Flint (glossary term)

In Harry Potter fandom, a Flint is a continuity error in canon.
The term is usually reserved for things that are indisputably errors, not those that can be easily fanwanked away.
==Origin==
The term comes from a continuity error involving Marcus Flint, who is mentioned as being a sixth year in Philosopher's Stone but still appears as a student in Prisoner of Azkaban, a year after he should have left school. When asked about Marcus Flint's appearance in Prisoner of Azkaban during a February 2000 interview, J.K. Rowling replied: "He had to do a year again! :-)".Online chat transcript, Scholastic.com, 3 February 2000. Accessed 01 July 2017 via Accio Quote!. Most fans recognized Rowling's response as a tongue-in-cheek retcon to explain the error, which Rowling acknowledged when she answered the question again on her official site in 2004:
The term "Flint" for errors and inconsistencies in the books was coined by Pippin on Harry Potter for GrownUps in January 2001.Pippin at HPforGrownups, Message #8359 Re: The death before Harry's, 02 January 2001. (Message archives locked to members, but membership is open to anyone with a Yahoo! account.) HPfGU later invented the backronym "Flint-Like Inconsistencies Nitpicked Triumphantly" in response to members writing the word in all-caps, and included the term on their "Mysteries and Inconsistencies" FAQ.Backronym invented by Tabouli at Pippin's prompting, Message #28718 Luke's spiel, FL.I.N.T.? & the neglected Ron at HPforGrownups, 04 November 2001.Harry Potter for GrownUps: Fantastic Posts & Where to Find Them, Mysteries and Inconsistencies FAQ by Penny Linsenmayer, Cindy C., and Pippin. Archived by the Wayback Machine 21 February 2004. The term was soon adopted by fans outside the group and used on sites such as the Harry Potter Lexicon. As it spread, different fans and communities have adopted different capitalisations of the word: "Flint", "flint", and "FLINT" are all common.
==Examples of Use==
==Other Notable Flints==
* The Goblet of Fire "wand order error", acknowledged by Rowling and changed in future editions: see JKR's FAQ.
* Voldemort being the last remaining "ancestor" of Slytherin according to Dumbledore in Chamber of Secrets, made all the more confusing when JKR called it a "deliberate error" in an October 2000 chat interview. Changed to "descendent" in future editions.
* Dudley's PlayStation is mentioned at the start of Goblet of Fire, which takes places in mid-2004, but the Sony PlayStation wasn't released until December 2004 (see e.g. the Harry Potter Lexicon's Timeline Facts and Questions).
* Percy docks house points from Ron in Chamber of Secrets, but a scene in Order of Phoenix establishes that prefects are unable to dock points. Fans generally found JKR's FAQ response to be an inadequate explanation: see e.g. t0ra_chan's essay On JKR and making mistakes (Apr 2005).
==External Links==
* Have You Found A 'Flint'? 'Harry Potter' Editor On How Fans Shaped The Series, article by Jennifer Vineyard at MTV News, 22 September 2008
* HPfGU's Mysteries and Inconsistencies FAQ by Penny Linsenmayer, Cindy C., and Pippin (2004 or earlier, archived link)
* Book Discussion > Flints forum at FictionAlley Park
== References ==
Category:Harry Potter Fandom Glossary