Baruffio the Mnemonic

[secca_pk]

No: HPFGUIDX 160617

I found this great post over on Mugglenet which I feel completely 
explains Flitwicks odd quip in PS!

> 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 story told in 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?