Gryffindor Passwords

[caesian]

No: HPFGUIDX 110618

Here follows an (over-) analysis of the passwords to Gryffindor Tower,  
in the order in which they appear.  For each password, the episode in  
which it occurs is recounted, and then possible meanings and allusions  
are discussed.  You might be surprised to discover that each and every  
password seems to have meaning to the story, some with broad  
implications for a particular book or the series, others incidental to  
a particular situation near in time to when the password is mentioned -  
with one exception.


Caput Draconis

Mentioned only once (PS7, The Sorting Hat) it is the first password  
given to the Gryffindor Common room.  Literally translated from the  
latin, caput draconis means the dragon's head.  In Astrological  
Geomancy (a method of divination, as are runes and numerology - a.k.a.  
arithmancy, which is based in both astrology and alchemy) Caput  
Draconis often suggests entering or beginning something new and  
positive (1), such as Harry's career at Hogwarts, Harry's time in  
Gryffindor house, or Percy's new role as Prefect.


Pig Snout

A disapproving and interfering Hermione confronts Harry and Ron as they  
leave the common room (PS9, The Midnight Duel).  Immediately after she  
discovers she cannot return through the portrait hole, they find  
Neville:

'Thank goodness you found me!  I've been out here for hours.  I  
couldn't remember the password to get in to bed.'
'Keep your voice down, Neville.  The password's "Pig Snout" but it  
won't help you now, the Fat Lady's gone off somewhere.'

This password may refer to Proverbs 11:22:  "Like a gold ring in a  
pig's snout is a beautiful woman without good judgment."

In this scene, Hermione's beauty - her concern for what is right, her  
intelligence and her courage - are as useless as a gold ring in a pig's  
snout while she shows a serious lack of discretion in confronting Harry  
and Ron in the way that she does.  To be fair, the boys also show a  
serious lack of discretion in their nighttime wanderings.


Wattlebird

Harry and Ron arrive at the Gryffindor common room (after having  
crashed the flying Ford Anglia into the Whomping Willow) to be given  
this password by Hermione.  This is the only password used in Chamber  
of Secrets.

The wattlebird, or Australian brush turkey, is more commonly referred  
to as a honeyeater.  Honey-Eater is another name for Otso, the bear god  
in Finnish mythology.  Tales of Otso are told in the Kalevala,  
Finland's national epic.  This work, drawn from the oral tradition, has  
influenced many writers including J. R. R. Tolkein. (2) The Kalevala is  
divided into more than 50 poems, called Runes.  Rune 46, entitled Otso  
the Honey-Eater (3), tells the story of how Louhi, a wicked enchantress  
and Queen of the land of the dead, sends diseases to destroy the people  
of Kalevala, but Väinämöinen, the wise shaman, cures the sick. Louhi  
then sends a bear, but Väinämöinen slays the bear. The people of  
Kalevala organize a bear-killing feast.

Several parallels between the tale of Otso the Honey-Eater and Chamber  
of Secrets can be drawn.  Ginny, the wicked enchantress (when she is  
possessed by Tom Riddle and thus Queen of the Chamber of Secrets) sends  
a plague of petrification to destroy the Muggleborn students, but  
Dumbledore, the wise headmaster, cures the sick.  Ginny then sends the  
Basilisk, but Harry, with the help of Dumbledore's pheonix Fawkes,  
slays the basilisk.  The people of Hogwarts organize a basilisk-killing  
feast.

Väinämöinen, the wise shaman, is an interesting character, a ladies man  
but unlucky with ladies, a wizard, and an advisor in the manufacture of  
the Sampo, or magic mill.   The Sampo "is the ultimate source of  
prosperity, a kind of primitive Philosophers's Stone" (4).

Another character to appear in the Kalevala is the guardian of hidden  
treasures. This important office is filled by, among others, a hideous  
old deity named Mammelainen, whom Renwall, the Finnish lexicographer,  
describes as "femina maligna, matrix serpentis, divitiarum  
subterranearum custos," a malignant woman, the mother of the snake, and  
the guardian of subterranean treasures. From this conception it is  
evident that the idea of a kinship between serpents and hidden  
treasures frequently met with in the myths of the Hungarians, Germans,  
and Slavs, is not foreign to the Finns.


Fortuna Major (PA5)

The first password given in Prisoner of Azkaban by the newly appointed  
Head Boy, Percy Weasley.

In Astrology, Jupiter, one of the good planets, is known as Fortuna  
Major (5).  In the divination method of geomancy, Fortuna Major  
signifies success, good luck, great fortune, celebration, property and  
possessions. Honour and respect. A figure of power and success,  
favorable in any conflict or contest (6).  We learn later that  
Gryffindor Prefects may be able to influence the choice of password.   
Here, Percy may have chosen this password to honor his ascent to Head  
Boy.


Scurvy Cur
A password chosen by Sir Cadogan (PoA, The Firebolt).

'Merry - hic - Christmas! Password?'
'Scruvy cur,' said Ron.
'And the same to you, sir!" roared Sir Cadogan, ...

This password may refer to the quotation "the honorable gentleman is a  
scurvy cur," from The Man in the Iron Mask by Alexander Dumas (7).  The  
armored knight Sir Cadogan is, of course, a man in an iron mask.  The  
phrase is repeated by Ambrose Bierce in the Devil's Dictionary, under  
the entry for Honorable, as follows: "adj. Afflicted with an impediment  
in one's reach.  In legislative bodies it is customary to mention all   
members as honorable; as, 'the honorable gentleman  is a scurvy cur.'"  
(8)  While Sir Cadogan is afflicted during this exchange by a flagon of  
mead, Ron and Harry are impeded by him until they give the password.


Oddsbodkins

Another password chosen by Sir Cadogan, this archaic interjection  
(although evidently still in use by folks from Edinburgh - 10) is  
evidently related to the similar, if even more obscure Gadsbodikins.   
It is used once, in the chapter 'The Patronus':

'They [Harry and Ron] turned into the corridor to Gryffindor Tower and  
saw Neville Longbottom, pleading with Sir Cadogan, who seemed to be  
refusing him entrance.
'I wrote them down,' Neville was saying tearfully, 'but I must've  
dropped them somewhere!"
'A likely tale!' roared Sir Cadogan.  Then, spotting Harry and Ron,  
'Good even, my fine young yoemen! Come clap this loon in irons, he is  
trying to force entry to the chambers within!"
'Oh shut up,' said Ron, as he and Harry drew level with Neville.
'I've lost the passwords!' Neville told them miserably.  'I made him  
tell me what passwords he was going to use this week, because he keeps  
changing them, and now I don't know what I've done with them!'
"Oddsbodikins,' said Harry to Sir Cadogan, who looked extremely  
disappointed and reluctantly swung forward to let them into the common  
room."

Oddsbodikins is also used by the sergeant of police in Mister Toad,  
from The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame.   Perhaps Sir Cadogan  
has daydreams of inflicting something like the following on Neville  
(who is, of course, Mr. Toad).

"Then the brutal minions of the law fell upon the hapless Toad; loaded  
him with chains, and dragged him from the Court House, shrieking,  
praying, protesting;  across the market-place, where the playful  
populace, always as severe upon detected crime as they are sympathetic  
and helpful when one is merely 'wanted', assailed him with jeers,  
carrots, and popular catchwords; past hooting school children, their  
innocent faces lit up with the pleasure they ever derive from the sight  
of a gentleman in difficulties; across the hollow-sounding drawbridge,  
below the spiky portcullis, under the frowning archway of the grim old  
castle, whose ancient towers soared high overhead; past guardrooms full  
of grinning soldiery off duty, past sentries who coughed in a horrid  
sarcastic way, because that is as much as a sentry on his post dare do  
to show his contempt and abhorrence of crime; up time-worn winding  
stairs, past men-at-arms in casquet and corselet of steel, darting  
threatening looks through their vizards; across courtyards, where  
mastiffs strained at their leash and pawed the air to get at him; past  
ancient warders, their halberds leant against the wall, dozing over a  
pasty and a flagon of brown ale; on and on, past the rack-chamber and  
the thumbscrew- room, past the turning that led to the private  
scaffold, till they reached the door of the grimmest dungeon that lay  
in the heart of the innermost keep. There at last they paused, where an  
ancient gaoler sat fingering a bunch of mighty keys.
  "Oddsbodikins!" said the sergeant of police, taking off his helmet and  
wiping his forehead. "Rouse thee, old loon, and take over from us this  
vile Toad, a criminal of deepest guilt and matchless artfulness and  
resource. Watch and ward him with all thy skill; and mark thee well,  
grey-beard, should aught untoward befall, thy old  head shall answer  
for his - and a murrain on both of  them!"
  The gaoler nodded grimly, laying his withered hand on the shoulder of  
the miserable Toad. The rusty key creaked in the lock, the great door  
clanged behind them; and Toad was a helpless prisoner in the remotest  
dungeon of the best-guarded keep of the stoutest castle in all the  
length and breadth of Merry England." (9)


Flibbertigibbet

The Fat Lady once again guards the portrait hole when Harry and Ron  
enter Gryffindor Tower looking for Hermione (PoA, The Quidditch Final).  
  Upset by the Malfoy-slapping incident and overworked, she has  
forgotten to go to Charms.

Derived from the Middle English flepergebet, a flibbertigibbit is a  
silly flighty person.  Hermione is acting flibbertigibbity (yes, that  
is a word) by missing charms.


Balderdash

This password is used twice in Goblet of Fire.  In the first instance,  
a prefect has told George the password at the welcoming feast (The  
TriWizard Tournament).  The boys are discussing whether they could  
cheat their way across Dumbledore's age line while Hermione fumes about  
house elves.  In the second instance, Harry is returning alone from  
having been named the fourth champion (The Goblet of Fire).

" Well, well, well,' said the Fat Lady, 'Violet's just told me  
everything.  Who's just been chosen as school champion, then?'
'Balderdash,' said Harry dully.
'It most certainly isn't!' said the pale witch indignantly.
'No, no Vi, it's the password,' said the Fat Lady soothingly, and she  
swung forward on her hinges to let Harry into the common room."

The word balderdash is an invective raised against senseless or  
misleading talk.  "It’s often reserved for circumstances in which  
common-or-garden invective would be thought inadequate.  This has been  
so for two centuries.  Here is the grandly-named Victorian historian  
Thomas Babington Macaulay, writing in a footnote in his History of  
England from James II: 'I am almost ashamed to quote such nauseous  
balderdash'." (11)  In this case, the talk about Harry having entered  
himself into the tournament turns out to be balderdash.


Fairy Lights

Harry dully gives this password to the Fat Lady after he is turned down  
by Cho Chang, who he has just asked to the Yule Ball.  He enters the  
Gryffindor Common room to find Ron, distraught by own his rejection  
with Fleur Delacour and being comforted by Ginny.  Hermione soon  
arrives, and is forced to reveal that she cannot go to the ball with  
Ron because she is already going with someone else.

The Yule Ball is held on Christmas, and 'fairy lights' is a term  
commonly used outside the USA for the small electrical lights that  
adorn Christmas trees (12).  "Fairy light" may also refer to the  
passage "The fairy light that kiss'd her golden hair And long'd to  
rest, yet could but sparkle there !" from Poems by Edgar Allen Poe  
(13), which is reminiscent of Fleur.  Finally, fairy lights are  
associated with A Midsummer Night's Dream, by William Shakespeare (- or  
shall I say Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford! [14] ).  Hermione's  
character is named after Hermia, the rebellious maiden who, in this  
play, spurns her doting and devoted suitor Demetrius in favor of  
Lysander.  Hermia is bold in her defiant love for Lysander, and 'though  
she be but little, she is fierce' (Act 3, Scene 2, line 325). When  
angered, she can be very juvenile and physical with her temperament.  
She also believes strongly in loyalty, chastity, and faith.  Although  
she gets her man in the end, Puck’s sentiment, “Lord, what fools these  
mortals be!” pervades the comedy.


Mimbulus mimbletonia

Finally, in OotP (The Sorting Hat's New Song), a password that Neville  
can remember.  It seems clear from the appearance of this particular  
password, that the prefects, in this case probably Hermione, can set  
the password if they choose.  Undoubtedly Percy, who recommended  
Divination to Ron and Harry, chose Caput Draconis for his first year as  
a Prefect and Fortuna Major when he was appointed Head Boy.


There remains one password that seems immune to over-analysis:
banana fritters

This password, given by Ron to the Fat Lady when Harry sneaks out to  
use the Prefect's bathroom (The Egg and the Eye), seems to indicate  
that the author had a mad craving for banana fritters.  Who can blame  
her! (15)

Preparation time  less than 30 mins, Cooking time less than 10 mins

Ingredients
  2 bananas, cut lengthways
oil for deep fat frying
For the batter
75g/3oz self-raising flour
chilled water, enough to make a batter
1 waffle
30g/1oz walnut pieces
Icing sugar to dust
For the chocolate sauce
55g/2oz chocolate
55ml/2fl oz double cream

Method
  1. For the batter - put the flour in a bowl and slowly add water,  
beating all the time until a batter is formed.
2. Put the waffle and walnuts in a mini food processor and blitz until  
breadcrumb sized pieces are formed.
3. Stir this into the batter.
4. Dip the banana halves in the batter and deep fry for 2-3 minutes  
until golden.
5. Break up the chocolate and put into a heatproof dish over a pan of  
simmering water. Ensure the bowl is not touching the water.
6. Once the chocolate has melted stir in the cream.
7. Serve the banana fritters with the chocolate sauce and sprinkle with  
icing sugar.


Cheers,
Caesian - who is now heading for the banana fritters.




(1) http://www.princeton.edu/~ezb/geomancy/agrippa.html
   
http://www.adula.com/Geomancy/Geomantic_Figures/Caput_Dragonis/ 
caput_dragonis.htm

(2) http://www.northvegr.org/lore/kalevala/intro003.php

(3) http://altreligion.about.com/library/texts/kalevala/bl_46.htm

(4)  
http://www.godchecker.com/pantheon/finnish-mythology.php? 
deity=VAINAMOINEN

(5) http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02018e.htm

(6)  
http://www.adula.com/Geomancy/Geomantic_Figures/Fortuna_Major/ 
fortuna_major.htm

(7) http://www.thefreelibrary.com/bs.asp?ss=text&s=Scurvy

(8) http://www.numeraire.com/quotes/ghi.htm

(9) http://www.geocities.com/davidvwilliamson/toad.html

(10) http://www.silklantern.com/viewtopic.php?topic=7970&forum=1&0

(11) http://www.worldwidewords.org/weirdwords/ww-bal1.htm

(12) http://www.oldchristmaslights.com/1950s_lights_page_2.htm

(13) http://poe.thefreelibrary.com/Poems/4-3#fairy%20light

(14)  
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shakespeare/debates/ 
ogburnarticle.html

(15)  
http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/bananafritters_70854.shtml