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 
DH20: Xenophilius Lovegood
Harry and Ron bring each other up to date on their adventures, Hermione finds the triangular mark in a photograph of Dumbledore’s letters, and the trio seek out Xenophilius Lovegood at his home for further information about the mark. Read More
Gilderoy Lockhart’s book signing at Flourish and Blotts
19 August 1992 – Harry, Hermione, and the Weasleys visit Flourish and Blotts to buy school books. There they discover that Gilderoy Lockhart is signing his new book, Magical Me. When Lockhart spots Harry, he drags the boy up in front of the camera with him and announces the crowd that he will be the new… Read More
The Ford Anglia arrives at the Burrow early in the morning
4 August 1992 — Leaving Privet Drive in Surrey, Fred and George fly the Anglia west to Devon, toward the Burrow. The trip apparently takes several hours, since when they leave it’s nighttime and when they arrive the sun is coming up (which would be just before 6 am at that location and on that date). Read More
Myrtle Warren, a Hogwarts student, dies in a second floor bathroom after seeing the Basilisk
Myrtle Warren is being teased by Olive Hornby and flees into a second floor bathroom to sulk. She hears a male voice — that of Tom Riddle opening the Chamber of Secrets — and steps out to tell him off for being in the girls’ bathroom. Instead she comes face to face with the Basilisk and dies. Her death almost… Read More
Galatea Merrythought retires from Hogwarts
Merrythought has been the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher for fifty years. Her impending retirement becomes known to Tom Riddle, who asks Headmaster Dippet for the position upon leaving school. Read More
Dobby tries to dissaude Harry from returning to Hogwarts
Dobby appears in Harry’s bedroom and tells Harry that his life will be in danger if he returns to Hogwarts for his second year. Between his excitement about meeting Harry, his sense of urgency in his mission to warn him, his astonishment at Harry’s kindness, and his guilt and fear of returning to Malfoy Manor, Dobby works himself into a… Read More
On this day in 1993...
Ravenclaw’s Quidditch Team flattens Hufflepuff
Because Ravenclaw beat Hufflepuff in their Quidditch match at the end of November,… Read More
“Proud?” said Harry. “Are you crazy? All those times I could’ve died, and I didn’t manage it? They’ll be furious….”… Read More
Latest from the Lexicon Blog
Draco’s Six
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Making the Calendar Fit
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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?
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