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: Waning Crescent
5 GBP = 1 Galleon 
Letters begin arriving at Number Four, Privet Drive, inviting Harry to Hogwarts
24 July 1991 — Harry receives his first letter from Hogwarts, which Uncle Vernon burns. After he boards up the letter box, letters begin to appear rolled up inside eggs and down the chimney. Read More
Harry gets his wand at Ollivander’s
After trying out a large number of wands, none of which seem quite right, Harry is handed a holly and phoenix feather wand: Harry took the wand. He felt a sudden warmth in his fingers. He raised the wand above his head, brought it swishing down through the dusty air and a stream of red and gold sparks shot from the end… Read More
Neville Longbottom is born to Frank and Alice Longbottom
Neville, like Harry, is born to parents who are fighting against Voldemort. They are famous Aurors, Frank and Alice Longbottom. Read More
Stooging is outlawed in Quidditch
The Department of Magical Games and Sports introduces a new rule that only one Chaser at a time may be within the scoring area. This new rule provokes a strong response from fans who loved seeing opposing Keepers roughed up. The Ministry representative announces the rule this way: “Instances of stooging have been on the increase. We feel that… Read More
The Fallen Fathers of Goblet of Fire
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 the series, Goblet of Fire, where we trade in… 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 2014...
Quidditch World Cup 2014 Opening Ceremony
In the article headlined “Disastrous Opening Ceremony Leads to Questions about Quidditch World Cup… Read More
“We teachers are rather good at magic, you know.”… 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
• 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
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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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