The Language of Harry Potter

The Harry Potter series has influenced popular culture around the world in many ways. Because of the series, a large number of new words and phrases have become a part of everyday language for many people. As stated by Jessy Randal, the Curator of Special Collections at Colorado College, “in naming her characters, beasts, spells, places, and objects, author J.K. Rowling makes use of Latin, French and German words, poetic devices and language jokes.” In this post, I will discuss different words and phrases that are known to people around the world made possible through the mind of J.K. Rowling.

People everywhere are now familiar with the word Muggle because of the Harry Potter series. The word Muggle was first used by Hagrid, the gamekeeper from Hogwarts, when he was talking to Harry about his Uncle Vernon. This was in the first book of the series, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. The word means “people who are born with no magical powers”, or as Hagrid describes it, “nonmagic folks”.  The popularity of this word has spread to people everywhere, including people who have not read the books or seen the movie. Moreover, Muggle has been added to the Oxford English Dictionary. It can be described as an adjective, as well as an insult. While J.K. Rowling made the word Muggle famous, she did not actually invent it. According to the Oxford English dictionary, the first version of muggle was used in the early 1200s. It’s first meaning was the word describing a tail. In addition, the word was also an American slang term meaning marijuana, dating back to the 1920s. Until the past decade, this word has not been used in popular culture, but because of J.K. Rowling, it has taken on a whole new meaning.

Another word that has been made famous through the Harry Potter series is Quidditch. Quidditch is a fictional sport played by wizards on broomsticks. In the books and movies, audiences learn the rules of the game and experience plenty of Quidditch matches throughout. J.K. Rowling thoroughly explains just exactly what Quidditch is, including the positions of the sport, as well as the equipment.  In the first book of the series, Harry is put on the team as a seeker, which is an important part to the team. Because of the popularity of the wizard sport, there is now an International Quidditch Assocation which holds matches and World Cups around the world, as demonstrated in the series.

In addition to words, J.K. Rowling also has interesting name choices for many of the characters, all from different roots. Many of Harry’s fellow students at Hogwarts have names that begin with the same letter in first and last name, including: Cho Chang, Colin Creevy, Parvati and Padma Patil. Other characters with the same style of naming are Peter Pettigrew, Bathilda Bagshot, Poppy Pomfrey, and the four house founders, Godric Gyrffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Salazar Slytherin, and Rowena Ravenclaw. Some names take on a deeper meaning. Voldemort, the evil wizard, has several names including Tom Marvolo Riddle. This is an anagram for “I am Lord Voldemort”. In French Vol de mort means flight from death, which accurately describes the evil lord Voldemort from the series.

Places and spells are also another creative outlet for J.K. Rowling. Two clever names for locations Harry visits include Diagon Alley (diagonally) and Knock Turn Alley (nocturnally).  The name of the wizarding prison is Askaban, very similar to the prison of Alcatraz. Most of the spells used in the book series are based on English or Latin. All of the words J.K. Rowling make sense in some way, and through her novels, fans are able to experience a new type of beautiful language.

Wiener, G. (2003). The Fascinating Language of Harry Potter. Readings on J.K. Rowling (pp. 52-62). San Diego, Calif.: Greenhaven Press.

Lord Voldemort

Lord Voldemort is the most evil wizard in the Harry Potter series. He is the perfect version of an evil arch nemesis. As the story progresses, fans learn more and more about the evil that Lord Voldemort has performed in his life.

Tom Riddle, who later became Lord Voldemort, is similar to the famous Harry Potter in several ways. Like Harry, Tom was also an orphan boy without his parents. Because they did not have their parents, both Harry and Tom considered Hogwarts to be their true first home. In addition, both Tom and Harry have the ability to speak parseltongue, which is the language of serpents. Lastly, they both deeply respected Dumbledore’s knowledge and talent during their time at Hogwarts.

After his time at Hogwarts, Tom Riddle becomes more and more dangerous. He eventually changes his name to Lord Voldermort. Lord Voldemort is very power hungry and does not let anyone get in his way who tries to stop him from reaching his full potential. He has no problem killing people in his search for power over the whole wizarding world. He has killed many innocent people in his life, including Harry’s parents. He attempted to kill Harry as well, but his killing curse rebounded, creating a bond between Harry and Voldemort. Because of this bond, Harry is the only person who can truly kill Lord Voldemort. Voldemort also split his soul seven times in order to lengthen and deepen his life, creating seven Horcruxes. A horcrux is a powerful object created in order to make a witch or wizard immortal. It is among the most evil things a wizard can do. Dumbledore explains that making one horcrux is unspeakable, let alone seven. This shows just how truly evil Lord Voldemort is. He has total disreguard for others and won’t stop in his conquest for greatness.

Furthermore, Lord Voldemort has a deep hatred for muggles. This is because his father was a muggle that left his mother when he found out she was a witch. Voldemort’s main goal in his conquest for power is to eliminate muggles. He believes only people with magical blood deserve to live and will do what it takes to make this happen. It is not until Harry Potter defeats Lord Voldemort that the unfair treatment of muggles ends.  Over all, Lord Voldemort is a great depiction of an evil villain.

Albus Dumbledore

Albus Dumbledore is one of the main characters in the Harry Potter series. He is headmaster at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He is known as the smartest wizard throughout the wizardring world. Dumbledore has had a very strong impact on Harry’s life and he is crucial to the story.

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, better known as Dumbledore is the headmaster at Harry’s school. He is very influential in Harry’s life as well as other students of Hogwarts. Dumbledore was exceptionally knowledgeable from a young age and exceeded in his studies at Hogwarts. He is known as one of the brightest students in the history of Hogwarts. After finishing his seven years of school, he went on to become a teacher, then later becoming the headmaster of the school. He was requested many times to work for the Ministry of Magic, but turned this down because he wanted to work with young wizards and witches in their schooling. Dumbledore was an advocate of muggle rights and equality.  He was constantly fighting for the rights of muggles and trying to strengthen the relationship between muggles and wizards. Dumbledore was an important mentor and was the driving force behind the demise of Lord Voldemort. Without Dumbledore’s wisdom and guidance, Harry would not have been able to defeat Lord Voldemort.

In the sixth book of the series, Dumbledore dies in a battle with Snape. Fans around the world mourned the death of Dumbledore. He will forever remain one of the most influential characters from the series and live on in the hearts of fans forever.