FOR ALL YOU MUGGLES OUT THERE ...Byline: Valerie Kuklenski Staff Writer The vocabulary of ``Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone,'' with words like Quidditch and Snape and Slytherin and Filch filch tr.v. filched, filch·ing, filch·es To take (something, especially something of little value) in a furtive manner; snitch. See Synonyms at steal. [Middle English filchen. , sounds as if it could have been extracted from some long-lost verse of Lewis Carroll's ``Jabberwocky jab·ber·wock·y n. Nonsensical speech or writing. [After "Jabberwocky," a nonsense poem by Lewis Carroll.] Noun 1. .'' It's been said that author J.K. Rowling relished coming up with names and terminology for her Potter books, laughing with delight as they popped from her head to her note pad. In ``Sorcerer's Stone,'' the first in the series, it's hard for the uninitiated to tell the players without a scorecard (and the nouns from the verbs), so here is a handy reference guide - a Potter Primer, if you will: BERTIE BOTT'S EVERY FLAVOR BEANS: Wizard-world candy, comes in flavors ranging from chocolate, coconut and peppermint peppermint: see mint. peppermint Strongly aromatic perennial herb (Mentha piperita, mint family), source of a widely used flavouring. Native to Europe and Asia, it has been naturalized in North America. to sprouts, liver, grass and ear wax. DAILY PROPHET: Witches' and wizards' newspaper. DIAGON ALLEY: Secret London street of shops selling wizard paraphernalia and garb. ALBUS DUMBLEDORE: Powerful and revered old wizard and headmaster of Hogwarts (played by Richard Harris in the movie). DUDLEY DURSLEY: Harry's spoiled brat of a cousin, a chronic bully (played by Harry Melling). PETUNIA petunia, any plant of the genus Petunia, South American herbs of the family Solanaceae (nightshade family). The common garden petunias, planted also in window boxes, are all considered hybrids of white-flowered and violet-flowered species from Argentina. DURSLEY: Harry's aunt, estranged es·trange tr.v. es·tranged, es·trang·ing, es·trang·es 1. To make hostile, unsympathetic, or indifferent; alienate. 2. To remove from an accustomed place or set of associations. sister of Lily Potter (played by Fiona Shaw). VERNON DURSLEY: Harry's uncle, who reluctantly takes in the orphaned tot but abuses and derides him (played by Richard Griffiths). ARGUS Argus (är`gəs) or Argos (är`gŏs, –gəs), in Greek mythology. 1 Many-eyed monster, also called Panoptes. He guarded Io after she had been changed into a heifer. FILCH: Hogwarts caretaker (played by David Bradley). PROFESSOR FLITWICK: Teacher of charms at Hogwarts. FLOURISH AND BLOTTS: Bookstore in Diagon Alley. HERMIONE GRANGER: Friend of Harry and Ron at Hogwarts, the moral barometer on their out-oounds adventures, a teacher's pet type who studies methodically and remembers every potion po·tion n. A liquid medicinal dose or drink. potion a large dose of liquid medicine. recipe and incantation incantation, set formula, spoken or sung, for the purpose of working magic. An incantation is normally an invocation to beneficent supernatural spirits for aid, protection, or inspiration. It may also serve as a charm or spell to ward off the effects of evil spirits. (played by Emma Watson). GRINGOTTS: The wizards' bank, run by goblins. GRYFFINDOR: Harry's Hogwarts residence hall, also home to Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley and Neville Longbottom. RUBEUS HAGRID: A giant hairy fellow, Harry's protector in the Muggle world, gamekeeper at Hogwarts, trusted assistant to Albus Dumbledore (played by Robbie Coltrane). HEDWIG: Harry's owl, part pet and part messenger. HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY: Academy Harry attends beginning at age 11. MADAM HOOCH hooch Substance abuse 1 A street term for marijuana See Marijuana 2 Moonshine, see there : Quidditch coach and broom-riding instructor (played by Zoe Wanamaker). THE LEAKY CAULDRON: A London pub catering to wizards and witches, invisible to Muggles. NEVILLE LONGBOTTOM: Insecure, accident-prone chum of Harry, Ron and Hermione (played by Matthew Lewis). DRACO MALFOY: Mean-spirited first-year student at Hogwarts. Harry dislikes him from their first meeting at Diagon Alley (played by Tom Felton). MINERVA McGONAGALL: Deputy headmistress at Hogwarts, professor of transfiguration Transfiguration, in the New Testament, manifestation wherein Jesus appeared "shining" before Peter, James, and John. The traditional explanation is that in it Jesus' divine glory shone in his earthly body. Mt. , head of Gryffindor House (played by Maggie Smith). MUGGLE: A nonmagical person. Hagrid says the Dursleys are the biggest Muggles he ever laid eyes on. MRS MRS - Modifiable Representation System. An integration of logic programming into Lisp. ["A Modifiable Representation System", M. Genesereth et al, HPP 80-22, CS Dept Stanford U 1980]. . NORRIS: Argus Filch's nosy nos·y or nos·ey adj. nos·i·er, nos·i·est Informal 1. Given to prying into the affairs of others; snoopy. See Synonyms at curious. 2. Prying; inquisitive. , tattle-tale cat. HARRY POTTER: Known as the Boy Who Lived for having survived Voldemort's lethal attack on his witch-and-wizard parents, Lily and James Potter, when he was only 14 months old; raised by Muggle relatives until he enters Hogwarts at age 11 (played by Daniel Radcliffe). OLLIVANDER'S: Wand shop in Diagon Alley. PLATFORM 9 3/4: The boarding point at London's Kings Cross station for the Hogwarts Express. QUIDDITCH: Most popular sport of the wizard world, a hybrid of soccer and rugby played in the air on broomsticks with flying balls. PROFESSOR QUIRRELL: Hogwarts teacher specializing in defense against the Dark Arts (played by Ian Hart). SICKLES: Currency of the witch and wizard world, along with knuts and galleons. SLYTHERIN: Draco Malfoy's Hogwarts house, residence of Voldemort when he was a student. PROFESSOR SEVERUS SNAPE: Hogwarts teacher specializing in potions; knows much about the Dark Arts (played by Alan Rickman). SNITCH: The gold, darting winged ball in Quidditch that is chased by the team's seeker. Capturing it wins the game. SORTING HAT: Talking wizard's hat that announces the house assignments for first-year Hogwarts students. LORD VOLDEMORT: The most feared evil wizard, aka You-Know-Who. WEASLEYS: Large, magical, red-haired family that includes Ron (played by Rupert Grint), Harry's best friend at Hogwarts, and his brothers, Percy, George and Fred. CAPTION(S): 3 photos Photo: (1 -- color) HEDWIG, HARRY'S PART-PET/PART-MESSENGER OWL (2 -- color) Clockwise from bottom: Harry Potter, Professor Dumbledore, Hagrid, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger. (3 -- color) HARRY AND THE SORTING HAT |
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