Welcome to the Harry Potter Lexicon
The most compleat and amazing reference to the wonderful world of Harry Potter
est. 2000 A.D.
Phase of the Moon: Third Quarter
5 GBP = 1 Galleon 
Lily and James Potter welcome baby Harry into the world
Harry James Potter was born to James Potter and Lily Evans Potter. His birth appeared to fulfill a prophecy given months before by Sybill Trelawney. This prophecy would be the impetus for many events, including the death of James and Lily 18 months later. Sadly, James’ parents, Fleamont and Euphemia Potter, died before they had a chance to meet their only… Read More
Dumbledore visits Tom Riddle in the orphanage and offers him a place at Hogwarts
August, 1938: After charming the skeptical matron with magic, manners, and gin, Dumbledore meets Riddle in his room and reveals that the boy is a wizard and invites him to Hogwarts. Tom Riddle proves himself to be a bossy, hostile, independent, and calculating child who terrifies and torments the other orphans. At first, he guesses that Mrs. Cole has brought… Read More
A dangerous encounter with Nagini in Bathilda Bagshot’s house
Harry and Hermione, in disguise as an elderly Muggle couple, encounter who they think is Bathilda Bagshot in Godric’s Hollow on Christmas Eve. They follow her to her house, where she is revealed to be Nagini. In the ensuing battle, Hermione’s quick thinking saves the day, but Harry’s wand is broken. Read More
Wales vs Hungary Gobstones Tournament
10 June 1992 — Mr Grugwyn Rufford, a member of the Welsh National Gobstones Team, wrote to the Daily Prophet complaining that they did not cover the tournament that had taken place on 10th June and, in particular, had not reported the resounding Welsh win over Hungary (DP1). Read More
Albus Dumbledore sits his N.E.W.T.s
June 1899 — He is examined in Transfiguration and Charms by Griselda Marchbanks, who later says that he did things with a wand she’d never seen before. Read More
Harry receives a toy broomstick for his first birthday
The toy broomstick is a gift from Sirius. Lily Potter wrote a letter to Sirius, in part to thank him for the present: Dear Padfoot, Thank you, thank you, for Harry’s birthday present! It was his favorite by far. One year old and already zooming along on a toy broomstick, he looked so pleased with himself. I’m enclosing a picture… Read More
On this day in 1973...
Charlie Weasley is born
Charlie is the second son born to Molly and Arthur Weasley of the Burrow in… Read More
At the moment when he answers Snape’s call, he cannot know that Snape isn’t going to try and kill him. He can’t know that Snape will have the moral or physical courage to change course, let alone help… Read More
Latest from the Lexicon Blog
Draco’s Six
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So much has been made of how seven is “the most powerfully magical number” (HBP23) in Harry Potter, with it serving as something of a motif throughout the series… to the point where my podcast, The Three Broomsticks, has a recurring segment about the “seven ingredients of today’s… Read More
The Fallen Fathers of Goblet of Fire
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Jo’s portrayal of mothers in the HP books is fairly straight-forward: mother’s love is the be-all end-all of the series, so we can move right along. But her portrayal of fathers, on the other hand, is incredibly nuanced and intriguing. The turning point appears to be the middle book of… Read More
The Book of Prophecies: How "Order of the Phoenix" Predicts the Plot of "Deathly Hallows" - Part 2
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In Part I of this series, I delved into specific chapter-level comparisons between Order of the Phoenix and Deathly Hallows, and how the events in the former predict or foreshadow those in the latter. In this article, I will… Read More
The Book of Prophecies: How "Order of the Phoenix" Predicts the Plot of "Deathly Hallows" - Part 1
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The Harry Potter series is masterfully plotted, both as individual books and across the series as a whole. Within the fandom, there is a large focus on ring theory for understanding how the series is structured. In ring theory, each book has its… Read More
The Russian Philosopher’s Stone
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It’s a process familiar to most of us trying to brush up on a foreign language – get the Harry Potter books in one of the 85 languages they’ve been translated into, and read the story you know backwards and forwards in a language you may not. My first language… Read More
Mapping the Wizarding World
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Making the Calendar Fit
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I recently received two comments on two different entries in the Lexicon which brought up the same problem: the real world calendar doesn’t always agree with the days and dates in the books. I’m sure some of you are saying “Of course, we know that, this has been discussed in… Read More
The Secrets of Dumbledore ... still a secret?
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