Which Harry Potter Character You Are Based on Your Go-To Study Spot

If you think about it, Harvard and Hogwarts have a lot of similarities. Annenberg looks like the Great Hall (the freshman dorm banners are definitely not copying the Hogwarts house banners), we get “sorted” into residential houses (although not by a cool sorting hat), Massachusetts Avenue and JFK Street are basically Hogsmeade (Tatte is our Honeydukes, and Russell House Tavern replaces the Three Broomsticks — sadly without the butterbeer), and Boston is basically London (let’s collectively agree that there’s a platform nine and three quarters at South Station, okay? It’ll make me happy).

My winter break Harry Potter movie marathon got me thinking. There are so many niche study spots on campus, and if the golden wizarding trio and their fellow Hogwarts-dwellers attended Harvard, where would they go to do their charms or potions homework? Check out this list to find out which Harry Potter character you are based on your go-to study spot — Yer a Wizard Harvard Student, after all.

If you study at Smith, you’re a Weasley.

Smith is basically the burrow with its many nooks, crannies, and mismatched rooms. It can’t be a coincidence that the red furniture sprinkled throughout the building matches the iconic Weasley hair, and the social, bubbly, and collaborative atmosphere of Smith mirrors the fun-loving, never-dull dynamic of the Weasley family. Side note: If you frequent the Collaborative Commons, you’re either Fred or George, because you crave a social atmosphere — silence is not your vibe.

If you study on the second floor of Lamont, you’re a Dementor.

Not to be rude, but everyone on the second floor of Lamont looks pretty lifeless and absolutely devoid of joy. Dementors literally suck the soul out of someone — which is what the second floor of Lamont will do to you.

If you study in the stacks, you’re Draco Malfoy.

Think about it: the stacks are like the Chamber of Secrets. What goes on there? Who is down there? The ambiguity reminds me of none other than our brooding (and handsome — refer to Tom Felton in “The Half-Blood Prince” or Draco-Tok if you doubt me) villain, Draco Malfoy. Given that the floors in Widener go on for eternity, the stacks would be the perfect place for Draco to sneak Death Eaters into the school. What plots (among other things) take place down there?

If you study in a coffee shop, you’re Ginny.

Local coffee shops only, of course. You’d never find Ginny at Starbucks (R.I.P. the Harvard Square Starbucks) or Peet’s, but rather at Flour or Pavement. You, like Ginny, are independent but like to be surrounded by action.

If you study in the Law School or in Widener’s Loker Reading Room, you’re Hermione.

This is a no-brainer. What screams Hermione more than the ivory pillars and the Latin-inscribed walls of the Law School or being surrounded by more than 3.5 million volumes and Widener’s general light-academia vibe? Hermione would fit right in, studying to ace her O.W.L.s alongside serious law students or in the zip-up-your-backpack-and-you'll-receive-dirty-looks Loker Reading Room.

If you study in an empty classroom in Sever, you’re Dobby.

I can’t explain it, but Dobby gives off big Sever vibes. Maybe it’s because our favorite free elf probably smells like Sever does – ancient and musty.

If you study in Cabot, you’re Harry.

Harry was a hard one to place, but of course our favorite hero must be included. I ultimately think Cabot would be up his alley. You can get stuff done, but the Science Center is also a pretty social place and Harry is a pretty popular guy (except for in “The Order of the Phoenix” when everyone thought he was lying about the return of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named).

If you book a group study room for yourself, you’re Neville.

It’s not the fact that you want to be annoying … you’re just clueless. There is nothing worse than trying to find a spot to work on a group project and finding a single person in a room meant for six. It’s somewhat acceptable if you’re in a Zoom meeting, but why can’t you do that in your dorm? You have good intentions but … come on, read the room (pun intended).

Maybe all the parallels I am drawing between Harvard and Hogwarts are in an attempt to compensate for never having received my Hogwarts letter when I was eleven. I’m still not over it. Until I am, I’ll live vicariously, romanticizing studying by pretending Harvard is, in fact, Hogwarts.