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: New Moon
5 GBP = 1 Galleon 
Is Harry a Horcrux?
After thinking carefully through the various factors involved, I cannot help but conclude that the most logical scenario, based on all the available evidence, is that Harry is a Horcrux. I will structure this essay in four sections. First, I will discuss the background. Second, I will discuss the evidence indicating that Harryis a Horcrux. Third, I will discuss and hopefully, rebut the evidence that… 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
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
Lucius Malfoy and Arthur Weasley get in a fight at Flourish and Blotts
At Gilderoy Lockhart’s book signing at Flourish and Blotts, Lucius Malfoy insults Arthur Weasley for associating with Muggles (Mr. and Mrs. Granger) and Arthur lunges at Lucius. Bookshelves are disturbed in the commotion. An Encyclopedia of Toadstools hits Lucius in one eye, and Arthur sustains a cut to the lip. To no avail, Molly and the assistant manager of Flourish and… Read More
Snape meets Dumbledore on the Windy Hilltop
Death Eater Severus Snape sent a message to Albus Dumbledore to meet him on a lonely windswept hilltop in late 1980 so he could warn him that Lily Evans Potter and her child were in danger of being attacked by Voldemort (DH33). When the Headmaster arrived he found a frightened and overwrought Snape who shouted “Don’t kill me” because… Read More
Harry’s 12th Birthday
31 July 1992 — This is the worst birthday that Harry can remember. The Dursleys have completely forgotten that today is Harry’s birthday, and he ends up having to spend it doing chores in preparation for a very important dinner party hosting one of Uncle Vernon’s clients, Mr. Mason, and his wife, Mrs. Mason. Harry is about to spend the… Read More
On this day in 1858...
Priscilla Dupont is forced to step down as Minister for Magic
Dupont’s increasingly erratic behavior in her dislike for the Muggle Prime Minister, Lord Palmerston, resulted… Read More
QUIDDITCH THROUGH THE AGES is one of the most popular titles in the Hogwarts school library. Madam Pince, our librarian, tells me that it is “pawed about, dribbled on, and generally maltreated” nearly every day – a high compliment… 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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