Welcome to the Harry Potter Lexicon
The most compleat and amazing reference to the wonderful world of Harry Potter
est. 2000 A.D.
Phase of the Moon: Waxing Crescent
5 GBP = 1 Galleon 
Lily and James Potter welcome baby Harry into the world
Harry James Potter was born to James Potter and Lily Evans Potter. His birth appeared to fulfill a prophecy given months before by Sybill Trelawney. This prophecy would be the impetus for many events, including the death of James and Lily 18 months later. Sadly, James’ parents, Fleamont and Euphemia Potter, died before they had a chance to meet their only… Read More
Harry and Hagrid visit Gringotts
Hagrid retrieves the Philosopher’s Stone to take it back to Hogwarts, and helps Harry to withdraw some gold from the fortune he never knew his parents had left him. (PS5) After entering the huge, grand bank and explaining what they want to a goblin, Hagrid and Harry are taken by Griphook down to the vaults on a… Read More
The Fallen Fathers of Goblet of Fire
Jo’s portrayal of mothers in the HP books is fairly straight-forward: mother’s love is the be-all end-all of the series, so we can move right along. But her portrayal of fathers, on the other hand, is incredibly nuanced and intriguing. The turning point appears to be the middle book of the series, Goblet of Fire, where we trade in… Read More
Letters begin arriving at Number Four, Privet Drive, inviting Harry to Hogwarts
24 July 1991 — Harry receives his first letter from Hogwarts, which Uncle Vernon burns. After he boards up the letter box, letters begin to appear rolled up inside eggs and down the chimney. Read More
A dangerous encounter with Nagini in Bathilda Bagshot’s house
Harry and Hermione, in disguise as an elderly Muggle couple, encounter who they think is Bathilda Bagshot in Godric’s Hollow on Christmas Eve. They follow her to her house, where she is revealed to be Nagini. In the ensuing battle, Hermione’s quick thinking saves the day, but Harry’s wand is broken. Read More
Stooging is outlawed in Quidditch
The Department of Magical Games and Sports introduces a new rule that only one Chaser at a time may be within the scoring area. This new rule provokes a strong response from fans who loved seeing opposing Keepers roughed up. The Ministry representative announces the rule this way: “Instances of stooging have been on the increase. We feel that… Read More
On this day in 1996...
McGonagall and Umbridge give Harry careers advice
Professor McGonagall supports Harry’s ambition to become an Auror over Headmistress… Read More
But it is a lot of work to create an entire world and it was about 5 years to finish the first book, to plot the remaining 6 books, because they were already plotted before the first book… Read More
Latest from the Lexicon Blog
Draco’s Six
• Article
So much has been made of how seven is “the most powerfully magical number” (HBP23) in Harry Potter, with it serving as something of a motif throughout the series… to the point where my podcast, The Three Broomsticks, has a recurring segment about the “seven ingredients of today’s… Read More
The Fallen Fathers of Goblet of Fire
• Article
Jo’s portrayal of mothers in the HP books is fairly straight-forward: mother’s love is the be-all end-all of the series, so we can move right along. But her portrayal of fathers, on the other hand, is incredibly nuanced and intriguing. The turning point appears to be the middle book of… Read More
The Book of Prophecies: How "Order of the Phoenix" Predicts the Plot of "Deathly Hallows" - Part 2
• Article
In Part I of this series, I delved into specific chapter-level comparisons between Order of the Phoenix and Deathly Hallows, and how the events in the former predict or foreshadow those in the latter. In this article, I will… Read More
The Book of Prophecies: How "Order of the Phoenix" Predicts the Plot of "Deathly Hallows" - Part 1
• Article
The Harry Potter series is masterfully plotted, both as individual books and across the series as a whole. Within the fandom, there is a large focus on ring theory for understanding how the series is structured. In ring theory, each book has its… Read More
The Russian Philosopher’s Stone
• Article
It’s a process familiar to most of us trying to brush up on a foreign language – get the Harry Potter books in one of the 85 languages they’ve been translated into, and read the story you know backwards and forwards in a language you may not. My first language… Read More
Mapping the Wizarding World
• Article
Making the Calendar Fit
• Article
I recently received two comments on two different entries in the Lexicon which brought up the same problem: the real world calendar doesn’t always agree with the days and dates in the books. I’m sure some of you are saying “Of course, we know that, this has been discussed in… Read More
The Secrets of Dumbledore ... still a secret?
• Article