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: New Moon
5 GBP = 1 Galleon 
Gilderoy Lockhart’s book signing at Flourish and Blotts
19 August 1992 – Harry, Hermione, and the Weasleys visit Flourish and Blotts to buy school books. There they discover that Gilderoy Lockhart is signing his new book, Magical Me. When Lockhart spots Harry, he drags the boy up in front of the camera with him and announces the crowd that he will be the new… Read More
Hagrid buys Harry his owl, Hedwig
While shopping in Diagon Alley for Harry’s school things, Hagrid purchases a snowy owl at Eeylops and presents her to Harry as his birthday gift (PS5). Harry later names her Hedwig, a name he finds in A History of Magic (PS6). Read More
The Russian Philosopher’s Stone
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 was Russian, but the Russian translation of Harry Potter has… Read More
Draco Malfoy is born
He is the Pure Blood son of Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy, their only child. Read More
DH17: Bathilda’s Secret
Leaving the Godric’s Hollow cemetery, Harry and Hermione see the Potters’ old house, then encounter someone who appears to be Bathilda Bagshot, but she does not speak until she gets Harry alone. Too late, Harry discovers that they’ve been led into a trap, and that Bathilda’s corpse is being used as a disguise for… Read More
Harry’s 12th Birthday
31 July 1992 — This is the worst birthday that Harry can remember. The Dursleys have completely forgotten that today is Harry’s birthday, and he ends up having to spend it doing chores in preparation for a very important dinner party hosting one of Uncle Vernon’s clients, Mr. Mason, and his wife, Mrs. Mason. Harry is about to spend the… Read More
On this day in 1943...
Hagrid is falsely accused of opening the Chamber of Secrets
He is so accused because Tom Riddle catches him raising an Acromantula in the castle… Read More
We’ve all met him [Draco]. He is the bully of the most refined type … he’s a snob. He’s a bigot and he’s a bully, and as I say, in the most refined sense, he knows exactly what will… Read More
Latest from the Lexicon Blog
Draco’s Six
• Article
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
• Article
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
• Article
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
• Article
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
• Article
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
• Article
Making the Calendar Fit
• Article
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?
• Article