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: Third Quarter
5 GBP = 1 Galleon 
Order of the Phoenix 10-27 Canon Celebration
Between having to appear before the Ministry to explain his Patronus charm, many of his fellow students doubting Voldemort’s return, and butting heads with the new Ministry-sent DADA professor, Harry’s been on the defensive….and it’s taking a toll on him. Will Harry be believed at last? And the strange dreams he’s been having–will anyone help him figure out what they mean?… Read More
Playing Strixhaven as Hogwarts
One of the latest books to come out for Dungeons and Dragons is called Strixhaven: Curriculum of Chaos. The book is designed to provide D&D players with the opportunity to play as students at a magical school. It’s pretty easy to see the connections to the adventures of Harry and his friends at Hogwarts. I think a lot of Harry… 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
Hagrid buys Harry his owl, Hedwig
While shopping in Diagon Alley for Harry’s school things, Hagrid purchases a snowy owl at Eeylops and presents her to Harry as his birthday gift (PS5). Harry later names her Hedwig, a name he finds in A History of Magic (PS6). Read More
Ariana Dumbledore
Ariana Dumbledore was the younger sister of Albus and Aberforth – Albus’s junior by four years, Aberforth’s by one. At six years old, she was attacked by three muggle boys and was severely traumatized by the event. Her father, Percival, was imprisoned for seeking revenge on the boys. As a result of the attack, Ariana’s magic was too unstable to… 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
In PS9 we read, “Neville was trying to remember what he’d forgotten when Draco Malfoy, who was passing the Gryffindor table, snatched the Remembrall out of his hand.” Since the Slytherin table is on the opposite side… Read More
We’ve all met him [Draco]. He is the bully of the most refined type … he’s a snob. He’s a bigot and he’s a bully, and as I say, in the most refined sense, he knows exactly what will… 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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