• Headlines and advertisements Is Anyone Safe? is a headline from the magical newspaper The New York Ghost in 1926, referring to the dangerous criminal Gellert Grindelwald being on the loose in Europe (WFT). Read More
• Character Sally Smith was one of the original forty students at Hogwarts that J.K. Rowling created. She never appeared in canon, but did appear in the BBC interview with J.K. Rowling in 2001, Harry Potter and Me. Her name also appears in a new writing from J.K. Rowling on Pottermore,… Read More
• Character Selina Sapworthy was the author of Xylomancy, a guide to divination by using twigs (Pm). Read More
• Character Newton “Newt” Scamander is a famous magizoologist and author of Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them (PS5) as well as a number of other books. Now retired, Scamander lives in Dorset with his wife Porpentina (FB). He received the Order of Merlin, second… Read More
• Source The second online chat Rowling held through Scholastic.com. According to the website, “On October 16, 2000, classrooms across America went online to ask J.K. Rowling their burning questions about Harry Potter.”… Read More
• Common items • Hogwarts academics Students typically carry bags filled with books, parchment, quills, homework,  wands, potions ingredients and ink. Read More
• Source Rowling relates details about her own life leading up to writing the Potter books. She also describes the process of writing and of creating her magical world. Read More
• Character Henry Shaw (Sr.) was a powerful 1920s media titan based in New York (WFT). Read More
• Character Rita Skeeter is a reporter for the Daily Prophet who is known for her rubbishy exposés of well-known wizards. She uses a Quick-Quotes Quill to write in flowery prose filled with innuendos and veiled accusations (GF18). Rita was a reporter at the Death Eater trials after the… Read More
• Character Wilbert Slinkhard was the author of Defensive Magical Theory, a dull and heavily theoretical Defence against the Dark Arts textbook that favors more passive responses to dark forces (OP9, OP12, OP15, OP17, OP29). In chapter 15, Slinkhard claimed that counter-jinxes are improperly named, because he believed that “counter-jinx”… Read More
• Article
Posted by in Canon discussion / Essays
Presented at Lumos 2006 Las Vegas, Nevada 29 July 2006[*] How wonderful it is that the second chapter of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is titled “Spinner’s End.” Wonderful, because, if read ironically, it refers not only to a place, but to Severus Snape’s fate, a rubric revealing that the… Read More
• Quote Q: Will Snape ever fall in love? JKR: Who on earth would want Snape in love with them? That’s a very horrible idea. Read More
• Spells The Snitch Jinx is a delayed-action jinx which writes the word “sneak” across someone’s face in pimples if they break an agreement they sign. This jinx may be an invention of Hermione Granger.    … Read More
• Character Spangle was a renowned researcher of Charms in the eighteenth century, notable for his work on Patronuses (and, specifically, the forms which Patronuses take).  The book Charms of Defence and Deterrence is considered his masterwork. Read More
• Games, toys, and jokes A pair of “psychedelic spectacles”, given away free by The Quibbler during Harry’s sixth year. Read More
• Publications Spellbound: Celebrity Secrets and Spell Tips of the Stars! was a wizarding celebrity magazine (CG). In 1927, the magazine incorrectly announced that Newt was going to marry Leta Lestrange. The cover of that issue showed a picture of Newt with a Niffler, and a photo inside showed Newt, Leta, Theseus,… Read More
• Character Helbert Spleen was a Healer at St. Mungo’s Hospital of Magical Maladies. He also wrote for the Daily Prophet (DP3)… Read More
• Character Phyllida Spore was a famous herbologist and the author of One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi (PS5). Read More
• Character Blenheim Stalk is a well-known expert on Muggles and the author of several books, including Muggles Who Notice (FB, FW). Read More
• Books and Literature The Standard Book of Spells is a multi-volume reference work used as a textbook at Hogwarts. The series is divided into “Grades,” with each successive grade containing more difficult and complex spells. The series was written by Miranda Goshawk in the 1900s, probably based on the seminal work… Read More
• Character Ballyfumble Stranger is from Conundrum 5: The Miserable Ode of Quivering Quintus, part of Miranda Goshawk’s Book of Spells. He is a nervous and cowardly character, who flees from danger quickly and lacks bravery and daring. (BoS)… Read More
• Books and Literature A Study into Muggle Suspicions About Magic is a Ministry of Magic report warning against the dangers of underestimating how much magic Muggles notice (DP1). Professor Phoebus Penrose headed a committee which produced this report about Muggle suspicions about magic. Among other magical examples, it notes that… Read More
• Books and Literature A Study into the Possibility of Reversing the Actual and Metaphysical Effects of Natural Death, with Particular Regard to the Reintegration of Essence and Matter is an acclaimed book on the possibility of reversing death, written by the renowned wizarding philosopher Bertrand de Pensées-Profondes (TBB). His conclusion – after copious research… Read More
• Character Sue Li was one of the original forty students at Hogwarts that J.K. Rowling created. She never appeared in canon, but did appear in the BBC interview with J.K. Rowling in 2001, Harry Potter and Me. Her name also appears in a new writing from J.K. Rowling on Pottermore,… Read More
• Publications The Sunday Prophet is a weekend edition of the Daily Prophet, the newspaper of the wizarding world. Read More
• Character Emeric Switch was the author of A Beginner’s Guide to Transfiguration (PS5). Read More
• Source The original synopsis of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone summarizes the first book and describes the magic and wonder of the tale very well. A copy of the synopsis was included on Rowling’s original website but that copy ended at the bottom of page one. The full synopsis is reproduced… Read More