The Harry Potter Lexicon website has been in existence for almost two decades. Over that time, J.K Rowling thrilled us with her magical creation — in novels, interviews, on her websites, on Twitter, and more.
And here at the Lexicon, a small group of dedicated fans have worked very hard over all those years to catalogue all the magical details she revealed. The Lexicon website has always been seen as the gold standard for careful research and faithfulness to Rowling’s created world, all because of these amazing fans.
Now we editors of the Lexicon would like share some of what we’re so passionate about in a new way. So we’ve creating this podcast as a way for you to hear from us. It’s called the Harry Potter Minute, and in it you’ll hear the voices of our editors sharing a few of the many little things which delight us about the Wizarding World. We are fans from all over the globe who love to spend our time keeping track of the interesting details and obscure references which make Rowling’s work so rich and wonderful.
In each podcast, around four or five minutes in length, we’ll talk about anything from cool trivia and interesting canon passages to the latest Wizarding World news. We might share something that’s stuck in our heads as we researched the books or maybe recall some event from the history of Harry Potter fandom.
The podcasts will come out once or twice a week. We hope you’ll join us! And we’d love to hear from you as well. Feel free to use the comment section on the blogpost for each podcast to post your thoughts.
As I mentioned when talking about chapter one, the whole point of book five is the transformation of Harry Potter. All the things that are most important to him, the things that he sees as his strengths, will be taken away from him. At the end of this book, he… Read More🎙️ The Weird Sisters• Podcast Episode
Have you ever wondered why an all-wizard rock band would call itself The Weird Sisters? Shakespeare fans may recognize the term “weird sisters” as a name applied to the witches in Macbeth. You might know that all roles in Shakespeare’s plays were played by male… Read More🎙️ CS3: The Weasley Twins• Podcast Episode
I have to start off this Minute with telling you that this is one of my favorite chapters of the series. We are getting a close up look at my favorite wizarding family: the Weasleys. I love their overflowing, disorganized, warm and crowded home, and their family… Read More🎙️ Unlucky Number Four• Podcast Episode
In China the number four is considered unlucky, presumably because the Chinese word for four is very similar to the word for death. This association with bad luck seems to have followed the number four into the wizarding world. Four is sometimes seen as a source… Read More🎙️ Harry Potter and Star Wars• Podcast Episode
With Solo: A Star Wars Story now playing in theatres, I thought it may be interesting to visit the similarities between two beloved franchises: Harry Potter and Star Wars. The protagonists Harry Potter and Luke Skywalker share many familiarities. They both live with their aunt… Read More🎙️ OP9: What is a "Flint"?• Podcast Episode
Rowling said in an interview in 2005 (TLC) that since she doesn’t re-read her own books, “there are thousands of fans who know the books much better than I do.” I suppose that’s why she admitted to using the Harry Potter Lexicon as a reference while writing… Read More🎙️ OP9: Lucius? I Remember Him• Podcast Episode
This is truly a case of “You had to be there.” When I read this chapter for the first time, the day after the book was released, I distinctly recall feeling a little bit surprised by Harry’s reaction to Lucius Malfoy. I knew there… Read More🎙️ Neville's Bravery• Podcast Episode
I wrote an essay recently about the timing of the attack on Neville’s parents, talking about how he must have been around five years old when it happened (give or take a year or two). This means he has an awareness of what happened and remembers his parents… Read More🎙️ The Twins' O.W.L.s• Podcast Episode
When classes start in Harry’s fifth year, O.W.L.s are all anyone wants to talk about. At lunch on the first day, the Weasley twins offer some sage advice about how “it’s a nightmare of a year, the fifth, if you care about exam results, anyway.” Ron then comments, “Yeah…… Read More🎙️ OP8: Sweet Victory Foreshadowed• Podcast Episode
So why is the Order of the Phoenix my favorite Harry Potter novel? The rich, imaginative descriptions of new places in the Wizarding World are part of it, sure, but it’s more. It’s the delicious, immensely satisfying way that evil gets its comeuppance by the end of the book. Read More🎙️ CS2: Dobby’s Warning ... and other musings• Podcast Episode
Today I’ll be discussing chapter 2 of Chamber of Secrets, “Dobby’s Warning.” ‘There is a plot, Harry Potter. A plot to make most terrible things happen at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry this year.’ This year. Why this year? Why did Lucius… Read More🎙️ Number Twelve....• Podcast Episode
Previously we talked about how often prime numbers feature in the Harry Potter books. Another number that crops up a lot is the number 12. 12 Grimmauld Place might be the first one that springs to mind, but we also have 12 uses of dragon’s blood;… Read More🎙️ OP7: The Ministry of Magic• Podcast Episode
Harry’s first-hand knowledge of the Wizarding world was pretty limited up to this time. Basically, he had spent all of his life in three places: Diagon Alley in London (and Little Whinging is part of greater London, being in the vicinity of Heathrow Airport), the Burrow which… Read More🎙️ Who Enforces the Statute of Secrecy to the Muggles?• Podcast Episode
Did you know that muggles are not held to the statute of secrecy? A muggle that knows about the wizarding world can share that information with other muggles. We find this out by the fact that Petunia at some point tells Vernon about her sister being… Read More🎙️ Choosing the Deathly Hallows• Podcast Episode
I’d like to discuss a passage in the Deathly Hallows that has always interested me. It’s after Harry, Ron and Hermione, hear the Tale of the Three Brothers: “It’s just a morality tale, it’s obvious which gift is the best, which one you’d choose–” The three of them… Read More🎙️ OP6: Drawing Room Delights• Podcast Episode
Let’s just take a moment to talk about the richness of Rowling’s imagination. In chapter six of Order of the Phoenix, we’re introduced to the weird and wonderful drawing room of number twelve Grimmauld Place, with it’s curtains filled with Doxies, the nest of dead Puffskeins… Read More🎙️ Arithmancy....• Podcast Episode
Arithmancy is a branch of magic which deals with the magical properties of numbers, and Hermione tells us it’s her favourite subject. In previous episodes we’ve already talked about some of the interesting ways that J.K. Rowling uses numbers in the books, and if we look through an arithmancy lens… Read More🎙️ A Shout-out to Narcissa Malfoy• Podcast Episode
Narcissa Malfoy is a rude and racist witch, but there are several moments in the series that I think show Narcissa’s better side. In Spinner’s End, chapter 2 of Half Blood Prince, Narcissa is desperate to keep her son safe. Despite her sister’s warnings and Voldemort’s instructions to… Read More🎙️ OP5: I Don't Think I Like This Book• Podcast Episode
You know what strikes me about chapter five of Order of the Phoenix? I really, really don’t like most of the characters in it. I don’t like Harry, I don’t like Sirius, I don’t like Molly … I don’t like any of them. But this is a tribute to… Read More🎙️ CS1: Birthdays• Podcast Episode
In today’s minute I’ll be discussing Chamber of Secrets Chapter 1 The Worst Birthday. Here are some of my thoughts: I wonder what birthdays were like for Harry the nine years between being dropped off on his aunt and uncle’s doorstep and finding out he was a wizard. Harry would… Read More