• Character Torquil MacTavish was a Scottish wizard who participated in a broom race that led to the destruction of the Colosseum. MacTavish and his Italian rival Silvio Astolfi flew a close race from Aberdeen to Rome. In the explosions at the end of the race that destroyed the Colosseum, MacTavish was… Read More
• Event In 1693 after the International Statute of Secrecy was passed, American witches and wizards set up their own government known as the Magical Congress of the United States. This underground government totally separate from the No-Maj included representatives from magical groups all over North America, and was set up in… Read More
• Event Following the 1892 Sasquatch uprising, MACUSA moved its headquarters from Washington to the newly built Woolworth Building in New York City (Pm). When the building was under construction, wizards joined the construction crew. Thanks to these undercover wizards, the Woolworth building was not only a building for No-Majs, it also… Read More
• Character Queen Maeve was a medieval witch who trained young sorcerers in Ireland prior to the establishment of Hogwarts (FW). Read More
• Page 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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Posted by in About Sources / Canon discussion
I recently received two comments on two different entries in the Lexicon which brought up the same problem: the real world calendar doesn’t always agree with the days and dates in the books. I’m sure some of you are saying “Of course, we know that, this has been discussed in… Read More
• Character The first of the Malfoy family in Britain, Armand arrived in 1066 as part of William the Conqueror’s army. Armand was given a piece of land in Wiltshire as reward for his services to King William I (Pm). Read More
• Character Lucius Malfoy (I) was a wizard who associated with Muggle aristocracy and royalty. Evidence suggests that he was a suitor to Queen Elizabeth I and that, unsuccessful in winning her hand, he jinxed her so she would never marry another (Pm). Read More
• Titles, nicknames, and honorifics Nickname Scorpius Malfoy gives himself after viewing the alternate universe in which Voldemort and The Augurey ruled the Wizarding World (CC3.14). Read More
• Atlas of the Wizarding World • Wizarding villages Map by Shaun Hately, from a sketch by Steve Vander Ark … Read More
• Timelines and calendars The month of March at Hogwarts is typically wet and windy. In the first couple of books, March is all but skipped over. March birthdays: March 1 = Ron Weasley (1980) March 9 = Sybill Trelawney (WW) March 10 = Remus Lupin (1960) March… Read More
• Character Martha Sayre Steward‘s husband was a No-Maj from the Pocomtuc tribe (Pm). Martha, who was a Squib, met her husband through being friends with his sister. Painful as it was to live in a world she could never fully be part of, she decided to… Read More
• Timelines and calendars Timeline of Events Select the range of years for the timeline you wish to view. Ancient Egypt and Greece – Before 100 A.D. This is an era of Muggle/Wizard cooperation; many political and religious leaders were witches and wizards. The Medieval Era – 100 – 1400 AD… Read More
• Page Timeline of Events Select the range of years for the timeline you wish to view. Ancient Egypt and Greece – 3000 B.C. – 100 A.D. This is an era of Muggle/Wizard cooperation; many political and religious leaders were witches and wizards. Growing distrust and prejudice – 100 – 1692 AD… Read More
• Character Maximillian Crowdy was the “charismatic” eighth Minister for Magic. He served from 1770 to 1781, when time he mysteriously died in office (Pm). Read More
• Character Elizabeth McGilliguddy was president of MACUSA during the American Revolution and the 1777 “Country or Kind?” debate. She encouraged the British Ministry of Magic to refrain from interfering in the war for American independence (Pm). Read More
• Organizations The Medieval Assembly of European Wizards was a medieval society across Europe. Professors Binns assigned a three foot-long composition on “The Medieval Assembly of European Wizards” in Harry Potter’s second year. Ron Weasley’s essay was eight inches short, while Hermione had written four feet seven inches in tiny writing. Read More
• Thing A book about fantastic creatures found in Newt Scamander’s shed inside his brown leather suitcase (WFT). Read More
• Art and Culture In the middle of the vast atrium of the MACUSA building in New York City stands a memorial to the witches and wizards killed as a result of the Salem witch trials (WFT). Read More
• Character Merlin, a Charms specialist sometimes known as “The Prince of Enchanters,” is unquestionably the most famous wizard of all time (PS6, FW). He was part of the Court of King Arthur (King Arthur once ruled the land that is now part of England). He believed… Read More
• Headlines and advertisements Merlin Remembrance Day Suggestion is the title of a letter written by Harold Skively to the Daily Prophet, suggesting a new public holiday (DP1). Mr Skively in his letter makes a case for a wizarding public holiday to honour the wizard Merlin, but ruins it by mentioning that what he… Read More
• Character Merope Gaunt was the daughter of Marvolo Gaunt and mother of Tom Riddle. Eighteen-year-old Merope’s hair is lank and dull and she has a “plain, pale, rather heavy face.” Her eyes also gaze in opposite directions. Merope’s father is extremely abusive to her and derisively calls her a “Squib” (and other… Read More
• Event Merope Gaunt arrives at the orphanage in the evening, destitute and near death. She had no will to live and has forsworn magic after being abandoned by her Muggle husband, Tom Riddle, whom she had tricked into wedlock with a love potion. Shortly after arriving, she gives birth to a boy… Read More
• Event c. December 1925 –  Merope Gaunt, besotted as she is with the handsome Muggle who rides his horse near her miserable hovel, somehow hoodwinks him into marrying her. Most likely, she does so by giving him a love potion. Read More
• Character Merwyn the Malicious was a medieval wizard credited with the invention of many unpleasant jinxes and hexes (FW). Read More
• Character Hortensia Milliphutt was Minister for Magic from 1841 to 1849. She introduced much more legislation than other Ministers for Magic, but some of it was pointless, such as a proposed law on “hat pointiness,” and she fell out of favor (Pm). Read More
• Ministry of Magic The Minister for Magic is the executive head of the government for the British Wizarding world. The Minister enjoys a position of great prominence and prestige. He or she represents the British magical community in international affairs and sets the tone for the policies of the Ministry of Magic. Read More
• Event The Ministry is formed as part of the massive transition in the Wizarding world which followed the passage of the International Statute of Secrecy in 1692. UIick Gamp is chosen to be the first Minister for Magic. The initial task of the Ministry, led by Gamp, was calming… Read More
• Buildings • Wizarding places The headquarters of the Ministry of Magic is located in the heart of London. The actual structure is all underground, although magical windows show whatever weather Magical Maintenance has chosen for the day, from bright sunshine to hurricanes. Visitors’ Entrance A visitor to the Ministry of Magic comes to a… Read More
• Source MNA refers to a series of essays written by Rowling originally for Pottermore detailing the history of magic on the North American continent as well as the background of the Magical Congress of the United States and of Ilvermorny, the North American school of magic. The Magical Congress of… Read More
• Character Modesty Rabnott was a thirteenth century Witch living in Kent. She tried to stop Barberus Bragge from his barbaric treatment of a Golden Snidget during a Cuaditch match, only to be fined 10 Galleons for her trouble (a huge amount of money in those days). According to the… Read More
• Character Alastor “Mad-Eye” Moody is a retired Auror, considered one of the best Dark Wizard catchers the Ministry has ever had. Moody came on staff for a year at Hogwarts, but  spent it at the bottom of a magical trunk, unbeknownst to anyone but the imposter who put him there (… Read More
• Character Morfin Gaunt was the son of Marvolo Gaunt. He is first seen dressed in rags, his thick hair so matted with dirt the color was indistinguishable. He was missing several teeth, and his eyes, like those of his father and sister, looked in opposite directions. Morfin is a Parselmouth and… Read More
• Character Morgana, also known as Morgan le Fay, was a powerful Dark witch in the Middle Ages, Queen of the Island of Avalon, and half-sister to King Arthur. She was Merlin‘s greatest enemy (FW).  … Read More
• Titles, nicknames, and honorifics Nickname given to the dead Voldemort by Scorpius Malfoy (CC3.14). Scorpius and Albus Potter traveled back in time using an Experimental Time-Turner and ended up in a timeline where Voldemort and The Augurey ruled the Wizarding World because Harry Potter had died (CC3.4). After viewing… Read More
• Mountains, hills, and landforms Mount Greylock is a mountain in western Massachusetts in the U.S. whose highest peak is where Ilvermony School of Witchcraft and Wizardry stands. It is also where the Steward family lived in the 1600s (Pm). Read More
• Titles, nicknames, and honorifics Term used around 1000 A.D. to refer to Muggle-born witches and wizards. The origin of the term is obscure, but may refer to those magic-using persons “bobbing up” in a Muggle family unexpectedly. Muggle-born witches and wizards were completely accepted and even treated as special at that time, which makes… Read More
• Character Burdock Muldoon was Chief of Wizards’ Council in the mid-14th century. Muldoon tried to define the difference between a “being” and a “beast.” He decreed that any creature that had two legs was a “being,” and therefore deserving of better representation and treatment. When he called a summit meeting to discuss… Read More
• Character Mungo Bonham was a famous wizard healer and the founder of Saint Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Ailments and Injuries (FW). Read More
• Character Harfang Munter was the second Head of the Durmstrang Institute, succeeding founder Nerida Vulchanova. Munter established the school’s tradition of teaching combat and martial magic – and it’s reputation for the Dark Arts (Pm). Read More