Occam's Razor: Oops, I may have cut myself!

[porphyria_ash]

No: HPFGUIDX 42800

I had quoted from the Lexicon:

> > Avada Kedavra
> > Aramaic: "adhadda kedhabhra" - "let the thing be destroyed".  
> > NOTE: Abracadabra is a cabbalistic charm in Judaic mythology that 
> is 
> > supposed to bring healing powers. One of its sources is believed 
to 
> > be from Aramaic avada kedavra, another is the Phoenician alphabet 
> (a-
> > bra-ca-dabra).  
> > 
> > http://www.i2k.com/~svderark/lexicon/spells_a.html#avada%
20kedavra 

And Haggridd replied:

> I am continually impressed by new evidence of JKR's meticulous 
> research in her writing, but, as much as I would like to believe 
that 
> she consciously alluded to this "adhadda Kedhabhra" spell, I wonder 
> if coincidence has reared its head.  I am no scholar of Aramaic, 
but 
> the transliteration of the spell provided is "close, but no 
cigar."  

Me again:

I honestly don't understand exactly what you mean. Are you saying 
that Avada Kedavra is not a close enough match for "adhadda 
kedhabhra"? Because that simply is a transliteration issue: Aramaic 
letters do not correspond to Latin ones exactly and so scholars can 
come up with two different Latin alphabet equivalents for the same 
Aramaic term depending on the transliteration system they use. 
Scholars of Kabbalah agree that Avada Kedavra is the Aramaic for "let 
the thing be destroyed." I have found it mentioned in Kabbalah 
literature that had nothing to do with Harry Potter.

I found some info on Abracadabra and Avada Kedavra on the 
Encyclopedia Mythica website, and it confirms what the HP Lexicon 
states:

http://www.pantheon.org/mythica.html
http://www.pantheon.org/articles/a/abracadabra.html

It seems clear to me that JKR is indeed up on her scholarship and 
fully intended the AV curse to be Aramaic. 

On the other hand, Haggridd, if I've misunderstood the point you were 
trying to make I apologize. I do find it very interesting that 
Abracadabra would be a healing charm and Avada Kedavra a curse, but 
that irony seems to predate JKR and Harry Potter. Perhaps in 
Kabbalistic use the incantation "let the thing be destroyed" was 
supposed to refer to the disease and not the bearer of the charm.   

~Porphyria