Shortly after the Lexicon was created in 2000, the first essay appeared: The Limits of Magic by Caius Marcius. From that point on, the Lexicon’s collection of canon-based essays grew and grew. As the book series progressed, many of those essays became outdated or were proven wrong. However, they are all included in our collection as an archive of fan thinking and speculation during those exciting years. You can find all those essays, plus new ones as they get published, listed here. The following listing of essays is in reverse chronological order — the more recent essays are listed first.

• Essay
Posted by in Essays
The outside and ground floor of the Burrow are straightforward, but once we start up the rickety stairs, things become a little more tricky to figure out. The first question is, how many bedrooms are there? And then, how do we know where each one is located? How many bedrooms… Read More
• Essay
Posted by in Canon discussion / Essays
In an interview with The Leaky Cauldron and MuggleNet in July 2005, Rowling said, “Dumbledore’s guesses are never very far wide of the mark. I don’t want to give too much away here, but Dumbledore says, ‘There are four out there, you’ve got to get rid of four, and then… Read More
• Essay
Posted by in Canon discussion / Essays
We saw in Half-Blood Prince that Hepzibah Smith was distantly related to Helga Hufflepuff and that Hufflepuff’s gold cup was in her possession. We also saw that Salazar Slytherin’s line ends with T.M. Riddle/Lord Voldemort through the Gaunt family, which was in possession of Slytherin’s gold locket and a Slytherin family heirloom, the Peverell ring. But we haven’t been given direct information identifying the family… Read More
• Essay
Posted by in Canon discussion / Essays
Considerable analysis has gone into the ages of the Quidditch-playing Weasley brothers, reaching the conclusion that most of the information which J.K. Rowling gives us regarding Gryffindor’s team prior to Harry’s arrival at Hogwarts is inconsistent. However, these arguments are based on a number of assumptions which are not provable… Read More
• Essay
Posted by in Canon discussion / Essays
The State of Play at Hogwarts Quidditch is the principal wizard sport and the school sport of Hogwarts, so given the outstanding natural abilities of J.K. Rowling’s main protagonist, it unsurprisingly forms a major recurring element in the series, including an eventful visit to the Quidditch World Cup in Goblet of Fire. The four houses… Read More
• Essay
Posted by in Canon discussion / Essays
Harry’s Unanswered Question “Professor, what happened to your—?” “I have no time to explain now,” said Dumbledore. “It is a thrilling tale, I wish to do it justice.” (HBP4) At least four times in Half-Blood Prince, Harry asks Dumbledore to explain what happened to his right hand. Each time, Dumbledore smiles and implies that… Read More
• Essay
Posted by in Canon discussion / Essays
As the last Harry Potter book draws ever nearer, we are all scrambling to organize and finalize theories. So, anyone who’s an HP fan must have heard of several ships[*] from the Marauder’s Era. I’ll refer to them as m-ships in this essay to make life easier. These m-ships basically put together two of the… Read More
• Essay
Posted by in Essays
A number of questions are often asked about the Hogwarts Express—how can it be hidden at King’s Cross so effectively?—why is there always just one compartment left? how can it travel around without being seen? The Hogwarts Express—Muggle features Muggles, it is suggested in OP7, developed technology because they don’t have magic, so… Read More
• Essay
Posted by in Essays
The quotation above was coined by Arthur C. Clarke as his Third Law, in Report on Planet Three (1972). This essay compares the different technologies available to the magical and muggle worlds. Magical Artifacts Artifacts with magical properties are quite common in the magical world described in the books of J.K. Rowling. Some of them are similar to… Read More
• Essay
Posted by in Canon discussion / Essays
Within the Harry Potter stories are many scenes that can be analyzed astronomically. As both an astronomer and a teacher, these interest me, and so I will present such analysis here. My goal is not to criticize Rowling when she is inaccurate in her astronomy (or, for that matter, to praise her when she… Read More
• Essay
Posted by in Canon discussion / Essays
Where is the Burrow—Harry’s second home (his first is Hogwarts, of course, not Privet Drive!)? Ottery St. Catchpole The books give the Burrow’s location as just outside the village of Ottery St. Catchpole, but give no direct clues as to where this is. The similarity of the name to Ottery St. Mary, in Devon has… Read More
• Essay
Posted by in Canon discussion / Essays
The Hut-on-the-Rock holds a key place in the life story of Harry Potter.  It was here, on his eleventh birthday, that he encountered the world of wizardry for the first time since infancy. But where was it? The address on the letter brought by Hagrid in PS4 is not very helpful: Harry Potter, The Floor, Hut-on-the-Rock,… Read More
• Essay
Posted by and in Essays / What's New
As part of our quest for the possible meanings of ‘hallows,’ Lexicon friend Bandersnatch kindly agreed to assemble some information for us. The result is an excellent essay which gives us some context for the new book’s title. Enjoy: The Grail Hallows and Harry Potter… Read More