Felix Felicis (was : What we find there)

[catimini15]

No: HPFGUIDX 116952


--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "finwitch" <finwitch at y...> 
wrote:
> Felix Felicis... if not a person, it's a plant, an animal, a 
spell, a 
> magical phenomenon... I understand how one might think of cats, 
> though - I recall some cat-food by name of Felix, and there's that 
> FELINE also... but also that James Bond's CIA friend is named 
Felix 
> Leiter. (and all their secret weapons are a bit like magic! I 
wonder 
> how JKR feels of James Bond 007..) But I like the thought of FF 
being 
> the name of new DADA professor. (And I wonder where Aberforth 
lurks).
> 
> Finwitch

I don't know what or whom Felix Felicis(FF) will turn out to be but 
I would like to analyze FF as a proposition for a spell. With strong 
latin references like this, what else than a feel good spell Felix 
Felicis could be ? Don't we already have the Cheering Spell though ? 
The spell Hermione couldn't stop fussing about in PoA, remember ? I 
checked the Encyclopedia of Spells in the Lexicon and I found that 
the Cheering Spell was discovered by a certain Felix Summerbee (1447-
1508). Do we know the incantation for the Cheering Spell ? It could 
well be Felix Felicis. I think it already has been discussed that 
the latin word Felis (generic for cat) is derived from the older 
latin word Felix (meaning happy). Personally, I'd rather think that 
JKR has used the former reference and created a new character by the 
name of Felix Felicis who will, maybe, turn out to be a distant 
relative of Summerbee... (Ha ! It's a joke !) :-) The feline-looking 
character (new DADA teacher or not) described a couple of weeks ago 
on JKR's website is intriguing. There is already two strong «real 
world» references that JKR could have drawn from for this cat-like 
character's name : Otto Messmer's Felix the Cat (like SSSusan 
suggested) and Felix - or rather Felis - Cattus, the domestic cat 
official zoologist's latin name. If FF doesn't turn out to be a 
spell, or the lion-like upcoming new character after all, we are 
left with a plant, a place, an animal or a magical phenomenon to 
ponder and guess upon until HBP is finally published. 

Nadine