A lot has happened so far this year. Fred and George have butted heads with Hermione over their product testing, and Ron has butted heads with her over the Hogwarts house-elves. Harry has struggled with both his relationship with Cho and, thanks to Umbridge, (not) getting to play Quidditch. Hagrid and Madame Maxime, after a long absence, have returned unsuccessful in their mission to recruit a colony of giants. After having several visions and one of them–Mr. Weasley being critically injured–coming true, Harry has been having lessons with Professor Snape in Occlumency. Umbridge has set up several decrees that prevent students and teachers alike from speaking, reading or gathering freely; in addition, she has replaced Professor Trelawney with Firenze the centaur as Divination teacher. Harry has at last gotten to put out his side of the story via an article in the Quibbler.
Most recently, Harry and a large group of friends, frustrated with Umbridge‘s deliberate choice to not teach any Defence Against the Dark Arts lessons, have taken it upon themselves to meet and create their own. One of the members of this “Dumbledore’s Army” gave in to pressure and betrayed the group to Umbridge. To protect Harry and the others from Umbridge’s wrath–and that of her boss Fudge—Dumbledore has taken the blame and left Hogwarts.
Ready to find out how this year’s adventure ends? Here we go!
Podcasts:
OP 28: Fireworks and Holidays by Steve VanderArk
OP 29: If You’ve Got Enough Nerve by Steve VanderArk
OP 30: Teacups, Quidditch, and Worries by Steve VanderArk
OP 31: The Problem with Astronomy by Steve VanderArk
OP 32: That “Saving People Thing” by Steve VanderArk
OP 33: What Was She Thinking by Steve VanderArk
OP 34: Angrier than the Occasion Warranted by Steve VanderArk
OP 35: Who’s Going to Die? by Steve VanderArk
Who Can Take Away Points? by hpboy13
Episode 11: “What Happened the the Whimsy?!” by Steve VanderArk
Episode 12: Why Weren’t We Told About This Sooner? by Steve VanderArk
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 books 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
Text Changes of the Editions and the Years
Differences between the British and American versions
Essays
How Do Duels Work? by Hugo Costa Paes
The Ethics of Rowling by Anonymous
Love and Death in Harry Potter by Paul Spilsbury
Sensitive Writing on a Difficult Topic by Mary Jo Neyer
George Weasley by Jana Tucker
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:
A young Snape hung upside-down by James and Sirius (OP28)
“Give her hell from us, Peeves.” (OP29)
Flying to London on thestrals (OP33, OP34)
Finding the prophecy in the Department of Mysteries (OP34)
Battle of the Department of Mysteries (OP36)
Harry mourning by the lake (OP38)
Artwork Challenge
Our Artwork Challenge for all you fan artists out there is to depict one of the lesser-known characters and scenes in the series. If we really like your work, we may feature it in the Lexicon! Here are some suggestions from these chapters:
- Harry’s Occlumency lessons with Prof. Snape (OP24, OP26, OP28)
- Snape’s Pensieve memory of Lily defending him from the Marauders (OP28)
- The pile of Careers Advice brochures left out for students to look over (OP29)
- Harry and Prof. McGonagall discussing an Auror career (OP29)
- Harry breaking into Umbridge‘s office to speak with Sirius (OP29)
- Fred and George dramatically leaving Hogwarts and leaving behind a giant swamp (OP29)
- Harry and Hermione meeting with Hagrid and Grawp (OP30)
- Ron being carried off the Quidditch pitch in celebration (OP30)
- Harry and the other fifth-years taking their O.W.L.s (OP31)
- Umbridge confronting the centaurs in the Forbidden Forest (OP33)
- Harry and his friends trying to break into Umbridge’s office a second time, then riding the thestrals to London (OP33, OP34)
- Other than the Death Chamber and the Hall of Prophecy, the other rooms inside the Department of Mysteries: the Planet Room, the Time Room, the Brain Room, the Circular Room with the twelve black doors – although the Locked Room might be an impossible one (OP34, OP35)
- The battle of the Department of Mysteries and its aftermath (OP34, OP35, OP36, OP37)
- The Fountain of Magical Brethren – both before the Battle (OP7, OP9) and afterwards (OP36)
- Moody, Lupin and Tonks greeting Harry at King’s Cross (OP38)
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: The Prophecy
“The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches … born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies … and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not … and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives … the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies …“
We finally hear the whole of this prophecy that had set Lord Voldemort on the path that would lead to the death of Lily and James Potter, his own defeat and also to baby Harry becoming “The Boy who Lived” (OP37). Like most prophecies it is a bit vague. Albus Dumbledore tells Harry that the prophecy could have been about Neville Longbottom, whose birthday is also at the end of the “seventh month” of July like Harry’s. As an inherently “inexact science”, all prophecies can be circumvented or changed – or they may not mean what you think they do. This is something the Harry must remember as he works to defeat Voldemort.
From the Atlas: The Department of Mysteries
The idea that there are rows and rows of prophecies on shelves, weird deathly archways, brains floating around in tanks and other “mysteries” lurking in the basement of the Ministry of Magic headquarters is certainly intriguing. What do all these things do? What do they mean? Why are they there?
Coming up next week…
We will be taking a look at “Wizarding Life and Organisations” next week, before starting on the sixth book. Come and join us while we explore more corners of the wizarding world.
