If your name isn’t in the Book, you won’t be going to Hogwarts

There’s only one process for deciding who gets into Hogwarts and that judgement is not made by a human… but by a book and a quill instead. Up in one of the Hogwarts towers (which no student visits) sits the Book of Admittance and Quill of Acceptance. It was placed there by the four Hogwarts founders when the castle was built. When a child displays magic for the very first time, the Quill (whose feather is thought to have been taken from an Augurey) rises out of its inkpot and attempts to write the name of that child in the Book.

However, the Quill is more lenient than the Book. Where the Quill is happy to inscribe the name of a child at the first hint of magic, the Book is not so easily pleased. It will often slam shut and not allow the name to be written until the child has shown sufficient evidence that they have magic. So, unless your name is clearly in the Book… you won’t be getting a letter any time soon.

Muggle-borns are told they have a Hogwarts place in person

If you were a Muggle-born and you received the acceptance letter, you’d be forgiven for thinking it was nothing more than a practical joke. The staff at Hogwarts certainly recognise that risk. So, when a child of Muggle parentage turns out to be magical, one of the teachers visits them at home and explains what the letter means in person.

For instance, we know that when Snape and Lily were children, he told her that as she was magical and from a Muggle family, she should expect a visit from a teacher. We also know that Tom Riddle, despite being half-blood, was paid a visit by Albus Dumbledore, as he had been living separate to the wizarding world in a Muggle orphanage.

Squibs don’t receive acceptance letters

Hogwarts has a perfect record for not admitting Squibs to Hogwarts… well the Book of Admittance and Quill of Acceptance do at least. There has only ever been one Squib to make it as far as the Sorting Hat and that young fellow was Angus Buchanan.

Angus was a Scottish lad from a wizarding family and one of eleven children. While all his brothers and sisters were magical, Angus turned out to be a Squib. Gentle, kind and well-loved by his siblings, they tried to cover up Angus’s lack of magical ability from their parents – who would not be understanding. When he turned 11 and no Hogwarts letter arrived, his sister Flora forged one and his brother Hamish flew him to the school on the back of a broomstick. Angus made it as far as the Sorting Hat, but once he placed it upon his head the jig was up. The Sorting Hat gently announced that Angus, as lovely as he was, displayed no magical ability. Angus left in tears and no Squib has ever made it that far since.

But don’t worry! There is a happy ending to Angus’s tale. Though his parents kicked him out, he soon found a place in the Muggle world and ended up becoming a member of the Scottish rugby team. In 1871, when he stepped out onto the pitch to play his first international match against England, he looked up and saw the faces of his 10 brothers and sisters. After that, he reconnected to his wizarding roots, releasing an autobiography entitled My Life As A Squib. The book was a huge success, wizards started to turn up to watch him play rugby and when he died, he was celebrated by both the Muggle and wizarding worlds. He was admired as a role model for making the most out of a bad situation… and every year Hogwarts awards a student with the Angus Buchanan Cup for Outstanding Effort.

Writing to Dumbledore didn’t help Aunt Petunia…

Being the non-magical sibling of a Muggle-born witch or wizard can’t be easy… it certainly wasn’t for Petunia Dursley. Though she may have seemed like she had always despised the wizarding world – that wasn’t actually the case.

When Lily was told that she had a place at Hogwarts, Petunia was jealous, and a wedge was driven between the two sisters. Petunia even wrote to Dumbledore asking to be allowed to join the school. He wrote a very kind letter back, gently explaining that Hogwarts wasn’t the place for her. However, Petunia found this all very difficult to accept, and became resentful and angry, lashing out at her sister and calling her a freak. Though in Petunia’s defence, Lily had read the reply from Dumbledore without her sister’s permission, which only pushed Petunia further away.

It’s strange to think, but a lot of Petunia’s spiteful personality could be explained by that rejection from Hogwarts and the wizarding world…

Neville’s place at Hogwarts wasn’t always guaranteed

It would be strange to imagine Hogwarts without Neville… but he nearly didn’t get in. Though the Quill of Acceptance tried to write his name down the day he was born, the Book of Admittance wasn’t having it and slammed shut. Neville’s magic wasn’t the strongest and many feared he didn’t have any at all.

When Neville was born, his mother’s midwife failed to notice that he had moved his blankets to make himself cosier – and thought his father had done it instead. In fact, all of Neville’s faint displays of magic went unnoticed. It wasn’t until he was eight years old, and his great-uncle Algie dropped him headfirst out of a window, that things changed. The fall should have killed Neville, but instead he ended up bouncing all the way down the garden and into the road, clearly displaying magic. That was the moment that the Book finally allowed Neville’s name to be written down by the Quill as it had accepted that Neville was truly a wizard.