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 
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
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
A barrage of letters drives the Dursleys from their home
29 July 1991 — When thirty or forty letters come pouring out of the kitchen chimney at number four, Privet Drive, Uncle Vernon has had enough. He packs everyone into the car and drives around for hours. The family ends up in Cokeworth and stay the night in the Railview Hotel. Read More
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
Harry receives a warning letter from the Ministry
Dobby’s use of a Hover Charm at Number 4 Privet Drive prompts Mafalda Hopkirk of the Improper Use of Magic Office to send a letter reminding Harry that underage magic outside of school and magic that is noticed by Muggles are not allowed and letting him know that he could get expelled from Hogwarts for doing magic outside of 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
On this day in 2014...
Quidditch World Cup 2014 Round of 16 Match 1
This first match of the 2014 tournament was won by joint favourite Norway, by 340… 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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