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I recently posted a humorous and imaginative essay in which new Lexicon contributor pepoluan wonders of the wizarding world How do they make all those books? Have fun!… Read More
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Paula again, with another fabulous scholarly essay.  Alan Jacobs, Professor of English at Wheaton College and a scholar of Christian theology and literature, among other things, has allowed us to publish on the Lexicon his essay “Opportunity Costs — What does it profit a man to defeat the Dark… Read More
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Three new essays have been posted! Douglas Moran has Some Thoughts on House Elves, and Professor Koniphorus Swamp, who “has devoted her career to the investigation of the biology of magic,” has provided Another View of Magic, Genes, and Pure Blood in response to an earlier essay on wizarding genetics by… Read More
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Posted by in Essays
Every living thing has genes that largely determine its appearance. Humans (magical or Muggle) look like humans because they have human genes; dogs look like dogs because they have dog genes; cats look like cats because they have cat genes. The set of genes that make up an individual person or dog… Read More
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I read with interest the essay “Magic, Genes, and Pure Blood,” by glamourousgeek, being myself involved in research into the complex inheritance of magic, but I must take exception to the science expressed within it.[*] Even if the magic trait is inherited through Mendelian genetics (which does not quite… Read More
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Posted by in Canon discussion / Essays
“One day,” said Hermione, sounding thoroughly exasperated, “you’ll read Hogwarts, A History, and perhaps that will remind you that you can’t Apparate or Disapparate inside Hogwarts.” (OP23) “Well, he [Dumbledore] can’t have Disapparated!” cried Umbridge. “You can’t inside this school—” (OP27) Quietly, tentatively, Harry spoke into the darkness. “Kreacher?” There was a very… Read More
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Some of you have already discovered that we’ve added a new feature to some of the Lexicon pages. It’s called the Pensieve, and it’s designed to allow you to add information to the page. Yes, it’s a comment tool, but we’d like to encourage you to use it … Read More
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Magic is what sets folks in the wizarding world apart from their Muggle neighbors. Magic is the heart and soul of the wizarding culture in the same way that science and technology are the heart and soul of Muggle culture. Where a Muggle would pound a stake into the ground… Read More
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From the moment it was physically possible for the first fan to have finished Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the Harry Potter fandom has been speculating on what is going to happen in Book Seven — and what needs to happen, given the puzzles, mysteries and loose… Read More
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Posted by , , , and in Canon discussion / Essays
“Ah, what a tangled web we weave… Or in this case, what a tangled web Jo Rowling has woven. With one volume left to wrap up all the threads, we Harry Potter fanatics have created a list of all the sphinx-like comments, unfinished story lines, incomplete character trajectories and cryptic references to… Read More
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Posted by in About Sources
Chapter synopses: William Silvester Chapter 1 – Owl Post In which we are reminded of Harry’s previous adventures and told of his summer holidays, he receives birthday cards and presents from his friends, and Harry learns what Ron and Hermione did during the summer. Chapter 2 – Aunt… Read More
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I’ve just posted a terrific scholarly essay on the depiction of virtue in the Harry Potter books that should be a real treat to read for anyone who appreciates just how important the Harry Potter books are. It’s called Harry Potter and the Good Life, and it was written by … Read More
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  A pile of critical rubbish has been composting around J. K. Rowling [Editor’s Note: The link provided is to an archive of jkrowling.com, which was superseded by Pottermore.] and her Harry Potter books ever since they were discovered by young (and not-so-young) readers and became phenomenal best sellers. The charges, briefly, as these. (1)… Read More
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We have been asked to remove the archive of the test from the Lexicon, and we have done so. Sorry about that, I know that many of you never had a chance to see the test in action, but Jo has asked us not to provide the archive and we… Read More
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I am very excited to announce that we now have functioning archive files of the latest Door opening onJKRowling.com. This is only a copy, but you will be able to work the puzzle to open the door and read the full W.O.M.B.A.T. test. You will not however, receive… Read More
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Two more essays have been posted: Love and Death in Harry Potter, by Paul Spilsbury, and The Importance of Neville Longbottom, by Douglas Moran. We’ve been busy little beavers at the Lexicon this weekend!… Read More
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Here in the Lexicon, there are multiple essays on Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Snape, physical locations, creatures, and practically anything else you can name. And yet there is not one essay about one person whose fate is tightly linked to Harry’s, and who has been moving gradually but inexorably towards a more important position in the books: Neville Longbottom. I think Neville becoming… Read More
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Love and death are major themes in J.K.Rowling’s Harry Potter books. She herself has said in a recent interview in recent interview in The Tatler magazine that “My books are largely about death.” And in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, one of J.K. Rowling’s chosen spokespersons, Professor Dumbledore, impresses upon Harry that his “ability… Read More
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Hey y’all, this is Steve. We’ve just uploaded a commentary and guide to the W.O.M.B.A.T. test which Jo put on her website. This guide doesn’t give “correct” answers since in many cases we just don’t know for sure. It does pull together canon resources which will be helpful and… Read More
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I’ve neglected to mention the addition to the Lexicon of two essays published in February. The first, The Complications with Memory by Suzanne Foster, is a comprehensive survey of the myriad ways memory is integral to the progression of the Harry Potter series. The second, Where is Spinner’s End? by Claire M. Read More
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I have updated the Guide to Jo’s website with information about the fifth opening of the Secret Door including instructions on how to work the puzzle to get behind the door (for those who have yet to figure it out for themselves, or perhaps having troubles). Read More
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Posted by in About Sources
synopses: William Silvester   Chapter 1 – The Riddle House In which we learn of the mysterious murders in the Riddle House fifty years ago, how Frank Bryce was accused but released for lack of evidence, and how the Riddle House fell into disrepair. In the present, Frank interrupts… Read More
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by William Silvester Chapter 1 – The Worst Birthday In which we are reminded of the happenings during Harry’s first year at Hogwarts, uncle Vernon has a very important dinner guest coming, dinner plans are made, and Harry’s birthday is forgotten again. Chapter 2 – Dobby’s Warning In… Read More
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Steve let me fiddle with his page on the night Harry’s parents were killed. I have clarified the timeline, added key quotes, and updated the information so that it takes into account recent statements Jo has made as well as the information from Book 6. I started a topic over… Read More
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While Dumbledore’s statement above makes good sense, it wouldn’t do Harry any harm to try to analyze his dreams a little more than he does. Often there are important clues in his dreams to what’s going on. As a matter of fact, Harry’s extra-sensory powers are not limited to prescience. Read More
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I have been adding new artwork to the following pages: Harry, Quotes about Harry, Quotes about Ron, Quotes about Voldemort, Luna, Snape, Tom Riddle, Lucius Malfoy and the Malfoy family. Many thanks to Sebastien Theilig, Makani, Tea with Voldy, and Jenny Dolfen. Hope you like them!… Read More
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Posted by in Canon discussion / Essays
Two Modest Predictions Dumbledore vivens . . . And Now Another: Dumbledore the Fraud Snape the Accessory The Unbreakable Vow Unbroken . . . Snapeque bonamicus The “Buddy” Plot Understanding Snape Harry the Adult The Proud and the Prejudiced Modest Conclusions Severe Spoiler Warning: This essay presumes that its readers have… Read More
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After thinking carefully through the various factors involved, I cannot help but conclude that the most logical scenario, based on all the available evidence, is that Harry is a Horcrux. I will structure this essay in four sections. First, I will discuss the background. Second, I will discuss the evidence indicating that Harryis a Horcrux. Read More
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I’ve posted two great new essays. The first, “Is Harry a Horcrux,”by Stephen Haas, makes a well-thought-out argument for the idea that, you know, Harry is a Horcrux! The second, “Dumbledore vivens Snapeque bonamicus“, by Denis Howarth, is a spectacular essay theorizing, as many fans have, that Dumbledore is… Read More
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I think I have finally added all the new character names (canon and non-canon) and information from the new documents at JKR’s site. Here is a summary: New names (non-canon): Mylor Sylvanus, Oakden Hobday and Bathsheba Babbling New names (canon): Tilden Toots and Georgina Smythe New first-names (non-canon): Aurora Sinistra, Cuthbert Binns and Septima Vector Rowling also considered the… Read More
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I’ve updated the Guide to Jo’s website with most of the changes today. You can find detailed instructions for collecting the new scrapbook extras in the Tips and Tricks section as well as many images of how the site looked before the update for comparison. Read More
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Some of you may have already noticed, but there’s a new way to explore the Lexicon! Check out our new Knight Bus Tours of the Lexicon. Each tour will take you on a journey to some places you know and some places you may have never been before. There are… Read More
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Lisa here. I have been adding possible name derivations for the Black family. Here is a sampling: Phineas is an English variant of ‘Phinehas,’ a name from the Bible. ‘Phinehas’ probably means “Nubian,” though some believe it means “serpent’s mouth” in Hebrew (BtN). In Greek mythology, Phineus was “a… Read More
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I have just discovered that our Lexicon email has been messed up for a few days. Apparently anything sent to an @hplex address will bounce. UPDATE: (10 am) As far as I can tell, it’s fixed. Sorry about the inconvenience. Read More
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I haven’t posted here in a while, but it doesn’t mean I haven’t been busy! I’m very excited to announce the debut of the Lexicon’s newest section: the Gazetteer. It’s a list of all the countries, cities, buildings, and other places mentioned in the books – nearly 300 in all. Read More
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I have been adding images from the Wizard cards and from Jo’s Wizard of the Month to the Wizard A to Z pages. If you click on the thumbnails you can see a larger version of the image. Read More
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Posted by in Canon discussion / Essays
Although Spinner’s End is probably not a real place in a real town, it’s reasonable to assume that it’s in an imaginary town in an area where towns of that type are found—just as Little Whinging is an imaginary town, but of a recognizably Surrey type. An argument has been made Spinner’s… Read More
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Posted by in Fandom News / Website news
Big news from Italy today. Here’s what Albireo sent us, along with scans which we’re going over very carefully: Today, on the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, there is an article about Book Aid International auction, with a complete picture of the Black family tree! You can recognize the half that we… Read More
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Table of Contents Introduction Pensieves Memory as a Weapon Memory as Aid Modification of Memory Memory in Objects Memory Embodied as a Threat Conclusion   Introduction As Muggles, memory is a fairly straightforward process for us and unless we read a story about someone with amnesia or… Read More
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A new Harry Potter resource website just opened which is absolutely fantastic. It’s called the Potter Index (Potter Index). This site makes a perfect complement to the Lexicon and the Quotes database here on the Floo. I know that the editors at the Lexicon will be using this… Read More
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We have two provocative essays by glamourousgeek, Magic, Genes, and Pure Blood, discussing wizarding genetics and the meaning of blood status in the wizarding world, and Merlin, God, and You-Know-Who: Religion in the Wizarding World. There’s a fun piece analyzing Harry Potter’s Astrological Birth Chart by lunalove, speculating that Jo Rowling… Read More
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I’ve been cleaning out my inbox, and have made a number of corrections suggested by our readers. Most notably, the birth and first year dates for Cedric have been changed, and Katie Bell now has her own, expanded page. More corrections & additions coming. Read More
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The updated and re-organized Black family pages are finished! If you had bookmarked the old pages you will need to update them. New Black family page New Black family tree New location of Sirius page… Read More
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Posted by in Characters / Website news
All information about the Black family is currently being revised due to the publication of portions of a marvelous hand-drawn Black family tree that Jo is auctioning off to benefit Book Aid International. For now, you can read more at The Leaky Cauldron. We haven’t had this much new… Read More
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Posted by in Canon discussion / Essays
We are just two years or less from reaching the end of the Harry Potter series and many essential questions have been answered, either by the books themselves, by J.K. Rowling, or by cunning readers who have racked their brains to work out even the finest details of the universe she has created. Read More