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Number twelve, Grimmauld Place is the location of much of the action in Chapters 4 to 10 of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. It is Sirius Black’s ancestral home, and the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. This essay discusses its possible location, and also that of the Ministry of Magic. Read More
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The Harry Potter books have been the subject of much religious debate after fundamentalist Christians warned parents against the books, deeming them pro-witchcraft and consequently anti-Christian. Some Muslims, on the other hand, have banned the books for the entirely opposite reason, claiming they are poorly concealed Christian propaganda. Surprisingly however, the… Read More
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In her essay Ginny Weasley, Why? published on The Harry Potter Lexicon in October 2003, author Water Witch presented a surprisingly astute evaluation of the importance of Ginny Weasley—surprising because, although the article was written after the publication of Order of the Phoenix, it predated Half-Blood Prince. Even though Rowling… Read More
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Snape had no misgivings about working for Voldemort at the time he overheard the prophecy, yet a short time afterwards he changed sides and turned spy for the Order of the Phoenix. Betrayal of Voldemort is not a step that could be taken lightly. What caused this complete change of… Read More
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Snape is not a good guy. His treachery has been written in black and white all through the Harry Potter books and especially in Half-Blood Prince. Even so, some Snape fans are looking for a reprieve. One person I work with actually said, “It’s no excuse, but he did have to kill Dumbledore or die himself.” And then… Read More
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Where is Little Whinging? What sort of place did Harry Potter grow up in? The books in the canon give us several clues, mostly in Books 1 and 5 (Philosopher’s Stone and Order of the Phoenix), but beware . . . there may be a red herring! In Book 1, the first letter from Hogwarts (and presumably the others), is addressed to Harry in “Little Whinging,… Read More
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Editor: Michele L. Worley I have stretched this list to include some instances of numbers containing the word “seven”. There will be seven books in the series. “All right, thirty-seven then,” said Dudley, going red in the face. [counting birthday presents, (PS2)] “Seven years there and he won’t know… Read More
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Editor: Michele L. Worley I have stretched this list to include some instances of numbers containing the word “six”. “Thirty-six,” he said, looking up at his mother and father. “That’s two less than last year.” [counting birthday presents, (PS2)] …while Harry and Uncle Vernon watched Dudley unwrap the racing… Read More
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What happened fifty years ago? When the tombstone photo from Goblet of Fire appeared a few weeks ago with glaring canon errors, I started to wonder how sure we could be of the dates of events that happened, according to the books, “fifty years ago.” New information was included in Half-Blood… Read More
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The Open Letter to J.K. Rowling September 2004 FROM MUGGLENET AND THE HARRY POTTER LEXICON Dear Jo: Not surprisingly, we’re thrilled to know that you visit the Lexicon and MuggleNet on occasion. We are delighted that the work we’ve done is helpful and appreciated, not only to you but also… Read More
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Within Harry Potter (HP) fandom, ships—relationship theories—come in all shapes, sizes, and speeds. Some ships are small sailboats with elegant, white sails that can carry only a handful of fans as passengers. These ships, while not popular, are beautiful and fun nevertheless. Other ships are cruise liners: quick, massive, powerful,… Read More
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Often there is a fine line between arrogance and confidence, stubbornness and being willful. Snape, for one, accuses Harry of strutting around Hogwart, arrogant like his father. For the most part, I don’t believe Harry is arrogant at all. Arrogance is defined as follows: giving one’s self an undue degree of importance; having or showing feelings of… Read More
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Sooner or later every fan stumbles across certain mysteries in the Harry Potter books. Some actually find them in the books, other stumbled across them in discussions online. Once discovered, any good fan will then ponder whether this intriguing new mystery is a clue, foreshadowing, foreboding, a misdirection (red herring),… Read More
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Okay, so we weren’t there as the Weasley children grew up, all seven of them in that wonderful magical house. But I think we can make some fairly shrewd guesses as to what it was like. After all, one thing is certainly true, and that’s the fact that siblings compete for their… Read More
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I am primarily a trio shipper; by that I mean I enjoy reading and writing fics about various pairings of Harry, Ron, and Hermione. However, as far as reading goes, I will read pretty much any ship, even if I don’t ‘ship’ it—with two exceptions: Harry/Ginny and Draco/Hermione. I tried to sit down and think about… Read More
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Although much has been made of the contrasting upbringings of Tom Riddle and Harry Potter by the Harry Potter community, very little analysis appears to have been put forth towards analyzing the differences between each character’s childhoods, with many fans focusing upon the similarities instead. The fact that they are each half-bloods, or that both… Read More