Question: Baruffio and the buffalo

[Brian]

No: HPFGUIDX 90152

Neri wrote:
> > 
> > I would have thought that the editors got it mixed up as usual 
and it 
> actually should have written "said `f' instead of `s' ", but what 
the 
> @$#& is a "bussalo"??? Do we need a Latin expert here?
> 

Brian writes:

I think, at least in my American edition, that there's a mistake 
here.  The spell for levitation is "Wingardium Leviosa" and the 
movement that accompanies it is "swish and flick."  There is no "f" 
in "Wingardium Leviosa."  JKR could have had "swish and flick" on her 
mind when she wrote the lines.  Or she could mean that if one 
says "fwish and slick" while swishing and flicking the wand, as could 
happen if one is really struggling to get the movement down 
(saying "swish and flick" all the while), one could end up with a 
buffalo on his/her chest.  

It's also kind of strange that the buffalo-beset Wizard was named 
Baruffio, a name that is morphophonologically reminiscent of the 
word "buffalo."