The Harry Potter books and movies left people wanting to know more despite both having run for ten years each. Details derived from these mediums are common knowledge, and they are considered canon in their own right. However, there have been considerable facts delivered to fans through other outlets such as lexicons, video games, and JK Rowling herself, which people don’t strictly consider as “Harry Potter sources” since they weren’t found in easy-to-find materials like books and films. Still, these are canon regardless.
The Forbidden Forest is a thing of mystery for the fans, whose secrets most of the fans don’t know. If you want to find out what the Harry Potter books and movies left out about the forest, here are 10 things to inform you.
There Really Are Werewolves In There
Malfoy was made to look like a fool in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone for believing a rumor that Werewolves inhabited the Forbidden Forest. His fears were ignored by Hagrid and the gang, and they never came across a werewolf in the forest.
However, there really are werewolves in there, as these wolves are of a unique nature. They were the result of two werewolves reproducing during the full moon, which gave birth to a litter of wolves. These were literal cubs, though, and didn’t turn human. What made them Werewolves was their ability to have the intelligence of humans. Poor Malfoy wasn’t wrong at all, maybe they should apologize to him.
The Forest Isn’t Part of Hogwarts
This was never explicitly stated in the books or movies, and they instead made it appear as if the Forbidden Forest was part of the Hogwarts grounds. In actuality, the forest was there first, and the school was made around it. The Centaurs who kept harping about the forest not belonging to humans weren’t wrong since it was the humans who made the Castle where the forest stood. You can figure this out for yourself by checking out a map of Hogwarts, where it’s clear to see that there’s nothing beyond the forest and that Hogwarts ends where the forest begins.
The Territory Inside Is Uncharted
Seeing as people think the forest is part of the school, they also assume the forest is a mapped-out area. The books made it appear there might be a pathway in and out, but what’s really the case is that the forest has never been recorded by humans. No one really knows just how deep it goes, and which area leads to where.
The only “human” who knew some portion of the forest was Hagrid, and that’s because he was too ridiculously strong for most creatures to inflict any harm upon. As far as maps are considered, the forbidden forest is uncharted territory, and venturing in means you’re on your own.
Black Flowers Are Known to Grow There
As the video games series is generally ignored or just not used by fans for their Harry Potter research, the facts it gives out is considered as “left out”. However, the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire video game did give us some insights into the forest, which the films and books didn’t feature.
One of these was the presence of flowers unknown to mankind. Players could come across these blackened flowers while going deep into the forest. It’s not known what their qualities are and how they’re even growing there in the first place, but what is known that everything about this species is a mystery.
It Supposedly Started Out As a Small Wood Tended By Centaurs
The Centaurs were protective of the forest to the point of insanity. They were fiercely territorial, would become barbaric when threatened, and were obsessed with claiming the forest as their own. The Centaurs were also known the be very proud of their heritage, which only adds to the assertion that the forest was grown out by Centaurs in the first place.
According to the W.O.M.B.A.T. test, as part of the Harry Potter lexicon, the forest began as a small wood from a herd of centaurs. This would make them the rightful owners of this land and makes all their crazed statements about the forest valid.
Its Actual Name Is Something Else
It’ll be surprising for fans to realize how such a simple point was overlooked by everyone. The fact of the matter is, the Forbidden Forest isn’t even the forest’s real name. The Harry Potter books made it seem as if this was the official name of the place, but this was only the adopted name from the school.
The term “Forbidden Forest” was only used because it is forbidden for one to enter the forest. This also means that the books left out the forest’s name. The pity is that nobody truly knows what the official title is.
Fluffy Lived in the Forest
Hagrid purchased this monstrosity from a random patron at the Leaky Cauldron when it was a child, and then cared for it enough to make it the guardian of the trapdoor containing the location of the Sorcerer’s Stone. While that’s common knowledge, what the books left out was what happened to Fluffy after his duties were completed. As revealed by JK Rowling, Hagrid realized the monster was too big to be tamed and released it in the Forbidden Forest so he could be close to it. This meant that, for a certain time, any poor soul could’ve been ripped to shreds by this being if they came across it in the forest. Thankfully, Fluffy was then transported to Greece by Dumbledore.
Children Have Disappeared in the Forest
Again, Malfoy wasn’t wrong when he insisted people died in the Forbidden Forest during Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, and for this, too, he was ignored. The Harry Potter books never made it known that students from the school had become victim to the forest, but this was confirmed in Hogwarts Mystery.
Here, it was revealed that children had gone missing and never returned after venturing into the forest. This means the forest’s inhabitants know no mercy, and even children can fall prey to horrors inside. In Order of the Phoenix, Centaurs were inclined to let Harry and Hermione go (they were both only fifteen), but it appears the books wanted to protect us from this fact.
Professor Kettleburn Lost His Limbs Due to Visiting the Forest
The only mention Professor Kettleburn had in the Harry Potter novels and books was in Prisoner of Azkaban, where Dumbledore mentioned he’d retired so he could have at least some functioning limbs remaining. While it was thought the post of Care of Magical Creatures was responsible for this, it turned out visiting the Forbidden Forest was the reason Kettleburn didn’t have many limbs. You can catch him in Hogwarts Mystery, and here the teacher can even be seen with prosthetic limbs as he wanders in the Forbidden Forest. It appears he didn’t learn his lesson and kept on visiting the forest, but, by Prisoner of Azkaban, the forest’s effects must have taken a toll on him.
The Resurrection Stone is Lost Forever in the Forest
We saw Harry drop the Resurrection stone in the forest during Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, but it wasn’t confirmed in the book and films whether this spelled the definite end of the stone. It was revealed independently by JK Rowling, that a Centaur who had galloped over to the Battle of Hogwarts had ensured the stone wouldn’t be found. The stone was pushed in the ground by the Centaur’s hoof, and now this deathly hallow is forever lost within the Forbidden Forest. As Harry can’t recall where he dropped it, the stone’s home remains here, and perhaps over time it will be permanently buried in its grounds, never to be regained.
