HPL: What's New?

What's New?

"Ladies and gentlemen, what an extraordinary moment this is! The perfect moment for me to make a little announcement I've been sitting on for some time!"
-- Gilderoy Lockhart (CS4)

The Harry Potter Lexicon web site is constantly being revised, expanded, and edited. New information is added on a daily basis. It would be impossible to list every change here on this page. However, you will find listed here any new pages that have been added as well as major revisions.

You'll also find any news about the Lexicon. Our goal is to make this web site the most complete and thorough resource about the Harry Potter universe available anywhere, in any format. You can help us reach that goal by filling out a feedback form. Let us know how we're doing and give us your suggestions for improvement.

Thanks for visiting the Harry Potter Lexicon!

Added to the Reader’s Guide for Tales of Beedle the Bard
December 20, 2008
Posted by: Steve

I’ve been taking notes on Beedle the Bard. I’m amazed at how much new information Rowling manages to cram into a very short book. I’ll be working on the Reader’s Guide as I get time. I’ve uploaded the notes for the introduction for you all to read and discuss. I’ve also added notes about the commentary for the first story.

44 thoughts are swirling in the Pensieve about this page. Add your own! »

Tales and More!
December 5, 2008
Posted by: Steve

I just finished reading through my copy of Tales of Beedle the Bard, and I am absolutely delighted with it. It’s so wonderful to read J.K. Rowling’s storytelling and tongue-in-cheek humour again. The stories are great, but I was particularly happy with the commentary. She gives us even more tantalising tidbits of information about her world, and manages to explain a few fan conundrums along the way, such as the definition of ‘warlock’ and the age of Beatrix Bloxum. This book is a treasure!

56 thoughts are swirling in the Pensieve about this page. Add your own! »

Publication of the new Lexicon book
December 5, 2008
Posted by: Steve

Well, I can finally tell you all what’s been keeping me so busy for the last six months. Today we announced the publication of The Lexicon: An Unauthorized Guide to Harry Potter Fiction and Related Materials, which will come out on the 12th of January. This book has been written to carefully follow the guidelines laid out in the Judge’s decision concerning the original Lexicon manuscript. Last night, Christopher Little Agency released the following statement:

“We are delighted that this matter is finally and favourably resolved and that J.K. Rowling’s rights — and indeed the rights of all authors of creative works — have been protected. We are also pleased to hear that rather than continue to litigate, RDR have themselves decided to publish a different book prepared with reference to Judge Patterson’s decision.”

I share their pleasure at this positive development, and I’m very happy with the new book. I hope that fans everywhere will find it to be a worthwhile and engaging companion book to the Harry Potter series.

You can order the book here.

71 thoughts are swirling in the Pensieve about this page. Add your own! »

In Search of Harry Potter
November 24, 2008
Posted by: Steve

I am delighted to let you all know that my book In Search of Harry Potter is on the shelves. The book was published by Methuen Publishing in London and is now available in shops in Britain. From what I’ve been told, it should be in the stores in the US in a few weeks. In the meantime, it’s available from Amazon.

I’ve had quite a few questions about the book, so I’ve put together a page about it which I hope will be helpful. If you have further questions, feel free to send me an email.

The book is hardcover and illustrated with my photographs throughout. The material in the book is best described as a first-person travel memoir. I didn’t include information directly from the Lexicon website with the exception of a couple of essays by Ravenclaw Rambler for which he gave me permission. The cover and the maps were created by Camilla Engelby, a good friend and fellow Harry Potter fan.

18 thoughts are swirling in the Pensieve about this page. Add your own! »

What’s the Difference?
September 22, 2008
Posted by: Steve

Thanks to Claire M. Jordan, the author of an excellent essay in our collection, I have been able to update the page listing differences between the UK and US editions of Deathly Hallows. Most of the differences are simply substitutions of US terms for British ones (e.g. ‘crib’ for ‘cot’). There are a few interesting changes in wording as well.

37 thoughts are swirling in the Pensieve about this page. Add your own! »

Contacting me
September 21, 2008
Posted by: Steve

Recently, some of my friends have been receiving unwanted and annoying phone calls from members of the press, trying to get in contact with me. This is definitely not appreciated. One friend has had to change her phone number several times to avoid these kinds of calls, but is still receiving them.

To avoid this kind of harassment, I’ve created an email account which can be used to contact me directly. The address is
steve.lexicon@googlemail.com. Please use this method of reaching me and do not call my friends and family, as they will not be willing to talk to you and will not put you in touch with me.

Steve

6 thoughts are swirling in the Pensieve about this page. Add your own! »

This week at the Lexicon
September 19, 2008
Posted by: Steve

There’s been a decided lack of new posts here, I know. Sorry about that. I spent most of the week in London at the publisher working on the new book, In Search of Harry Potter, which is due out October the 9th, and so I’ve been commuting back and forth, which means hours on the train. So there have been only a few behind-the-scenes updates and edits.

One baffling problem I’ve been trying to sort out is the fact that our /icons folder wasn’t working. I finally determined that it’s because the server has its own folder with that name and automatically hijacks any URL. So this evening I need change that folder name and then track down and fix any links that will then point to the wrong place. Thank goodness for Dreamweaver. Even so, that’s going to take some time.

One thing that a working /icons folder means is that we will be able to start working on the icon database (the one that we’re missing all the current data for) and get the icons to work properly. If they’re set up right, clicking on an icon in the timeline or the Portkey brings up an icon search page with relevant links and saved searches for that icon through the entire database. This will expand over time as we begin databasing more areas of the Lexicon until clicking an icon will give you a well-organised screen of everything in the entire site which has that icon attached. So if you click on the Potions icon, you’ll see a list of people, places, timeline events, canon snippets, creatures, essays, and so on that are related to that topic, along with a concise definition and even offsite links.

Should be very cool … but I need to get the folder to work first, and the start re-entering all that data ….

8 thoughts are swirling in the Pensieve about this page. Add your own! »

Searching
September 8, 2008
Posted by: Steve

I’ve fixed the Google search for the site, so have at it. Unfortunately, the Remembrall isn’t working right now because it’s fixed on the wrong domain. I’m sure we’ll be able to sort it out, but for now just use the Google search.

37 thoughts are swirling in the Pensieve about this page. Add your own! »

Timelines
September 7, 2008
Posted by: Steve

Great news! Thanks to Roonwit, we have our timelines back. Well, almost back. The back-up file was dated March 2007, so some material was lost. Also, since the domain names have changed, the links in the timeline entries themselves don’t work at the moment. However, we’re hoping to get things cleaned up, working properly, and updated soon.

But any way you look at it, this is fantastic news, and I am so grateful to Roonwit for his help.

3 thoughts are swirling in the Pensieve about this page. Add your own! »

And we’re back…
September 5, 2008
Posted by: Steve

As you might have noticed, the Lexicon has had some technical problems over the past week or so. We’re in the process of updating and upgrading everything. Part of the process involved transferring some domains around, and along the way an error resulted in the www.hp-lexicon.info domain losing its DNS settings. We can’t reset them until the transfer is complete. So in the meantime, you can access the site at www.hplex.org and www.hplex.info. I’m so sorry for the inconvenience.

I’ve just switched the What’s New blog back on. I’ll be updating it as things come back on line properly. Just about everything is working the way it’s supposed to, with the exception of the Timelines. We’re working on that and hopefully will have restored very soon.

In the meantime, welcome back!

41 thoughts are swirling in the Pensieve about this page. Add your own! »

finished QA
February 27, 2008
Posted by: Steve

Last night I finished entering Quidditch Through the Ages into the Portkey database. That’s the last of the books to be entered, so now the Portkey covers all seven novels and the two Schoolbooks, as well as all the Famous Wizard cards. Surprisingly, there was actually an earthquake just a few moments after I entered the last part of the book into the Portkey. Kind of made it feel like a momentous occasion.

The Daily Prophet newsletters are next. The first issue is partly entered already. I think I’ll do some non-Portkey work on the Reader’s Guides first, though. There are a lot of chapters that have no commentary yet. Just remember, Reader’s Guide commentary automatically appears in the Portkey entries for the passages from the books, just another example of how the Portkey pulls everything in the Lexicon together in one easy-to-use research tool.

302 thoughts are swirling in the Pensieve about this page. Add your own! »

Searching for Gwenog
February 23, 2008
Posted by: Steve

With yesterday’s emphasis on Quidditch, I’ve been muddling about with the Portkey, adding information to the Timeline, and testing out how it all fits together. When I add a date to the Timeline, for example, it’s supposed to appear on the Timelines tab of the associated Portkey entries.

I tend to work in outline mode, by which I mean that I go to the “Book Outlines” menu and choose the book I want to work with. When I click on a book (or other canon source), the Portkey shows me the full organized list of events from that source. So while I’m adding things to Quidditch Through the Ages, I keep the outline of that book on my Portkey screen.

As part of that process, I was adding information about Gwenog Jones, the brilliant but dangerous captain of the Harpies. I went through the various places she appears and tagged her on those entries, some of which hadn’t been tagged or iconned yet. Then I did a search of the Portkey for ‘gwenog jones’. I thought the thing had quit on me. It took over sixty seconds to do the search, and there was nothing on the screen to indicate that the search was still going on. Try it and you’ll see what I mean.

Obviously, this needs some tweaking. The search should be faster, although as the amount of information increases, that may be a problem. But some sort of “Search in progress…” notice on the screen would also be very helpful. I don’t currently have a programmer to work on those things, but when I find one, I’ll see what can be done.

In the meantime, if you do a search of the Portkey for a term (as opposed to an advanced search, which goes much faster), please be patient. The Portkey might look like it’s choked, but it’s just busy searching through a LOT of information. And if you know of a good programmer who might want to help with this, let me know.

Steve

27 thoughts are swirling in the Pensieve about this page. Add your own! »

August 8, 2006
Belinda here. Once again the Wizard of the Month on Jo's site, Erica Stainwright, is a new canon character. This has been the case for the past four months, providing us here at the Lexicon with fresh new canon to incorporate! (We always get excited over new canon.) Also this week she added a book in the 'Links' bookcase: CHLG: The Children's Voice, with information and links to the website of the charity that she helped found through the Children's High Level group.

July 31 , 2006
Lisa and Bel here. We thought you'd enjoy reading the full list of questions that Lexicon staff came up with for the Lumos Trivia Challenge pitting The Leaky Cauldron against Mugglenet.

July 27, 2006
Lisa here. I have begun a blog where I intend to post Potter and Lexicon-related news and photographs: Madam Pince's Potter Pages.

July 26, 2006
Paula here. I've posted a new essay: Arthur Weasley's Relationship to Sirius Black: First Forays into the Black Family Tree, by new Lexicon contributor Sylvie Augustus. Of particular interest to the true Pottergeeks out there, I think!

June 30th, 2006
Belinda here. The Wizard of the Month on Jo's site for June (Daisy Hookum) and July (Tarquin McTavish) were both new characters. Most of the WotM have been from the Famous Wizard Cards, but occasionally she has given us these charming additions to the canon.

June 28th, 2006
Happy birthday, Dobby!

June 25, 2006
Paula here. Two new essays have been posted. One is on the ever-popular subject of Horcruxes, by new Lexicon contributor Megan Bostelmann, arguing that Harry is not a Horcrux. And Professor Koniphorous Swamp, who in her own words "appears to have too much free time on her hands," has written a new essay sharing with Lexicon readers "More than You Ever Wanted to Know about Frog-spawn."

June 4, 2006
Paula here. Have a look at our new essay, in which Owen de Lyon wonders "What Came Before the Hogwarts Express?"

May 17, 2006
Paula here. I recently posted a humorous and imaginative essay in which new Lexicon contributor pepoluan wonders of the wizarding world How do they make all those books? Have fun!

May 10, 2006
Paula again, with another fabulous scholarly essay. Alan Jacobs, Professor of English at Wheaton College and a scholar of Christian theology and literature, among other things, has allowed us to publish on the Lexicon his essay “Opportunity Costs — What does it profit a man to defeat the Dark Lord but lose his soul?” The essay, a thoughtful exploration of the moral dilemmas depicted by Rowling in her books, but especially in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, originally appeared at WEB LINK Books & Culture, November/December 2005, Vol. 11, No. 6, Page 22 on ChristianityToday.com. Enjoy!

April 30, 2006
Paula here — three new essays have been posted! Douglas Moran has Some Thoughts on House Elves, and Professor Koniphorus Swamp, who “has devoted her career to the investigation of the biology of magic,” has provided Another View of Magic, Genes, and Pure Blood in response to an earlier essay on wizarding genetics by glamourousgeek, and explains Genes and Appearance in Animagi in another essay.

April 25, 2006
Some of you have already discovered that we've added a new feature to some of the Lexicon pages. It's called the Pensieve, and it's designed to allow you to add information to the page. Yes, it's a comment tool, but we'd like to encourage you to use it carefully. We'd like to accumulate some informative, insightful comments in each Pensieve which we will leave attached to the page to enhance what's already there. We won't be putting a Pensieve on every page. At the moment, there's a Pensieve only on these pages:

If you encounter one of these, read what's there and by all means chip in with your carefully considered comments. Do yourself (and us) a favor, though, and read the Terms of Service before you post.

April 16, 2006
Paula here. From the moment it was physically possible for the first fan to have finished Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the Harry Potter fandom has been speculating on what is going to happen in Book Seven — and what needs to happen, given the puzzles, mysteries and loose ends scattered throughout the first six books. A new Lexicon essay, aptly named The List, is a list compiled by Anita (akh), Jo Mears (Serenadust) and Pippin, with contributions from Lyn J. Mangiameli and Siriusly Snapey Susan, of all the things the authors speculate — or hope! — will be addressed in Book Seven. For more information on Book Seven, you might also want to check out pages dedicated to the subject on The Lexicon, and Lexicon Floo Network partner Madam Scoop's.

April 8, 2006
Paula here. I've just posted a terrific scholarly essay on the depiction of virtue in the Harry Potter books that should be a real treat to read for anyone who appreciates just how important the Harry Potter books are. It's called Harry Potter and the Good Life, and it was written by Steven S. Tigner, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the University of Toledo and a scholar at the Center for the Advancement of Ethics and Character at the Boston University School of Education. Enjoy!

April 6, 2006
We have been asked to remove the archive of the test from the Lexicon, and we have done so. Sorry about that, I know that many of you never had a chance to see the test in action, but Jo has asked us not to provide the archive and we of course will comply.

April 4, 2006
Belinda here. I am very excited to announce that we now have functioning archive files of the latest Door opening onJKRowling.com. This is only a copy, but you will be able to work the puzzle to open the door and read the full W.O.M.B.A.T. test. You will not however, receive a Student Identification Code at the end, nor will this copy of the test be scored. We at the Lexicon wish only to preserve the experience for fans to revisit. You will also find files of all previous Door openings, and Instructions for working the puzzles, should you want them. We hope you enjoy replaying them, especially for those folks who missed them during their short time on Jo's site.

April 3, 2006
Paula again. Two more essays have been posted: Love and Death in Harry Potter, by Paul Spilsbury, and The Importance of Neville Longbottom, by Douglas Moran.

We've been busy little beavers at the Lexicon this weekend!

April 2, 2006
Hey y'all, this is Steve. We've just uploaded a commentary and guide to the W.O.M.B.A.T. test which Jo put on her website. This guide doesn't give "correct" answers since in many cases we just don't know for sure. It does pull together canon resources which will be helpful and also gives some thoughts and comments from me and Belinda. We're still going through things and we might be adding more commentary as the day goes on, so refresh your page every so often.

Just a side note, I'm on vacation on Jekyll Island where the weather is spectacular. I figured you would all be wanted some information about the test, though, so in spite of vacations and beautiful sunshine, I worked on this page last night and this morning over IM with Belinda. The sacrifices we make for Potter...

April 1, 2006
Paula here. I've neglected to mention the addition to the Lexicon of two essays published in February. The first, The Complications with Memory by Suzanne Foster, is a comprehensive survey of the myriad ways memory is integral to the progression of the Harry Potter series. The second, Where is Spinner's End? by Claire M. Jordan, is a detailed and fact-filled speculation about where the heck in the Muggle world Snape's home, Spinner's End, could possibly be. My apologizes to the authors of these fine essays!

March 31, 2006
Belinda here. I have updated the Guide to Jo's website with information about the fifth opening of the Secret Door including instructions on how to work the puzzle to get behind the door (for those who have yet to figure it out for themselves, or perhaps having troubles).

March 21, 2006
Lisa again. Steve let me fiddle with his page on the night Harry's parents were killed. I have clarified the timeline, added key quotes, and updated the information so that it takes into account recent statements Jo has made as well as the information from Book 6. I started a topic over on the Leaky Lounge if you want to discuss this page!

March 20, 2006
Lisa here. I have been adding new artwork to the following pages: Harry, Quotes about Harry, Quotes about Ron, Quotes about Voldemort, Luna, Snape, Tom Riddle, Lucius Malfoy and the Malfoy family. Many thanks to Sebastien Theilig, Makani, Tea with Voldy, and Jenny Dolfen. Hope you like them!

March 18, 2006
Paula here. I've posted two great new essays. The first, "Is Harry a Horcrux,"by Stephen Haas, makes a well-thought-out argument for the idea that, you know, Harry is a Horcrux! The second, "Dumbledore vivens Snapeque bonamicus", by Denis Howarth, is a spectacular essay theorizing, as many fans have, that Dumbledore is not dead (but making a very fine pitch for the theory), and also discussing the evolution of the relationship between Harry and Snape. Enjoy!

March 12, 2006
Lisa here. I think I have finally added all the new character names (canon and non-canon) and information from the new documents at JKR's site. Here is a summary:

New names (non-canon): Mylor Sylvanus, Oakden Hobday and Bathsheba Babbling
New names (canon): Tilden Toots and Georgina Smythe
New first-names (non-canon): Aurora Sinistra, Cuthbert Binns and Septima Vector
Rowling also considered the names 'Pi Vector' and 'Digit Vector' (non-canon)
Alternative first-names (non-canon): Elvira Umbridge
Alternative last names (non-canon): Draco Spungen
Mopsus was to have been the Divination professor (non-canon)
Peter Pettigrew was to have been the one that impersonated Moody, not Barty Crouch, Jr. Is this the infamous Book4 plot hole? (non-canon)
In an early draft of OP, the Death Eater Macnair was the person visiting Bode at St. Mungo's on Christmas Eve.
Jo chose the name 'Rosmerta' for a village woman because she equated it with "good purveyor"
The Muggle Studies professor is female (non-canon)

"Canon" in this case means that we're 100% sure these characters exist in Jo's current Wizarding World. The planning charts and early drafts cannot be considered canon because they were heavily revised by the time the book was published.

March 9, 2006
Belinda here. I've updated the Guide to Jo's website with most of the changes today. You can find detailed instructions for collecting the new scrapbook extras in the Tips and Tricks section as well as many images of how the site looked before the update for comparison.

March 3, 2006
Clint here. Some of you may have already noticed, but there's a new way to explore the Lexicon! Check out our new Knight Bus Tours of the Lexicon. Each tour will take you on a journey to some places you know and some places you may have never been before. There are currently two tours running: a tour of the classical influences in Harry Potter and a tour of the new Gazetteer section. Please note that you must have JavaScript enabled to take the tours.

March 3, 2006
Lisa (again). Well, I finally came up with a design for the main Wizards page that I like! See what you think.

February 23, 2006
Lisa here. I have been adding possible name derivations for the Black family. Here is a sampling:

Phineas is an English variant of 'Phinehas,' a name from the Bible. 'Phinehas' probably means "Nubian," though some believe it means "serpent's mouth" in Hebrew (BtN). In Greek mythology, Phineus was "a king of Thrace and a prophet. Because he prophesied too truly, revealing too much of the gods' truth to humans, Zeus blinded him and set the Harpies to plague him." Phineus later helped the Argonauts by telling them how to get past one of their hazards. (EM)
Isla: 'Isla' means 'island' in Spanish; it is also the feminine version of a Scottish name referring to the island Islay, which lies off of the west coast of Scotland (BtN). Does not seem to be a star or constellation.
Cygnus: 'Cygnus' = a male swan (Latin). In Greek mythology, 'Cycnus' was the Musician-king of the Ligurians who was turned into a swan (EM). It is also another name for the constellation called "The Northern Cross."
Lycoris: Lycoris is the horticultural name for plants in the lily family. In Ovid and Virgil she was a mistress of Marc Antony (Lewis & Short).

I will be adding more soon.

Oh, and Phineas Nigellus has his own page now.

February 22, 2006
I have just discovered that our Lexicon email has been messed up for a few days. Apparently anything sent to an @hplex address will bounce.
UPDATE: (10 am) As far as I can tell, it's fixed. Sorry about the inconvenience.

February 20, 2006
Lisa here. The Lexicon's Black Family Tree has been updated with the new information! We'll be revising the character pages next.

February 20, 2006
Here's our report of the Black Family Tree, thanks to Aberforth!
Key 1 - Phineus' youngest sibling was Isla Black, who married muggle Bob Hitchens.

Key 2 - his 2nd child was another Phineus, who 'supported Muggle rights.

His 3rd child, who married Violetta, was Cygnus (1889-1943).

Their children were:

Pollux (1912-1990) who married Irma Crabbe
Cassiopeia (1915-92)
(Key 3) Marius, 'a squib'
4 Dorea

Pollux and Irma's children were:
1 Walburga (1925-85) - Sirius' ghastly mother
2 ((Key 5) Alphard, who 'gave gold to his runaway nephew'
3 Cygnus (1938-92) who married Druella Rosier and fathered the 3 sisters, Bellatrix(1951- ), Andromeda (Key 7) who married Muggle-born Ted Tonks, and Narcissa

Now back up to Phineus' oldest son, and he is another Sirius (1877-1952) who married Hesper Gamp [nod to Dickens?] Their children were:
1 Arcturus (1901-91) who married Melania MacMillan
2 Lycoris (1904-65) - not sure M or F
3 Regulus (1906-59)

Arcturus and Melania had 2 children:
1 Lucretia (1915-92) who married Ignatius Prewett
2 Orion (1929-79) who married Walburga and fathered Sirius (Key 6, who 'ran away') and Regulus (1961-79)

The piece de resistance is Key 4, the sister to Callidora and Charis:
Cedrella, scrubbed because she 'married Septimus Weasley')

Feb 17, 2006
John here. I haven't posted here in a while, but it doesn't mean I haven't been busy! I'm very excited to announce the debut of the Lexicon's newest section: the Gazetteer. It's a list of all the countries, cities, buildings, and other places mentioned in the books - nearly 300 in all. I really enjoyed putting it together, and I'll hope you'll enjoy looking through it just as much. Click here to take a peek.

Feb 15, 2006
Lisa here. I have been adding images from the Wizard cards and from Jo's Wizard of the Month to the Wizard A to Z pages. If you click on the thumbnails you can see a larger version of the image.

February 12, 2006
Big news from Italy today. Here's what Albireo sent us, along with scans which we're going over very carefully:

Today, on the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, there is an article about Book Aid International auction, with a complete picture of the Black family tree! You can recognize the half that we already know, but the other half is blurred! The article says that JK deliberately put it out of focus, making the tree not completely identifiable yet! :(
The photo is very small indeed, however you can still notice some bits of new information, which I include right here:

One of Phineas' siblings still remained unknown from the previous image… now we know him: his name is Sirius (his dates are unreadable...).

Charis Black and Caspar Crouch had 1 son and 2 daughters.

One of Phineas' sons (whose name ends -nus) married Violetta Bulstrode and had 3 children: Dorea Black, a removed name and a blurred one. This last one had 3 sons too: one of them married Drusilla Rosier (I'm not certain about her name) and had Bellatrix, Andromeda (removed) and Narcissa. Finally we have the connection between the Malfoys and the main Black tree.

Narcissa was born in 1955, Draco in 1980.

The other "young branch", on the left, is blurred too: we know from the books it consists of Regulus and Sirius (removed). According to the tree, their parents are both Black

Probably the most exciting detail of all is that Draco's birthyear is given as 1980. That confirms (finally, from Jo's own hand) that the timelines on the Lexicon are correct and that the stories take place between 1991 and 1998. A lot of editing will be necessary all over the site now. Please be patient as we analyze this new information. Thanks so much, Albireo!

Lisa adds: The Black Family Tree has now been updated, as have Draco and Narcissa's entries.

February 8, 2006
A new Harry Potter resource website just opened which is absolutely fantastic. It's called the Potter Index (

http://www.potterindex.com). This site makes a perfect complement to the Lexicon and the Quotes database here on the Floo. I know that the editors at the Lexicon will be using this site a lot as we research and create new content. I heartily recommend the Index to all of you. Dave, thanks for creating such a wonderful site.

January 31, 2006
Paula here — lots of new essays posted!

We have two provocative essays by glamourousgeek, Magic, Genes, and Pure Blood, discussing wizarding genetics and the meaning of blood status in the wizarding world, and Merlin, God, and You-Know-Who: Religion in the Wizarding World. There's a fun piece analyzing Harry Potter's Astrological Birth Chart by lunalove, speculating that Jo Rowling has chosen the perfect birthdate for her hero based on the planetary positions on July 31, 1980. A Lexicon essay veteran, Ravenclaw Rambler, has done fine work again with his essay In Search of . . . Grimmauld Place. Micheal Hagel wonders Did Albus Dumbledore Set Up Events So That Harry Potter Would Go After the Philosopher’s Stone, and he's found some good reasons in the canon to wonder. For you detail freaks and overall Potterverse geeks (you'd be in good company with Steve!), Diana Summers has used demographics in the United Kingdom and meaning of names to adduce The Secrets of the Classlist first revealed to the fandom by Jo Rowling in the A & E Biography special Harry Potter and Me. There's enough minutiae in that essay to keep even the geekiest Pottergeek happy! Finally, we have an essay by Hugo Costa Paes, What is Magical Power in the Potterverse?

Enjoy!

January 30, 2006
I've been cleaning out my inbox, and have made a number of corrections suggested by our readers. Most notably, the birth and first year dates for Cedric have been changed, and Katie Bell now has her own, expanded page. More corrections & additions coming.

January 29, 2006
The updated and re-organized Black family pages are finished! If you had bookmarked the old pages you will need to update them.

January 28, 2006
Lisa here. All information about the Black family is currently being revised due to the publication of portions of a marvelous hand-drawn Black family tree that Jo is auctioning off to benefit Book Aid International. For now, you can read more at

The Leaky Cauldron. We haven't had this much new information about Sirius' family since book 5! What is on this drawing that is still hidden? This is very exciting.

January 16, 2006
Lisa here. Numerous people have been writing and asking us to clarify dates for Snape, Lily and the Marauders. I have added information to Snape's page with our latest thinking and links to the evidence we used to arrive at our calculation:

Notes on Dates for Snape, Lily and the Marauders: 1959 or 1960?
We know Snape's birthdate from Jo's website; the year range is more complicated to calculate. Our dates are based on the following:

Jo said that Snape was 35 or '6 in an interview where she was referring to Goblet of Fire (Comic Relief chat), so that would be 1995 in Harry Potter time, which would make him born in 1959 or 1960.

Then she said in a FAQ that Sirius was "around twenty-two" when he went to Azkaban, which would have been in 1981, and that points more to 1959.
Harry describes the events in Snapes' pensieve memory as being "over 20 years ago" and that was when he was taking his O.W.L.s, so that would suggest that James (and Snape, Sirius, Pettigrew, Lupin and Lily) took their O.W.L.s in 1975, not 1976, which would have been exactly 20 years before; this actually skews us even more toward the late 1950s (OP28, OP35, OP36).

Archive 2005
Archive 2004
Archive 2003
Archive 2002
Archive 2001