10 Things You Didn't Know About Harry Potter's Scar

6. Its Shape Resembles An Ancient Rune

harry potter and the philosopher's stone baby harry scar
Warner Bros.

One of the subjects Hogwarts students can choose to study - and one that Hermione decided to go for - is Ancient Runes.

In this class, students learn about languages of old, scripts that haven't been used in hundreds of years. In both the films and the books, the subject isn't given too much attention, so while information about the types of runes students examine is limited, there's a good chance that this class can be linked back to Harry's lightning scar.

In some of the movies, runes belonging to the Elder Futhark alphabet can be seen (most notably, on Sirius Black's prison placard). As well as existing in the wizarding world, Elder Futhark is also a real-life runic alphabet used centuries ago, and it can often be found inscribed on artifacts dating back to the 2nd century.

One of the runes found in the Elder Futhark alphabet is Sowilo, and its shape looks suspiciously like a certain character's lightning bolt scar. Sowilo means "sun", and is commonly associated with victory and protection. This means that Harry - The Boy Who Lived, beacon of hope for the entire wizarding community - has a scar on his forehead that marks him as the light of the world. How fitting.

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Danny has been with WhatCulture for almost nine years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. He has been writing and video editing for 10+ years, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers and uploading them to YouTube (they're admittedly a bit rusty by today's standards). If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order or to tell you about the making of 1988's Remembrance of the Daleks, Danny is the person to ask.