MovieSet Dailies

Boost Your Potter lexicon to avoid looking like a Hogwart’s newbiee

By Jeff Otto
movieset.com

Okay, so you’re a little behind in the Harry Potter series. Maybe your favorite niece is coming to town and you’ve promised to watch all the movies before her visit so you can take her to see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince on July 15th. But then you realize there are five of these already, and each one is over two hours long. Yikes!

Don’t worry, Movieset has you covered. When little Janie or Susie or Mary or Melanie comes to town talking of Slytherin, Hufflepuff, Gryffindors and Quidditch matches, you’ll be able to hold your own at least enough to avoid sounding too much like a Muggle (Don’t worry, we’ll tell you what that is too).

Just to get you started, Half-Blood Prince is the sixth adaptation of J.K. Rowling’s wildly popular series of novels. As with the others, the central characters are Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe), Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) and Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint). To make things easier, remember that this is the sixth movie based on the sixth book telling about the aforementioned character’s sixth year at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. In this story, Potter discovers a book marked “Property of the Half-Blood Prince,” which unleashes some secrets of the mysterious dark Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes).

So here’s a list of characters and terms. Study up and you might still maintain that favorite uncle status. And if that doesn’t work, you can always just spend $52 dollars on candy at the movie theater and bribe your niece into a sugar coma.

The Movieset Harry Potter Glossary

Azkaban – The prison where naughty wizards are sent to pay for their magical crimes.

Bertie Botts – These jelly beans come in every flavor and I mean every flavor. Two varieties are vomit and dirt. Yum.

Boggart – This troublesome creature turns you into whatever you fear the most.

Crabbe – A Slytherin and one of Draco Malfoy’s (see below) sidekicks. He’s portly, smug and not to be trusted.

Draco Malfoy – The arch-enemy of goody-two-shoes Harry Potter, usually wearing an unpleasant sneer.

The Dursley Family – Harry’s only living relatives, but they aren’t exactly of the loving variety. In fact, due to their distrust of Potter’s magical abilities, they kept the poor boy sleeping in a cupboard for years, treating him like a second-class citizen.

Firebolt – The fastest, most advanced broomstick you can get. It can hit 150 miles per hour in only ten seconds.

Flobberworm – These thick, brown worms live in shallow ditches and grow up to ten inches in length.

Glumbumble – A grey, furry insect that flies. They descend from Northern Europe.

Goyle – Another sidekick of Malfoy’s, this one’s got the same sneer and an oddly high forehead.

Gryffindor – One of the four houses of the Hogwarts Academy. The school is named for Godric Gryfifndor, its colors are scarlet and gold. The house symbol is a lion. This is the house to which Harry, Hermione and Ron belong.

Hagrid – The beloved Hogwart’s groundskeeper. He is the one who rescued Potter from his unhappy home and first made him aware of his exceptional wizard abilities.

Harry Potter – The hero of the story. He was orphaned as a boy when the powerful wizard Voldemort murdered his parents. He shows great promise as a wizard and is getting more and more powerful through the course of his Hogwarts education.

Hedwig – Harry Potter’s pet snowy own, a gift from Hagrid on his 11th birthday.

Hermione Granger – One of Potter’s best friends. She’s a Gryffindor and one of the most brilliant members of her class. She’s also pretty easy on the eyes.

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry – The British school attended by all Witches and Wizards. Its four houses are named for Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin. It is located somewhere in Scotland.

Hogwart’s Express – The steam train that takes students from Platform Nine and Three Quarters at King’s Cross Station directly to Hogwarts.

Hufflepuff – Another Hogwarts house. This one is named after Helga Hufflepuff. The house colors are yellow and black. The house symbol is a badger.

Mackled Malaclaw – Although they look like your standard lobster, this red crustacean is land bound. Along with a sting, its bite results in seven days of bad luck.

Manticore – This deadly, Grecian beast has the head of a man, the body of a lion and the tale of a scorpion. One bite from this beast results in instant death.

M.O.M. – Acronym for the Ministry of Magic.

Muggle – This is a term wizards have for someone with no magical abilities.

Peppermint Toads – These tasty candies bounce around in your stomach after you digest them.

Quidditch – The most popular sport of the wizard world. There are seven players on each team riding around on broomsticks. There are four balls, the most important of which is the Golden Snitch. A team wins when they catch the Snitch.

Ravenclaw – Another Hogwarts house. This one is named after Rowena Ravenclaw. The house colors are blue and bronze. The house symbol is an eagle.

Ron Weasley – Potter’s other best friend and confidant at Hogwarts. He comes from a large family of wizards.

Scabbers – Ron’s pet rat. He doesn’t do much besides sleep.

Slytherin – The final of the four houses of Hogwarts. This one is named after Salazar Slytherin. The house colors are green and silver. The house symbol is the serpent. This is the house to which Potter’s enemy, Draco Malfoy, belongs.

Voldemort – The dark wizard that killed Potter’s parents. He has also tried to kill Harry.

Author: Jeff Otto