[HPforGrownups] Lockhart's spells (transmogrification)

[Neil Ward]

No: HPFGUIDX 4657

Steve wrote:

>I finally discovered the origin of the Transmogrifian Torture 
>Lockhart bragged about. I had of course spotted the "trans" part from 
>Latin, but I couldn't place the rest of it. Blaise, who does this 
>sort of thing for a living, tried to help out but couldn't find a 
>connection either. But the other day, smack dab in the middle of a 
>rehearsal for the play I'm directing right now, it hit me.
>
>It's from Calvin and Hobbes. That cardboard box Calvin uses to 
>transform himself (in his imagination) into various creatures and 
>later to create a whole bunch of duplicates of himself is called a 
>Transmogrifier. 

I had come across the term transmogrification before reading HP, but it's
not the sort of word one drops into daily conversation.  My dictionary
defines transmogrify as "to transform, especially in a magical or surprising
manner".  It's described as 'jocular' and C17, of unknown origin.  Possible
modern use: "Come round for dinner, and watch me transmogrify some basic
ingredients into an edible meal"...well, perhaps not.

Can we, then, assume that mogrify means "to form"?  I think it may be a
deviation from magrify, either related to magic/mage or the term magrif,
which appears to be a prayer of Arabic origin. 

Neil 


            Flying-Ford-Anglia

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   "Then, dented, scratched and steaming, 
   the car rumbled off into the darkness, 
   its rear lights blazing angrily"

 [Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets]

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