Lexicon Contributor

Paula Hall

Paula Hall
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Posted by in Essays
I am an astrologer, and I observed the types of astrology Trelawney and Firenze teach (and presumably practice) are two different types. Trelawney’s astrology is natal or genethiliacal astrology. It consists of personal birthcharts and what will happen when Mars and Saturn make an angle. As Parvati said, it has to do with individuals and their… Read More
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Posted by in Canon discussion / Essays
I’ve just finished my third reading of OP. The Dursleys interest me in a way that I can’t fathom, but I feel the need to explain Petunia Dursley. OP opens our minds and Harry’s to the idea that Petunia had had more contact with, and understanding of, the wizarding world then she had hitherto pretended. From the small glimpse we… Read More
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Posted by in Essays
What he’d like the most is a pair of warm socks, Dumbledore told Harry (PS12). Is he joking? Is this just another example of his droll wit? I think Professor Dumbledore told the truth, that Harry surprised it out of him, although it wasn’t very clear. Fans have suggested that socks represent include freedom (Dobby), love (Molly… Read More
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Posted by in Canon discussion / Essays
This is no moot point. Quite contrary to what many a reader may think, duels such as those in the Harry Potter books are not frequent in fantasy literature. That is so because it’s very difficult to convey to the audience or to the readers the precise impression of a… Read More
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Posted by in Canon discussion / Essays
Well, after reading book 5 of Harry Potter (The Order of the Phoenix), all of my literature interpretation instincts just kicked in automatically. Never mind the predictions of what will happen, who will end up with whom, etc… I was instantly drawn by the notion of psychomachia (I’ve mentioned it before,… Read More
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Posted by in Canon discussion / Essays
The stag is both James’ Animagus form and the Patronus that Harry conjures. Since J.K. Rowling has said there is a connection between Godric Gryffindor and Goodrich’s Hollow [1], and since the Medieval Latin etymology of “patronus” is “patron saint,” could the stag be a clue to a connection between the life of St. Godric and Godric Gryffindor, and… Read More
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Some American fans have raised the issue of being confused about the British education system. I am a Brit who is exactly the same age as JKR (a mere 5 weeks older) so I can explain, step by step, British schooling as we both knew it in the 1970s. Obviously… Read More
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Posted by in Creatures / Essays
Fawkes, Professor Dumbledore’s phoenix, has played a prominent role in the first four Harry Potter books. With the fifth book reportedly titled Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, it is worthwhile to speculate about Fawkes’ past. There is strong support in J. K. Rowling’s canon for the theory that… Read More
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Posted by in Canon discussion / Essays
From the start of the Harry Potter series, our hero finds himself a stranger in a very strange land. He discovers that the world he grew up in hides a secret wizarding world. This is no Oz or Wonderland that exists separate from the normal world and can only be entered through extraordinary means. Read More
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Posted by in Canon discussion / Essays
Banking in the middle ages (which is the basic world in which wizards live) was in its infancy. Its primary reason for existence was to provide safe-keeping, for a price (they took some of your money in exchange for keeping it safe). This could still be the basic mode of… Read More
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Posted by in Canon discussion / Essays
I have, for some time, been speculating on just why Voldemort would single out a child for destruction. There is, of course, the much talked about “Heir of Gryffindor” theory, but for me, this doesn’t hold with JKR’s theme of our choices making us who we are, and not innate qualities. So,… Read More
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Posted by in Canon discussion / Essays
A theory as to the nature and functioning of Divination as a magical art…  Divination is almost always misunderstood as “predicting the future”. Yes, it certainly is meant to do that, but successful Divination does not predict the raw future. Divination really predicts a future based on events that are currently happening outside of the wizard’s or witch’s… Read More
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Posted by in Canon discussion / Essays
What about Ginny? Although she figured prominently in the plot of CS, everything she did happened “off camera” and she didn’t really show up until her One Big Scene at the end. Who is she really? Is she just an “extra” or simply a stereotype, thrown in for decoration or for… Read More
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Posted by in Canon discussion / Essays
Why didn’t Quirrell just Accio the Philosopher’s Stone to him (PS17)? He probably couldn’t. Here’s why: Magic requires many elements, but a prime one is familiarity. That is why most spells are line-of-sight. The wizard must see what it is in order to charm/curse it. This has been said many… Read More
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Posted by in Canon discussion / Essays
On this page: Related information: What Magical Ability Is Canon Examples The Philosopher’s Labyrinth What Wands Are Stuff From Canon: Wand Idiosyncrasy and Power Harry as Focal Point There’s Something About Harry blood status wands   What Magical Ability Is Canon Examples What is magical ability? The wizards… Read More
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Posted by in Canon discussion / Essays
WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT In Muggle vernacular, we’re talking about ghosts; more specifically, the ghosts living at Hogwarts. But enlightened Muggles like ourselves know better, since there are some “ghosts” who aren’t ghosts after all. Peeves the Poltergeist is one: to quote Nearly-Headless Nick: “he’s not really even a ghost” (PS7). There… Read More
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Posted by in Canon discussion / Essays
The Harry Potter books are shifting from kid’s books to more adult books as Harry ages, and I’ve noticed an interesting transition over the course of the four books so far, that pretty much tracks how a kid of Harry’s age views grownups in our world: PS: Grownups are a pain. They are stupid, nasty,… Read More
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Posted by in Canon discussion / Essays
In one of her many interviews, JKR said that wizards generally live longer than Muggles. After a thorough research about food in the Harry Potter universe and, above all, its magical part, the only possible conclusion is that wizards don’t have problems with cholesterol, otherwise their life span would be… Read More
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Posted by in Canon discussion / Essays
Yes, Harry is half-blood. We learned in PS4 that Lily’s parents were Muggles. At least, that’s the implication of Aunt Petunia’s remarks that they were proud having a witch in the family. Voldemort, too, is half-blood: we learned in CS13 that his father was a Muggle (his mother was a witch). The intense focus on whether or not a certain character does or… Read More
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Posted by in Canon discussion / Essays
There is much we don’t know about wizarding education. How do younger wizards and witches get educated in basic skills like reading and writing? We see very little of this in the books, although obviously the kids entering Hogwarts have been trained in some of these basic skills or they wouldn’t be… Read More
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Posted by in Canon discussion / Essays
The first four years at secondary (high school) school is spent studying for “O” (ordinary) levels. They are now called GCSEs (general certificate of secondary education). In the first two years, you take basic subjects, such as maths, english, science, history. Compulsary subjects for first and Second year vary from… Read More
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Posted by in Canon discussion / Essays
Do we ever find out what the language of instruction used at Durmstrang Institute is? At Beauxbatons it would have to be French, but although “Durmstrang” sounds German, the Durmstrang students we meet are all of Slavic ancestry as far as we know. On the one hand, German continues to be sort of a “lingua franca”… Read More
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Posted by in Canon discussion / Essays
Updates by Michelle Worley The Booklist Every year Hogwarts students receive book lists in the post, telling them which textbooks they will require for the year. First years get the longest list, presumably because some of the books last them the whole seven-year course of their study. Here is a… Read More
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Posted by in Essays
(Just for fun, here’s one fan’s concept of what a Wizarding Muggle Studies textbook might be like…) Travel and space Understanding Muggles perceptions of how the world connects up is a big problem for wizarding people. We have to let go of a lot of our assumptions to grasp how… Read More
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Posted by in Canon discussion / Essays
Most authors expend substantial effort on description, describing scenes, events or characters so that readers will be able to visualise them. The best descriptions often offer no more than hints, keywords, a trained butler’s unobtrusive opening of a particular door. The reader goes through that door himself or herself. Rowling,… Read More
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Posted by in Canon discussion / Essays
Recently I read the book 13th Gen which got me thinking across generational lines. One of my mother’s favorite sayings is “times change, people don’t.” As true as that may be, I do think that one’s place in time affects them in some way. The book outlined the six generations of Americans… Read More
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Posted by in Essays
Note: This piece is not about the class Charms, and I’ve left aside the vexing question of the difference between Charms and Transfiguration (e.g., why are winged keys a Charm and giant moving chess pieces are a Transfiguration?). Rather, I’m looking at Charms in the general sense, as a synonym for spells, that is,… Read More
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Posted by in Essays
I’m in fact Lancashire born and bred, which is probably why I’ve always had a very soft spot for Neville, who I’m pretty sure comes from my neck of the woods (the Blackpool pier incident, the fact that his grandmother is a typical Lancashire matriach, the fact that he has a traditional Lancashire… Read More
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Posted by in Essays
“Want a hand?” With these words, the character of George Weasley enters the readers’ lives and hearts. This is also Harry Potter’s first impression of George when they meet on the train. Harry Potter, a boy who can’t remember the last time anyone showed him kindness, George Weasley for the first time and is helped out by the young… Read More
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Posted by in Canon discussion / Essays
We read from Dumbledore’s Chocolate Frog card that Dumbledore is “particularly famous for… his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel (PS6).” Later, Hermione reads from an enormous old book that Flamel is “the only known maker of the Philosopher’s Stone” (PS13). Harry and Ron continue reading “…The stone will transform any metal into pure gold. It also produces the Elixir of Life,… Read More
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Posted by in Essays
The problem is not simply knowing who sent the Valentine, but knowing what JKR’s purpose was in this episode. Is it a red herring, designed to arouse and deflect suspicion? Or a red flag, signalling something important later in the book or in a future book? Or is it… Read More
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Posted by in Essays
Wizards don’t use electricity for a very good reason—they don’t need it, in fact they don’t need our technology at all (except maybe for sherbet lemons). Modern Muggle technology, according to wizards, is a poor substitute for magic. And modern Muggle technology is largely based on the availability of cheap,… Read More
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Posted by in Essays
Socks are closely related to a major, if not the major, theme in Harry Potter, namely Things Are Not What They Seem. The sock is a humble, even comical, garment, necessary but often unattractive and the archetypal boring Christmas present. J K Rowling, while getting full comedy value out of all this,… Read More
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Posted by in Essays
Having recently done a GF re-read, the last terrifying and emotional chapters have been on my mind a lot. This morning, while briefly considering the What Might Have Been if Cedric had been the only one to grasp the Cup, I returned to the Eternal Question– Why make the Cup a Portkey when Harry’s toothbrush would work… Read More
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Posted by in Canon discussion / Essays
Twelve times he clicked the Put-Outer, until the only lights left on the whole street were two tiny pinpricks in the distance. (PS1) It was a very odd watch. It had twelve hands but no numbers; instead, little planets were moving around the edge. (PS1) “I must have passed a dozen feasts and… Read More
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Posted by in Essays
Witches and wizards can identify their own wands very easily, so easily that it seems to be done by a sense other than sight: Harry knew his immediately when Amos Diggory held it up in GF9. . They can also easily match up another witch/wizard and her/his wand, or at least Lupin did in the Shrieking Shack (he threw Harry, Ron, and Hermione their wands,… Read More
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Posted by in Essays
Just how big is Hogwarts castle? If the Entrance Hall is big enough to hold an entire house (PS7), and the Great Hall is even bigger, it must be vast indeed. On the other hand, Harry encounters crowds in the corridors, which suggests that the students fill the space inside, and that certainly suggests a fairly… Read More
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Posted by in Essays
© 2000 First Things 99 (January 2000): 35-38. By now most readers in this country are aware of what has come to be called the Harry Potter phenomenon. It’s hard to be unaware. Any bookstore you might care to enter is strewn with giant stacks of the Harry Potter… Read More
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Posted by in Canon discussion / Essays
We all know the amazing things that magic is capable of in JKR’s narrative. I’d like to look at some of the things that magic is apparently unable to do in the JKR universe (as opposed to things that wizards don’t do, such as the Unforgivable Curses, for legal reasons or because of… Read More