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Post by Josh Canfield on Mar 4, 2015 20:21:56 GMT
So many fans visit King’s Cross station to take pictures of platforms 9 and 10 that the station management erected a sign that says “Platform 9 ¾” which, in the Potter books, is invisible to Muggles but acts as a gateway for witches and wizards
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Post by Josh Canfield on Mar 4, 2015 20:46:41 GMT
Voldemort’s wand is made of yew. Yew is seen by some as having immense supernatural power and being a symbol of death and rebirth, the same immortality that Voldemort seeks. Historically, nearly all wizards have used a magical wand of some sort that channels a wizard’s power and acts as a symbol of authority (such as a shepherd’s staff)
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Post by Josh Canfield on Mar 4, 2015 20:47:11 GMT
Golgomath (one of the largest giants in the Potter universe) may be a play on the word “googol,” a math term for a one with a hundred zeros after it—in other words, one of the largest numbers known
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Post by Josh Canfield on Mar 4, 2015 20:47:29 GMT
Rowling said that when she took an online Sorting Hat quiz, it sorted her into Hufflepuff, one of the four houses of Hogwarts
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Post by Josh Canfield on Mar 4, 2015 20:47:47 GMT
Rowling said if she could take Polyjuice Potion for an hour, she would become Prime Minister Tony Blair. She also said that she would be dreadful at playing Quidditch as she is “not sporty,” “not great with heights,” and is “clumsy
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Post by Josh Canfield on Mar 4, 2015 20:48:44 GMT
Quidditch is also known as Ikarosfairke or “Ikarus ball,” which refers to the Greek myth of Icarus who flew too close to the sun. His wings melted and he fell into the sea and drowned.
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Post by Josh Canfield on Mar 4, 2015 20:49:04 GMT
Rowling said that she would like to transform herself into her favorite animal: an otter. That is the Animagus shape of Hermione’s Patronus—which is not surprising, since Rowling has said Hermione is a lot like she is
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Post by Josh Canfield on Mar 4, 2015 20:49:28 GMT
The curse used to kill Harry’s parents, “Avada Kedavra,” derives from a phrase in Aramaic Abhadda kedhabhra, which means to “disappear like this word.” It was used to make illness disappear, but there’s no proof it was meant to kill anyone. It is also likely the origin of abracadabra, which was used by doctors to cure fevers.
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Post by Josh Canfield on Mar 4, 2015 20:50:12 GMT
Harry’s godfather’s name, Sirius Black, comes from the name of one of the brightest stars in the sky, the “Dog Star” or Sirius (from the Greek word seirios, meaning “burning”). The star is a symbol of the goddess Isis and was central to the religion and philosophy of Egypt.
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Post by Josh Canfield on Mar 4, 2015 20:50:35 GMT
Sirius Black’s tattoos are borrowed from Russian prison gangs. The markings identify the person as someone to be feared and respected.
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Post by Josh Canfield on Mar 4, 2015 20:51:04 GMT
Albus Wulfric Percival Brian Dumbledore is Dumbledore’s full name. Dumbledore is an Old English word meaning “bumblebee.” Albus is Latin for “white,” and Wulfric was the name of a twelfth-century saint who became a deeply holy man after seeing a homeless man in the street. Percival was a knight of King Arthur’s Round Table and may also mean “pierce the veil,” suggesting an ability to return from the dead. Brian is a Celtic name, meaning “strong.
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Post by Josh Canfield on Mar 4, 2015 20:51:29 GMT
The original title of the first book was Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and appeared on books in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and other territories. It was changed to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by the American publisher because “Sorcerer’s” seemed more exciting. Rowling later said she would have fought this decision had she been in a better position
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Post by Josh Canfield on Mar 4, 2015 20:51:43 GMT
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone refers to a mythical object called a “philosopher’s stone.” In the ancient practice of alchemy (from the Arabic word al-kimia, or the transformation of metals, and related to the word algebra), alchemists searched for a magical substance called the “philosopher’s stone” that would turn ordinary metals into gold. In Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, the “philosopher’s stone” is described as “blood-red.
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Post by Josh Canfield on Mar 4, 2015 20:52:54 GMT
Hogwarts wizards use cauldrons (from the Latin calere meaning “to be warm” or hot, and which is related to “calorie”) to create potions. Mundungus (from archaic Spanish for “stinky tobacco”) Fletcher was known to peddle stolen pots. Cauldrons are one of the oldest and most widely known symbols of magic—older, for example, than broomsticks. In fact, people once believed that witches flew in cauldrons
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Post by Josh Canfield on Mar 4, 2015 20:53:21 GMT
Morsmorde” is the command that makes the Dark Mark (the mark of Voldemort) appear and means “take a bite out of death” in French, making it an appropriate call for Death Eaters
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