• Books and Literature “The Tale of the Three Brothers” is one of the stories in the book “Tales of Beedle the Bard“, which was left to Hermione by Albus Dumbledore in his will (DH7), and is the original source of the Deathly Hallows legend (DH21). Read More
• Books and Literature The Tales of Beedle the Bard is a 15th-century collection of bedtime stories written for young wizards and witches. The tales were originally written in ancient runes and included such memorable stories as “The Tale of the Three Brothers,” “Babbity Rabbity and Her Cackling Stump,” “The Wizard’s Hairy Heart,” and “The… Read More
• Sports teams The Tarapoto Tree-Skimmers are a South American Quidditch team who come from Peru (QA8). Unlike most of South America, who play the North American game of Quodpot, Peruvian wizards learned to play Quidditch from the European wizards who came to oversee the breeding and numbers of… Read More
• Magical artifacts A special deck of cards used over the centuries for Divination. The “Lightning-Struck Tower” was the card Sybill Trelawney kept seeing over and over just before Dumbledore’s death on top of the Astronomy Tower (HBP25). This can be counted as one of Trelawney’s actual prophecies. The proper name for… Read More
• Glossary (Not strictly a British term, but in the interests of clarity it’s being included here.) A kind of hand-made knotted lace, used particularly for edging or trimming (NSOED) – the kind of lace on Ron’s first set of dress robes might have been tatting, for instance. Read More
• Sports teams The Tchamba Charmers are a Quidditch team from Togo in Africa. The Charmers are known for their ability to do the difficult “reverse pass” move (QA8). Read More
• Food and drinks Tea is a popular beverage among Britons, Muggles and magical folk alike. Read More
• Occupations Tea-boy was a job serving tea which Leonard Spencer-Moon held in the Department of Magical Accidents when he first started working at the Ministry of Magic (Pm). Read More
• Glossary A cosy made to put over a tea pot for insulation, to help keep it hot. Read More
• Areas of knowledge Tea leaf reading, also called Tasseography, is a method of Divination. Loose leaf tea is poured into teacups and drunk until only the dregs remain. Next, the cup is swirled three times with the left hand and turned over to drain. Then the shapes of the leaves left in the… Read More
• Food and drinks A large rich layer cake, where some of the layers are made of cream or fruit.  … Read More
• Magizoology Tebo hide is a valuable commodity because is can be used effectively for protective shielding (FB). Read More
• Thing Wizards attending the Quidditch World Cup have been known to customise their tents both inside and out, even though they are supposed to be keeping a low profile. Read More
• Wizarding culture W.O.M.B.A.T. stands for Wizards’ Ordinary Magic and Basic Aptitude Test. It is administered by the Wizarding Examinations Authority. The head of this Authority is Griselda Marchbanks, CDMG, APMD, fbBB (JKR). These tests could be taken by Muggles as well as wizards, but the Wizarding Examinations Authority “does… Read More
• Plants • Potion ingredients Thaumatagoria is an extremely rare magical plant, thought by many to be mythical. It was used by Potioneer Zygmunt Budge to create the Potion of All Potential  (BoS). Read More
• Security A waterfall that can be released over the track at Gringotts that has the effect of washing away all enchantment, all magical concealment. Read More
• Sports teams The Thundelarra Thunderers are a Quidditch team from Australia (QA8). The Thunderers, along with their traditional rivals the Woollongong Warriors, dominate the Australian league. Their competition is so fierce that refereeing a game between the two is seen as “asking for” personal injury, which has given rise to the… Read More
• Ilvermorny Thunderbird is one of the four houses of Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The name was chosen by Chadwick Steward. Thunderbird house stands for the soul of the wizard and is the house for adventurers. Read More
• Broomsticks Thunderbolt VII brooms were ridden by the Nigeria National Team at the Quidditch World Cup in 2014. Thunderbolt Broom Manufacturers have a bad reputation for designing brooms that favour speed over safety (Pm). After the tail of a Thunderbolt VII broom disintegrated when hit by a Bludger during… Read More
• Glossary Checked or crossed. “Ticked off” can also mean “annoyed”. Read More
• Hogwarts This sage advice is the translation of the Latin motto of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry: “Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus.”… Read More
• Timelines and calendars Timeline: Events of the evening of June 9, 1994 is a chart showing the timeline/timetable for the events of 6 June 1994 (PA16, PA17, PA18, PA19, PA20, PA21, PA22). The date shown on the chart of 9 June is a mistake, since the… Read More
• Timelines and calendars Editor’s note: This timeline is an archive page from the original Lexicon. It was written before the release of the sixth and seventh books. For a more detailed timeline with links to each event, scroll to the bottom of the new Lexicon’s page for Harry Potter.  1980 July 31:… Read More
• Furniture and household items There are a number of different timepieces within the Harry Potter series: The Time-Turner is a small silver hourglass worn on a chain around the neck. It’s a very powerful and dangerous magical item which literally turns back time for the user, one hour per inversion of the glass. A… Read More
• Ministry of Magic The Time Room is located in the Department of Mysteries on Level Nine of the Ministry of Magic (OP34). This room is filled with beautiful, dancing, diamond-sparkling light. Clocks can be found on every surface, “large and small, grandfather and carriage, hanging in spaces between the bookcases or… Read More
• Magical artifacts The glass jar inside The Time Room of the Department of Mysteries, which gives off a “dancing, diamond-bright light” (OP34, OP35)… Read More
• Glossary Schedule. At Hogwarts, each student is given his or her timetable at the beginning of the year, specifying the times of the various classes the student is taking. Read More
• Magical artifacts The Time-Turner is a small silver hourglass worn on a chain around the neck. It is a very powerful and dangerous magical item which literally turns back time for the user, one hour per inversion of the glass, thanks to the Hour-Reversal Charm contained within it (MagSp,… Read More
• Magical objects One of the methods that Hermione Granger used on her bookcase inside the Minister for Magic’s office to protect the hidden Experimental Time-Turner. When Scorpius Malfoy, Albus Potter and Delphi illegally enter the Ministry of Magic and sneak into Hermione’s office to find the Time-Turner, they are surprised at… Read More
• Broomsticks The Tinderblast was a broom produced by the German company Ellerby & Spudmore in 1940, twelve years before they released the Swiftstick. It was somewhat slower than the Comets and Cleansweeps of its time and thus was never used in sports (QA9). Read More
• Books and Literature The Toadstool Tales is a series of children’s books. This series is now banned in the wizarding world because they have been found to cause nausea, sometimes to the point of actual vomiting (FW). Some of the Tales were re-workings of original tales by Beedle the Bard designed to… Read More
• Food and drinks The Tombstone Cake is the centrepiece on the table at Nearly Headless Nick’s Deathday Party (CS8). It is a large grey cake in a tombstone shape with black icing. Written on the cake is the inscription: Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington died 31st October, 1492 It… Read More
• Potion ingredients An alcohol-based concoction made with tormentil, an herb with small yellow flowers. This tincture is used as a potion ingredient to make Doxycide (BoP, Pm). Read More
• Magical objects This torn photograph showing toddler Harry on a toy broomstick was left forgotten in Sirius Black’s bedroom in Grimmauld Place only to be discovered years later by Severus Snape, who tore off the part of the photo showing Lily to keep for himself. Along with the photograph was a letter… Read More
• Glossary Nonsense. “The slang tosh is a blend of the words ‘trash’ and ‘bosh.’ Bosh comes from the Turkish word for empty. Tosh means ‘nonsense’ or ’empty, worthless talk.'” (contributed by Sebastian Chen)… Read More
• Wizarding culture Damocles Rowle used this slogan to get himself elected the second Minister for Magic in 1718, replacing Ulick Gamp. Rowle’s tough stance extended to wizards as well. He favored using the cursed and Dementor-infested fortress of Azkaban as a wizarding prison in spite of the terrible effect it had on… Read More
• Quidditch The Tournament that Nobody Remembers is the name given to the Quidditch World Cup of 1877. Background The tournament was scheduled to take place in the Ryn desert in Kazakhstan (QWC). While the evidence is that something, possibly the tournament, took place, no one has any memory… Read More
• Architecture A tower is an architectural feature of a building which is built upward to rise above the main building. A tower can also be free-standing. Hogwarts castle has a number of towers. Xenophilius Lovegood lived in a tower which looked a lot like a rook in chess. Read More
• Games, toys, and jokes Toy broomsticks are tiny broomsticks for toddlers, which rise about two feet in the air. Read More
• Sports teams The Toyohashi Tengu are a Quidditch team from Japan. Although Quidditch has not yet caught on with wizarding communities in the Far East, one of the notable exceptions is the the Toyohashi Tengu, a popular and successful Japanese team (QA8). In 1994, the team narrowly lost… Read More
• Games, toys, and jokes
• Games, toys, and jokes A contraband toy wand found under the bed of Modesty Barebone by her adult brother Credence in Second Salem Church caused their infuriated mother Mary Lou to threaten the child with a beating (WFT). Read More
• Glossary Athletic shoes, also called sneakers. Trainers, although ostensibly for sport, are popular everyday footwear for many people, young and old. Read More
• Hogwarts academics Transfiguration is magic which changes one object into another. It is possible to change inanimate objects into animate ones and vice versa. Some Transfiguration spells alter a part of something, such as changing a person’s ears from normal into rabbit ears. At Hogwarts, Transfiguration is taught by Professor McGonagall. Fifty… Read More
• Publications “Transfiguration Today” is one of several ‘trade’ magazines in the wizarding world. This magazine has international readership, and it has been around for decades. Tina and Queenie Goldstein had this magazine, along with The Witch’s Friend and Witch Chat, in their apartment (WFT). “The Magazine that Changes Lives”, according to their advertisement in the… Read More
• Sports teams The Transylvanian National Teams come from the Eastern European country of Transylvania. Quidditch The first Quidditch World Cup final was held in 1473 between Transylvania and Flanders (QA8, Pm). It was also notorious for having been extremely violent and officials recorded 700 known types of fouls during the match,… Read More
• Quidditch A Transylvanian Tackle is a Quidditch move which was first seen at the 1473 Quidditch World Cup, a match between the national teams of Flanders and Transylvania. This Quidditch World Cup was where instances of all 700 known fouls were committed in the one match (QA6, QA10). Read More
• Glossary Treacle is a by-product of the sugar refining process and can vary in grade from very light Golden Syrup to Black Treacle (rather like molasses). Treacle Pudding is a plain steamed suet pudding which has warmed treacle poured over it. Treacle tart is a flat pastry case filled with treacle… Read More
• Glossary Very good or very well. If something “looks a treat” it looks great, i.e., a treat to the eyes. “A treat” is a common phrase in some dialects, and can be used in other contexts, e.g., “I’ve polished this goblet and it’s come up a treat”. Read More
• Glossary A layered dessert of sponge cake soaked in sherry, topped with chopped fruit in jelly (jello), topped with custard, topped, in turn, with whipped cream. The top of that may be decorated with angelica, glace cherries, chocolate flakes or hundreds and thousands (tiny rainbow sugar candy pieces). Read More
• Glossary The stomach of a cow or ox, eaten as a dish. Yes, it is disgusting. Tripe is also used to mean nonsense as well as the wonderful gliding food. Read More
• Awards The champion of the Triwizard Tournament wins the Triwizard Cup. When the tournament was held at Hogwarts in 1994-95, the grand finale was a Maze with the Triwizard Cup placed at the center. Read More
• Hogwarts grounds Magically constructed and grown over the course of the year on the Quidditch pitch, this maze was the location of the Third Task of the Triwizard Tournament. At it’s center, the Triwizard Cup waited for the competitors to reach it. Read More
• Sports and competitions The Triwizard Tournament is a famous contest between three schools: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Durmstrang Institute, and Beauxbatons Academy of Magic. History It originated some 700 years ago as a friendly competition between the three schools. Each school took turns hosting the Tournament, which took… Read More
• Headlines and advertisements Troll Rights Movement Out of Control is an article on the front page of the Daily Prophet reporting the disruption of a meeting of campaigners for the suppression of trolls (DP2). Spokeswitch for the Troll Rights Movement, Miss Heliotrope Willis, accompanied by troll bodyguards, invaded a anti-troll meeting being… Read More
• Wandmaking A rather unusual wand core, which according to legend was used in Sir Cadogan’s blackthorn wand (Pm). Read More
• Potion ingredients A simple creature used as an ingredient in Potions. Read More
• Glossary A tuft of stringy things (such as blades of grass, threads, or hairs) held together or growing together at a common base. Read More
• Sports teams The Turkish National Teams come from the Eurasian country of Turkey. It is considered to be part of both Europe and Asia. Quidditch The Turkish team played against the English national side that included Ludo Bagman during the 1980s (GF30). Read More
• Headlines and advertisements I’m Turning Purple is the title of a letter appearing on the Problem Page of the Daily Prophet (DP3). Mr Howland Coopey wrote to the Prophet describing symptoms of a green and purple rash coupled with sparks when he sneezed. Professor Helbert Spleen of St. Mungo’s… Read More
• Sports teams The Tutshill Tornados are an English Quidditch team from Tutshill in Gloucestershire near the Welsh Borders, founded in 1520 (QA7). robes: sky-blue with a double “T” in dark blue on the chest and back home: Tutshill They have a “nine-hundred year history,” according to the Daily Prophet,… Read More
• Potion ingredients The “Twelve Uses of Dragon’s Blood” is one of the most important discoveries made by Albus Dumbledore during his lifetime. It was mentioned on his chocolate frog card (PS6) and in an article memorializing him after his death (DH2). One of the uses is oven cleaner (SFC). Another… Read More
• Books and Literature A guide for a young wizard to impress the witch of his dreams. According to one reader, the book “[e]xplains everything you need to know about girls.” The Weasley twins gave Ron a copy of this, and Ron in turn gave Harry a copy for his seventeenth birthday, saying it was “pure… Read More
• Glossary Twiddle means to play around with, perhaps uncertainly, and is also a synonym for fiddle or fiddly; e.g. twiddly bits can be read as fiddly bits. Twiddly usually refers to something small – often a control of some sort that can be turned or rotated; e.g., a volume control can be… Read More
• Broomsticks The Twigger was developed by Flyte and Barker in 1990 as an alternative to the popular and technically advanced Nimbus series of brooms. The Twigger was an expensive and good-looking product but ultimately its defects meant that it was only bought by wizards who wanted to flash their money… Read More
• Glossary A woven fabric, sometimes used in making clothing, with a surface of diagonal parallel ridges, produced by passing the weft threads over one and under two or more threads of the warp (instead of over and under in regular succession, which is how a lot of fabric is woven). (The… Read More
• Wandmaking Two wands that have the same magical substance at the core are said to be twins or brother wands. Read More
• Glossary A course in which one learns to write something by means of a typewriter or computer, usually blindly (without looking at the keyboard). Read More