The Lexicon Blog
What is Magical Power in the Potterverse?
• Essay
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
Secrets of the Classlist
• Essay
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… Read More
In Search of . . . Grimmauld Place
• Essay
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
Posted
by Witherwings
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
Posted
by glamourousgeek
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
Ginny Weasley: A Gryffindor and a Match for Harry
• Essay
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
Shaken, Not Stirred: The Allegiance(s) of a Certain Potions Master and Spy Extraordinaire
• Essay
Upon reading the line “Avada Kedavra!” on page 596 (HBP27), and after the ensuing shock eased, I asked my copy of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: Why? It was not until feverishly reading a few lines in the next chapter that my vindictive desire for Harry to slash the Half-Blood Prince to ribbons… Read More
Snape's Change of Allegiance
• Essay
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
The Marks of a Villain
• Essay
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
Posted
by Steve VanderArk
in Website news
Just thought I’d keep y’all up to date on what we’ve been working on. Aside from the usual (and fairly boring) site management stuff, Michele and I have been exapnding the Reader’s Guides for various chapters of the books. I have been working my way through Philosopher’s Stone lately and just added… Read More
Posted
by Steve VanderArk
in Fandom News
Today marks the birthday of my fellow Floo-network webmaster, Melissa Anelli. If you get a chance, wander over to the Leaky Cauldron and add a birthday wish comment there for her. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MELISSA! – Steve (whose birthday it also happens to be, but who is a LOT older than… Read More
Posted
by Steve VanderArk
in Website news
Take a look at our Lexicon Christmas Card, which I uploaded this afternoon. Everyone hasn’t had a chance to sign it, but I decided to make it live anyway because it’s almost Christmas and I wanted all of you to see it. Read More
Posted
by Steve VanderArk
in Website news
I posted the revised Christmas main page yesterday. Thanks again to Laura Freeman for her amazing artwork. Read More
Posted
by Steve VanderArk
in Website news
No, your eyes aren’t playing tricks on you. Laura’s fabulous Marauders artwork has been temporarily removed. We realized that the main menu page has changed a lot in a year and the old Christmas page didn’t include all the new links and buttons. So we’re working on adding Laura’s artwork… Read More
Posted
by micheleworley
in Website news
Happy holidays, and we hope you enjoy the artwork created for us by Laura Freeman. Read More
Posted
by micheleworley
in Website news
We’ve been working on updating the reader’s guides lately (particularly those for Goblet of Fire, for some reason), and areas referenced by them. Strictly British is now a section rather than a single page, and is gradually acquiring new material. You also may have noticed that Which Wizard‘s links have been undergoing… Read More
Posted
by Lisa Bunker
in Fandom News
I had a blast doing the fan interview for this week’s Pottercast! If you’re curious about the Lexicon’s fine artists, please visit our “Artists” page that has links to biographies, mini-portfolios and their websites. Read More
Posted
by Steve VanderArk
in Website news
I hope you noticed the boooo-tiful new Hallowe’en artwork created for us by Laura Freeman! Poor Myrtle looks like she’s about to dive into the U-bend! Can you guess that book this scene is from?… Read More
In Search of Little Whinging
• Essay
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
Posted
by John Kearns
in Website news
John here, with a new essay. It’s written by Ravenclaw Rambler, and is called “In Search of Little Whinging.” It’s a look at the location of Little Whinging and Privet Drive, with a different interpretation from the one previously presented by Nik the Hermit in an equally wonderful essay, “Surrey: Showing… Read More
Posted
by Lisa Bunker
in Website news
Two new artist mini-portfolios are finished: Taelin and Laura Freeman. Enjoy!… Read More
Posted
by johnkearns
in Website news
We have a really cool new addition to the site, and a fantastic reference tool at that. Mrs Muggle has given us permission to post her detailed compilation of Potterwords, which is a usage guide to all of the abbreviations, capitalizations, punctuation, and spellings used throughout the books. Even if… Read More
Posted
by johnkearns
in Website news
I’ve just finished a reorganization of the Bestiary, along with giving it a bit of a face lift. The old pages will stay up for a little while as we work to update links across the site. We also have a new page with lots of information on giants. Read More
Posted
by Steve VanderArk
in Website news
More newly revised timelines: Hagrid and Draco. Read More
Posted
by Lisa Bunker
in Website news
I am beginning to redesign and revise the character timelines! So far Dumbledore‘s and Snape‘s are pretty much finished. My goals with these revisions is to make the timelines easier to use, more complete, and as precise as possible on the dates. Read More
Posted
by Steve VanderArk
in Website news
We have four more artist mini-portfolios to tell you about: Sebastian Theilig, Tea with Voldy, Jeannine Delleré, and Cassie Songer all now have pages about them and their artwork. Read More
Posted
by Steve VanderArk
in Website news
More art news! As you know, we have agreements with many different artists who allow us to display their stunning artwork. Until now, there has been very little information about them, so we have begun creating “biography/mini-portfolio” pages for the artists who want them. So far there are pages for … Read More
Posted
by Lisa Bunker
in Website news
The reorganization project is complete! Information-wise, I have added new research into Trelawney’s name: Sibyll (Sybill) Trelawney, and thanks to Santiágo Peresón, we have our first quotes for Book 6: Quotes by and about Sibyll (Sybill) Trelawney… Read More
Posted
by Steve VanderArk
in Website news
Lots of updates all over the site. The Lexicon is constantly changing. One thing we added was our statement of editorial policy, which is on the page about the Lexicon and its staff. On a staff-related note, it is my sad duty to announce that Josh Santilli, my stalwart assistant… Read More
Posted
by Lisa Bunker
in Website news
The pages for Lily and James have been expanded, and I am about halfway in my reorganization of the character pages. Read More
Posted
by Steve VanderArk
in What's New
Well, this has been interesting. And it gets more interesting by the moment. Read More
Posted
by micheleworley
in Website news
A few essays have been connected/reconnected to the essay index lately in the midst of all our site maintenance. Most of them predate the publication of Half-Blood Prince (and thus appear earlier in the essay index than visitors might expect) but are none the less interesting for that. We hope you enjoy them. Read More
Posted
by micheleworley
in Website news
The Encyclopedia of Potions has been partitioned into sections while undergoing maintenance. These and other pages on various magical disciplines are still undergoing updates. There may be occasional hiccups when attempting to follow links to specific potions pages as those links are being moved from the (formerly) single main potions page… Read More
Posted
by Lisa Bunker
in Website news
Lots is new! Mrs. Black and her son Regulus have their own pages now, and Mundungus‘ page has been re-worked. My big project this weekend was to redo the way the wizard pages are grouped, and I’m almost done. I’ll post later with links when it is out of beta. Read More
Posted
by micheleworley
in Website news
This morning’s update of the Lexicon brought to you by Michele and The Quibbler, which now has its own page. Other updates to the Communication-related pages have also taken place. Read More
Posted
by Lisa Bunker
in Website news
Me again. Lucius now has his own page, and Arthur Weasley‘s and James Potter‘s pages have been re-organized so that they should be easier to refer to (quick facts on top, in-depth profile below). Read More
Posted
by Steve VanderArk
in Website news
I’m doing some site maintenance today. A lot of links will change. If you encounter a link error before, say, 2:30 pm EDT, please accept my apology but don’t worry about it. It takes a while to upload all the revised files. If you still find a broken link after… Read More
Posted
by Lisa Bunker
in Website news
We now have an icon (thanks, Steve!) and a page for the Slug Club. It is difficult to definitively identify early members , so if Slughorn mentioned someone was one of “his” students, received gifts from them, or socializes with them, they made it on the tentative list. Read More
Posted
by Steve VanderArk
in Website news
Many, many people help on the Lexicon. We have the finest staff in the history of the web, that’s true, but a lot of folks help out in other ways, from error checking to making suggestions for essays, artwork, or new pages. I want to take a few moments to thank… Read More
Fifty Years Ago, Annotated
• Essay
What happened fifty years ago? When the tombstone photo from Goblet of Fire appeared a few weeks ago with glaring canon errors, I started to wonder how sure we could be of the dates of events that happened, according to the books, “fifty years ago.” New information was included in Half-Blood… Read More
Posted
by Steve VanderArk
in Website news
I’ve been analyzing the timeline and I’ve made a few discoveries and revisions. The dates of events of fifty years ago, when Riddle was at Hogwarts, have had to be changed to match new material in HBP. I’ve updated the timeline and also added a new table of those years to… Read More
Posted
by Lisa Bunker
in Website news
Well I’ve finished my first survey of book 6, and think I have added all the new characters, both wizard and Muggle. Next I will be double-checking and adding dates, researching name meanings, and hunting for new artwork. Read More
