Chapters 171–180
Cave A Signatis
“Cave A Signatis” means “Beware of those who are Marked”.
A Bloodpurfle is my own invention, a South American and deadly variant of the Chizpurfle.
The “Charm of a song” that Muggles use as well is the old Scottish New Year’s hymn “Auld Lang Syne”.
Sorrow Like a Precious Treasure
The title of this chapter refers to an African proverb: “Sorrow is like a precious treasure, shown only to friends.”
Twisted Branches Upon the Beach
The title of this chapter refers to the poem “Rhapsody on a Windy Night” by T.S. Eliot, which may be more widely known as the song “Memory” from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical “Cats”.
There is a textual allusion to one of my favourite HG/SS stories in this chapter that is – contrary to what Snape’s cranky tone implies – entirely intended as a compliment and a heart-felt homage: if you haven’t read “Pet Project” by Caeria yet, please go and do so NOW!
A Short-Cut of Death
The title of this chapter refers to the chapter “A Short-Cut of Mushrooms” in “The Fellowship of the Ring”/”The Lord of the Rings” by J.R.R. Tolkien.
A Meeting of Wands
“Per vitam ad mortem. A morte ad vitam. Coniungo! Coniungo! In sempiternum.” – “Through life to death. From death to life. I link (you)! I link (you)! Forever.”
Vitae Summa Brevis …
The title of this chapter refers to the following poem by Ernest Dowson (1867-1900):
“Vitae Summa Brevis Spem Nos Vetat Incohare Longam” (The brief sum of life forbids us the hope of enduring long – Horace) (1896)
They are not long, the weeping and the laughter,
Love and desire and hate;
I think they have no portion in us after
We pass the gate.
They are not long, the days of wine and roses;
Out of a misty dream
Our path emerges for a while, then closes
Within a dream.
The White Horse at Uffington is a stylised representation of a horse made of exposed white chalk on the slope of a hill near Uffington. It is some 374 feet long, and is thought to date back as far as 1000BC in the late Bronze Age.
We Pass the Gate
The descriptions of the Death Chamber in the Ministry of Magic are based on those given in the chapter “Beyond the Veil” in “Order of the Phoenix”.