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.
In a recent Harry Potter Minute, we discussed instances in the books where two seemingly unrelated characters have the same last name. We’ve already covered two of the three instances, the Smiths and the Gudgeons. But a third set caused quite the fuss back in the day, and is the… Read More🎙️ OP4: Discovering Grimmauld Place• Podcast Episode
In Chapter 4 of Order of the Phoenix, we and Harry make our first visit to Number Twelve Grimmauld Place. As she has done from the very beginning of the series, Rowling lets us discover a new part of the wizarding world a tiny bit at a time… Read More🎙️ Hermione's Ethnicity• Podcast Episode
When the casting for the Cursed Child came out many people were surprised that they chose a black woman to play Hermione. After all, Emma Watson, a white person, played her in the movies and that was the representation people were used to. J.K. Rowling never specified the race… Read More🎙️ Portraits• Podcast Episode
How does the portrait world with in the Harry Potter books work? Here are some things that I wonder about: Are all of the paintings connected, just one painting blending seamlessly into the next? Or is there blank space, equal to the distance from painting… Read More🎙️ OP3: Why Not Side-Along Apparition?• Podcast Episode
In Chapter 3 of Order of the Phoenix, when Harry is being rescued by the Advance Guard, Rowling writes: ‘How’re we getting – wherever we’re going?’ Harry asked. ‘Brooms,’ said Lupin. ‘Only way. You’re too young to Apparate, they’ll be watching the Floo Network and it’s more than our… Read More🎙️ Last Names• Podcast Episode
As careful readers, we’re taught to pay attention to last names – when two characters have the same last name, there is usually a good reason why. But there are three instances within the books of two characters having the same last name, without any reason given explaining it. Read More🎙️ About Snape and Love• Podcast Episode
Today I wanted to talk about Snape. The “good or evil” Snape debate has rocked the Harry Potter fandom for years, and I know almost everyone has a strong opinion about him one way or the other (so I’m going to try not to ruffle too… Read More🎙️ Order of the Phoenix Chapter 2 - Kneazles• Podcast Episode
Mister Tibbles? Mrs Norris? Why do the animals owned by Squibs seem to have similar names? And particularly human-sounding names at that? In chapter two of Order of the Phoenix, we meet Mrs Figg properly for the first time. She’d turned up in book… Read More🎙️ The Changing Quidditch World Cup Schedule• Podcast Episode
Following up on the earlier release of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them in audiobook form, Pottermore and Audible are releasing a Quidditch Through the Ages audiobook tomorrow. In addition to a reading of the book itself, 2 voice actresses will take on the roles of Ginny Potter… Read More🎙️ Is Dobby Really Necessary?• Podcast Episode
In my latest re read of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets this question just hit me: Is Dobby really necessary to the end result of book 2? To be clear this is a different question than asking if he is essential to the… Read More🎙️ Prime Numbers• Podcast Episode
Despite being a self-confessed math-phobic J.K. Rowling has certainly had some fun with numbers in the Harry Potter universe. In a previous episode we talked about wizard currency being built on prime numbers, with 29 knuts to a sickle and 17 sickles to a galleon. Prime numbers crop up… Read More🎙️ Order of the Phoenix Chapter 1• Podcast Episode
Today we’re spending a little bit of time with chapter one of Order of the Phoenix. From the very beginning, we’re introduced to the theme of drought. Rowling writes: Cars that were usually gleaming stood dusty in their drives and lawns that were… Read More🎙️ Introduction to the Chapter Episodes• Podcast Episode
Steve VanderArk here to let you know something new that’s coming to the Harry Potter Minute. Every couple of episodes, we’re going to share some thoughts on one particular chapter of one of the books. These chapter episodes will focus on one particular detail or connection that struck… Read More🎙️ The Similarities Between Hermione and Moaning Myrtle• Podcast Episode
Did you know that there are interesting similarities between Hermione Granger and Moaning Myrtle? In Philosopher’s Stone, Hermione is being bullied by Ron. She flees into the girl’s bathroom. There, she is attacked by a troll, released by Quirrel… Read More🎙️ Wizard Currency• Podcast Episode
You may notice on the homepage of the Lexicon that it always shows the current exchange rate between a galleon and a range of different worldwide currencies. But did you ever wonder how J.K. Rowling came up with this seemingly confusing system of wizard money? Hagrid explains… Read More🎙️ Are Hufflepuffs "good finders"?• Podcast Episode
“Hufflepuffs are particularly good finders” If you’ve been part of the Harry Potter fandom you’ve probably heard this phrase throughout the internet but a lot of people don’t know where it comes from. In the Philosopher’s Stone the Sorting Hat says: You might belong in Hufflepuff, Where they are… Read More🎙️ House Ghosts• Podcast Episode
When did House Ghosts become a recognized part of life at Hogwarts? Nearly-Headless Nick celebrates the 500th anniversary of his death in Chapter 8 of Chamber of Secrets. In the following chapter, Professor Binns states that Hogwarts was founded more than a thousand years… Read More🎙️ Who Can Take Away Points?• Podcast Episode
The continuity editors of the Potter books surely earned their wages – other than things like math and dates, there are remarkably few inconsistencies in the Potter series. But there is a small one in Order of the Phoenix that proved to be… Read More🎙️ Barebone Names• Podcast Episode
Chastity, Credence, and Modesty may have seemed like strange names to viewers of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, but they are rooted in the Barebone family’s Puritan past. Not only is the Barebones’s church named for Salem, Massachusetts, but also the family… Read More🎙️ Why Ottery St Mary?• Podcast Episode
Why do we assume that Ottery St Mary, an actual town in south Devon, is the same village as the one called Ottery St Catchpole in the books? There are a couple of good reasons for this. For one thing, the name “Ottery” means that the town… Read More