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Posted by and in Essays / What's New
As part of our quest for the possible meanings of ‘hallows,’ Lexicon friend Bandersnatch kindly agreed to assemble some information for us. The result is an excellent essay which gives us some context for the new book’s title. Enjoy: The Grail Hallows and Harry Potter… Read More
• Ministry of Magic A room located in the Department of Mysteries on Level Nine of the Ministry of Magic (OP34)… Read More
• Event Dumbledore explains what the Mirror does —  that it shows the deepest desire of a person’s heart — and warns of the danger of losing oneself in the dream it presents. He informs Harry that the Mirror will no longer be found in that disused classroom. Read More
• Event When Professor McGonagall finds Harry in the hallway near the petrified Justin Finch-Fletchly and Nearly Headless Nick (CS11), she takes him to Dumbledore’s Office, using the password “Sherbet Lemon” (CS12). While waiting, Harry looks around at the many sleeping Headmaster portraits on the wall, as well as Dumbledore’s… Read More
• Event As Voldemort and Harry duel in front of the Death Eaters, the twin phoenix feather cores of their wands create a “Reverse Spell Effect” known as Priori Incantatem, and shades of Voldemort’s previous victims come out of his yew wand and protect Harry, including… Read More
• Event After getting the message about the lesson from Luna Harry arrives at his lesson with Dumbledore – having forgotten to do his homework and get the full memory from Slughorn. They watch two memories. In the first, Riddle visits Hepzibah Smith and sees what will become one of his horcruxes days before… Read More
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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
• Furniture and household items As a going-away present at the end of Harry’s first year, Hagrid put together a leather-bound photo album filled with magical moving photographs of Harry’s parents, James and Lily Potter, “smiling and waving” (PS17). Read More
• Source Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the fourth book in the series, was published in 2000. For the first time, bookstores held midnight release parties. The Harry Potter phenomenon was in full swing. Unfortunately, the scene in the graveyard provoked a strong anti-Potter response from some conservative Christian groups who… Read More
• Source Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone is the first in the series of Harry Potter novels by J.K. Rowling. It was published in the U.S. as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone a year after being published in the UK. First British printing: July 1, 1997, Bloomsbury Books First American printing: September 1,… Read More
• Event When Professor McGonagall saw Harry fly for the first time, she knew he would be a natural Seeker for the Gryffindor team. On the day of his first practice with Gryffindor Captain Oliver Wood, a brand new Nimbus 2000 arrives for Harry, courtesy of McGonagall. It is accompanied by a… Read More
• Diseases and healing Harry Potter had several scars caused by various dangerous situations. Read More
• Event Harry and Hagrid visit Diagon Alley. Harry realizes how famous he is when he is recognized at the Leaky Cauldron. At Gringotts, Harry learns of his parents’ fortune and Hagrid retrieves the Philosopher’s Stone. Harry meets Draco Malfoy for the first time at Madame Malkin’s Robes for All Occasions. Harry… Read More
• Event After emerging from the pensieve and realizing that he is a Horcrux and must be killed (DH33), Harry starts walking towards the forest. He is at once terrified and numb. He reflects on how precious life is. He has his Invisibility Cloak on as he passes by the Great… Read More
• Event After trying out a large number of wands, none of which seem quite right, Harry is handed a holly and phoenix feather wand: Harry took the wand. He felt a sudden warmth in his fingers. He raised the wand above his head, brought it swishing down through the dusty air and a… Read More
• Source Hermione finds out about Eileen Prince through research in the library and she thinks Eileen may be connected to the Half-Blood Prince. Professor Dumbledore asks Harry to come to his office immediately. On the way there, Harry runs into Professor Trelawney, learning… Read More
• Source Harry speaks with Mrs. Weasley (and later Mr. Weasley) about the latest Ministry of Magic news. We see Fleur Delacour, who was nicknamed Phlegm by Ginny, and learn that she and Bill Weasley are engaged, to his family’s dismay. Harry tells Ron and… Read More
• Source We learn of several disappearances including Florean Fortescue and Mr. Ollivander. Harry, Hermione, and the Weasleys go shopping at Diagon Alley, escorted by Hagrid.  There they discover a much-changed atmosphere and an empty Leaky Cauldron. They have a run-in with Draco and Narcissa Malfoy in Madam Malkin’s and… Read More
• Magical discipline Healing or medical magic is a common form of magic. Healing magic is used by everyone from parents healing a child’s minor injuries using simple remedies found in the book The Healer’s Helpmate to trained Healers and Mediwizards handling complicated and fantastic magical injuries and mishaps at St. Mungo’s… Read More
• Event Helena, the daughter of Hogwarts founder Rowena Ravenclaw, stole her mother’s diadem and ran off to Albania. Her mother became deathly ill soon after and sent Helena’s estranged fiance, a baron, to find her and bring her back (DH31). Read More
• Character Henry “Harry” Potter was a member of the Wizengamot from 1913 to 1921 and great-grandfather of Harry James Potter (Pm). Read More
• Character Hepzibah Smith was an immense, “very old, very rich witch” who collected magical antiques antiques and befriended Tom Marvolo Riddle in his role with Borgin and Burkes. She was distantly related to Helga Hufflepuff. Hepzibah lived in a grand house filled with so many possessions that it was difficult to walk… Read More
• Magical objects Found in Delphi’s room at St Oswald’s Home for Old Witches and Wizards, it contained a hidden prophecy in Parseltongue (CC3.21). Read More
• Hogwarts • Sentient objects The names of future Hogwarts students are written down at birth in the Book of Admittance, a special parchment book bound with dragon hide kept in a locked tower. When a magical child is born, the Quill of Acceptance floats out of a silver ink pot nearby to write the… Read More
• Sentient objects The Hogwarts Quill of Acceptance is a magical quill at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry which detects the birth of each magical child, then writes his or her name down in a large parchment tome bound with dragon hide, known as the Book of Admittance. Both are… Read More
• Schools Hogwarts is one of the world’s finest wizarding schools, located in a massive castle in Scotland. Hogwarts takes students from all over Great Britain, starting at the age of 11. The students leave school after their seventh year. The students at Hogwarts are sorted at the beginning of their first… Read More
• Character Honest Willy Wagstaff was a street peddler who was accused by the Ministry of selling defective goods in Diagon Alley (DP1). Read More
• Dark magic items A Horcrux is ‘the receptacle in which a Dark wizard has hidden a fragment of his soul for the purposes of attaining immortality’ (JKR). ‘The receptacle is prepared by dark magic to become the receptacle of a fragmented piece of soul and that that piece of soul deliberately detached from… Read More
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Posted by in Website news
A few days ago, Entertainment Weekly posted “A definitive timeline of every Harry Potter Horcrux.” I sure wish they’d research these things better before publishing them. Because they’re a mainstream magazine and because they’ve clearly been given a certain level a special access to the Fantastic Beasts team, fans… Read More
• Spells The Hour-Reversal charm reverses time by one hour. This unstable charm must be kept inside an object, and is contained within small hourglasses to create Time-Turners (Pm). Read More
• Hogwarts The House Cup is awarded at the end of each academic year at Hogwarts. The House with the most House points at the end of the year wins the House Cup. Points are given or taken away by professors and prefects. Read More
• Hogwarts • Hogwarts academics Points are given or taken away to reward or punish the behavior of students. Points are accumulated over the course of the school year, at the end of which a House Cup is awarded to the house with the most. Giant hourglasses set in niches along one wall in a… Read More
• Communication A Howler is a nasty letter sent to tell someone off. It arrives in a red envelope, smoking slightly. It must be opened immediately or it explodes. Upon opening, the Howler screams at the recipient in a voice magically magnified for maximum effect. Students at Hogwarts occasionally receive Howlers from… Read More
• Dark magic items • Magical objects One of Voldemort’s Horcruxes; a small, magical golden cup with two finely wrought handles, engraved with a badger (Helga Hufflepuff’s device) and inherited by the Smith family from Hufflepuff. (HBP20)… Read More