Time Line: The End of PA Chronology of the evening of June 6, 1994 compiled and annotated by Hollydaze Here is a time line of when things could have happened, underneath is an explanation of why I think things happened in this order: I know people will argue… Read MoreGinny Weasley: Baby Sister, Best Friend• Podcast Episode
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 MoreFamiliarity: The Key to Understanding Spellwork• Podcast Episode
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 MoreThe Put-Outer and Magic on Privet Drive• Podcast Episode
Dumbledore’s Put-Outer is a magical device introduced in PS1, and it is unique as the only tool used to perform magic aside from wands. The Put-Outer also has the distinction of being the first magical tool introduced in the series: [Dumbledore] found what he was looking for in his… Read MoreMagical Ability and Magic Wands• Podcast Episode
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 MoreTroubles with Time• Podcast Episode
We know that book 2 takes place in 1992 because Nearly Headless Nick holds his 500th Deathday Party in CS8. There’s a cake on the table of “food” that bears this inscription: SIR NICHOLAS DE MIMSY-PORPINGTON DIED 31ST OCTOBER, 1492 Obviously, if you add five hundred years to… Read MoreHogwarts Ghosts• Podcast Episode
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 MoreThe Changing Image of Grown-Ups in the Harry Potter Books• Podcast Episode
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 MoreFood and Drink in the Potter Universe• Podcast Episode
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 MoreWhat really happened on the night James and Lily were killed? A Timeline and Commentary• Podcast Episode
This analysis was originally written in 2001, after the publication of Goblet of Fire. It’s still around in its original form (and in the original format of Lexicon pages!). What you will read here has been revised and updated over the years to incorporate much of what we now know… Read MoreHarry Potter: Pureblood, Half-Blood, or "Mudblood"?• Podcast Episode
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 MoreTeachers and Curriculum: Would You Want This For Your Child?• Podcast Episode
Academics at Hogwarts are a curious mix of practical experience and rote learning. While the curriculum is dictated to some extent by the Ministry of Magic (GF14), each instructor is given considerable leeway in exactly what they teach and how they go about it. To be perfectly frank, some of the instructors at Hogwarts are very… Read MoreA Hogwarts Education: Well-Rounded or Not?• Podcast Episode
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 MoreN.E.W.T.s and O.W.L.s: An explanation for non-British folks• Podcast Episode
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 MoreLanguages at Durmstrang• Podcast Episode
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 MoreTextbooks• Podcast Episode
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 MoreAn Elegantly Woven Tapestry: Plotlines in Prisoner of Azkaban• Podcast Episode
In a way, it’s true that there is no single central plot in Prisoner of Azkaban, because one candidate (Quidditch) lacks gravitas and another (Sirius v. Harry) proves to be an illusion. But in terms of what plotline drives the book, I would say it’s the latter. We “know” from very… Read MoreDescriptive Words in the Harry Potter Books• Podcast Episode
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 MoreGenerations in the Wizarding World• Podcast Episode
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 MorePrejudice: A Great Theme of the Books• Podcast Episode
Prejudice against Muggles compared to the attitude of Arthur Weasley (“bless them”) “Muggle-baiting”—the Shrinking Keys during the Voldemort years: Muggle killing and torturing at the Quidditch World Cup—Muggle torture, connected to Death Eaters Prejudice against Muggle-borns (Mudbloods) Salazar Slytherin—argued with Godric Gryffindor about admitting Muggle-born students Lucius and Draco Malfoy… Read More
We are celebrating 20 Years of the Lexicon
with a 
Time Line: The End of PA
• Podcast Episode
Hogwarts Ghosts
• Podcast Episode
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
Food and Drink in the Potter Universe
• Podcast Episode
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
What really happened on the night James and Lily were killed? A Timeline and Commentary
• Podcast Episode
This analysis was originally written in 2001, after the publication of Goblet of Fire. It’s still around in its original form (and in the original format of Lexicon pages!). What you will read here has been revised and updated over the years to incorporate much of what we now know… Read More
Teachers and Curriculum: Would You Want This For Your Child?
• Podcast Episode
Academics at Hogwarts are a curious mix of practical experience and rote learning. While the curriculum is dictated to some extent by the Ministry of Magic (GF14), each instructor is given considerable leeway in exactly what they teach and how they go about it. To be perfectly frank, some of the instructors at Hogwarts are very… Read More
Textbooks
• Podcast Episode
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
An Elegantly Woven Tapestry: Plotlines in Prisoner of Azkaban
• Podcast Episode
In a way, it’s true that there is no single central plot in Prisoner of Azkaban, because one candidate (Quidditch) lacks gravitas and another (Sirius v. Harry) proves to be an illusion. But in terms of what plotline drives the book, I would say it’s the latter. We “know” from very… Read More
Descriptive Words in the Harry Potter Books
• Podcast Episode
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
