I don't think so. Harry was referred to as the golden boy, I think, but that's the closest it came.

 

I think both golden boy and golden trio are fanon.

 

why do a lot of the names in canon come from real words? like Narcissa
- narcissism (extreme self absorption) Fletcher is pronounced like filch (to steal, usually small things). I'm sure there are others...

 

It's probably just a subtle hint into their characters that you usually don't notice until it is laid out. I think Remus Lupin is the obvious one, both of them are to do with wolves.

 

Ah, I covered this here, once.

If I recall correctly, they're never really called The Golden Trio in canon, but Snape does refer to them as The Dream Team, once (derisively, of course).

Because a lot of real names come from real words/occupations. A fletcher fletches. That is to say, they deal with the fletching (feathers) on arrows.

Narcissa is another flower name, of which JKR used a lot. A LOT.

Every second female character is named after a flower.

The fanfic community seems to have settled on Astoria for Draco's wife, but I'm still on the fence, since Asteria (which some people thought was what JKR wrote) makes more sense, when taken along with all the other HP names. An Aster is a flower, and the word itself means 'star', which would be appropriate since she married a descendant of the Black family, who have a tradition of giving their children names with astrological/celestial associations. Draco, himself, is named after the constellation, and his son, Scorpius, follows the tradition.

 

Oh my fucking god. Here I thought DLP was the cream of the crop, and we have people asking these questions???

Not only does this question not deserve its own thread, it doesn't deserve to be asked.

Try looking up the origins or etymologies or meanings of:
Albus
Percival
Wulfric
Brian (j/k)
Dumbledore

- and that's just one dude. How 'bout these?

Arthur
Ginevra
Percy
Potter
Granger
Hermione
Slughorn
Snape
Severus
Minerva
McGonagall
Mundungus
Filch
Hooch
Sprout
Pomona
Draco
Malfoy
Alastor
Moody
Fenrir
Bellatrix
Sirius
Lily & Petunia
Agapanthus (sp?)
Nymphadora
Tonks
Andromeda
Walburga
Riddle

- I could go on and on and on. Yes, it's to give insight, but sometimes it's a red herring. Also, it's playful and fun to think about; you should try it sometime.

 

And here I thought everyone had perused HP Lexicon at least once.

 

Harry's my favorite: It comes from Har Wald, meaning "Army Commander".

 

And where's the army that Harry commands? He's the best example of a glorified stooge. The real general is that genius Dumbledore.

 

Isn't this where the argument about Dumbledore's Army usually comes into play? Granted only three members, besides Ron and Hermione, followed him into the pitched battle that was the DoM. But shouldn't that still count for something?

 

No.

Why are we discussing this?

 

Was a way back, but anyway:

Consider:

1. You need a wand to apparate. (In DH, when locked up at Malfoy Manor, Ron's given reason for not being able to apparate out is not having a wand).

2. We've seen wizards apparate without holding wands.

Conclusion: a good number of wizards can use magic with a wand, without holding that wand.

That is: Harry's Lumos wasn't that special.

Regarding the range of apparition, there's a problem with using stuff like Voldemort choosing to fly rather than apparate as evidence. The problem is that, even if we put a relatively short limit on apparition range (say, 500 miles), it still makes no sense that Voldemort would fly. There's nothing to stop him just apparating to the limit of his range, then apparating again immediately after, as many times as he needs. We know from apparition lessons, and from Fred and George in OotP, that wizards can apparate multiple times in quick succession.

So Voldemort chose to fly deliberately. He chose to go slower than he could. And if Voldemort was choosing to fly, then the argument that apparation has a limit because Voldemort was flying rather than apparating falls apart.

 

That's one explanation, but it was also vague enough that it has been argued that Ron meant it would be useless to Apparate to Bellatrix et al without a wand. <-- This is not my take, but what I'm saying is that we never hear *specifically* in canon - even during the Apparation LESSONS in HBP - that you *must* have a wand to Apparate.

I like the idea of needing a wand to do it and that's my take, but it's never flat-out stated. You could argue that Ron's statement *is* the proof, but we both know that you'd likely argue from the other perspective if someone else made their case with only that as their evidence.

I don't recall that every happening in canon, unless you mean Harry's possible accidental magic Apparation in primary school. Can you give me another example? Because that instance is not the norm and not doesn't count simply for the fact that it was accidental and unintentional magic.

That is a serious leap of logic, Taure. Would you care to give other examples, and please don't use the "Quirrel snapped his fingers and Harry was tied up in ropes" from PS, because that book is so full of plot holes it's practically Swiss cheese.

I can give a few that I *think* might qualify: Harry effectively casts a Stinging Hex first on Uncle Vernon at the beginning of OotP, and later in the same book casts what is pretty much the same thing on Snape during Occlumency lessons. Granted, Harry was holding his wand both times (or at least had it on his person), but in neither case did he consciously cast a spell; he was emotional and reacted magically.

[NOTE: I refuse to use "his magic reacted," as that implies there is 'your' magic and 'their' magic, which in turn implies that it could possibly be 'taken away' somehow, and that is something on which I will always call bullshit.]

He's shown flying because it's a good way to show just how far he is above even the most gifted of witches and wizards. Nowhere in all the other 6 books has anyone at all been able to fly unaided by a broom or a carpet. It's just another step in showing how outclassed our favorite underdog is, and besides that it's just damn cool.

So yeah, he might've been flying to begin with as he's wanting to savor his trip to see Grindelwald, but to say he's be traveling back deliberately slowly - when despite his warnings he's been summoned by either Bellatrix or Lucius - is just silly.

Look, Harry has a direct connection into Voldemort's mind. He's got front-row seats, he's wired directly in, etc. to Voldemort's thoughts at several points in DH, and that scene is one of them. And what does Harry say? "He'll be here soon," "Soon he'll be close enough to Apparate," etc. That to me isn't Harry's random assessment; it's him knowing what Voldemort is thinking/feeling/doing, and if Voldemort *could* have Apparated, I think it's pretty clear that he would have.

And as I stated earlier, it's said in one of the supplemental books (which I've found is QTTA) that only highly skilled wizards would try intercontinental Apparation. That's pretty vague since that could mean from the UK to "the Continent," but whatever.

 

This is probably the place for this question then.

I've got a little grammatical problem with the word House-elf.

Essentially, I'm at the part of my fic where I'm introducing Winky at the Quidditch World Cup and the following conversation has more uses of the word House-elf than you can shake your proverbial stick at.

So is it House-elf, House-Elf or house-elf?

 

Canon says it's house-elf.

 

Sweetness. Thanks, that was driving me mad.

 

So the discussion of Apparition has raised another question for me. Can Apparition be used to travel to places people haven't been?

On a related note - maybe Voldemort flew to Numengrad (sp?) because he hadn't been there and therefore couldn't Apparate there. Of course, this idea goes out the window if the answer to my question is yes.

 

If you haven't been there, you'd have to have someone leading you or have a clear picture of it in your mind. I like that QttA ascribes intercontinental Apparition as limited by skill and not power. What's more, Nurmengard would have all sorts of protections upon it to prevent Grindelwald from escaping. Voldemort would need to do his flying fog bit all the way in and probably all the way out. Even so, he may not know of places midway between Nurmengard and Wiltshire to use for the multiple-Apparition trick, meaning he would only be jumping as far as he could see, again and again.



The reason to fog-fly instead of Apparate is more basic- you can see what you're getting into before you arrive, cast spells as you fly and are at a low risk for splinching due to accidental interception by birds or unseen electrical wires.

I never thought that Apparating required a wand since the Twins popped all over Grimmauld Place without raising a wand, nor were the students in Wilkie Twycross' classes instructed to 'make sure your wand is at hand'. Ron's statement in DH made less sense- we know anti-apparition jinxes exist, yet he seems to think he could pop out if only he had a wand. The only reason to take him at his word is that no one contradicts him (and there are smart folk handy to do so- Ollivander & Luna for starters). Hagrid disappears while walking with Harry in PS, but that's early enough that inconsistency is expected. Besides, he had a wand, even though he's not supposed to.

@Sesc- just thinking of it, there may be a sort of Apparition beacon that a first responder would activate to lead other Ministry officials to an unknown location, or similar beacons set up wherever they put the things to detect accidental magic- thaumaseismographs- so that the Aurors can land hidden nearby and then assess the situation. But yeah- whatever works for your story, just stay consistent, right?

 

Forcing people to know the location that they're Apparating to is a good way to limit its usefulness if that's what you're looking for.

The canon examples raise some good points. I suppose if you wanted you could say that hitting someone with a tracking charm allows you to Apparate somewhere you've never been by following the charm (this is an idea that I'm looking at incorporating into a story that I'm trying to write) or maybe if someone shows you a picture or pensieve memory of the location?

One thing I do hate is the whole Apparating to coordinates idea.