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 Gibbous
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
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
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
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
Albus Dumbledore sits his N.E.W.T.s
June 1899 — He is examined in Transfiguration and Charms by Griselda Marchbanks, who later says that he did things with a wand she’d never seen before. Read More
Floo Powder accident lands Harry in Knockturn Alley
Using Floo powder for the first time, Harry fails to follow all the instructions he’s given by the Weasleys and ends up one fireplace off. It happens to be the fireplace in Borgin and Burkes, a shop in Knockturn Alley selling all manner of dark magic items. He barely hides himself before Lucius and Draco Malfoy enter to conduct business. Read More
The Liechtenstein National Quidditch team’s mascot is a huge Augury named Hans who has his own fan club. High-spirited American fans at the 2014 Quidditch World Cup temporarily kidnapped Hans, which prompted the Liechtenstein manager Ferdinand Jägendorf to… Read More
“There’s no need to call me ‘sir,’ Professor.”… 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