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: Full Moon
5 GBP = 1 Galleon 
Aragog the Acromantula is released into the Forbidden Forest
Hagrid has been raising the baby Acromantula in a cupboard in the Hogwarts dungeons, but his arrangement is revealed to the teachers by Tom Riddle, suggesting to them that the Acromantula was responsible for the death of Myrtle Warren. Hagrid is expelled from Hogwarts for supposedly causing the death of a student. Hagrid will later find Aragog a wife, Mosag,… Read More
Galatea Merrythought retires from Hogwarts
Merrythought has been the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher for fifty years. Her impending retirement becomes known to Tom Riddle, who asks Headmaster Dippet for the position upon leaving school. Read More
Madam Malkin’s: Harry and Draco meet for the first time
Both boys get fitted for their Hogwarts robes at the same time. But Draco talks about Quidditch, being spoiled by his parents, his confidence in being sorted into Slytherin, unkind things he’s heard about Hagrid (who is waiting outside with ice cream), and his belief that Muggle-borns shouldn’t be allowed to attend Hogwarts. Harry doesn’t say much, for fear of… Read More
A very exciting trip to the zoo for Dudley’s eleventh birthday
Harry accompanies Dudley, Piers Polkiss, Aunt Petunia, and Uncle Vernon to the zoo, where he unknowingly uses Parseltongue to speak with a boa constrictor. When Dudley notices and comes running, the glass of the snake’s enclosure mysteriously disappears and the snake escapes. Read More
OP21: The Eye of the Snake
Hagrid’s class is observed by Umbridge, Ginny Weasley replaces Harry as Gryffindor’s Seeker, Dumbledore’s Army meets again, and Harry and Cho kiss. In a dream, Harry witnesses Arthur Weasley being bitten by a huge snake. Read More
Lucius Malfoy and Arthur Weasley get in a fight at Flourish and Blotts
At Gilderoy Lockhart’s book signing at Flourish and Blotts, Lucius Malfoy insults Arthur Weasley for associating with Muggles (Mr. and Mrs. Granger) and Arthur lunges at Lucius. Bookshelves are disturbed in the commotion. An Encyclopedia of Toadstools hits Lucius in one eye, and Arthur sustains a cut to the lip. To no avail, Molly and the assistant manager of Flourish and… Read More
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. Read More
“Harry, suffering like this proves you are still a man! This pain is part of being human–” “THEN–I–DON’T–WANT–TO–BE–HUMAN!” Harry roared, and he seized one of the delicate silver instruments from the spindle-legged table beside him and flung it… 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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