Explores the true history, folklore, and mythology behind the magical practices, creatures and personalities that appear in J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter books.

The Unofficial Harry Potter Companion Volume 1: Sorcerer's Stone is a guided analysis of the first Harry Potter novel, exploring each chapter's connections, hidden details, fandom theories, facts, and analytical questions about the incredible Wizarding World.

The New York Times bestseller, now fully updated to include the complete seven-volume series. Who was the real Nicholas Flamel? How did the Sorcerer’s Stone get its power? Did J. K. Rowling dream up the terrifying basilisk, the seductive veela, or the vicious grindylow? And if she didn’t, who did? Millions of readers around the world have been enchanted by the magical world of wizardry, spells, and mythical beasts inhabited by Harry Potter and his friends. But what most readers don’t know is that there is a centuries-old trove of true history, folklore, and mythology behind Harry’s fantastic universe. Now, with The Sorcerer’s Companion, those without access to the Hogwarts Library can school themselves in the fascinating reality behind J. K. Rowling’s world of magic. Newly updated to include Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, The Sorcerer’s Companion allows curious readers to look up anything magical from the Harry Potter books and discover a wealth of entertaining, unexpected information. Wands and wizards, boggarts and broomsticks, hippogriffs and herbology, all have astonishing histories rooted in legend, literature, or real-life events dating back hundreds or even thousands of years. Magic wands, like those sold in Rowling’s Diagon Alley, were once fashioned by Druid sorcerers out of their sacred yew trees. Love potions were first concocted in ancient Greece and Egypt. And books of spells and curses were highly popular during the Middle Ages. From Amulets to Zombies, you’ll also learn: • how to read tea leaves • where to find a basilisk today • how King Frederick II of Denmark financed a war with a unicorn horn • who the real Merlin was • how to safely harvest mandrake root • who wore the first invisibility cloak • how to get rid of a goblin • why owls were feared in the ancient world • what really lies beyond the Veil • the origins of our modern-day “bogeyman,” and more. A spellbinding tour of Harry’s captivating world, The Sorcerer’s Companion is a must for every Potter aficionado’s bookshelf. The Sorcerer's Companion has not been prepared, approved, or licensed by any person or entity that created, published, or produced the Harry Potter books or related properties.

"A complete dictionary of all the magical persons, places and things identified in the Harry Potter series of J. K. Rowling. It includes chapter and page references to take the reader back to the original sources. There are also quick reference lists of many common subjects such as beasts and creatures, books and publications, charms, curses, house rosters, jokes and gag devices, magical devices and objects, plants, potions, quidditch terminology and much more. An indispensible resource tool to navigate around and to better appreciate the complexity of the novels." --Back cover.

An intriguing look at the centuries old folklore, legends, mythology, and history that inspired J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series details the magical practices and rituals, creatures, personalities, and events that appear in the books, offering stories about the Basilisk, magic wands, love potions, and other objects from around the world. Original. 100,000 first printing.

The Alohomora! podcast began five years after the release of the final Harry Potter book as a way to rediscover the original magic of the novels. Almost a decade later, the fandom and the podcast, is bigger than ever, with more analysis and conversations happening about the Harry Potter story than ever before. This second book in the new companion series will help readers discover new ideas, connections, and secrets embedded throughout Chamber of Secrets and explore them in a whole new way. For each chapter of the original text, readers will find information gathered from a multitude of official sources, including a timeline that puts everything into an easily envisioned context. Readers will discover helpful information about characters, events, artifacts, and more. Insights and analysis drawn from the hosts and guests of the podcast starts a reader of the companion on their journey of their own analysis. In addition, there are explorations of popular fan theories (both those that were popular at the novels time of publication and have been disproved, and those that continue in the fandom today). Readers will also find connections to extra-canonical information and other MuggleNet series books, as well as a QR code that leads to episodes of the podcast to further the conversation.

There have been dozens of books on the Potter phenomenon, but this title is the first to take the works seriously as modern classic and place them not only in the tradition of children's literature but in the broader tradition of Western literature and the place of magic in our world view.