For The Love of Liz: The Vegan Slytherin We Need in The Wizarding (and Muggle) World
It started with a seemingly off the cuff remark.
"I hope there are no animal products in the cake."
It was enough to make me pause. Did I just read what I thought I did? Was a student at Hogwarts actually just admitting she was … *gasp* vegan!?
The creature-loving Slytherin, Liz Tuttle, is the Wizarding World's first open vegan and, with regards to Hermione Granger, its second-most outspoken creature advocate. (We have yet to see actual activism on Liz's part.)
But first, who is Liz Tuttle?
Well, if you're a Potterhead who isn't yet playing Hogwarts Mystery, let me enlighten you!
I'm more than a little obsessed with Jam City and Portkey Games' mobile RPG, Hogwarts Mystery. Fueled by the hype and my own Potterhead enthusiasm I downloaded the game the very day it debuted in the app store.
For those who aren't familiar with Hogwarts Mystery, the general concept is this. You create a character who begins Hogwarts with some notoriety looming over her (or his) shoulders. It turns out you're a half-blood witch or wizard who is already stitched into the fabric of the Wizarding World (not unlike everybody's favorite Boy Who Lived). However, your elder brother, Jacob, was expelled from Hogwarts for doing some forbidden magic and has gone on the run.
Jacob's dark dealings are enshrouded in ...well … mystery (hence the title of the game) and your character is determined to not only slay at classes in Hogwarts, make friends, and become a better witch (or wizard), but to also unravel Jacob's disappearance and what "no-good deeds" he was up to before he vanished.
In Hogwarts Mystery, your character plays through an increasingly more complex storyline, filled with intrigue, jaw-dropping reveals, and the kind of looming, foreboding darkness we've come to know from reading the Harry Potter novels. Year One in Hogwarts Mystery is a far cry from Year Six.
One of the integral parts of Hogwarts Mystery, much like the Harry Potter series, is the other Hogwarts students your character comes to know and the friendships they forge with them as they continue puzzling out Jacob's secrets.
Until Liz came around, we had dragon-loving Charlie Weasley (yes, THE Charlie Weasley, and YES he's PUNK AF and as amazing as you've imagined) and dim-witted but kindhearted Barnaby Lee, a Slytherin with a Hagrid-sized love of creatures—especially Puffskeins, who he boasts he could balance 19 of on his head. In the game we see Barnaby cuddling those Puffskeins in the Care of Magical Creatures paddock, romping with Crups and Cruppies (yes, lil baby Crups) and fawning over the creatures while we actually take Care of Magical Creatures classes.
Liz, however, is more than just a creature admirer. This geeky, bespectacled, and conscientious Slytherin is a creature advocate and a vegan. Liz Tuttle is the vegan witch we need in the Wizarding (and Muggle) world!
Instead of passively accepting the use of creatures in the Wizarding World, Liz questions their purposes, ponders the morality of using creatures and their parts in classes like Potions, and challenges the status quo. She unhesitatingly speaks up in favor of sanctuaries for creatures and the importance of meeting creatures' needs, and she is earnest and transparent about the strong emotions that arise inside her when she's around the blatant use (and overuse) of creatures in Hogwarts classes.
Here are some more screen grabs of just a few of Liz Tuttle's best moments in Hogwarts Mystery and the kind of open-hearted, woke, badass vegan attitude she brings to the Wizarding World.
Her favorite food is Cambuulo, a Somalian dish made from rice, adzuki beans with sesame oil, and a spicy tomato sauce. Yes, Liz is a rice and beans girl. ​
Written by Victoria Tomis