1991
Year Y11 (eleven years after Harry's birth)

"His name's been down ever since he was born. He's off ter the finest school of witchcraft and wizardry in the world."
     -- Rubeus Hagrid
 

• Important Events of 1991
• Births, Deaths, and Ages
• Events in the Muggle World
• Complete Chronology by Month
• Related Resources

No one in the Wizarding world--with the possible exception of Albus Dumbledore--had any real idea of the powerful forces of good and evil which were beginning to coalesce during 1991. Two people, linked by prophesy and destiny, reentered the Wizarding world and thereby began the journey each would take toward their ultimate destiny.

Lord Voldemort, disembodied and weak since his downfall in 1981, was back in Britain, having been transported there by Quirrell during the summer of 1990. Voldemort was scheming to find the Philosopher's Stone, a powerful magic item which could give him virtual immortality. During the summer of 1991, he forced Quirrell to attempt to steal the Stone, only to be thwarted by Dumbledore's timely bringing of the Stone to Hogwarts.

Also during that summer, Harry Potter learned of his heritage as a Wizard and entered Hogwarts. He made friends with two people who would become his companions and co-champions in the years to come: Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley.

Important events of 1991:

• Cornelius Fudge, the new Minister of Magic, sends owls to Dumbledore almost every day, asking for advice
• June: end of the 1990-1991 school year
• Slytherin wins both the Quidditch and House Cups after flattening Gryffindor in the final match of the season
• Charlie Weasley sits his NEWTs and leaves school
• Saturday, June 23: Dudley Dursley's eleventh birthday. Harry Potter accidentally releases a boa constrictor during Dudley's birthday excusion to the zoo.
• July 24 - letters begin arriving in Privet Drive addressed to Harry Potter. They continue to arrive with increasing urgency over the next week, until July 30.
• July 31 - Harry Potter turns 11. He meets Hagrid and learns of the wizarding world and a little of his place in it. He and Hagrid visit Diagon Alley. Gringotts is broken into by Quirrell who tries to steal the Philosoher's Stone. Harry meets Draco Malfoy for the first time.
• August: Voldemort, incensed by Quirrell's failure to steal the Stone, decides to inhabit his body. Quirrell begins wearing a turban to conceal Voldemort's face, which is now protruding from the back of his head.
• September 1 - Harry takes the Hogwarts Express to his new school. On board he meets Hermione and becomes fast friends with Ron.
• Thursday, September 12 - First flying lesson, Harry is made the Gryffindor Seeker, the youngest player on a House Team in over a century.
• October 31 - Halloween Feast, marred by the arrival of a Mountain Troll which almost kills Hermione. She becomes friends with Harry and Ron.
• December 25 - Harry receives an Invisibility Cloak as a gift. It once belonged to his father. That night, Harry sees his family in the Mirror of Erised.

Ron Weasley turns 11 on March 1
Fred and George Weasley: turn 13 on April 1
Percy Weasley turns 15 on August 22
Neville Longbottom turns 11 on July 30
Harry Potter turns 11 on July 31
Ginny Weasley turns 10 on August 11
Hermione Granger: turns 12 on September 19
Bill Weasley turns 21 on November 29
Charlie Weasley turns 18 on December 12

Events in the Muggle world
During this year, Jo Rowling leaves Britain for Portugual, where she teaches English in Oporto. She is actively working on creating the story and background for her series of books about Harry Potter.

January 17 through February 27 - the Gulf War (Operation Desert Storm)
February 17 - actress Bonnie Wright is born. She plays Ginny Weasley in the Harry Potter films.
March 4 - the first primitive form of the World Wide Web goes online
June 15 - eruption of Pinatubo in the Phillipines
July 31 - Jo Rowling turns 26
August 18 - the Soviet Union begins to collapse; it is officially dissolved on December 31.

Complete Chronology

January

• January 9: Severus Snape's birthday - he turns 32
• January 17 through February 27 - Persian Gulf War (Operation Desert Storm)

February

• February 17 - actress Bonnie Wright is born. She plays Ginny Weasley in the Harry Potter films.

March

• Ron Weasley turns 11 on March 1
• March 4 - the first primitive form of the World Wide Web goes online

April

• Fred and George Weasley turn 13 on April 1

May

June

• early summer - the Numbus 2000 broomstick is released
• June 15 - eruption of Pinatubo in the Phillipines
• Slytherin wins both the Quidditch and House Cups after flattening Gryffindor in the final match of the season
• Charlie Weasley sits his NEWTs and leaves school
• June: end of the 1990-1991 school year
• Saturday, June 23: Dudley Dursley's eleventh birthday. Harry Potter accidentally releases a boa constrictor during Dudley's birthday excusion to the zoo.

July

• July 24 - letters begin arriving in Privet Drive addressed to Harry Potter. They continue to arrive with increasing urgency over the next week, until July 30.
• Neville Longbottom turns 11 on July 30
• July 31 - Harry Potter turns 11. He meets Hagrid and learns of the wizarding world and a little of his place in it. He and Hagrid visit Diagon Alley. Gringotts is broken into by Quirrell who tries to steal the Philosoher's Stone. Harry meets Draco Malfoy for the first time.
• July 31 - Jo Rowling turns 26

August

• August: Voldemort, incensed by Quirrell's failure to steal the Stone, decides to inhabit his body. Quirrell begins wearing a turban to conceal Voldemort's face, which is now protruding from the back of his head.
• Ginny Weasley turns 10 on August 11
• August 18 - the Soviet Union begins to collapse; it is officially dissolved on December 31.
• Percy Weasley turns 15 on August 22

September

• Sunday, September 1 - Harry takes the Hogwarts Express to his new school. On board he meets Hermione and Ron. Dudley Dursely has surgery in London to remove the pig's tail
• Monday, September 2 - classes begin at Hogwarts
• Friday, September 6 - Harry and Ron have tea with Hagrid
• Thursday, September 12 - First flying lesson, Harry is made the Gryffindor Seeker, the youngest player on a House Team in over a century. Draco challenges Harry to a midnight duel; Harry, Ron, Hemione, and Neville encounter Fluffy as they run from Filch.
• Hermione Granger turns 12 on September 19
• September 20 - Harry receives his Nimbus 2000; that evening he has his first Quidditch practice

October

• October 17: Filius Flitwick's birthday
• third week: Angelina Johnson's birthday
• October 30: Molly Weasley's birthday
• October 31 - Halloween Feast, marred by the arrival of a Mountain Troll which almost kills Hermione.

November

• November 9 - Gryffindor defeats Slytherin in Quidditch; Quirrell tries to jinx Harry off his broom
• Bill Weasley turns 21 on November 29

December

• Rubeus Hagrid turns 63
• Charlie Weasley turns 18 on December 12
• December 25 - Harry receives an Invisibility Cloak as a gift. It once belonged to his father. That night, Harry sees his family in the Mirror of Erised.
• December 31 - Tom Riddle/Voldemort turns 65

Related Resources
Day-By-Day Calendar of the 1991-1992 School Year
1991 in the Master Timeline
1991 in Wikipedia