Chapters 41–50
To Hold You Through the Night
My theory is that any damage caused by Dark Magic is difficult to treat with ordinary magic. Dark Wizards would expect their victims to try magic first of all to repair the damage the various hexes and curses cause, so they would attempt to create curses that are immune to magical treatment or that react badly to magical healing. Had Hermione asked Snape for help right away, he might have brewed some potions that could (possibly) have prevented that relapse. As it is, the shock over the news and her general bad health (insomnia, lack of appetite etc) added up and provoked an echo of the Cruciatus curse. They can’t treat that relapse itself, the only thing you can do is wait until it has passed, and to keep the victim from moving as much as possible.
All I Want For Christmas
The title of the chapter alludes to Mariah Carey’s song “All I Want For Christmas Is You”. And, as zeegrindylows reminded me, to the movie “Love Actually”.
The nightmare in the first part of the chapter contains entirely intentional textual references to the first chapter of Frank Herbert’s novel “Dune”.
The line “the dark is rising” is a quote based on the title of the fantasy series by Susan Cooper.
The second-to-last line of the first part of the chapter is a quote from the poem “Stopping By Woods On a Snowy Evening” by Robert Frost.
Black Rose
The rose in the glass globe alludes to Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s “Le Petit Prince”.
The Most Noble and Venerable Knights of Dumbledore’s Army
Four Slytherins:
- Alina Petrel
- Geilis Duncan
- Ebenezer Sibly-Style – 2nd year, Ebenezer Sibly was a physician in England, and author of “New and Complete Illustration of the Occult Sciences”, published in 1790. Elizabeth Style was a witch who was put on trial in the 17th century.
- Haemon Rackharrow – Haemon is a name from Greek mythology, referring to the son of Creon and Eurydice. It means “bloody”. Rackharrow is a canon name – he invented the entrail-expelling spell.
Two Hufflepuffs:
- Percely Parkinson—2nd year, Pansy’s little brother, we already met him … Percely is an old name for “parsley” (which happens to be a masculine herb).
- Johannes Flamel—Not canon, but referring to Nicolas Flamel, of course. In my version of the HP verse, there’s a Dutch branch of the family who prefer sending their children to Hogwarts. Johannes has an older sister, Anne, who is also in Hufflepuff.
Three Ravenclaws:
- Alyah Beiond—An allusion to the Hebrew name of Aliyah, which meany “to ascend”. “Beiond” is of course a wordplay on “beyond”.
- Prudentia Halleywell—an allusion to the TV series “Charmed”
- Cato Cornell—”Cato” means “wise”
Four Gryffindors:
- Myrrdin Loewe – a wordplay on Merlin, according to Susan Cooper’s “The Dark is Rising” (in that book Merlin uses the pseudonym “Merriman Lyon”) and Mary Stewarts Merlin books (in those books the young Merlin is called Myrrdin Emrys). Loewe is German for “lion”
- Barret Cruddace – “barret” was original a word for a quarrelsome person, meaning “haggler”; “Cruddace” is a rather unfortunate alternative version of “Carruthers”; nickname “Crudass”
- Adrastus Alger – 2nd year, Adrastus is a name from Greek mythology and means “he who stands his ground”. “Alger” is an old English patronymic name and can be associated with “alb = elf”, “adal = noble”, or “ald = old”.
Terrwyn Bevan – 2nd year, Terrwyn means “brave, fair one”. “Bevan” is a Welsh patronymic name.
Ordeal of Knighthood
Cats follow certain paths to check on their territory, so Mrs. Norris would definitely be following patterns. And most people are creatures of habit, so eventually the kids would be able to come up with a schedule for everyone’s rounds. Especially since poor Professor Snape has been so distracted lately.
Hell Freezes Over
“Kobalite” is derived from Greek roots of the word “goblin”, “kobalos”.