• Essay
Posted by in Canon discussion / Essays
Although much has been made of the contrasting upbringings of Tom Riddle and Harry Potter by the Harry Potter community, very little analysis appears to have been put forth towards analyzing the differences between each character’s childhoods, with many fans focusing upon the similarities instead. The fact that they are each half-bloods, or that both… Read More
• Essay
Posted by in Essays
(by Nik the Hermit, our “man in the street”) J. K. Rowling has stated many times that memories and “echoes” from her own childhood became part of the Harry Potter Books. Two well-known examples are: The use of the surname of her two friends from her early childhood, Ian and… Read More
• Essay
Posted by in Rants / The Films
I love the Harry Potter films. I have dear friends who worked on them. I was on the set during the filming of Order of the Phoenix. David Heyman even told me that they used the Lexicon "every day" while they created the films. So don't mistake what I'm about to say for anything but loving criticism. The films are nothing more than very expensive fan fiction. They're made-up stories closely based on the Harry Potter books, created by people who are massive Harry Potter fans and who care very deeply about "getting it right," but who, for one reason or another, changed a lot of things. Sometimes they changed things for very good reasons. Sometimes, though, they seem to have changed things for no particular reason at all. I can't explain it, but there you go. However, for a lot of people, the films are Harry Potter. They've never read the books, or barely read them anyway. As far as they're concerned, Dementors attacked Harry and Dudley in an underpass below a highway. Snape died in a boathouse. And Harry fought Voldemort in an extended, violent duel at the end of the Battle of Hogwarts, punctuated by clever bon mots and death-defying falls from high places. But oh well. I really don't care. At least they're Potter fans! The more the merrier! Just do me a favor ... don't send me any more emails telling me that I screwed up on the Lexicon when I write that: Read More
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Posted by in Essays
“Want a hand?” With these words, the character of George Weasley enters the readers’ lives and hearts. This is also Harry Potter’s first impression of George when they meet on the train. Harry Potter, a boy who can’t remember the last time anyone showed him kindness, George Weasley for the first time and is helped out by the young… Read More
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Posted by and in Website news / What's New
Greetings on T-167 days and counting until Book 7 publication! I have an essay for any math wonks out there (that’s “maths” to Jo and others in the U.K.): check out our new essay on Wizard Money from a fan in Russia, Anton Generalov aka “XAHrOBEP” (pronounced “”Hangover”). Read More
• Essay
Posted by in Canon discussion / Essays
Well, after reading book 5 of Harry Potter (The Order of the Phoenix), all of my literature interpretation instincts just kicked in automatically. Never mind the predictions of what will happen, who will end up with whom, etc… I was instantly drawn by the notion of psychomachia (I’ve mentioned it before,… Read More