• Source Harry mulls over what he heard about Sirius Black, almost everyone has gone on holiday, Harry, Ron and Hermione go to visit Hagrid, find him distraught about Buckbeak’s hearing before the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures, and they begin seeking precedents… Read More
• Source Both Harry and Ron are angry with Hermione for reporting the Firebolt to Professor McGonagall, Oliver Wood tries to get it back, classes resume, Professor Lupin teaches Harry the Patronus Charm to use against Dementors, Harry asks repeatedly about his Firebolt… Read More
• Source OWLs and NEWTs are coming up and everyone is studying, exam week arrives, Buckbeak’s appeal is scheduled, Professor Trelawney unknowingly predicts the return of the Dark Lord, Harry, Ron and Hermione use the invisibility cloak to visit Hagrid, try to… Read More
• Source Harry, Ron and Hermione start back to the castle, Crookshanks chases Scabbers, and a big black dog drags Ron into a tunnel under the Whomping Willow. Crookshanks stops the tree from attacking Harry and Hermione, and they follow the cat down the tunnel to… Read More
• Source They go back through the tunnel towards the castle, Sirius Black invites Harry to live with him, Remus Lupin becomes a werewolf when the moon comes out and Black transforms into a dog to prevent him from attacking Harry, Ron and Hermione,… Read More
• Source Harry awakens in hospital, desperately tries to tell Sirius Black’s side of the story but is not believed until Albus Dumbledore arrives, who tells Hermione to use her Time-Turner (which she had been using to increase the amount of classes she could attend) to go… Read More
• Source Harry tries to decide what to do, the Knight Bus arrives, and he asks to be taken to London. En route Harry learns about Sirius Black. He is met by Cornelius Fudge at Diagon Alley and installed in a room at the Leaky… Read More
• Source The students leave the Leaky Cauldron for Hogwarts, board the train, discuss Hogsmeade and a sleeping Professor Remus Lupin prevents a fight with Malfoy. The train is boarded by Dementors, Harry passes out, Professor McGonagall wants a word with Harry and… Read More
• Source Students begin the new year of classes, Hermione is taking a very full course load and in Divination, Professor Trelawney predicts Harry’s death. Hagrid introduces Hippogriffs at his first class, Buckbeak is insulted, Malfoy is injured, and Harry, Ron and Hermione… Read More
• Source Defence Against the Dark Arts remains a favorite, Quidditch practice begins, Crookshanks goes after Scabbers, tension builds between Ron and Hermione, Harry is denied permission to visit Hogsmeade, Professor Lupin talks to him about fear, Professor Snape brews a potion… Read More
• Oceans and seas The Pacific Ocean, the largest ocean in the world, is one of the natural habitats of the sea serpent (FB). Read More
• Insults, Curses, and Interjections Exclamation by Newt Scamander when he realized that Frank the Thunderbird had not escaped from his suitcase (WFT). Paracelus was a famous wizard and alchemist (FW). Peeves the Poltergeist once tried to drop an ugly bust of Paracelsus on unwary students at Hogwarts (OP14). Read More
• Creature A parrot is a large colourful bird from tropical regions often kept as a pet and well-known for the ability to mimic the human voice. Read More
• Communication • Languages A Parselmouth is a person who can speak Parseltongue, the language of snakes. It is a very rare ability (HBP13, CS11). Known Parselmouths Herpo the Foul (FB) Corvinus Gaunt (Pm) Gormlaith Gaunt (MNA) Marvolo Gaunt (HBP10) Morfin Gaunt (HBP10)… Read More
• Languages Parseltongue is the language of snakes; to a human who cannot speak it, it sounds like hissing without taking a breath (GF1). A speaker of Parseltongue is referred to as a Parselmouth (CS11). The ability to speak Parseltongue is extremely rare, and is something for which Salazar… Read More
• Character Patrick was an Augurey in Newt Scamander’s basement menagerie and beast hospital (CG). Read More
• Character Mr. Paws is a cross-breed of a Kneazle and a cat. He belongs to Mrs. Figg. He can understand human speech. Read More
• Character Peeves is a poltergeist — not a ghost, but an “indestructible spirit of chaos” that haunts the halls of Hogwarts (JKR). He is a little man dressed in loud, outlandish clothes including a bell-covered hat and an orange bow tie. Compared to the Hogwarts ghosts, he is solid-looking, not pearly… Read More
• Character Penelope Clearwater was the girlfriend of Percy Weasley while at Hogwarts, though their relationship was kept a secret for quite some time. They began dating in their fifth year. She has long curly hair (CS12). Penelope was Sorted into Ravenclaw and attended Hogwarts from1987 – 1994. She is a prefect from 1992 to 1994. Read More
• Character Professor Phoebus Penrose’s committee produced a report entitled “A Study into Muggle Suspicions About Magic” (DP1). Professor Penrose contends in that report that Muggles notice much more of what happens in the wizarding community than is generally believed. For example, entries into the Annual International Wizard Gardening Competition’s Contorting Cereals… Read More
• Quote “Ah, well, people can be a bit stupid abou’ their pets,” said Hagrid wisely. Behind him, Buckbeak spat a few ferret bones onto Hagrid’s pillow. Read More
• Character Percival Graves was an exceptionally skilled wizard and an auror who worked for MACUSA. In the 1920s, Graves was tasked with tracking down whatever creature was terrorizing New York City. For some time, the suspicion fell on Newt Scamander and his escaped fantastic beasts (WFT). Percival Graves was a descendant of… Read More
• Creature A small, very dangerous dragon species native to Peru. habitat: mountains (?), probably eastern or northeastern Peru (see notes below) appearance: smooth, copper-colored, short horns fangs: venomous size: small (15 feet) food: goats, cows, but especially humans The history of the interaction between wizards and this… Read More
• Magical effects Not a spell so much as a magical effect, caused by seeing the reflected eyes of a basilisk. Read More
• Character Phineas Fletcher was criminal who dealt in illegal items and creatures. He was responsible for the accidental creation of the Hidebehind (FB). Read More
• Creature The Phoenix is a swan-sized bird with red and gold plumage, golden beak, and golden talons. The XXXX rating given to this gentle creature does not indicate ferocity, but rather the rarity of successful attempts to domesticate it.  The phoenix lives to an immense age, as it regenerates from… Read More
• Magical objects Phoenix feathers are used in wand cores. Both Harry’s holly wand and Voldemort’s yew wand contained feathers given by Fawkes the phoenix. Read More
• Magical identities The song of the phoenix gives strength and hope to those it sings for, ‘increasing the courage of the pure of heart and striking fear into the hearts of the impure’ according to Scamander (FB). When wands sharing a phoenix-feather cores from the same bird are forced to do battle,… Read More
• Diseases and healing The tears of the phoenix have healing powers, and are the only known antidote for Basilisk venom (DH6). Read More
• Article
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
• Character Pickett was a Bowtruckle, one of a small branch (colony) of Bowtruckles living on a tree inside New Scamander’s case. Pickett, according to Newt, had “attachment issues,” so he rode around in Newt’s jacket pocket. Pickett was offended when Newt almost traded him to Gnarlak in exchange for information about… Read More
• Character Pierre Bonaccord was the first Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, a position later held by none other than Albus Dumbledore. Bonaccord wanted to ban troll-hunting and grant trolls rights, possibly full “being” status, but since a tribe of Mountain Trolls had been causing a lot of trouble… Read More
• Creature The pigeon is a common bird, particularly found in urban areas, of which Harry Potter is afraid (CC4.15). Read More
• Character Ron’s owl, a tiny bird, possibly a Scops owl. “Pig,” as he is called, is very excitable. He annoys Ron and also irritates Hedwig, who apparently doesn’t think Pig has the proper bearing and manners for a post owl (GF3) . Pigwidgeon was given to Ron by Sirius Black,… Read More
• Character Pinky was a creature receiving care in Newt Scamander’s basement menagerie. Newt’s assistant, Bunty, gave Pinky nose drops (CG). Read More
• Languages Pixie language consists of shrill squeaks and other high-pitched noises, variously described as “high-pitched jabbering” (FB) and “like listening to a lot of budgies arguing” (CS6). This form of communication is intelligible only to other pixies (FB). Read More
• Creature Pixies are small, mischievous, semi-intelligent creatures, native to Cornwall. They are a bright electric blue in colour and prone to mischief and mayhem. Their shrill voices are only intelligible to other pixies.  They bear live young. (CS6, FB). According to Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,… Read More
• Creature The plimpy is a kind of fish, shaped like a ball with two long, rubbery legs and webbed feet. The freshwater plimpy is a species of the plimpy which inhabits streams and rivers. Other species live at the bottom of deep lakes. Plimpies eat snails. If you happen to… Read More
• Character Mirabella Plunkett was a witch famous for falling in love with a merman in Loch Lomond while on holiday there. When her family forbade her to marry him, she transfigured herself into a haddock and was never seen again (FW). Read More
• Source PmP is a collection of three e-books, collectively entitled Pottermore Presents. The e-books contain writings by Rowling also available on the Pottermore website, with a few odds and ends of new information. The most extensive additions are new writings about Animagi and Horace Slughorn, with a few extra… Read More
• Creature These annoying little creatures are native to Russia. They love to follow people around, infusing them with a sense of hopelessness until the human collapses, at which point the Pogrebin attempts to devour them. They can be fought off with Stunning spells or hexes, or a good kick. The Pogrebin resembles… Read More
• Character Gulliver Pokeby was a wizard who studied magical birds. He wrote about his discovery that the cry of an augurey foretells rain, not death, in his book Why I Didn’t Die When the Augurey Cried (FB, Pm). Read More
• Character Royden Poke was a wizard employed at the Ministry of Magic in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures (DP3). Read More
• Creature A poltergeist is a magical creature created from rampant and uncontrolled emotion — not a ghost, but an “indestructible spirit of chaos” (JKR). Poltergeists manifest themselves by moving or throwing objects around the place where such emotions are found. Poltergeists are often found where there are children or teens due to their chaotic… Read More
• Character Poppy was a Bowtruckle in Newt Scamander’s case (WFT). Read More
• Character A Chinese dragonologist, Quong Po studied Liondragons (Chinese Fireballs) and discovered the uses of their powdered eggs (FW). Read More
• Creature Found in Dorset, England and in southern Ireland, this short (about two feet high when fully grown), shaggy creature walks on two cloven-hoofed feet and feeds on grass. Its small arms end in four fingers. The porlock lives to guard horses and will be found with a herd or curled in the straw… Read More
• Magical effects Possession is a Dark Magical effect of one person’s spirit inhabiting or taking over the body of another. The only examples of possession are the actions of Voldemort, the greatest Dark wizard of the age. Read More
• Potions The potion for hags was developed by Professor Regulus Moonshine in the mid-1990s to reduce that creature’s craving for human flesh. Moonshine told a press conference that the potion seemed to be working since, as he put it, “[m]ost of my hag volunteers have refrained from taking a bite out… Read More
• Headlines and advertisements New Potion Gives Hope for Hags is an article on the front page of the Daily Prophet announcing research developments for the control of hag appetites for human flesh (DP4). Coverage of Professor Regulus Moonshine’s press conference about his potion raised some scepticism about his results… Read More
• Potion ingredients A wide variety of plants and animal parts are used in making potions. These ingredients can be magical or mundane. Some of the plants are grown in the greenhouses and some of the animal parts come from magical creatures living in the Forbidden Forest, such as unicorn hair. Potion ingredients… Read More
• Areas of knowledge • Hogwarts academics Potions are magical liquids created by mixing various ingredients in a cauldron according to very specific rules. These mixtures must usually be drunk to give their magical effect. The ingredients in potions range from the mundane to the bizarre and fantastic, and the procedures for creating some potions can be… Read More
• Character Prendergast was a professor at Hogwarts at the time of Leta Lestrange and Newt Scamander (CG). Professor Prendergast must not have been a fan of Newt’s love for all creatures because he gave Newt a month’s detention for saying “there are no strange creatures, only blinkered people,” a quote which… Read More
• Event There was no way that Hermione and Ron were going to let Harry go Horcrux hunting alone. So they had to prepare. Hermione started to research, as she does, spells and potions that she thought they would need. One of those spells helped her create her purple beaded bag with… Read More
• Character Quirinus Quirrel was a young wizard with a “brilliant mind,” was a professor of Muggle Studies, and later of Defence Against the Dark Arts, at Hogwarts (PS5, BLC). In between holding these two posts he took a year off to gain experience dealing with Dark Arts… Read More
• Character Wilhelmina Grubbly-Plank is an elderly witch with closely cropped gray hair and a very prominent chin who teaches Care of Magical Creatures. Professor Grubbly-Plank was the supply teacher (US: “substitute”) who covered for Hagrid when he was indisposed after Christmas break (January 1995, GF24) and again when he was off negotiating… Read More
• Rules and laws The Protective Order on Thunderbirds was an edict issued by Seraphina Picquery that protected Thunderbirds at a time when MACUSA had a kill-to-curse policy on all magical creatures. Later, the order was expanded to cover all magical creatures (FB). Read More
• Source Harry receives a Nimbus 2000 broom, learns the rules of Quidditch and begins to practice. On Hallowe’en Hermione masters levitation in Charms but the remarks of a jealous Ron send her in tears to the girls’ bathroom, where she is trapped with a troll. Harry and Ron run… Read More
• Source Hermione starts revising, the teachers pile on extra homework, Harry, Ron and Hermione visit Hagrid, discover he has a dragon’s egg, and later watch it hatch. As the dragon grows, it becomes harder to hide the illegal pet, until Charlie Weasley agrees to… Read More
• Source Harry’s popularity slips when his escapades lose his house 150 points, he overhears another conversation, and they serve detention with Hagrid who takes them to the Forbidden Forest in search of a wounded unicorn, which they find dead. Harry is rescued from Voldemort by a centaur. Read More
• Source The students begin their exams, Hagrid lets slip how to control Fluffy, Harry, Ron and Hermione try to warn Dumbledore but he has been summoned away. Fearful that Snape is about to make his move to get the Philosopher’s Stone, Harry, Ron and Hermione… Read More
• Source We are given glances at what Harry’s life has been like for the past ten years. The Dursleys celebrate Dudley’s eleventh birthday with a trip to the zoo. The day goes awry when Harry inadvertently performs magic and releases a boa constrictor from its enclosure. Read More
• Creature Puffskeins are long-tongued custard-coloured little furballs that makes a calming purring noise. These pleasant creatures are often kept as pets, particularly by wizarding children; Ron Weasley used to own one until Fred used it for Bludger practice. As scavengers that will eat anything from leftovers to spiders – even bogies… Read More
• Thing Pukwudgie is one of the four houses of Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The name was chosen by James Steward. Pukwudgie house stands for the heart of the wizard and is the house for healers. Read More
• Creature The Pukwudgie is a magical creature native to the New England and Great Lakes regions of North America. It is related to the Goblin and shares that creature’s aversion to humans, both magical and mundane. The Pukwudgie is short and grey in color, with long ears and porcupine-like spines on… Read More
• Creature Sold by Fred and George in Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes, Pygmy Puffs are miniature puffskeins, “round balls of fluff in shades of pink and purple,” that sell so quickly they “can’t breed them fast enough” (HBP6). Read More