Shortly after the Lexicon was created in 2000, the first essay appeared: The Limits of Magic by Caius Marcius. From that point on, the Lexicon’s collection of canon-based essays grew and grew. As the book series progressed, many of those essays became outdated or were proven wrong. However, they are all included in our collection as an archive of fan thinking and speculation during those exciting years. You can find all those essays, plus new ones as they get published, listed here. The following listing of essays is in reverse chronological order — the more recent essays are listed first.

• Essay
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
• Essay
Posted by in Canon discussion / Essays
Introduction It only took a second. J. K. Rowling had agreed to talk about her writing for the television documentary, Harry Potter and Me. She took random pages from her endless boxes of notes. She flashed up a page with a brief comment, “This is a list of all the students… Read More
• Essay
Posted by and in Canon discussion / Essays
Introduction One of the most intriguing ideas in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone is that Professor Dumbledore set up events so that Harry would try and stop the theft of the Philosopher’s Stone by Voldemort. Many events in Harry’s first year seem to indicate this: his dealings with Hagrid, being given his father’s Invisibility Cloak (twice), his discovery of the Mirror of Erised, and his detention in… Read More
• Essay
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Number twelve, Grimmauld Place is the location of much of the action in Chapters 4 to 10 of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. It is Sirius Black’s ancestral home, and the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. This essay discusses its possible location, and also that of the Ministry of Magic. Read More
• Essay
Posted by in Essays
Although I am aware — reluctantly aware, but still aware — that Harry Potter is a fictional character, the fact remains that he has a birth date. Any person, real or otherwise, with a birth date also has an astrological birth chart, and Harry is no exception! In analyzing Harry Potter’s chart… Read More
• Essay
Posted by in Canon discussion / Essays
The Harry Potter books have been the subject of much religious debate after fundamentalist Christians warned parents against the books, deeming them pro-witchcraft and consequently anti-Christian. Some Muslims, on the other hand, have banned the books for the entirely opposite reason, claiming they are poorly concealed Christian propaganda. Surprisingly however, the… Read More
• Essay
Posted by in Essays
Magic in the Harry Potter universe is as far as we know considered to be supernatural, and has as little to do with science as ghosts and flying broomsticks. However, the fact that magic runs in families means that it is a hereditary trait. Add to that the exceptions of half-bloods, Muggle-borns and Squibs and the temptation to analyze… Read More
• Essay
Posted by in Canon discussion / Essays
In her essay Ginny Weasley, Why? published on The Harry Potter Lexicon in October 2003, author Water Witch presented a surprisingly astute evaluation of the importance of Ginny Weasley—surprising because, although the article was written after the publication of Order of the Phoenix, it predated Half-Blood Prince. Even though Rowling… Read More
• Essay
Posted by in Canon discussion / Essays
Snape had no misgivings about working for Voldemort at the time he overheard the prophecy, yet a short time afterwards he changed sides and turned spy for the Order of the Phoenix. Betrayal of Voldemort is not a step that could be taken lightly. What caused this complete change of… Read More
• Essay
Posted by in Canon discussion / Essays
Snape is not a good guy. His treachery has been written in black and white all through the Harry Potter books and especially in Half-Blood Prince. Even so, some Snape fans are looking for a reprieve. One person I work with actually said, “It’s no excuse, but he did have to kill Dumbledore or die himself.” And then… Read More
• Essay
Posted by in Canon discussion / Essays
Where is Little Whinging? What sort of place did Harry Potter grow up in? The books in the canon give us several clues, mostly in Books 1 and 5 (Philosopher’s Stone and Order of the Phoenix), but beware . . . there may be a red herring! In Book 1, the first letter from Hogwarts (and presumably the others), is addressed to Harry in “Little Whinging,… Read More
• Essay
Posted by in Canon discussion / Essays
Editor: Michele L. Worley I have stretched this list to include some instances of numbers containing the word “seven”. There will be seven books in the series. “All right, thirty-seven then,” said Dudley, going red in the face. [counting birthday presents, (PS2)] “Seven years there and he won’t know… Read More
• Essay
Posted by in Canon discussion / Essays
Editor: Michele L. Worley I have stretched this list to include some instances of numbers containing the word “six”. “Thirty-six,” he said, looking up at his mother and father. “That’s two less than last year.” [counting birthday presents, (PS2)] …while Harry and Uncle Vernon watched Dudley unwrap the racing… Read More
• Essay
Posted by in Canon discussion / Essays
Within Harry Potter (HP) fandom, ships—relationship theories—come in all shapes, sizes, and speeds. Some ships are small sailboats with elegant, white sails that can carry only a handful of fans as passengers. These ships, while not popular, are beautiful and fun nevertheless. Other ships are cruise liners: quick, massive, powerful,… Read More
• Essay
Posted by in Essays / Website news
The ‘Error’ in the Title Graphic This is an email I recently received: Subject: Flaw on the picture on the main page I don’t know if this has been called to your attention before, but there’s a typo on the main page. The word “complete” is spelled “compleat” in… Read More
• Essay
Posted by in Canon discussion / Essays
Often there is a fine line between arrogance and confidence, stubbornness and being willful. Snape, for one, accuses Harry of strutting around Hogwart, arrogant like his father. For the most part, I don’t believe Harry is arrogant at all. Arrogance is defined as follows: giving one’s self an undue degree of importance; having or showing feelings of… Read More
• Essay
Posted by in Canon discussion / Essays
Sooner or later every fan stumbles across certain mysteries in the Harry Potter books. Some actually find them in the books, other stumbled across them in discussions online. Once discovered, any good fan will then ponder whether this intriguing new mystery is a clue, foreshadowing, foreboding, a misdirection (red herring),… Read More
• Essay
Posted by in Canon discussion / Essays
Okay, so we weren’t there as the Weasley children grew up, all seven of them in that wonderful magical house. But I think we can make some fairly shrewd guesses as to what it was like. After all, one thing is certainly true, and that’s the fact that siblings compete for their… Read More