[HPforGrownups] Re: A varied post on Latin

[Amanda Lewanski]

No: HPFGUIDX 3063

Susan McGee wrote:

> Anyway Ludo of course stands for play but does Bagman refer to his
> gambling? Minerva - quite a compliment to McGonagall....But is Avada
> Kedava (spelling?) Latin???????

I thought Avada Kedavra was intended to be interpreted as the un-garbled,
original form of the standard "magic word" abracadabra. This might be a
bit of dark humor, that the spell word that the Muggle children use in
making pretend magic is an echo of the most dangerous curse there is in
the wizarding world. It could easily have leaked over; if you were with
your brother in the forest, and disturbed an evil old hermit, and he
cursed your brother dead, you'd probably remember (albeit in garbled form)
the words he used. Such situations could easily have happened, as various
evil wizards went on the rampage (or just got teed off for whatever
reason). And thus would the garbled form, abracadabra, have entered the
Muggle folklore.

My theory. Thoughts?

--Amanda