• Article
Posted by in Characters
Quotes from Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (UK ed.) Compiled by Lori Damerell ‘My dear Friar, haven’t we given Peeves all the chances he deserves? He gives us all a bad name and you know, he’s not really even a ghost…’ (PS7) ‘Peeves,’ Percy whispered to… Read More
• Article
Posted by in Website news
I know it seems like nothing changes around here. That’s only partially true. I say partially because things don’t change fast since everyone working on the site does it in their spare time and on a volunteer basis. So real life being what it is, that means that big changes… Read More
• Podcast Episode
Posted by in Harry Potter Lexicon Minute
In chapter nine of Order of the Phoenix, Rowling does a lot of really poignant foreshadowing for the coming war against Voldemort. In re-reading it, I found new meaning in Harry’s confused anger after Moody shows him the photograph of the original members of the Order. This interaction is… Read More
• Podcast Episode
Posted by in Canon discussion / Lexicon Podcast
This is an encore broadcast of the first Harry Potter Lexicon Podcast from June of 2011.  Welcome to the Harry Potter Lexicon Podcast, in this first episode: Steve introduces the podcast thanks a few people reminiscing about visiting the graveyard in Godric’s Hollow the missing twenty-four hours the mystery… Read More
• Podcast Episode
Posted by in Harry Potter Lexicon Minute
There comes a point as a Harry Potter fan when you think you have found or heard about all the connections between the series and the world of literature and mythology. And then, out of nowhere, another one smacks you in the face. I have just finished reading Paulo Coelho’s… Read More
• Podcast Episode
Posted by in Harry Potter Lexicon Minute
Pottermore is no more. I guess having the name “Potter” in the title was too limiting, since now the website is called “Wizarding World” and encompasses the “Fantastic Beasts” films as well as the Potter books and films. My reaction? Whatever. I loved Pottermore for Rowling’s… Read More
• Podcast Episode
Posted by in Harry Potter Lexicon Minute
As any Muggle knows, chocolate is a truly magical substance. We see it in many forms throughout the Harry Potter novels – the birthday cake that Hagrid brings for Harry’s 11th birthday is a chocolate cake, chocolate eclairs and chocolate gateau are regularly served in Hogwarts’ feasts, and of course… Read More
• Podcast Episode
Posted by in Harry Potter Lexicon Minute
In the new Wizards Unite game by Niantic, the mysterious Calamity is threatening the Statute of Secrecy. It’s stealing magical people, creatures, and items of significance from different periods of time and leaving them randomly scattered around the world with the protection of… Read More
• Podcast Episode
Posted by in Harry Potter Lexicon Minute
Love is obviously a powerful theme of the Harry Potter novels, but today I’d just like to talk about the powerful love potion amortentia, and how it induces the smell of what most attracts us. We first encounter amortentia in Slughorn’s classroom during his first potions lesson,… Read More
• Essay
Posted by in Canon discussion / Essays
Since the original essay ‘Harry’s Dreams’ was written by Steve VanderArk in 2006, there have been quite a few new pieces of canon writing from J K Rowling. Two of these in particular contain further dreams of Harry Potter’s to examine.  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows… Read More
• Podcast Episode
Posted by in Harry Potter Lexicon Minute
Hermione says something very important in chapter 32 of Order of the Phoenix, something which helps define the overarching plot of the entire seven-book series. When Harry is frantically describing the vision he had of Sirius captured and tortured by Voldemort in the Department of Mysteries, Hermione tries to… Read More
• Podcast Episode
Posted by in Harry Potter Lexicon Minute
In Half-Blood Prince, Dumbledore shows Harry the memory in which he interviews Tom Riddle for a job at Hogwarts. I have a lot of questions about Dumbledore’s motives for allowing even this level of consideration. He does have a little bit of a thing about manners,… Read More
• Podcast Episode
Posted by in Harry Potter Lexicon Minute
Think about when you first saw that dedication to you, the reader, in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. You probably read that before you read a word of the novel itself. Think for a moment about whether reading that dedication impacted the attitude you had as you started in… Read More
• Podcast Episode
Posted by in Harry Potter Lexicon Minute
When I first read this chapter, it felt like coming home for Harry to me. After the grisly murders at Little Hangleton and the hostility of the Dursleys, I loved reading about the Burrow, encountering all the familiar faces and seeing a happy Harry. Upon re-reading this chapter,… Read More
• Podcast Episode
Posted by in Harry Potter Lexicon Minute
The inspiration for this podcast comes from several places. A recent Alohomora episode was all about Percy Weasley. In the comment section for that podcast I read a comment made by username BloodCharm. BloodCharm was talking about Percy’s falling out with his family, stating that… Read More
• Podcast Episode
Posted by in Harry Potter Lexicon Minute
This Lexicon Minute is about time. No, not time travel – I only have a minute and I’d be crazy to try and tackle time travel in that short time, although technically if I could manipulate time I could make that one minute last as long as I… Read More
• Podcast Episode
Posted by in Harry Potter Lexicon Minute
In this Harry Potter Lexicon Minute, I will discuss the fourth chapter of Goblet of Fire: Back to the Burrow. In this chapter, the Weasley family picks up Harry at Privet Drive. The text paints a very clear and fast-paced picture of what is happening. I relish… Read More
• Podcast Episode
Posted by in Harry Potter Lexicon Minute
It is pretty well-established at this point that love is a central theme in the Harry Potter saga, but the more sinister side of obsessive love doesn’t get quite the same attention. We see it most clearly when love potions are involved, most notably in the case with Voldemort’s… Read More
• Podcast Episode
Posted by in Harry Potter Lexicon Minute
When J.K. Rowling started writing the Harry Potter books in the 1990s, social media had not been invented. No one owned a mobile phone yet, let alone a smart device. And even though most people owned a personal computer or a laptop, receiving a letter written by hand was not… Read More
• Podcast Episode
Posted by in Harry Potter Lexicon Minute
One of the things I’ve always loved about Harry Potter is the little not-quite-clues, the throw away comments linking everything together that you only notice and realise the significance of after several rereads of the books. There are too many examples to list them all here, like Aunt Petunia… Read More