Hidden Meanings in the Books
WARNING: INCLUDES NAMES FROM ALL FOUR BOOKS
If you have more names e-mail hermionehedwig@fawkes.zzn.com

Harry Potter Names

Argus (as in Filch)- The hundred-eyed servant of Zeus' wife, Hera, who watched over a girl to make sure Zeus never saw her again (Hera was VERY jealous; Zeus had a lot of kids, and only two of them were technically Hera's. You figure it out).

Sybil (as in Trelawney)- One who can predict the future.

(Remus) Lupin- Wolf like (Seriously!). Also, Remus was the twin of Romulus, founder of Rome, according to legend. In that legend, a wolf nursed them both. Doesn't that make sense, as Remus is a werewolf? Lupin's first name comes from Roman mythology. Remus and his twin Romulus were reared by a female wolf. Romulus later was to found the city of Rome. I think he cheated Remus out of his inheritance. So, Prof. Lupin probably has an evil twin brother, which might account for his poor clothing and shabby existence.

Minerva (as in McGonagall)- The Roman goddess of war and wisdom (the Greek god Athena).

Hippogriff- Okay, this one's trickier. The "griff" comes from griffin, and the "hippo" comes from...hippo. But there's a catch. Hippos are nothing but river horses. Honestly. So they are half bird (griffin) and half horse (hippo).

Basilisk- a basilisk is a mythical serpent with a chicken’s head that can kill with one glance.

Phoenix- A mythical bird that burns itself and is reborn from the ashes.

Sirius- Sirius is the brightest star in I think the night sky (which makes Sirius BLACK a little ironic). This star is in a constellation. Do you know what animal that constellation is? Canis major, a dog.

Voldemort- Meaning "Dark Lord" in another language. Also means "Flight of Death" in French (?). Aaron tells us that "flight of death" is actually vol des morts.

Hagrid- Means "giant" in a different language. And now we know that he IS half-giant!

Severus (as in Snape)- Snape is very severe, and with a little word play, that can become "Severus." Also submitted by Maureen. And by the way, it’s pronounced, "Snap."

Mrs. Norris- This name was taken from Jane Austin's, "Mansfield Park." She is a nosy preachers wife.

Dumbledore- In Old England, dumbledore meant "bumblebee."   "Albus" means white in Latin, referring possibly to his beard or the fact that he's a good guy (white=good, black=bad).

The Mirror of Erised- Erised backwards is "desire." The whole inscription on the Mirror of Erised is, "I show not your face but your hearts desire" backwards.

Bagman- a bagman is a person who collects money for loan sharks and illegal gambling businesses. Some people call announcers bags of hot air, which makes him BAG-man. Also, Ludo means, "to play" in Latin.

Fleur Delacour- Fleur is flower, so her whole name is something like "flower of the court" (fleur de la cour). But others think that her name translates to "flower of the heart".

Olympe Maxime- Still more word play here. "Olympe" is a play on (Mount) Olympus, the largest mountain in mythology where the Greek gods were thought to live. Maxime is becomes maximum, or biggest.

Crabbe and Goyle- If you switch the first consonants; it's what a snake does to their prey, grab (grabbe) and coyle.

(Rita) Skeeter- Rita is a beetle, or a bug. A mosquito, also a bug is sometimes referred to as a "skeeter". This goes in two ways, because she bugs some (all) people and she is a bug.

Draco Malfoy- Draco is the Latin word for dragon and malfoy means something like bad faith. Stephen Fry said what it meant during his interview with J.K., but I'm not sure what it was. Mal means bad, and foy means boy so Malfoy would be bad boy. In French, 'mal' means 'evil' and 'foy' can be an old French spelling of 'foi', which means 'faith'. So, 'Malfoy' might be (roughly) 'Badfaith'.

Lucius Malfoy- As said above, malfoy would mean bad boy, Lucius refers to Lucifer, the fallen angel, or, the devil.

Wormwood- This plant is mentioned by Snape in the Sorcerer's Stone, and it is a real plant that is illegal to grow and used in some of the worst hallucinogens.

Lockharte (as in Gilderoy Lockharte)- In the Chamber of Secrets, Gilderoy Lockharte wrote very popular biographies of himself. There was a man named R.Lockhart, who lived in England in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries who wrote a seven-volume biography of his father, and this biography is one of the more popular in the English language.

Hermione (as in Hermione Granger)- Hermione was a mythological woman in ancient Greece. She was the daughter of Helen of Troy and Menelaus, King of Sparta. She was engaged to a man named Oristheus, but married somebody else instead. That somebody else was murdered by Oristheus, and after Oristheus killed her first husband, Hermione decided to remarry. Her second husband was none other than Oristheus, who murdered her first husband.

Alleys- If you say Diagon Alley and Knockturn Alley each as one word you get diagonally and nocturnally.

Books- the authors of many of the wizarding books have to do with the subject of the book. Here are some examples; Curses and Counter- curses (Bewitch Your Friends and Befuddle Your Enemies with the Latest Revenges... by Vindictus Viridian (vindict means to get revenge)
One Thousand Magical Herbs and Funji by Phyllida Spore (phyllo means leaf in Greek and spores are a type of seed)
Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger (arsenic refers to a chemical used to form poisonous compound and one definition of jig is to prepare something)
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander (a newt is a type of amphibian and Scamander- Salamander

Plants- Some of the magical plants are real. Mandrakes are a plant with a root that is said to resemble a human body that was used to heal ailments (Mandrake is mentioned in Macbeth, after Macbeth and Banquo meet the witches). Also monkshood (also known as wolfsbane in HP) is a plant of the genus aconitum.

The Goblet of Fire- When you drink from the sorcerer’s stone you will live forever. Well, maybe the goblet of fire is it's cousin. You put your name in it and it decides weather or not you are fit for the tournament that you might die in. And since you are willing to die you prove yourself.

Draco Dormiens Nuquam Titilandus- The Hogwarts Motto means, "Never Tickle a Sleeping Dragon" in Latin.

Beaubaxtons- The name means "good sticks" in French, referring to the wands on the crest.

Krumm- Krumm is a German adjective used in phrases such as 'don’t slouch' and 'sit up straight'. This is a message as Krumm always slouches around.

Floo Powder- Floo is a play on words, as it could be "They flew with Floo from flue to flue".

The Grim- In England, there's said to be this phantom who resembles a giant beast-like dog with burning red eyes who is said to be a form of the devil himself. It's said that once you see this devil dog, you or somebody you know or love will die, but if you do not speak of the grim for two years, you have a chance of not dying.

Durmstrang- Durmstrang is word play on the German words, sturm and drang. Sturm is storm and drang is troubles which fits well because the book says they put emphasis on the Dark Arts (troubles) and the ship they came in looked eerie like it had been resurrected after sinking in a storm. In the book The Merlin Effect, there is a ship called Ressureccion (Spanish for resurrection) that probably did exist since there is a ballad about it in the back, but the author may have written it.

Veritaserum- The truth potion that Snape uses in "Veritaserum"...veritaserum has a Latin word in it that means "truth".

Lily and Petunia- Lily and Petunia are both named after flowers.

Fidelius- you know the Fidelius Charm that Lily and James Potter used? Fidelium means "Secret" in a foreign language. Fidelity means to be faithful (I think), so maybe for the charm to work, Lily and James needed to be faithful? If this is the case, I see a whole new twist coming on.