The Lexicon Blog
The Fantastic Beasts Saga Timeline
• Article
The dates for each of these events is derived from a close read of canon sources, including the scripts for Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, and Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. 1881 Albus Dumbledore is born c. 1883 Gellert Grindelwald is born c. Read More
šļø CS13: Looks Can Be Deceiving
• Article
Posted
by Eileen Jones
in Harry Potter Lexicon Minute
I donāt remember where I read or heard this particular bit of information, but I heard that chapter 13 of the Potter books was where we got a little preview of the villain for that book, and boy does that hold true for Chapter 13 of Chamber of Secrets, entitled… Read More
Discussing The 'Crimes of Grindelwald' Reveal (MAJOR SPOILER WARNING)
• Article
UPDATE: I’ve now read the screenplay for the film and some interesting new details have been revealed. It undoes some of my theories in this post, but I’ve keep my original theories and put my updated ones below them in the “UPDATE” section. Anyway… MAJOR SPOILERS for… Read More
Posted
by Steve VanderArk
in The Films
Here are some helpful resources you might need if you’re researching the new film. We’ll update this with other resources over time. Timelines: Integrating the Dumbledore, Grindelwald, and Voldemort Timelines Timeline: The Rise of Grindelwald The Fantastic Beasts Saga Timeline Characters: Newt ScamanderĀ |Ā timeline Gellert… Read More
šļø OP24: Memories in the Pensieve
• Article
Posted
by Steve VanderArk
in Harry Potter Lexicon Minute
And now weāre to chapter 24 of Order of the Phoenix. This is not one of my favorite chapters of the book. Iām struck again how much I dislike certain characters, in this case Snape and Sirius. And since I know that this is the last time weāll… Read More
šļø The Lovegood House
• Article
Posted
by Steve VanderArk
in Harry Potter Lexicon Minute
On a couple of previous podcasts, I have talked about Ottery St. Catchpole and the Burrow. Iāve discussed why we identify the town with Ottery St. Mary in Devon, near Exeter. I talked about the relationship between the town and the Burrow, located, according to the books,… Read More
šļø CS12: In Dumbledore's Office
• Article
Posted
by Eileen Jones
in Harry Potter Lexicon Minute
At the beginning of Chapter 12 of Chamber of Secrets, entitled “The Polyjuice Potion,” Harry is taken to Dumbledoreās office. While he is waiting for the headmaster he has interactions with the Sorting Hat and Fawkes the Phoenix. Iād like to talk about how these… Read More
šļø OP23: Tears and Robes
• Article
Posted
by Steve VanderArk
in Harry Potter Lexicon Minute
Let me just start out by saying that I cry easily. Just ask my wife. I cry at sappy commercials with fathers sending their daughters off into the world while remembering every father-daughter dance and scraped knee. So youād think that reading the Harry Potter books, especially the first time… Read More
šļø The Significance of Halloween
• Article
Posted
by Rosie Payne
in Harry Potter Lexicon Minute
Halloween has always had a significance in the Harry Potter series. To start with, itās the date of Jamesā and Lilyās deaths and Voldemortās downfall in 1981. Then, in Philosopherās Stone Quirrell tries to take the Stone for the first time by letting the troll in;… Read More
šļø CS11: Loyalty
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There is a lot that happens in Chapter 11 of Chamber of Secrets, entitled The Dueling Club. The final ingredients for the Polyjuice Potion are acquired. The dueling club meeting takes place, which leads to Harry finding out he is a Parselmouth. And Harry discovers… Read More
šļø OP22: In Essence Divided
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In chapter 22, we are introduced to St Mungoās hospital. But we are also introduced to two other new ideas, one of which remained a mystery to fans even after the last book was published. One of these new ideas is the fact that the portraits of previous headmasters… Read More
All About the Horcrux Timeline
• Article
Posted
by Steve VanderArk
in Website news
A few days ago, Entertainment Weekly posted “A definitive timeline of every Harry Potter Horcrux.” I sure wish they’d research these things better before publishing them. Because they’re a mainstream magazine and because they’ve clearly been given a certain level a special access to the Fantastic Beasts team, fans… Read More
šļø Percivals in Canon
• Article
Posted
by Abby Koop
in Harry Potter Lexicon Minute
Percival is a suspiciously common name in the Harry Potter universe, and I’m inclined to read way into that. Probably the most well-known of these is Percy Weasley, who is not actually a confirmed “Percival.” As the Lexicon’s entry for Percy notes, “In Arthurian legend, Percival was a chivalrous knight… Read More
šļø CS10: Harry, Draco, and Quidditch
• Article
Posted
by Eileen Jones
in Harry Potter Lexicon Minute
First off, I need to use the Sonorus charm to give a shout out to my friend, Kim. She was the one who shared this insight with my reread group and me. She provided the foundation and I built upon it a little bit. But, I did want to… Read More
šļø OP21: Prefects, Mistletoe, and Hogwarts
• Article
Posted
by Steve VanderArk
in Harry Potter Lexicon Minute
While I read these chapters, I always look for something interesting to record a podcast about. When I read chapter 21, no one thing stood out as the topic to discuss, but a couple of tidbits did catch my eye. Iāll run through them for you. First, I hadnāt… Read More
šļø The Harry Potter Card Game
• Article
Posted
by Steve VanderArk
in Harry Potter Lexicon Minute
There are a number of new Harry Potter games coming out. Theyāre all mobile games, but my favorite Harry Potter game came out quite a few years before there was such a thing as a smartphone to play it on. Way back in 2001, Wizards of the Coast released a… Read More
šļø CS9: Filch
• Article
Posted
by Eileen Jones
in Harry Potter Lexicon Minute
What little we do know about Argus Filch, we learn perhaps the most personal detail about this man in Chapter 8 of Chamber of Secrets, entitled “The Deathday Party.” Harry just couldnāt squash his curiosity and opened Mr Filchās mail and found his Kwikspell courses, alerting us to… Read More
šļø OP20: About The Cloak
• Article
Posted
by Steve VanderArk
in Harry Potter Lexicon Minute
I love this chapter. Rowling is on top of her game here. I talked about her skill at writing conversations in a previous episode, and sheās at it again in this chapter. The nuances of the conversations, first between the Trio and Hagrid and then between Hagrid and Umbridge, are… Read More
šļø How Would The Other Houses Do It?
• Article
Posted
by Eileen Jones
in Harry Potter Lexicon Minute
There is a game that I like to play that was inspired by a pin I saw on Pinterest. The pin went something like this: There is a locked door Gryffindor: Knocks it down Slytherin: Picks the lock Ravenclaw: Finds the key Hufflepuff: Knocks I liked the idea of using… Read More
šļø CS8: Ghosts
• Article
In Chapter 8 of Chamber of Secrets, titled “The Deathday Party,” we get an up close look at the ghost of Gryffindor Tower, Sir Nicholas de Mimsey Porpington, aka Nearly Headless Nick. When Harry comes across him in the halls after Quidditch practice, Nick is reading a transparent… Read More
šļø OP19: And So It Begins
• Article
Posted
by Steve VanderArk
in Harry Potter Lexicon Minute
Chapter nineteen starts on a high note: Harry felt as though he were carrying some kind of talisman inside his chest over the following two weeks, a glowing secret that supported him through Umbridge’s classes and even made it possible for him to smile… Read More
šļø Hermione is a Virgo: Astrology and Other Stereotypes
• Article
Posted
by Abby Koop
in Harry Potter Lexicon Minute
Hermione Grangerās birthday is September 19th. Happy Birthday, Hermione! Hermione is a Virgo, like me, but I think she would deem astrology a āvery woollyā subject. When Firenze begins teaching Divination, he calls astrology āhuman nonsense.ā Parvati attempts to explain what Professor Trelawney has taught the… Read More
šļø CS7: Mudbloods and Murmurs
• Article
There are several standout moments for me in Chapter 7 of Chamber of Secrets, titled “Mudbloods and Murmurs.” First off, Harry is so kind to Colin Creevey. Colin is in this new world, and he is in the same house as the newest celebrity in recent wizarding history. Read More
šļø OP18: Hats, Cloaks, and Curfews
• Article
Posted
by Steve VanderArk
in Harry Potter Lexicon Minute
I thoroughly enjoyed chapter 18 of Order of the Phoenix, so much so that I had trouble picking out one thing to talk about in this podcast. The text is just so rich with wonderful conversations and characterizations — just read through that marvelous scene with Peeves throwing… Read More
šļø Wizard Plumbing
• Article
Posted
by Abby Koop
in Harry Potter Lexicon Minute
So, if youāre like me, and I assume you are, youāve got some questions about wizard plumbing. We know Hogwarts has bathrooms, and that those bathrooms have toilets, and that the halls of Hogwarts are lined with pipes. This is all spelled out for us in Chamber of Secrets,… Read More
šļø Myrtle, Hagrid, and CS
• Article
Posted
by Eileen Jones
in Harry Potter Lexicon Minute
Did MoaningĀ MyrtleĀ ever find out that it was Hagrid that was accused of being responsible for her murder? I know she was intent on haunting Olive Hornby for a while after her death. But, it was 50 years before Hagridās name was cleared. DidĀ MyrtleĀ ever wonder how… Read More
šļø OP17: Wait, what?
• Article
Posted
by Steve VanderArk
in Harry Potter Lexicon Minute
So as you know, Iāve been reading through Order of the Phoenix for the, I donāt know, maybe fortieth time, and that doesnāt include the dozen times Iāve listened to the audio version. The sentences feel wonderfully familiar and honestly, itās like spending time with a dear friend. I guess… Read More
šļø Sort Too Soon?
• Article
Posted
by Eileen Jones
in Harry Potter Lexicon Minute
In Chapter 33, “The Princeās Tale,” of Deathly Hallows we see a previous conversation that Dumbledore and Snape had at the end of the Yule Ball. They are talking about the Dark Mark and discussing whether Snape will flee if summoned by Voldemort, as Karkaroff plans… Read More
šļø CS6: Howlers, Mandrakes, and Muggleborns
• Article
Posted
by Eileen Jones
in Harry Potter Lexicon Minute
In Chapter 6 of Chamber of Secrets, titled “Gilderoy Lockhart,” we are introduced to two new magical items. Ron has the unfortunate privilege of allowing us to witness a Howlerās ability to deafeningly put someone in their place. And in the first Herbology class of the term we learn… Read More
šļø OP16: Conversations
• Article
Posted
by Steve VanderArk
in Harry Potter Lexicon Minute
Weāve been exploring chapters from the fifth book in the Harry Potter series, The Order of the Phoenix. In several of these podcasts, Iāve marveled at the way Rowling can really bring us into the magical places in her books. The creaky, dusty old house in Grimmauld Place is… Read More
šļø She Never Had Your Mother's Courage
• Article
There is a moment, during one of Harry’s sessions with Dumbledore in Half-Blood Prince, when Harry seems almost indignant on behalf of young Voldemort, whose mother left him at a Muggle orphanage, where she named him and then promptly died, apparently unwilling to use magic to save… Read More
šļø CS5: Or Worse, Expelled
• Article
Thereās that well known line of Hermioneāsā¦”we could have been killed—or worse, expelled.” Thatās from chapter 9, “The Midnight Duel,” in Sorcererās Stone. In Chapter 5, “The Whomping Willow,” of Chamber of Secrets Harry and Ron think they are going to be expelled when they got caught having… Read More
šļø OP15: Secrets in the Years
• Article
Posted
by Steve VanderArk
in Harry Potter Lexicon Minute
In this chapter, things really start heading downhill. Umbridge is appointed to be Hogwarts High Inquisitor — a name reminiscent of the horrors of the Spanish Inquisition. She begins harassing and demeaning the rest of the teaching staff immediately. These scenes where she stalks the classrooms of various… Read More
šļø The Number of Students at Hogwarts
• Article
There are about 320 students at Hogwarts. How do we know? In order to unravel this mystery, we need to step out of the stories themselves. We need to understand the way that Rowling thinks about the books. Rowling is very, very visual. She writes the kind of visual language… Read More
šļø Unicorns
• Article
Posted
by Susan
in Harry Potter Lexicon Minute
“They prefer the woman’s touch, unicorns,ā says professor Grubbly-Plank in chapter 24 of Goblet of Fire. Rowling uses existing myths in her wizarding world often. The unicorn is a great example of that. Unicorns have been noted as mythical creatures in both Eastern and Western mythology since antiquity. Read More
šļø OP14: Visualizing Hogwarts
• Article
Posted
by Steve VanderArk
in Harry Potter Lexicon Minute
Welcome to chapter fourteen. The sun is shining! As weāve been noting the relationship between the weather and Harryās experiences and mood, that means today should be a great day. And sure enough, Harryās Saturday starts out spectacularly well. He wakes up to the sun… Read More
How Much is the Wand Again? I mean in Dollars ...
• Article
Posted
by Steve VanderArk
in Website news
In celebration of Harry’s first visit to Diagon Alley on July 31, we’re very excited to present the Wizarding World Currency Exchange to help all you Muggles in your magical shopping. Hagrid may think that seventeen Sickles to the Galleon is “easy enough,” but we Muggles find it complicated. Read More
MuggleNet's "Ten Amazing Facts" and How To Find Them
• Article
Posted
by Steve VanderArk
in Canon discussion
MuggleNet just posted a really cool video calling out Ten Amazing Facts you can research on the Lexicon. If you’re looking for a quick way to find them, here’s our Ten Facts Guide: Galleon to Muggle Money converter You can find the exchange rate for Galleons to… Read More
šļø Book Facts vs. Movie Facts
• Article
Posted
by Eileen Jones
in Harry Potter Lexicon Minute
Has this ever happened to you? Recently, I was playing a Harry Potter Trivia game with my friends. The question was: How was the Diadem of Ravenclaw Horcrux destroyed? I definitely know this answer, my favorite book is Deathly Hallows, and Iām a Ravenclaw, this question hits my sweet spot… Read More
šļø He Did Not Look Back
• Article
Posted
by Abby Koop
in Harry Potter Lexicon Minute
Chapter 34 of Deathly Hallows is one of the most poignant, if not the most poignant chapter in the Harry Potter series. Harry realizes that he must die in order to kill the part of Voldemort that resides in him, so he leaves the castle to confront Voldemort… Read More
Exploring The Most Enigmatic Character in Canon
• Article
Posted
by Steve VanderArk
in Fandom News
With that headline, you’d probably be thinking that this is about Snape. But you’d be wrong. Snape was only mysterious while we were reading the books. Now that we’re finished, we have Snape pretty much figured out. Rowling did one of her classic “here’s all the answers, you’re welcome” chapters… Read More
šļø OP13: Unsettled School Days
• Article
Posted
by Steve VanderArk
in Harry Potter Lexicon Minute
The thirteenth chapter of Order of the Phoenix is called āDetention with Dolores,ā and I think itās fair to say that those detention scenes dominate our reading. I donāt know if thereās a more disturbing passage in any of the Potter books than the last half of this… Read More
šļø The Weasleys and Ottery St Catchpole
• Article
Did you ever stop to think about the strange relationship between the Weasleys and the town of Ottery St. Catchpole? Some of the folks in town must know about that odd house out there in the middle of the fields. Itās only about a… Read More
šļø CS4: Privet Drive vs. The Burrow
• Article
Posted
by Eileen Jones
in Harry Potter Lexicon Minute
In Chamber of Secrets Harry goes from living in one extreme to being brought to the opposite extreme. The first sentences of Chapter 4, At Flourish and Blotts, describes it perfectly: āLife at the Burrow was as different as possible from everything on Privet Drive. The Dursleys liked everything… Read More
šļø OP12: Is It Monday Again?
• Article
Posted
by Steve VanderArk
in Harry Potter Lexicon Minute
Chapter twelve of Order of the Phoenix starts with Harry and Ron racing downstairs for the Great Hall on the first day of classes. Itās the start of the 1995-1996 school year and, as I mentioned in previous podcasts, Harry is already feeling separated and alone. To add to… Read More
šļø The Prime Minister
• Article
Posted
by Bridget Bartlett
in Harry Potter Lexicon Minute
We never learn the name of the Muggle Prime Minister who meets with Fudge and Scrimgeour in Chapter 1 of Half-Blood Prince, but we do know that that meeting occurred in 1996. In real life at least, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom was John… Read More
šļø Love... and Harry Potter will Bring us Together
• Article
Nick: Hey, everyone, welcome to your Harry Potter Lexicon Minute, Iām Nick Moline, The Harry Potter Lexiconās resident tech wizard, Barbara: and Iām Barbara Moline, one of the Editors on the Harry Potter Lexicon, and Nickās Wife, and this is the story of… Read More
šļø OP11: Of Loss and Beginning
• Article
Posted
by Steve VanderArk
in Harry Potter Lexicon Minute
The theme of separation is in full swing in this chapter. Harry himself notes that things are not as rosy and cheerful as heād hoped upon returning to Hogwarts. He thinks: Between the absence of Hagrid and the presence of those dragonish horses, he had… Read More
šļø How My Potter Adventure Began
• Article
Posted
by Nick Moline
in Harry Potter Lexicon Minute
Hey, everyone, welcome to your Harry Potter Lexicon Minute. Iām Nick Moline, The Harry Potter Lexiconās resident tech wizard, and this is the story of how my adventure in J.K. Rowlingās wizarding world began. It was somewhere around late 2000 or early 2001 that I first… Read More