Encyclopedic Reference of things Harry Potter

Speculation, Analysis and Reference Material for the Harry Potter Universe

Introduction to this Reference

While others, like the Harry Potter Lexicon have a more extensive collection of facts that I have unabashedly mined as tertiary or quaternary sources for my own notes, I find them ultimately dissatisfying. This is primarily because of the questions surrounding canonicity. The Harry Potter Wiki is incredibly liberal in accepting sources, and is not always incredibly great about having accurate footnotes. The Lexicon is much more conservative about sources, though even worse about documenting which source a particular fact comes from. However even at their most conservative, both of them include things that I am reluctant to include in my personal list of “canonical” sources.¹

I have, in writing this, tried very hard to indicate where I am providing strictly reference material, versus any sort of speculation or analysis based off of that reference material. As you read through the material on this site, I believe the analysis sections will begin to form a reasonably coherent narrative about a series that is not really children’s literature at all.

My Own Sources

I will use the the following, in the following order of precedence. That is, facts found in secondary sources cannot contradict facts found in primary sources, nor can facts found in tertiary sources contradict either of the previous two.

Primary Sources

Bloomsbury editions, with corrections

Almost Not Quite Primary Sources

American Kindle editions (because these are easier to search and cite). The distinction matters because the American versions are in fact “translated” and there are some differences.

Secondary Sources

• Quidditch Through The Ages
• Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them
• Short Stories from Hogwarts of Heroism, Hardship and Dangerous Hobbies
• Short Stories from Hogwarts of Power, Politics and Pesky Poltergeists
• Hogwarts: An Incomplete and Unreliable Guide
• The Tales of Beedle the Bard
• Other works accepted by the Rowling Index but not otherwise listed on this site.

Tertiary Sources

• Interview and twitter comments where I can find the direct quote
• Fantastic Beasts Screenplays where it does not contradict the above
• Transcripts of the Harry Potter book of spells for PlayStation

Quaternary Sources

Reasonable Inference based on the above such as, but not limited to

• Secrets of the Classlist
• Harry Potter: A Journey Through A History of Magic
• Video games are used only as sources for spell names, and only where I can find a supporting source that the authors worked with Mrs. Rowling and not entirely independently.