‘Jeopardy!’ Fans Wish Show Would Stop Featuring ‘Harry Potter’ Categories

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Jeopardy! viewers feel like they are under the Cruciatus Curse when the game show features Harry Potter clues. Many fans want the show to do away with the category for different reasons.

On the Monday, October 12 game, which saw Greg Monson win his third game, the first round had the category “The Magical World of Harry Potter.” The contestants answered four of the five clues correctly, meaning they were probably fans of the franchise. Megan Whelan, from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, answered the four clues. None of them knew that the Triwizard Cup was what was awarded to the winner of the tournament between Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang academies.

The Harry Potter franchise spanned seven books, eight films, and three spinoff prequel films. There is also set to be a new HBO Max series of the franchise, with each season covering one of Harry’s years at Hogwarts, but fans are fed up with the clues about the nearly 30-year-old series.

Fans shared their thoughts on Reddit about Jeopardy! using the category. “I would once again like to plead to the Jeopardy clue writers to stop including Harry Potter in the show’s literary canon. I get that it makes for great trivia fodder that still carries relevance (I went 4/5, for the record), but there’s just an ick to it. It cannot be that hard to drop the work of a TERF,” one fan said.

“I very much benefitted from it being on the show, but I do agree. While I think we already knew his feelings, during our post-game discussion, Ken [Jennings] did throw in a, ‘This isn’t my biggest criticism of J.K. Rowling, but why did she have to have both the Goblet of Fire and the Triwizard Cup in one book?'” Whelan replied to the fan.

The author J.K. Rowling has caused controversy with fans and actors of the franchise due to her anti-trans comments. In 2020, she tweeted an article with the title, “Opinion: Creating a More Equal Covid-19 World for People Who menstrate.” Rowling quoted it with “‘People who menstruate.’ I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?” She doubled down on the comments and has since expressed her opinions on the trans community, which many fans don’t agree with.

“Even ignoring Rowling’s awful opinions, it’s weird to have entire categories devoted to Harry Potter. It’s pretty rare for any fictional work/franchise has get that much focus, but HP somehow has had multiple in the last few years. Surely the Jeopardy! writers have read another book at some point?” a Reddit user said.

“I mean, at the very least, I’d prefer they don’t devote entire categories to it in the future. A quick clue about Hogwarts or Voldemort or Hermione or something? Sure. It’s unavoidable pop culture & that feels like fair game for trivia fodder. An entire category calling it the ‘Magical World of Harry Potter’ with plot details you’d only know if you read the books or saw the movies feels like promotion of the brand to me, and I just can’t approve of that in 2026 in good conscience,” another commented.

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“I could have done without Harry Potter, but this was one of the best games in a while. Enjoyed all the contestants and the level of play. Now I have a gorilla stuck in my brain!” a fan commented.

“Don’t love a category like Harry Potter where there was zero chance of getting any of the clues if you weren’t a fan,” a Jeopardy! fan pointed out.

“Man f**k Harry Potter, wish that category would just fade away already LOL and sploosh and dumb were really funny, those were great haha,” a fan said.

What do you think about Harry Potter being a category on Jeopardy!? Let us know in the comments.