• Podcast Episode
Posted by in Canon discussion / Essays
As the last Harry Potter book draws ever nearer, we are all scrambling to organize and finalize theories. So, anyone who’s an HP fan must have heard of several ships[*] from the Marauder’s Era. I’ll refer to them as m-ships in this essay to make life easier. These m-ships basically put together two of the… Read More
• Podcast Episode
Posted by in Canon discussion / Essays
Within the Harry Potter stories are many scenes that can be analyzed astronomically. As both an astronomer and a teacher, these interest me, and so I will present such analysis here. My goal is not to criticize Rowling when she is inaccurate in her astronomy (or, for that matter, to praise her when she… Read More
• Podcast Episode
Posted by in Canon discussion / Essays
Where is the Burrow—Harry’s second home (his first is Hogwarts, of course, not Privet Drive!)? Ottery St. Catchpole The books give the Burrow’s location as just outside the village of Ottery St. Catchpole, but give no direct clues as to where this is. The similarity of the name to Ottery St. Mary, in Devon has… Read More
• Podcast Episode
Posted by in Canon discussion / Essays
The Hut-on-the-Rock holds a key place in the life story of Harry Potter.  It was here, on his eleventh birthday, that he encountered the world of wizardry for the first time since infancy. But where was it? The address on the letter brought by Hagrid in PS4 is not very helpful: Harry Potter, The Floor, Hut-on-the-Rock,… Read More
• Podcast Episode
Posted by in Canon discussion
Music songs by title “A Cauldron Full of Hot, Strong Love” performed by Celestina Warbeck (HBP16) A “particularly jazzy number” with sentimental associations for Mrs. Weasley, as she and her husband danced to it when they were eighteen. Its lyrics include: Oh, come and stir my cauldron, And if you do… Read More
• Podcast Episode
Posted by in Canon discussion / Essays
Presented at Lumos 2006 Las Vegas, Nevada 29 July 2006[*] How wonderful it is that the second chapter of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is titled “Spinner’s End.” Wonderful, because, if read ironically, it refers not only to a place, but to Severus Snape’s fate, a rubric revealing that the… Read More
• Podcast Episode
Posted by in Canon discussion
In various places around the Lexicon, ages are given for the main characters. Some character’s ages are fairly easy to determine. However, the ages of the Marauders and those who were at Hogwarts with them are a bit tricky to work out. Rather than explain over and over how we… Read More
• Podcast Episode
Posted by in Canon discussion / Essays
After walking—or rather riding—up the staircase to the Headmaster’s office, one knocks on the door, enters, and is greeted not only by the face of the Headmaster, or Headmistress, but by soft snores coming from the wall. We are first introduced to the Headmaster’s office, and the decorations it contains, in Chamber of Secrets (CS12). Here,… Read More
• Podcast Episode
Posted by in Canon discussion / Essays
The newly released Black family tree, now revealed in its full glory, is the topic of considerable discussion and is a source of considerable information on the relatedness of the various pure-blood  wizard lines. Many familiar names show up on that tree, including Weasley (blasted off, of course). Sirius Black comments in Order of the Phoenix, “Molly and I are… Read More
• Podcast Episode
Posted by in Canon discussion / Essays
Since the arrival of Half-Blood Prince on July 16th, 2005, Harry Potter fans have been endlessly searching for Horcruxes. We find ourselves repeating the Horcrux possibilities just like Harry does in Half-Blood Prince: “the cup, the locket, the snake, something of Gryffindor or Ravenclaw’s . . . .” (HBP30). Several Horcrux identity theories have been circulating, with claims ranging from Tom Riddle’s mouth organ to Gryffindor’s old toothbrush. After reading… Read More
• Podcast Episode
Posted by in Canon discussion / Essays
The Hogwarts Express has been the subject of various essays exploring its nature and function. As has been plausibly noted elsewhere on this site, it isn’t really a steam engine, but rather a magical transportation device that mimics a Muggle equivalent in external form and function. This is consistent with the general trend in Wizard “technology,” which seems… Read More
• Podcast Episode
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
• Podcast Episode
Posted by in Canon discussion
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