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 As the book series progressed, many of those essays became outdated or were proven wrong.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.
I have, for some time, been speculating on just why Voldemort would single out a child for destruction. There is, of course, the much talked about “Heir of Gryffindor” theory, but for me, this doesn’t hold with JKR’s theme of our choices making us who we are, and not innate qualities. So,… Read MoreDivination: The Theory and Practice of Prediction• Essay
A theory as to the nature and functioning of Divination as a magical art… Divination is almost always misunderstood as “predicting the future”. Yes, it certainly is meant to do that, but successful Divination does not predict the raw future. Divination really predicts a future based on events that are currently happening outside of the wizard’s or witch’s… Read MoreGinny Weasley: Baby Sister, Best Friend• Essay
What about Ginny? Although she figured prominently in the plot of CS, everything she did happened “off camera” and she didn’t really show up until her One Big Scene at the end. Who is she really? Is she just an “extra” or simply a stereotype, thrown in for decoration or for… Read MoreFamiliarity: The Key to Understanding Spellwork• Essay
Why didn’t Quirrell just Accio the Philosopher’s Stone to him (PS17)? He probably couldn’t. Here’s why: Magic requires many elements, but a prime one is familiarity. That is why most spells are line-of-sight. The wizard must see what it is in order to charm/curse it. This has been said many… Read MoreThe Put-Outer and Magic on Privet Drive• Essay
Dumbledore’s Put-Outer is a magical device introduced in PS1, and it is unique as the only tool used to perform magic aside from wands. The Put-Outer also has the distinction of being the first magical tool introduced in the series: [Dumbledore] found what he was looking for in his… Read MoreMagical Ability and Magic Wands• Essay
On this page: Related information: What Magical Ability Is Canon Examples The Philosopher’s Labyrinth What Wands Are Stuff From Canon: Wand Idiosyncrasy and Power Harry as Focal Point There’s Something About Harry blood status wands What Magical Ability Is Canon Examples What is magical ability? The wizards… Read MoreTroubles with Time• Essay
We know that book 2 takes place in 1992 because Nearly Headless Nick holds his 500th Deathday Party in CS8. There’s a cake on the table of “food” that bears this inscription: SIR NICHOLAS DE MIMSY-PORPINGTON DIED 31ST OCTOBER, 1492 Obviously, if you add five hundred years to… Read MoreHogwarts Ghosts• Essay
WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT In Muggle vernacular, we’re talking about ghosts; more specifically, the ghosts living at Hogwarts. But enlightened Muggles like ourselves know better, since there are some “ghosts” who aren’t ghosts after all. Peeves the Poltergeist is one: to quote Nearly-Headless Nick: “he’s not really even a ghost” (PS7). There… Read MoreWhy Do All the Kids Have to Go to King's Cross?• Essay
It seems a bit weird that everyone would have to go to London to get to Scotland. After all, for quite a few kids it would certainly be closer to go directly to Hogwarts from their homes or possibly to catch the train at some point along the route. Why do they all go to London?… Read MoreHow Does a Scarlet Stream Train Travel the Length of Britain Without Being Seen?• Essay
The Hogwarts Express is not really a steam train. It does look like one and it acts like one in certain key ways, but it isn’t one. It’s a magical device. It borrows its form and its intended function from real steam trains, but not the technology. It’s like the Ministry cars,… Read MoreThe Changing Image of Grown-Ups in the Harry Potter Books• Essay
The Harry Potter books are shifting from kid’s books to more adult books as Harry ages, and I’ve noticed an interesting transition over the course of the four books so far, that pretty much tracks how a kid of Harry’s age views grownups in our world: PS: Grownups are a pain. They are stupid, nasty,… Read MoreFood and Drink in the Potter Universe• Essay
In one of her many interviews, JKR said that wizards generally live longer than Muggles. After a thorough research about food in the Harry Potter universe and, above all, its magical part, the only possible conclusion is that wizards don’t have problems with cholesterol, otherwise their life span would be… Read MoreWhat really happened on the night James and Lily were killed? A Timeline and Commentary• Essay
This analysis was originally written in 2001, after the publication of Goblet of Fire. It’s still around in its original form (and in the original format of Lexicon pages!). What you will read here has been revised and updated over the years to incorporate much of what we now know… Read MoreHarry Potter: Pureblood, Half-Blood, or "Mudblood"?• Essay
Yes, Harry is half-blood. We learned in PS4 that Lily’s parents were Muggles. At least, that’s the implication of Aunt Petunia’s remarks that they were proud having a witch in the family. Voldemort, too, is half-blood: we learned in CS13 that his father was a Muggle (his mother was a witch). The intense focus on whether or not a certain character does or… Read MoreTeachers and Curriculum: Would You Want This For Your Child?• Essay
Academics at Hogwarts are a curious mix of practical experience and rote learning. While the curriculum is dictated to some extent by the Ministry of Magic (GF14), each instructor is given considerable leeway in exactly what they teach and how they go about it. To be perfectly frank, some of the instructors at Hogwarts are very… Read MoreA Hogwarts Education: Well-Rounded or Not?• Essay
There is much we don’t know about wizarding education. How do younger wizards and witches get educated in basic skills like reading and writing? We see very little of this in the books, although obviously the kids entering Hogwarts have been trained in some of these basic skills or they wouldn’t be… Read MoreN.E.W.T.s and O.W.L.s: An explanation for non-British folks• Essay
The first four years at secondary (high school) school is spent studying for “O” (ordinary) levels. They are now called GCSEs (general certificate of secondary education). In the first two years, you take basic subjects, such as maths, english, science, history. Compulsary subjects for first and Second year vary from… Read MoreLanguages at Durmstrang• Essay
Do we ever find out what the language of instruction used at Durmstrang Institute is? At Beauxbatons it would have to be French, but although “Durmstrang” sounds German, the Durmstrang students we meet are all of Slavic ancestry as far as we know. On the one hand, German continues to be sort of a “lingua franca”… Read MoreTextbooks• Essay
Updates by Michelle Worley The Booklist Every year Hogwarts students receive book lists in the post, telling them which textbooks they will require for the year. First years get the longest list, presumably because some of the books last them the whole seven-year course of their study. Here is a… Read MoreIntroduction to Muggle Studies• Essay
(Just for fun, here’s one fan’s concept of what a Wizarding Muggle Studies textbook might be like…) Travel and space Understanding Muggles perceptions of how the world connects up is a big problem for wizarding people. We have to let go of a lot of our assumptions to grasp how… Read More
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.
Hogwarts Ghosts
• Essay
WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT In Muggle vernacular, we’re talking about ghosts; more specifically, the ghosts living at Hogwarts. But enlightened Muggles like ourselves know better, since there are some “ghosts” who aren’t ghosts after all. Peeves the Poltergeist is one: to quote Nearly-Headless Nick: “he’s not really even a ghost” (PS7). There… Read More
How Does a Scarlet Stream Train Travel the Length of Britain Without Being Seen?
• Essay
Food and Drink in the Potter Universe
• Essay
In one of her many interviews, JKR said that wizards generally live longer than Muggles. After a thorough research about food in the Harry Potter universe and, above all, its magical part, the only possible conclusion is that wizards don’t have problems with cholesterol, otherwise their life span would be… Read More
What really happened on the night James and Lily were killed? A Timeline and Commentary
• Essay
This analysis was originally written in 2001, after the publication of Goblet of Fire. It’s still around in its original form (and in the original format of Lexicon pages!). What you will read here has been revised and updated over the years to incorporate much of what we now know… Read More
Teachers and Curriculum: Would You Want This For Your Child?
• Essay
Academics at Hogwarts are a curious mix of practical experience and rote learning. While the curriculum is dictated to some extent by the Ministry of Magic (GF14), each instructor is given considerable leeway in exactly what they teach and how they go about it. To be perfectly frank, some of the instructors at Hogwarts are very… Read More
Textbooks
• Essay
Updates by Michelle Worley The Booklist Every year Hogwarts students receive book lists in the post, telling them which textbooks they will require for the year. First years get the longest list, presumably because some of the books last them the whole seven-year course of their study. Here is a… Read More