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Pottermore's "Hogwarts' Indoor Plumbing" Tweet

Pottermore's "Hogwarts' Indoor Plumbing" Tweet

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Updated Jan 08, 2019 at 05:17PM EST by 3kole5.

Added Jan 08, 2019 at 11:19AM EST by Adam.

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About

Pottermore's "Hogwarts' Indoor Plumbing" Tweet refers to a tweet sent out by the Twitter account for Pottermore, an online destination for Harry Potter fans, which stated that prior to the invention of indoor plumbing, wizards used to defecate where they stood and use magic to make the feces disappear. The moment led to widespread parody of author J.K. Rowling's penchant for adding details to the Harry Potter universe well after the publication of the books.

Origin

On September 22nd, 2015, J.K. Rowling posted an essay to Pottermore[1] explaining the Chamber of Secrets and the invention of indoor plumbing at Hogwarts. In the essay, Rowling wrote:

However, when Hogwarts’ plumbing became more elaborate in the eighteenth century (this was a rare instance of wizards copying Muggles, because hitherto they simply relieved themselves wherever they stood, and vanished the evidence)…"

On January 4th, 2019, the Pottermore Twitter account tweeted the factoid as part of "#NationalTriviaDay,"[2] gaining over 19,000 retweets and 75,000 likes (shown below).


Pottermore @pottermore Follow termore Hogwarts didn't always have bathrooms. Before adopting Muggle plumbing methods in the eighteenth century, witches and wizards simply relieved themselves wherever they stood, and vanished the evidence. #NationalTriviaDay 1:34 PM - 4 Jan 2019

Spread

The tweet quickly led to exasperated complaining among Harry Potter fans tired of J.K. Rowling's post-publication canonical additions to the series' universe. User @Steve_Foxe tweeted a comparison to the extended Harry Potter universe and the extended Star Wars universe (shown below, left). User @DanaSchwartzzz posted an exasperated tweet imagining that Harry had defecated himself in the final confrontation with Voldemort (shown below, right).


Steve Foxe + Φ @steve.foxe . Jan 4 Harry Potter nerds are like two or three more weird tweets and retcons away from knowing what it was like to be a Star Wars fan during the untamed Extended Universe days. Pottermore @pottermore Hogwarts didn't always have bathrooms. Before adopting Muggle plumbing methods in the eighteenth century, witches and wizards simply relieved themselves wherever they stood, and vanished the evidence. #NationalTriviaDay Show this thread 1 2 17 Steve / Foxe @steve foxe Follow Pottermore: "Actually the Black Plague sweeped Europe because witches and wizards couldn't stop s------- evervwhere." 2:58 PM-4 Jan 2019 Dana Schwartz @DanaSchwartzzz Follow Like jesus christ, the wizarding world isn't real, you don't need to tell us every goddam detail. what, next JK Rowling is going to let us know Harry had diarrhea the day he defeated voldemort 3:18 PM - 4 Jan 2019 102 Retweets 1,525 Like:s weet your reply Dana Schwartz @DanaSchwartzzz Jan 4 POTTERMORE: fun fact harry potter voided his bowels when he died so when Hagrid carried him back to Hogwarts and he gave that big speech to Voldemort he had s--- in his pants the entire time

Rowling's tendency to add miscellaneous details has also been parodied by notable YouTubers. On October 18th, 2018, Gus Johnson posted a skit about it that gained over 1.8 million views (shown below, left). ProZD posted a sketch in direct reference to the tweet the day after it was posted, gaining over 603,000 views in four days (shown below, right). A question about the parodies was posted to /r/OutOfTheLoop,[3] gaining over 3,000 points in less than 24 hours.



Various Examples


Molly Freeman @mollyrockit Follow I wish I'd died not knowing this Pottermore Ф @pottermore Hogwarts didn't always have bathrooms. Before adopting Muggle plumbing methods in the eighteenth century, witches and wizards simply relieved themselves wherever they stood, and vanished the evidence. #NationalTriviaDay Show this thread 2:44 PM-4 Jan 2019 Lex Croucher Follow @lexcanroar finding out that witches & wizards used to piss and s--- themselves isn't even close to being the worst thing to come out of the wizarding world in the past few years andI think that speaks volume s 3:31 PM-4 Jan 2019 Laura Kate Dale Follow @LaurakBuzz What the f--- is modern Harry Potter lore? Wizards used to just s--- on the floor at wizard school? They'd just squat down in potions class and piss on the floor? I don't know how to respond Pottermore Φ @pottermore Hogwarts didn't always have bathrooms. Before adopting Muggle plumbing methods in the eighteenth century, witches and wizards simply relieved themselves wherever they stood, and vanished the evidence. #NationalTriviaDay Show this thread 2:51 PM-4 Jan 2019 Maria Isabel @mariami Follow why Pottermore@pottermore Hogwarts didn't always have bathrooms. Before adopting Muggle plumbing methods in the eighteenth century, witches and wizards simply relieved themselves wherever they stood, and vanished the evidence. #NationalTriviaDay Show this thread 2:45 PM -4 Jan 2019 mary been poppin @yana_hallows Follow What's hilarious about this information is that it is probably in Hogwarts, A History and Hermione read that and still decided she wanted to go to this school Pottermore @pottermore Hogwarts didn't always have bathrooms. Before adopting Muggle plumbing methods in the eighteenth century, witches and wizards simply relieved themselves wherever they stood, and vanished the evidence. #NationalTriviaDay Show this thread 2:51 PM-4 Jan 2019 Olivia Dolphin @LiviDol Follow wizards didn't get potty trained until age 14 pass it orn Pottermore Φ @pottermore Hogwarts didn't always have bathrooms. Before adopting Muggle plumbing methods in the eighteenth century, witches and wizards simply relieved themselves wherever they stood, and vanished the evidence. #NationalTriviaDay Show this thread 2:40 PM-4 Jan 2019

Search Interest

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External References

[1] Pottermore – Chamber of Secrets

[2] Twitter – @pottermore

[3] Reddit – What’s up with all the parody’s about JK Rowling and Harry Potter lately?

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Top Comments

Nigel the treasure hunter
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Nigel the treasure hunter

> be me
> student at Hogwarts
> be dining in the great hall
> so full feel like I'm about to burst
> suddenly something rumbles in my guts
> gotta go fast to the toilet
> as I'm about to leave the hall Prof Quirrell storms through the door
> troll_in_the_dungeon.mp4
> Quirrell collapses right next to me
> oh god please not now
> panic breaks out, nobody is allowed to go near the toilets
> can't hold it any longer
> soil myself
> liquid shit splatters all over the bottom of my robe and spills over my shoes and Quirrell
> people around me notice immediately
> everybody points at me and laughs
> even Dumbledore laughs at me
> my house gets deducted 10 points
> mfw they never taught me the shit removal spell in Hogwarts

+82
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Shoop400
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Shoop400

Rowling, this has gone too far. Never mind insisting that Dumbledore is gay or that Hermione was supposed to be black despite NEVER showing or hinting at these aspects in the book. No, no, no, I can write those off as being decisions that were reconned in. THIS, nobody wanted to know this nor needed to. It is utterly irrelevant to the story, and everyone would be better off not knowing.

Please, Stop it. Let everyone just read the books and appreciate the story. Not a single question was asked as to why Hogwarts had a bathroom. It had one, we understood it was something that a school should have. Nobody asked for this.

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