Wizard Baruffio and the Wingardium Leviosa Charm

[secca_pk]

No: HPFGUIDX 160443

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, msmacgoo at ... wrote:
>
> Hallo everyone and loverly to met you all, now, down to bussness, can 
> anyone explain the joke in the wl charm - i've puzziling how Wizard 
> Baruffio finishes up with a Buffalo on his chest when there is no "f" 
> in Wingardiun Leviosa to misspronounce as a "s".
> So how come ? [HP1 page 126 UK Ed]
<snip>

Secca Responds:

Bet you thought this topic was dead! 
So did I!

Then I found this:

> Hogwarts Librarian wrote 
> in Mugglenet's "New Clues 5 Forum"; here:
> http://newclues.mugglenet.com/archive/viewtopic.php?
t=794&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=60
>
/Quote/ 
What if we're looking at this all wrong? 
What if the point is that Baruffio is being used to teach a lesson? 
>
The phrase has a very catchy ring to it:
>
>
"Never forget Wizard Baruffio, 
who said 's' instead of 'f' 
and found himself on the floor 
with a buffalo on his chest." 
>
>
Kind of similar to other catchy phrases we use to remember little 
things (for example, when trying to remember which way a screw goes we 
might say to ourselves "righty tighty, lefty loosey"). 
/End quote/
>
>

Now Secca:
Or more like --

"I before E 
except after C, 
Or when sounding like A
as in Neighbor and Weigh"

The point is, if it was meant as an easy-to-remember jingly little 
rhyme, then its purpose is simply to drive home the importance of 
pronunciation in spells. In which case, the poem need not make any sort 
of logical sense, in either the muggle OR wizarding world. Actually, 
the more stark and absurd the image, the better it works as a mnemonic.

This also might explain the 'Wizard' title given to Baruffio, which is 
not seen anywhere else in canon -- it is there to fit the scan of the 
rhyme.

So then, "Baruffio's Brain Elixir" would not necessarily have been made 
by Baruffio -- This could be the equivalent to naming a product "Georgy 
Porgy's Love Elixir"

Now -- Jo has given us an early version of this Flitwick quote, 
as 'Scrapbook Content' on her website. In that "First Typed Version of 
PS," which became Chapter 10 - Hallow'een in the book, the Flitwick 
quote is *not* set off like a poem. It appears as simply a continuation 
of the sentence -- 

"Swish and flick, remember, swish and flick. And saying the magic words 
properly is very important, too – never forget Wizard Baruffio, who 
said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself lying on the floor with a 
buffalo on is chest –"

But if you look closely, you can see that what I am treating as 
a 'poem' *is* set off from the rest of the text by dashes.

Well -- /I/ like this better than any other theory I've ever heard, by 
far... Any comments?