This is an encore presentation of an episode from June, 2011 Steve talks about Pottermore misconceptions, how Rowling changed the online world once before, cool and interesting sources of canon information, Galleons changing the world, the late Quidditch match in book one, and other bits of Potter lore. Links: * Harry Potter for Writers blog about Pottermore, including screen shots and a link to the video * HP Lexicon sources: The Daily Prophet Newsletters * HPL: Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts * HP Lexicon essay: Wizard Money * HPL: Reader’s Guide to Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone

This is an encore broadcast of the first Harry Potter Lexicon Podcast from June of 2011.  Welcome to the Harry Potter Lexicon Podcast, in this first episode: * Steve introduces the podcast * thanks a few people * reminiscing about visiting the graveyard in Godric’s Hollow * the missing twenty-four hours * the mystery of Quirrell * and a few other oddities. Links: * The Harry Potter Lexicon * Facebook page

This is truly a case of “You had to be there.” When I read this chapter for the first time, the day after the book was released, I distinctly recall feeling a little bit surprised by Harry’s reaction to Lucius Malfoy. I knew there was no love lost between them, of course. However, the fact that Lucius Malfoy would be skulking around the Ministry and taking meetings with Fudge seemed perfectly normal. Of course a slimy guy like that would be trying to get in tight with the Minister for Magic. Here’s how Rowling describes it: They had just reached the ninth-level corridor and Cornelius Fudge was standing a few feet away from them, talking quietly to a tall man with sleek blond hair and a pointed, pale face. The second man turned at the sound of their footsteps. He, too, broke off in mid-conversation, his cold grey eyes narrowed and fixed upon Harry’s face. ‘Well, well, well… Patronus Potter,’ said Lucius Malfoy coolly. Harry felt winded, as though he had just walked into something solid. He had last seen those cold grey eyes through slits in a Death Eaters hood, and last heard that man’s voice jeering in a dark graveyard while Lord Voldemort tortured him. All that is true, of course, but for fans reading this in June of 2003, it had all happened several years ago. A lot of discussion, a lot of re-reading, a ton of fan fiction, and the filmed versions of the first two books had come out since. In other words, for most fans the last they had seen of Lucius Malfoy was in the film of Chamber of Secrets, as Jason Isaacs’ long white wig whisked out of sight after his characters had accidentally freed Dobby. I supposed it’s impossible to explain for those who weren’t reading the books at the time how the three years between books four and five affected fans — how it affected the whole world. Between July of 2000, when Goblet of Fire was published, and June of 2003, when Order of the Phoenix debuted, Harry Potter became a world-wide phenomenon. The characters of Harry, Ron, and Hermione now looked in everyone’s minds like Dan, Rupert, and Emma. There were trading cards and action figures and jewelry boxes and who knows what else. The first Harry Potter convention, Nimbus 2003, was held in Orlando. The internet became the new way for people to communicate and online fandom was essentially invented by Harry Potter fans. So much had happened and so much had changed since fans had read those last few chapters of Goblet of Fire that the next paragraph they read in Order of the Phoenix just seemed odd. Rowling described Harry’s reaction to Lucius this way: Harry could not believe that Lucius Malfoy dared look him in the face; he could not believe that he was here, in the Ministry of Magic, or that Cornelius Fudge was talking to him, when Harry had told Fudge mere weeks ago that Malfoy was a Death Eater. “Mere weeks ago”? It’s true, the graveyard in Little Hangleton had only been a couple of weeks ago in the story timeline. Fans had to come to a screeching mental halt and try to remember how they had felt three years before, when Cedric Diggory had been murdered, when the Priori Incantatem effect had given Harry just the edge he needed...

The last week or two has just been chock full of new stuff for members of the fandom.  We have a new audiobook version of Quidditch through the Ages which also has a dramatization of the 2014 Quidditch World Cup which is particularly entertaining.  We have a new gameplay trailer for Hogwarts Mystery, a new logo for the Wizarding World as a whole.  Everything came to a head though when the first trailer for “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald” dropped, giving us plenty of tidbits to pour over, which we did in this episode. We first talked about all the other new things, one at a time, and then we dug into the trailer and discussed it in length.  If you haven’t watched the trailer yet, we recommend you watch the trailer before you listen to this podcast, as we’d hate to spoil something before you have a chance to see it. The longest bit of discussion about the trailer has to do with this image from the trailer: At first glance the image doesn’t make any sense, but as you start reading it carefully you can tell it is what appears to be a Lestrange Family Tree. Shout outs to both the Super Carlin Brothers and the Harry Potter Wiki who digested this family tree before we had a chance to do it.  The Wiki, in particular, does a great job of picking apart every name and the connections between them, be sure to check it out. The big connection is that this family tree indicates that Credence is actually Leta Lestrange’s half-brother Corvus Lestrange V.  Naturally this mind-blowing reveal gave us plenty to talk about and our other topic of conversation we had on the docket we’ll have to save for a future episode. There’s plenty more to talk about and figure out, for example, what the heck is that moose thing?  Also, stop obsessing about apparating onto the non-existent bridge!  The bridge does not exist in the books anyway, so apparating onto it doesn’t mean anything, and even if it did, they apparate to a point on the bridge far away from the castle, that could very well be where the boundary on that side of the grounds is. We hope you enjoy this episode as much as we enjoyed recording it. For our things that caught our eye lately, Steve was excited about yet another new Lego set (the Thestral Carriage from the new trailer), and Nick talked about a video he had watched this week about the reasons that Warner Brothers won out over Disney for the movie rights, and why Universal Studios ended up with the Wizarding World of Harry Potter instead of Disney World.

Episode 30 of our main Lexicon Podcast is shorter than usual and is all about discussing our new podcast, the Harry Potter Lexicon Minute. We started the episode by talking about the rich collection of essays on the Lexicon and the recent feedback we’ve received telling us that we have incorrect information in some of these essays that were published before the books were all written.  We talked a bit about an upcoming new feature that will make it easier to understand just where in the history of the Harry Potter Fan community each essay was written. We talked a bit about the first trailer for Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery and how excited we are for the upcoming game. We then spent a few minutes talking about our new sponsor on our Support the Lexicon page.  Thanks to Magic Alley for supporting the Lexicon, and especially for sponsoring the new Harry Potter Lexicon Minute Podcast, we are very grateful.  To our readers, if you find yourself in need for some Harry Potter Memorabilia, please check out our friends at MagicAlley.co.uk. The remainder of the episode was spent talking about our new feature, the Harry Potter Lexicon Minute.  Our editors (not just us) have been recording some great tidbits of Harry Potter fandom insights and if you haven’t checked it out yet, you really should check out the new podcast, which releases twice a week on Wednesdays and Saturdays, you can find it on the home page or here. If you like the Harry Potter Lexicon Podcast as much as we do, don’t worry, we aren’t stopping this podcast, the Harry Potter Lexicon Minute is just an additional podcast for you to enjoy.

In this episode recorded on December 19th, Steve, Nick, and Barbara all record from the same room, which happens to be a hotel room in Anaheim Hills, CA as we were on a Disney filled vacation involving Disneyland and touring the Walt Disney Studios. What’s new in the Lexicon Not much, we talked about mystery pages on the old lexicon that have shown up in analytics. Harry Potter News There’s now an official Harry Potter RPG coming.  We talk about how exciting this is and what we are hoping for out of the game.  Steve and Barbara talk about Stardew Valley, a game that it is mentioned this game is based on.  We also talk a little bit about Portkey Games, the new Warner Brothers Interactive and Pottermore for wizarding world games. We also talk a bit about the latest updates (as of then) from the production of Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald and how much we are looking forward to it. Why Voldemort Killed his parents in 1942, not 1943 Our first of two main topics this episode is a discussion about the phrase “In his sixteenth year.”  Every so often we get feedback stating that we are wrong to put the murder of Tom Riddle’s parents in 1942 instead of 1943 as other sites on the internet are known to do. Steve explains why the murders have to take place in 1942 because “In his sixteenth year” means “his sixteenth year of life” as opposed to “when he was sixteen.”  We also discuss a bit about the different levels of canon and how to make decisions on things such as what position James played on the Quidditch team. Is Gamp’s Law a Legal or a Scientific Law? Our next topic of conversation is about Gamp’s Law of Elemental Transfiguration.  The three of us had long run under the assumption that Gamp’s Law is the magic equivalent of a Scientific law, such as the laws of thermodynamics, or the law of gravity.  That is to say that it is an explanation of how magic works and why.  A recent essay that Steve had read, however, assumed that Gamp’s Law was actually a written legal law to prevent misuse of magic. After our discussion, we are still pretty convinced that Gamp’s Law is a scientific law, but we’re eager to know what you think down in the comments. We also take this opportunity to discuss what Gamp’s Law really is based on what we know of the wizarding world. Wrap Up We hope you enjoy this special episode as much as we enjoyed recording it.  It is a rare treat that we can sit down together and record a podcast live.

Episode 28 is finally here!  This episode (Recorded on November 25th) is all about a couple of recent fan theories we’ve come across lately.  We discuss the recent updates to the Lexicon, dissect the new cast photo, and debate theories we’ve seen online lately. What’s New in the Lexicon We began our podcast as always by talking about what’s new with the Lexicon.  We started with talking about the new header navigation, landing pages, lists and breadcrumbs.  We also talk about how we have a lot more A-Z lists. When we get to talking about the original jkrowling.com website (and startrek.com) and how we seem to have lost a bit of that charm of immersive websites of the late 90s and early 2000s.  We talk about how it was lost in favor of more informational sites, how there was a resurgence with sites like pottermore, but then ultimately killed by mobile. We then talk about some of the bigger new features including an overhaul of the search system (and hint at some cool new features coming soon) and about timelines. New Stuff in the Wizarding World We talk about the title of the new film “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald” and talk about how we’ve lost the word “and.” We talk about the new cast photo and about how it is a shame that Albus doesn’t have Auburn hair (Steve wishes Nick hadn’t mentioned the hair color, because before that he thought Jude Law looked excellent as Dumbledore). We also mention the Holiday stuff going on at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios in both Hollywood and Orlando. Fan Theory Time Is The Enchanting Snake Girl Nagini? We spend a while talking about a theory that comes to us from the Hogwarts Professor site.  The theory is based on the information on the aforementioned Cast Photo.  All of the characters have names except for the character played by Claudia Kim.  All we know about her from the Pottermore article is that she is one of the Circus Arcanus‘s “attractions” and that she is a Maledictus, “a carrier of a blood curse that makes her transform into a beast.” We don’t know much about what a Maledictus is, other than this is different than an Animagus as an Animagus can transform into an animal at will, a Maledictus is cursed to eventually become a beast and this is outside of the Maledictus’ control. Concerning the Circus Arcanus, we’ve also seen a bit of artwork (seen above) for a ticket to this circus.  Of the various acts advertised on this ticket, the largest advertisement by far is “The Enchanting Snake Girl” (“Alive! Beguiling! Mesmerizing!”) In the first movie, we actually got to see an advertisement for the Circus Arcanus as well, and it also dedicated the largest bit of advertising space to The Enchanting Snake Girl.

New at the Lexicon Steve and Nick began Episode 27 by talking about the task of moving remaining content over from the old legacy site into the current, modern Lexicon.  We also talked about the ongoing work on the Timeline system. New in the Harry Potter Universe We talked about the 20th anniversary of Philosopher&#8217;s Stone, and about the new Harry Potter Book Club.  We also discuss the reason for pottermore&#8217;s less interactive design. We talk about the casting call for Fantastic Beasts 2 where they are looking for teenage versions of Newt, Leta, Gellart, Albus and someone named Sebastian, which means that there is not 1 but 2 flashbacks since Newt and Leta were not teenagers at the same time as Gellart and Albus.  We try to determine if we&#8217;ll hear about the incident that got Newt expelled.  We wonder if Sebastian might be the student whose life was threatened. We talk about how it seems like this movie in a way is sneaking up on us.  &#8220;Wait they are filming already?&#8221; Harry Potter British Museum books:  Harry Potter: A History of Magic and Harry Potter: A Journey Through a History of Magic.  These books sound great, as it will include original drawings and manuscripts from Rowling.  There could be new canon from the notebooks we&#8217;ve all been desperate to get a look at. Main Topics Did Dumbledore set the whole thing up in Philosopher&#8217;s Stone? We talk a bit about all of the &#8220;coincidental&#8221; events that help Harry on his journey.  Why send Hagrid with Harry to pick up the stone in the first place?  Why have the mirror out in a place Harry can find it (multiple days in a row)? What kind of idiot would send their kids to a deathtrap like Hogwarts? Psychopath as the headmaster (apparently) who purposely puts children in dangerous situations, just to see what happens.  Don&#8217;t go into that place, or you&#8217;ll die.  Sure it&#8217;s fine if as punishment for being out of bed, you send the person who was guilty of illegal Dragon breeding to take those kids into a forest full of monsters, and then split up. So let&#8217;s believe, ok, the kids go to a year, come home and talk about how there&#8217;s a floor with monsters, kids being taken into the forest, and a kid nearly died fighting an evil wizard, should we send the kids back?  Ok kids, have a good school year! Second year: kids get turned into statues, threatening messages written in blood on the walls, and a kid kidnapped and taken into a chamber with a giant snake that can kill you just by looking at you.  Hmm, should we send the kids back?  Have a nice third year kids! Third year: you get to the end, kids tell their parents that Dumbledore hired a known Werewolf, it was common knowledge that a known murderer was repeatedly breaking into the castle, and the government purposely surrounded the school with dark creatures that like to suck out the souls of anyone who get in their way. In general, kids in Quidditch where they fly 60 feet above the ground and are hit in the head with solid iron balls.  Kids do things in potions class where they accidentally lose body parts.  This is not a safe place. And on top of this, the education is clearly lopsided.  Students are expected to write essays, but aren&#8217;t taught English.  They have to measure ingredients in potions but don&#8217;t take standard math classes. What&#8217;s Struck us in the Wizarding World Free Harry Potter Walking Tour in London https://strawberrytours.com/london/tours/free-harry-potter-tour Sounds like a fun tour, and it is free (though they ask you to donate what you can). The Cauldron Nick <a href="https://www.hp-lexicon.

Episode 26 of the Lexicon Podcast focuses on Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (the schoolbook released in 2001 and a new edition released this week), and Quidditch Through the Ages (the book that was originally published along with Fantastic Beasts in 2001). We first talked a little bit about the process of how we add new content to the site. We first create stub entries (empty entries) and then we make a list of articles that need content and our editors work on the list. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2017 Edition) We then talk about the news of the newly published edition of Fantastic Beasts and we discussed the Audiobook a little. Steve asks Nick if he likes the new stuff. Nick comments that it is interesting reading again even the old stuff because now we have more of an idea of who the &#8220;writer&#8221; of this book actually is. Now that we have some context into the life of Newt Scamander things feel more connected reading this book where previously our only connection to it was the mentioning of it as being one of Harry&#8217;s Schoolbooks. Steve mentions that an issue he has with the new introduction is that it felt to him as just a &#8220;blurb for the film.&#8221; Steve mentions the 6 new beasts were fine but if you are going through the trouble, why not give us a lot more than 6. But if you are going to include 6 you really should include more, for example why isn&#8217;t Pukwudgie as you have the other 3 house animals, but omitted Pukwudgie. Nick points out that Pukwudgie might be classified as a &#8220;being&#8221; rather than a &#8220;beast&#8221; since Pukwudgies are intelligent enough to hold real conversations (like House Elves and Goblins). Steve then asks about the audio version and Nick talks about his experience listening to it. Nick comments that it is both great and annoying that Eddie Redmayne reads the book &#8220;as&#8221; Newt Scamander. This bugs Nick because the introduction makes it clear that this new introduction is being written now, but being read by Newt Scamander with a voice identical to the Newt Scamander of 1926 at age 29 even though in 2017 he should now be 130. Nick&#8217;s other problem with the new book is that the old schoolbook indicated that it was the 52nd edition of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, but the new introduction indicates that the 2001 edition was a reprint of the first edition of the book. Timeline problems in this book, some of the changes to connect to the film and the rest of the book series. For example, in 2001 Dumbledore was not alive. Of course, there were date issues no matter what, for even in the 2001 editions, the Quidditch Through the Ages. After our arguments about inconsistency, we go back to talking about the audio book. We play a tiny clip of the audiobook (I highly recommend you go get a copy yourself to hear the rest) and talk about some of the interesting things, like the background sounds and the way he handles footnotes. Steve then launches into the fandom history and talks about what the situation was like in 2001 when the schoolbooks set was released. These books are vastly different than the things that come out in like Pottermore Essays. A significant portion of all of what we know about the Wizarding World beyond the events of the book comes from these 2 little books, we learn a history of magic through 2 very different perspectives,

For the majority of Episode 25, Steve and Nick puzzle over the topic of Horcruxes, and more particularly how they are created and when Voldemort created each of his Horcruxes.  Listen in as we end up with more questions at the end then we had at the beginning.  We are back to audio only this week, but stay tuned, more Video podcasts will be coming soon. What&#8217;s New in the Lexicon * Lots of editing been happening * Server was just moved * Still need to move the SOLR server (used for search) * Timelines and a revamped Search is still ongoing What&#8217;s new in the Wizarding World * Not a lot since Fantastic Beasts * Slightly quiet times * New version of Fantastic Beasts book coming out * Audio book narrated by Eddie Redmayne (Newt Scamander) * Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them coming out on DVD and Blu-Ray on March 28th (iTunes and Amazon will get it Digitally on March 7th) * Work is going on for Fantastic Beasts 2. J.K. Rowling has been hanging out in the writer&#8217;s room and tweeted a picture of a typewriter and the script Having a Beastly day&#8230; pic.twitter.com/xRGCC9gt3B &mdash; J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) February 27, 2017 In writer&#39;s room at film studio. How wonderful is this typewriter, provided by the props dept? pic.twitter.com/hEEauZ1LPH &mdash; J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) February 28, 2017 Support the Lexicon * If you buy something on amazon, please consider using our link to get to Amazon before you buy, we&#8217;ll get a percentage of your purchase * The March J.K. Rowling&#8217;s Wizarding World Loot Crate is sold out, but you will be able to buy the May crate soon, or you can subscribe to any other crate, use promo code HPLEXICON and get a discount and help the lexicon at the same time. * If you really want to help, become one of our Patrons on Patreon and help us directly. We will be doing a great give-away to one of our Patrons (more on that at the end of the episode) Horcruxes * First we argue a bit about which came first, the Diary or the Ring * Next we get down into talking about if using the Basilisk to kill Myrtle should count as murdering Myrtle * Then we start talking about Frank Bryce and Bertha Jorkins * Rowling said (BLC) that the murder used to turn Nagini into a Horcrux was Bertha Jorkins * Dumbledore says (HBP23) that Voldemort didn&#8217;t even get the idea to turn Nagini into a Horcrux until Voldemort &#8220;used Nagini to kill a muggle man&#8221; which would be Frank Bryce, which was at least days, but probably weeks after he killed Bertha Jorkins * Possible Dumbledore is just wrong,