Third year

"Most important of all, he had to buy his new schoolbooks, which would include those for his two new subjects, Care of Magical Creatures and Divination."

— The third year was the first in which students started electives

The trio in their third year

A student in their third year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was called a third-year (with a hyphen). Third-years were 13 to 14 years of age.

The third year was an important year for students, as they had to start elective courses. Every student had to select at least two elective courses to pursue, along with the core classes they also had to take.

Overall

Classes

Third-year students had to take: Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, History of Magic, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Astronomy, Herbology, and two or more electives. Students could choose to drop an elective if it became a burden.

Electives

Divination

Students had to start two or more electives during this year. Divination taught methods of divining the future, or gathering insights into future events, through various rituals and tools. The magic taught in this class, as well as the ability to say prophetic things, was a branch of magic referred to as "Divination". Arithmancy was apparently a more accurate (or at least more accepted) way of predicting the future, similar to an obscure but existing hobby of numerology — the belief that number patterns existing in real life could be calculated to give information regarding the future.

Care of Magical Creatures

Study of Ancient Runes was a mostly theoretical subject that studied the ancient runic scripts of magic. In Care of Magical Creatures, students learned about the feeding, maintaining, breeding and proper treatment of various magical creatures. Muggle Studies was exactly what the name implies — the study of the daily lives of Muggles and how they coped with not being magical, such as electricity, technology and science.

Hogsmeade

"Hogsmeade looked like a Christmas card; the little thatched cottages and shops were all covered in a layer of crisp snow; there were holly wreaths on the doors and strings of enchanted candles hanging in the trees."

— Hogsmeade description

Hogsmeade during Christmas

During this year, students had more freedom and independence. Hogsmeade weekend trips were special trips that third-year and above students at Hogwarts could take on certain weekends to Hogsmeade village. They had to obtain the permission of a parent or guardian, who had to sign a permission slip.

If a student did not have the form signed, they could not enter the village and would have to stay at Hogwarts Castle in sight of the teachers. If the form was signed but the student did something which disrupted the school's educational aura or safety, then they would lose their visitation rights for the rest of their year.

Curriculum

Subject	Curriculum
Defence Against the Dark Arts	"Professor Lupin had complied the most unusual exam any of them had ever taken; a sort of obstacle course outside in the sun, where they had to wade across a deep paddling pool containing a Grindylow, cross a series of potholes full of Red Caps, squish their way across a patch of marsh while ignoring misleading directions from a Hinkypunk, then climb into an old trunk and battle with a new Boggart." — Lupin's unusual DADA exam for third year students Boggart Boggart-Banishing Spell Red Cap Kappa Werewolf Grindylow Hinkypunk Vampire Nocturnal beasts Pixie (Revision) Imp (Revision) Charmed skeleton Freezing Spell Seize and pull charm
Potions	"They had Potions that afternoon, which was an unqualified disaster. Try as Harry might, he couldn’t get his Confusing Concoction to thicken, and Snape, standing watch with an air of vindictive pleasure, scribbled something that looked suspiciously like a zero onto his notes before moving away." — The third year Potions exam in 1994 Shrinking Solution Confusing Concoction Antidote to Uncommon Poisons Girding Potion Antidote to Common Poisons Wideye Potion Doxycide Undetectable Poisons Wiggenweld Potion (Revision)
Herbology	Puffapod Mandrake Valerian Mimbulus mimbletonia Stinksap Nettle De-fanging vampiric vegetation Making plants grow faster with magic
Transfiguration	"The third years emerged from Transfiguration at lunchtime on Monday, limp and ashen-faced, comparing results and bemoaning the difficulty of the tasks they had been set, which had included turning a teapot into a tortoise." — The difficult third year Transfiguration exam Animagi Teapot to tortoise Lapifors Spell Draconifors Spell Felifors Spell Hardening Charm Owl to Opera Glasses Mice to Snuffboxes
Charms	"Professor Flitwick did indeed test them on Cheering Charms." — Third year Charms exam Cheering Charm Freezing Spell Seize and pull charm General Counter-Spell Full Body-Bind Curse Banishing Charm Lumos Maxima
History of Magic	Medieval Witch-hunts
Care of Magical Creatures	Hippogriff Flobberworm Fire Dwelling Salamander
Muggle Studies	Electricity
Divination	"She's seeing us separately... Have either of you ever seen anything in a Crystal Ball?" — Third year Divination exam Tessomancy Palmistry Crystal-gazing Fire-omens

Required textbooks

Magical Drafts and Potions

The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 3

The Essential Defence Against the Dark Arts

One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi

A History of Magic

Intermediate Transfiguration

The Monster Book of Monsters

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Unfogging the Future

Ancient Runes Made Easy

Rune Dictionary

Home Life and Social Habits of British Muggles

Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (First appearance)
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film)
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (film)
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film)
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
• Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (play)
• Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald
• Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald - The Original Screenplay
• Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore - The Complete Screenplay
• Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore
• Pottermore
• Harry Potter (website)
• Harry Potter Trading Card Game
• Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup
• Harry Potter for Kinect
• Fantastic Beasts: Cases from the Wizarding World
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7
• LEGO Creator: Harry Potter
• Creator: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
• LEGO Harry Potter
• Harry Potter: The Character Vault
• Harry Potter: The Creature Vault
• Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery
• Harry Potter: Wizards Unite (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter: Puzzles & Spells
• Harry Potter: Magic Awakened
• Hogwarts Legacy