Several students (and a few other residents) have been mysteriously attacked around the castle. The Trio is working hard to investigate who or what is the mastermind.
Ready to have some fun solving the mystery? Here we go!
Podcasts:
CS 13: Looks Can Be Deceiving by Eileen Jones
CS 14: A Chapter Full of Doubts by Eileen Jones
CS 15: Contrasting Viewpoints by Eileen Jones
CS 16: Ginny and Dumbledore by Eileen Jones
CS 17: The Strange Diary Horcrux by Eileen Jones
CS 18: More about Lucius by Eileen Jones
Myrtle, Hagrid and CS by Eileen Jones
Wizard Plumbing by Abby Koop
Is a Regurgitating Toilet Sentient? by Abby Koop
The Similarities Between Hermione and Moaning Myrtle by Susan
Reader’s Guides:
These guides were originally written in March of 2002. Since that time, a few edits were made here and there but basically the text remained the same. To get ready for this Canon Celebration, our editors have been revising each one. We’ve added fan artwork to the Guide which illustrates the text. At the bottom in the Commentary section we’ve added a gallery of additional artwork. So even if you’ve read our guides before, please give them another look. And if you’re doing a re-read of the first book, have the Guide to each chapter open as you go! I’m sure you’ll find a lot of information you didn’t know.
Calendars
Fitting the first book into the real-life calendars isn’t easy! In fact, it’s impossible. But that didn’t stop us:
Day by day calendar of events in the book
Essays
Everything You’ve Wanted To Know About Socks by Morag Traynor
Why Did Harry Do That? by Steve VanderArk
The Early Life of Tom Riddle and the Second World War by Faisal M Ahmad
It Is Our Choices by Abby Koop
Who Sent the Valentine? by David Frankis
Fawkes and Gryffindor by Phyllis D. Morris
Interesting Artwork
We have hundreds and hundreds of pieces of fan artwork in our collection. Some subjects get a lot of depictions — Diagon Alley is a favorite topic, for example, and, well, of course it is! But there are a few pieces which illustrate more unusual moments in the text. Here are a few examples:
Dwarf playing ‘Cupid’ on Valentine’s Day (CS13)
Hermione checking around corners with a mirror (CS14)
Ginny bewitched by Tom Riddle’s diary (CS16)
The destruction of the diary in the Chamber of Secrets (CS17)
Dobby the house-elf catches a sock (CS18)
Artwork Challenge
We have tons of images of the Basilisk and Tom Riddle. Snape and Potions lessons are another very popular topic. However, we have very few of the House ghosts apart from Nearly-Headless Nick or of Dean, Lee, and Seamus. Our Artwork Challenge for all you fan artists out there is to depict one of the lesser known characters in the series. If we really like your work, we may feature it in the Lexicon! Here are some suggestions from these chapters:
- the Great Hall decorated by Lockhart for Valentine’s Day (CS13)
- petrified students (such as Colin, Justin, Penelope and Hermione) in the Hospital Wing (CS14, CS16)
Send your artwork to [email protected]. By submitting it, you are giving us permission to display your work on the Lexicon. We would like to include your name with your artwork so you are properly credited, so when you send your work let us know what name to use. Please also include a way to get a hold of you so that if we decide to feature your work as part of our regular collection we can contact you for more details. All artwork we display remains the property of the artist and they retain all copyright.
Special Feature – Tom Riddle’s Diary
The Diary of Tom Riddle is a mysterious object from the start. Of course, at first we don’t realize that it shows up initially in Diagon Alley at Flourish and Blotts – having been added inside Ginny Weasley’s Transfiguration book by Lucius Malfoy (CS4). He must not have known how important it was to Lord Voldemort to keep the diary safe. Certainly to have let go of it to another Wizarding family, particularly to the staunchly anti-Voldemort Weasley clan, was a bit reckless. Or – in Lucius Malfoy’s case – arrogant. Mr Malfoy’s motivation to do this, however, isn’t clear. Did he have secret instructions from Lord Voldemort, who was hiding in Albania at the time?
Ginny almost left the diary behind in her bedroom at the Burrow (CS5). If it had stayed there, the Chamber might never have opened – or at least not opened until Ginny brought the diary back after the Christmas holidays. The more she wrote in the diary, the more she depended on it and the more Tom Riddle drew her in by being sympathetic. It is easy to pour out your heart when someone listens.
From the Atlas – The Chamber of Secrets
The Chamber of Secrets is located far underground beneath Hogwarts Castle. Salazar Slytherin is said to have constructed it when dissatisfied with his fellow Founders. It is certainly decorated throughout with his symbol, the snake….
Coming up next week…
Teachers! Classes! Subjects! Before we move on to the third book, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, our canon celebration is going to look into education at Hogwarts.
