Chapters 71–80
Blossom of Magic
labyrinths – mazes have always been regarded as places of power and introspection and they have always been important in mythology and religion. Information about mazes, including the labyrinth of Chartres may be found here. A visualisation is presented here.
The “blossom of magic” is my own invention, but I think it matches the Pagan interpretation of the concept of mazes. The six petal rose at the centre of the Chartres labyrinth is an ancient alchemical symbol, by the way, which might add to its appeal for Snape.
the blessing – The blessing is a mixture of a Catholic wedding blessing I found online at the The Catholic Doors Ministry and the Aaronitic blessing.
the quote— The Orson Welles quote is from his last movie “F for Fake”.
Discoveries
Abbé Absolon – Absolon means “my Father is peace”.
Due Punishment
“compedio”—means “I put on shackles (on someone)”. “Pulta!” means “wallop!/flog!”.
Sleepbringer
The bell ‘Ranna’ along with that particular concept of Necromancy is taken from the “Abhorsen”-trilogy by Garth Nix.”Somnifer” is Latin for “Sleepbringer”.
How Can You Still Touch Me?
Necromancy in the HP universe: The basic idea is that while everyone can learn some kind of death magic (as we all know from canon), there are only a very few Necromancers who have magical powers even in the Realm of Death (and yes, that’s a hint about what else is going to happen). Of Necromancers there are two kinds, those who raise the dead and demonic beings, and those who bind and banish them. Severus belongs to the latter kind (obviously – or what do you think Voldemort would have had him do?). I think that this twist explains why Voldemort accepted Severus’ return to his side so easily. Necromancy is regarded as evil magic. Period. And Voldemort would have wanted both to exploit Severus’ talents and to keep an eye on him at the same time. Against Voldemort himself Severus’ talents were useless because of the Horcruxes. I hope my line of thought makes sense.