spells: hard not to think like a Muggle

[Steve Vander Ark]

No: HPFGUIDX 24526

One more note on spell words and intentions: think about Wingardium 
Leviosa. The meaning of that spell refers to levitating a feather 
(the root word "wing" in there is clearly not Latin, which has no 
letter 'w', but refers to the object they were supposed to be 
lifting). But later on, Ron, who doesn't really get it yet, uses 
those words to levitate a troll's club! How can this be? Because his 
intention came into play, and his mind was totally focused on what he 
wanted to do. The words he said were what he THOUGHT would levitate 
anything, since he doesn't really understand what the phrase meant, 
and sure enough, it does. Since he believed that those words would 
have that effect, they sufficed to focus his thoughts. Hermione, by 
the time she is in her third year, would have used "Clava Leviosa" 
instead, whether or not anyone had taught her that specific 
incantation. If she didn't know the Latin word for "club" off the top 
of her head, she would have just said "leviosa" and concentrated on 
the club.

Steve Vander Ark
The Harry Potter Lexicon
http://www.i2k.com/~svderark/lexicon