- Confirmed by JK Rowling
- Very confident in its accuracy
- Moderately confident in its accuracy
- Not very confident
- Confirmed false, but I felt like posting it anyway.
Fairy - a tiny, winged creature of little intelligence.
- Taken straight from folklore. The original fairies, or faeries, bestowed gifts upon newborn children, such as beauty, wealth and kindness. In the subsequent centuries they continued this original function, but expanded their activities into other types of meddling in human affairs.
Falco Aesalon - See "Aesalon, Falco"
Fawcett (Miss) - Hufflepuff mentioned in the Dueling club. Also mentioned in GoF as one of the students to unsuccessfully cross the age line, and necking with a Ravenclaw named Stebbins at the Yule Ball.
- Because she ended up with a bloody nose in the dueling club, her name could be a play on "faucet".
Fawkes - Dumbledore's loyal pet phoenix.
- Guy Fawkes (1570-1606) was English conspirator. He became implicated with Thomas Winter and others in the Gunpowder Plot to blow up Parliament as a protest against the anti-Roman Catholic laws. On the night of November 4-5, 1605, he was caught in a cellar underneath the House of Lords and arrested. Guy Fawkes Day is celebrated on November 5 in the United Kingdom and some other parts of the British Commonwealth with bonfires and fireworks. A celebration with bonfires is rather appropriate for a Phoenix, who burns up every few hundred years. (Thanks to Julie on the Amazon.com HP message boards for making the connection!) The full story: The Gunpowder Plot.
Felix Felicis - Luck potion
- From About.com: "Latin for fortunate, lucky, or happy. Felix is the nominative singular, and felicis is the genitive singular."
Fenrir Greyback - See "Greyback, Fenrir"
Ferula - a spell to make a splint (for a broken bone)
- "Ferule" is a wooden stick, which is used in a splint.
Fidelius charm - complicated spell consisting of hiding a secret inside a living soul.
- "Fidelity" means "faithfulness to obligations or duties".
Filch, Argus - Bad-tempered squib caretaker at Hogwarts.
- "Argus" is a hundred-eyed giant (also called Panoptes, Greek for "the all-seeing") employed by Hera to guard Io, one of Zeus' lovers turned into a cow. He was lulled to sleep, then killed by Hermes (Greek mythology).
"Filch" is a verb that means "to steal".
Filibuster Fireworks - See "Dr. Filibuster's Fabulous No-Heat Wet-Start Fireworks"
Finite Incantatem - charm used by Snape to end the chaos at Dueling Club.
- Combination of "fini" (stop, end) and "incantation" (ritual recitation of verbal charms or spells to produce a magic effect).
Fire Crab - a large, tortiselike creature that shoots flames from its rear end when attacked.
- While the "crab" bit provokes several questions, the "fire" half is rather obvious.
Firenze - centaur that rescued Harry in the Forbidden Forest. Later becomes Hogwarts' Divination professor to replace Trelawney.
- Firenze is the Italian name for Florence, Italy. Thanks to Jenna for making the connection to Galileo Galilei, who was buried in Firenze, and arguably the greatest astronomer who ever lived. This seems fairly appropriate for a stargazing centaur.
Flagrate - spell Hermione uses to mark a used door with a fiery X
- From "conflagration," a large, disasterous fire.
Flamel, Nicholas - alchemist and friend to Dumbledore.
-
"Flamel was a famous character of his time, an official of the university reputed to be an alchemist. People thought he had got the gold to buy this mansion from finding the philosopher's stone-but really he married a rich widow." [from guidebook Cadogan Paris] (thanks to the Encyclopedia Potterica).
From The Encyclopedia of Occult Sciences:
"The Matter of the Great-Work, mixed with a liquid, liquefied, constituted the Elixir, the celebrated Elixir of long life which was to produce marvellous results. This is mentioned in all the pamphlets of the time; it aroused as much interest as the Philosopher's Stone itself; and legend relates that Nicholas Flamel and his wife Pernella, having drunk it, went to live for ever on an enchanted isle.
From Amanda on HP4GU (based on info from Alchemy Lab. Nicholas Flamel was (is?) a famous Alchemist. He and his wife Perrenelle supposedly worked out how to create the Philosopher's Stone from a book he came into possession of. What is known with certainty is that despite having a mundane job as a bookseller, he suddenly became very rich, giving away lots of gold to found orphanages (many of which still exist today) and help the poor and needy. Legend says that he and is wife faked their deaths, and remain forever young to this day.
Fletcher, Mundungus - member of the Order of the Phoenix. Tried to curse Arthur Weasley behind his back in CoS.
- Mundungus means "tobacco." JKR explains that Mundungus is always smelling of his pipe and various other unsavoury things, so that's why he's called Mundungus. A "Fletcher" is a maker of arrows.
Fleur Delacour - See "Delacour, Fleur"
Flint, Marcus - Slytherin Quidditch captain
- Like Oliver Wood, Flint's last name is a raw material. To describe someone as "flinty" would indicate a person that was "unyielding and stern, showing unfeeling resistance to tender feelings" (Dictionary.com). This summarizes Marcus Flint's character quite accurately. As an added bonus, "Captain Flint" is the notoriously evil (but now, long dead) pirate from Treasure Island, whose treasure everyone seeks in the book. Long John Silver names his parrot after him.
Flitwick (Professor) - Charms teacher
- "Flitwick" is a city near London.
Flobberworm - incredibly boring creature
- According to the Dictionary of Newfoundland English, "flobber" describes "anything loose and flabby." (Thanks to dramaqueen0225)
Floo Powder - used by wizards to travel by fire
- A "flue" is a pipe, tube, or channel for conveying hot steam or smoke (like a chimney).
Flume, Ambrosius - owner of Honeydukes
- Flume: "An open, artificial channel or chute carrying a stream of water, as for furnishing power or conveying logs."
- Ambrosius: From ambrosia, the food of the gods, or "something with an especially delicious flavor".
Together, the owner of Honeydukes would be an individual that conveyed or distributed especially delicious foods.
Ford Anglia - The Weasley's family car
- The Weasleys' Anglia is probably the 105E edition, which was popular in the 1960's. The 105E is depicted on the cover of CoS (UK edition) and Jo arrived in one when she launched GoF at King's Cross Station this year. According to Neil on HP4GU, it's a tiny car, which is important to the humour in references to the magically roomy seats and capacious boot (trunk). In reality, four people squeezed into a Muggle version would feel a bit like four gorillas in a shoebox.
Fudge, Cornelius - bumbling Minister of Magic
- There was a pope named Saint Cornelius, whose reign was marked by the controversy over the lapsed (those under persecution who had renounced Christianity). Cornelius's leniency toward the lapsed drew the support of the bishop of Carthage, St. Cyprian, but aroused the opposition of the Roman priest Novatian. He was exiled, then martyred in 253, where he was succeeded by a bishop named Lucius. (that's worth a shiver up your spine!)
- According to Gramarye, "Oswald" is a reference to Sir Oswald Mosley (1896-1980). Mosley came from a very privileged background, but his claim to infamy rests upon his creation of the British Union of Fascists (the Blackshirts) in 1932. While the party was something of a joke, the ideas behind it most certainly were not. The BUF was banned into 1940, and Mosley and other senior British Fascists were interned in detention centres for much of the Second World War.
- "Fudge" can mean "to evade or dodge". Now that we see Fudge's true character, we realize that he refuses to accept that Voldemort has returned. Of course, "fudge" can also mean "deal with incompetently," which is quite appropriate as well.
Furnunculus - curse that creates boils on the victim's body
- Possibly derived from "furuncle", which is a type of boil.
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