Everything Stolen (WAS: Why the Dark Mark?

[Tristan]

No: HPFGUIDX 121722


Very Interesting, I didn't know that about the origins of the dark mark.

The only thing that baffler me is that every little thing in HP seems
to have been stolen from something else.

Aragog:
    The scientific name for a spider is ARAneae, which happens to be
the first three letters of Aragog's name. Since Aragog is a spider,
that makes perfect sense!

Azkaban:
    This is really doesn't explain the meaning of Azkaban, but it's
pretty interesting. Someone (Mitchell) told me that Azkaban and
Alacatraz are both similar because they're both prisons on islands,
and they're both 3-syllable words that sound the same. Alcatraz is a
famous prison off the California coast that used to jail members of
the Mob, but is now closed. Today, you can tour it though, that is if
you're crazy enough to. :)

Beauxbaton:
    "Beaux-Baton"="Beautiful Stick" in French!

Black, Sirius:
    Sirius, also called the Dog Star, is the brightest star in the sky!

Delacour, Fleur:
    Fleur Delacour is a girl from Beauxbatons. Fleur-de-la-Cour, it
means "Flower of the court" in French!

Dumbledore, Albus:
    Dumbledore=bumblebee in Old English! J.K. Rowling says that it
"seemed to suit the headmaster, because one of his passions is music
and I imagined him walking around humming to himself." Albus also
means "white" in latin. Maybe because he has a white beard? Or maybe
"white" means that he's a white wizard, in other words, a good wizard.

Fawkes:
    I looked this up the dictionary myself, and it actually had it in
there...kinda. It had "Guy Fawkes" in the dictionary, and he was an
English conspirator who was executed for his involvement in the
Gunpowder Plot (1605), which was an attempt to blow up King James I
and the Houses of Parliament with shells and fireworks. Since Fawkes
is a phoenix, which according to mythology bursts into flames every
hundred years or so, and then rises from its ashes to take the form of
the phoenix once again. See the connection? Gunpowder, shells,
fireworks and ashes, fire, flames???? Maybe JK Rowling named Fawkes
after Guy Fawkes?

Filch, Argus:
    Argus is a creature from Greek Mythology who has a hundred eyes
and is very watchful. (Wow! So is our Argus, never misses a thing that
happens at Hogwarts.) To filch is to steal (usually something small).
That makes sense, Filch likes to take things from students who get in
trouble, i.e. The Marauder Map.

Granger, Hermione:
    J.K. Rowling says that she wanted Hermione (Her-my-uh-nee) to have
an odd name so that real-life little girls who share the name Hermione
wouldn`t be teased because they were know-it-alls.

Hagrid, Rubeus:
    If you were "Hagrid" in old English, it means that you're having a
bad night. Since Hagrid is a big drinker, he must have had tons bad
nights.

Hedwig:
    In a recent interview, Mrs. Rowling said that Hedwig is the name
of a medieval saint. Someone e-mailed me this very helpful site that
has very good info on St. Hedwig. (Thanx!) St. Hedwig had seven
children and was married several times. She cared for the sick and
supported the poor. There's a school named for her, this school
provides education for abandoned and orphaned children. Do you see a
connection here? Hedwig, the owl, cares for Harry who is orphaned, and
this school named after St. Hedwig cares for the orphaned.

Hermes:
    Percy`s owl, Hermes is also the name of the Greek messenger God to
the Gods!

Knockturn Alley:
    Knockturn Alley=nocturnally. Well, to be nocturnal is to be active
during the night, so since many of the Dark Arts are performed during
the night, it seems reasonble that JK Rowling named it Knockturn
Alley. This is so cool! I discovered the definition of this myself!

Lockhart, Gilderoy:
    Lockhart is an Australian town near Wagga Wagga, remember,
Lockhart defeated a werewolf? "Composed a poem about my defeat of the
Wagga Wagga Werewolf"

Lupin, Remus:
    Stories said that there was a boy named Remus who was abandoned
when he was just a baby, (aww) but was found by wolves who nursed him
and raised him. Also Lupin means wolf-like in Latin.

Malfoy, Draco:
    1.)In ancient Greek days, Draco was a cruel Athenian lawmaker.
That's how we get the expression "draconian laws", meaning
unnecessarily harsh laws. Also, 'Mal foi' means 'bad faith' in French.
    2.)Draco in Latin means "Snake" or "Dragon" both of which are very
devious creatures - A Dragon (in mythology) lulls you with it's voice
so you'll tell it any thing and it will usually extract important
secrets from you. Snakes - A serpent is the Slytherin mascot and
snakes were evil and cunning creatures - A basilisk is a snake and
it's very deadly.

Malfoy, Narcissa:
    (She's the mother of Draco Malfoy) Her name is pretty similar to
the term narcissism which means "self-love" or people who think that
they are more important and superior than other people. So could this
be a description of her character?

McGonagall, Minerva:
    Minerva is the name of the Roman goddess of Wisdom. Can that mean
that our strict transfiguration teacher is also wise???

Mirror of Erised:
    "erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi" if you read the
inscription backwards it's "I show not your face but your heart's
desire" Neat huh?

Peeves:
    To peeve is to irritate or annoy. (Doesn't that sound like our
Peeves, he sure does get on everyone's nerves!)

Riddle, Marvolo Tom:
    If you rearrange all the words in "Tom Marvolo Riddle", you
get...what else?? "I am Lord Voldemort"!!

Snape, Severus:
    Severus, maybe he's so severe to his students, (especially Harry)
that J.K. Rowling named him Severus.

Sprout:
    This is kinda obvious, she's the Herbology professor who teaches
about plants, which "sprout".

Veritaserum:
    In the fourth book, it was the potion that Snape threatened to use
on Harry and Dumbledore also gave the potion to Mr. Crouch's son at
the end. Well, I did some research, I found that "Verity" means truth
and "serum" means fluid. So Veritaserum is a fluid that makes people
tell the truth. You get it?

Voldemort:
    There are many rumors saying that the name Voldemort came from an
evil wizard named Voldermortist, which means "Lord of Evil" or "Dark
Lord". They even went far on to say that Voldemort once tried to kill
Merlin, but was caught and fed to a monster with many heads. -OR- Lord
Voldemort may be taken from Edgar Allan Poe's character M. Valdemar,
who died under hypnosis and came back as a squishy mass of rotting
flesh, which is what Voldermort was like, until he regained his human
form in the 4th book.
    NOTE: "Vol de mort" means "Flight of Death" in French.
But.......J.K. Rowling said that she made the name up!

Weasley, Arthur :
    Maybe J.K Rowling named him after King Arthur of Camelot???

Weasley, Ron :
    Ron Weasley, in another language, is called "Running Weasel."
Running Weasel was a warlord in the 6th Dynasty. He was a stratigist,
and never lost a game of chess!! (That sounds just like Ron!)
Unfortunately, he died when a rat that had been dyed yellow
(Scabbers!!) by his soldiers for fun, knocked over a lamp in his
palace, burning it to the ground, and killing Running Weasel.

    Charms

Accio:
    Comes from the Latin word 'accipio' which means 'receive'. Used to
force an object to come to you.

Avada Kedavra:
    Arabic for 'let the things be destroyed', led to the saying of
Abra Kadabra. It's one of the deadiliest curse known, causes the
instant death of a living thing. It was the curse used by Voldemort to
kill Harry's parents. Here's another explanation, Avada-could be a
change from "Verde", which is Green in Spanish. This would explain the
green flash of light. Kedavra could be releated to the English word
"Cedaverm" which is a dead body. Which would explain why they die when
it's cast.

Expecto Patronum:
    It comes from the Latin word, "expecto", which means to throw out,
and "patronus" in Latin means guardian. So it literally means "throw
out a guardian!", hehe.

Expelliarmus (disarming charm):
    'expel' means to force out, and 'armus' means arms or weapons.
This curse forces the wand out of someone else's hands.

Fidelius Charm:
    Comes from the Latin word, "fidelus", which means faithful and
trustworthy. This spell is used to place a secret in another trusted
person.

Lumos:
    'light' in Latin. Used to ignite fire at the tip of one's wand to
provide light. Counter-charm of Nox.

Nox:
    'night' in Latin. Used to extinguish fire at the tip of one's
wand. Counter-charm of Lumos.

Prior Incantatem:
    'prior' means prior or previous in Latin, and 'incantatem' means
spell in Latin, that makes sense because it's used to reveal the
previous spell casted by a wand.

Sonorus:
    To have a sonorous voice is to have a voice that is powerful,
impressive, full, and rich in quality. Although sonorus and sonorous
are spelt differently, they mean the same thing. The 'Sonorus' charm
is used to amplify one's voice.