst chained to a dungeon wall."

1422

The Wigtown Wanderers Quidditch team is founded.

1473

The very first Quidditch World Cup. All seven hundred ways of committing a Quidditch foul take place during the final.

1492

October 31

Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington is killed, but not completely beheaded. His ghost continues to haunt Gryffindor Tower.

1520

The Tutshill Tornados Quidditch team is founded.

1538

In Quidditch a ban is imposed on using wands against the opposing team.

1612

The Hogsmeade inn is the headquarters for a goblin rebellion.

The Appleby Arrows Quidditch team is founded.

1637

The Werewolf Code of Conduct is established.

1652

The Quidditch European Cup is established.

1692

The International Confederation of Wizards devises a list of twenty-seven species to be magically hidden from Muggles so that their existence becomes the stuff of legend and myth.

The International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy makes every Ministry of Magic directly responsible for the consequences of all magical sports played within their borders.

1709

Dragon breeding is outlawed by the Warlocks' Convention.

1750

Clause 73 is added to the International Code of Wizarding Secrecy. It mandates that each wizarding governing body will be responsible for the concealment and control of all magical creatures within its jurisdiction.

The Department of Magical Games and Sports is formed.

1762

The game Creaothceann is banned due to its high fatality rate.

1792

A Triwizard Tournament is held. A cockatrice intended to be caught by the champions injures all three of the participating school headmasters.

1794

First recorded sighting of an Acromantula.

1799

A Ukranian Ironbelly dragon carries off an empty sailing boat from the Black Sea.

1800's

The giants bring their race to the brink of extinction by warring amongst themselves.

1802

A Ridgeback dragon allegedly carries off a whale calf off the coast of Norway.

1811

The new Minster of Magic Grogan Stump decrees that a "being" is "any creature with sufficient intelligence to understand the laws of the magical community and to bear part of the responsibility in shaping those laws."

1820

Elliot Smethwick invents the Cushioning Charm.

1875

The Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery is established.

Gripping Charms are discovered.

1883

February 11

The Department of Magical Games and Sports replaces Quidditch baskets with goal hoops.

1884

A Golden Snitch evades capture for six months in a Quidditch match on Bodmin Moor. The teams eventually give up in disgust.

June 21

The Stooging Penalty is introduced to Quidditch by the Department of Magical Games and Sports. From there on only the Chaser carrying the Quaffle is allowed into the scoring area, a rule intended to prevent injuries to the Keeper.

1891

A first-year plays on a Quidditch house team at Hogwarts, the youngest for a century afterwards owing to age restrictions.

1897

Newton "Newt" Artemis Fido Scamander is born.

1908

Newt Scamander begins his first year at Hogwarts.

1915

Newt Scamander graduates from Hogwarts and joins the Ministry of Magic in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. He is assigned to the House-Elf Relocation Division.

1917

Frank Bryce is born.

Newt Scamander is transferred to the Beast Division of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures.

1918

Mr. Augustus Worme commissions the first edition of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

1927

Tom Malvolo Riddle is born. His father had already left and his mother dies in childbirth, leaving the child to be raised in an orphanage.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander is published.

1929

Rubeus Hagrid is born.

1932

The giantess Fridwulfa abandons her husband and her son Rubeus.

A Welsh Green Dragon swoops down on a beach in Ilfracombe. Fatalities are prevented through the actions of a wizarding family there on holiday. The family members are later awarded Orders of Merlin, First Class.

1935

The first ever transatlantic broom crossing is completed by Jocunda Sykes.

1938

September 1

Tom Riddle begins his first year at Hogwarts.

1940

September 1

Rubeus Hagrid begins his first year at Hogwarts.

1941

Rubeus Hagrid's father dies.

1943

Spring

The Chamber of Secrets is opened by Tom Riddle. Myrtle is killed by the basilisk in the first floor girl's bathroom, leading Headmaster Dippet to consider closing the school. Tom fingers Rubeus Hagrid as the cause of all the attacks, so Hagrid is expelled. Tom receives a Special Award for Services to the School, and the entire matter is hushed up.

Moaning Myrtle begins stalking Olive Hornby. Eventually Olive appeals to the Ministry of Magic and Myrtle is sent back to the Hogwarts bathrooms.

1944

September 1

Tom Riddle starts his seventh year at Hogwarts. He is Head Boy.

1945

Albus Dumbledore defeats the dark wizard Grindelwald.

1947

Newt Scamander creates the Werewolf Register.

A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot is published.

1951

Rita Skeeter is born.

1952

Quidditch Through the Ages by Kennilworthy Whisp is published.

1954

The entire Riddle family is found dead inside their home in Little Hangleton. The gardener Frank Bryce is suspected, but cleared of all charges when the cause of death is deemed inconclusive.

1963

Bartemus Crouch Jr. is born.

1964

Britain hosts the Quidditch World Cup.

1965

The Ban on Experimental Breeding is passed. It is now illegal to create new species of beast.

1970

Voldemort rises to power, gathering followers and killing anyone who opposes him.

1976

Percy Weasley is born.
Oliver Wood is born.

1977

Victor Krum is born.
Cedric Diggory is born.
Fleur Delacour is born.

October

Angelina Johnson is born.

1978

Lee Jordan is born.

April

Fred and George Weasley are born.

1979

Cho Chang is born.

Peter Pettigrew begins passing secret information to Voldemort.

Alastor Moody begins tracking down the Death Eater Igor Karkaroff.

Newt Scamander is awarded the Order of Merlin, Second Class, in recognition of his services to the study of magical beasts.

1980

Igor Karkaroff is captured and sentenced to Azkaban.

Death Eater Antonin Dolohov is captured and sentenced to Azkaban.

The Death Eaters Evan Rosier and Wilkes are killed by Aurors.

Neville Longbottom is born.
Dean Thomas is born.
Seamus Finnigan is born.
Parvati and Padma Patil are born.
Lavender Brown is born.
Draco Malfoy is born.
Dudley Dursley is born.

March 1

Ronald Weasley is born.

July 31

Harry Potter is born.

September 19

Hermione Granger is born.

1981

Ginny Weasley is born.
Colin Creevey is born.

October 31

Lily and James Potter are killed by Voldemort. Voldemort vanishes after he attacks their son Harry and fails to kill him.

Harry is taken to live with his aunt and uncle, Vernon and Petunia Dursley. He is later told his parents died in a car crash.

November 1

Sirius Black catches up with Peter Pettigrew. In desperation Pettigrew creates an explosion to mask his disappearance that kills twelve Muggles. He is believed dead and posthumously awarded the Order of Merlin. Black is arrested for the murders and sentenced to imprisonment in Azkaban.

The Weasleys get a pet rat named Scabbers.

1982

Igor Karkaroff is released from Azkaban to present evidence to the Ministry of Magic on the whereabouts of several Death Eaters. He fingers Augustus Rookwood of the Department of Mysteries.

Ludo Bagman is brought to trial for passing information on to the Death Eaters. He is released.

The Longbottoms are captured and tortured by four Death Eaters. These four include Barty Crouch Jr. and the Lestranges. They hope to return Voldemort to power but are soon caught. They are tried and convicted by Barty Crouch Sr. and sent to Azkaban.

The Longbottoms, now insane, are placed in the care of St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. Their son Neville is sent to live with his grandmother.

1983

Dennis Creevey is born.

Barty Crouch Jr. is visited by his parents in Azkaban. His mother switches places with him and he escapes with his father. She dies soon afterward, disguised as her son. Crouch Jr. is brought home and placed under the care of the house-elf Winky.

Ron Weasley breaks his brother Fred's toy broomstick. In retaliation, Fred turns Ron's teddy bear into a giant spider.

1984

Cornelius Fudge becomes the Minister of Magic. Barty Crouch Sr. is transferred to the Department of International Magical Cooperation.

1986

Gabrielle Delacour is born.

1987

September 1

Percy Weasley begins his first year at Hogwarts.
Oliver Wood begins his first year at Hogwarts.

1988

September 1

Cedric Diggory begins his first year at Hogwarts.
Angelina Johnson begins her first year at Hogwarts.

1989

September 1

Fred and George Weasley begin their first year at Hogwarts.
Lee Jordan begins his first year at Hogwarts.