Comics & Literature

Hidden Messages In Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone

Published

3 years ago

September 11, 2020

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone image — _{Warner Bros.}

Did you know that there are hidden messages in the Harry Potter series? J.K Rowling could not have predicted the impact her wizarding world would have on society when she wrote the Harry Potter books back in the 1990s.

The first book in the series, The Philosopher’s Stone captured the hearts of many pre-teens who were also starting out at high school, and although they didn’t have the option of choosing a wand in the run-up to the first day of school, The Philosopher’s Stone enabled those an escape to a more enchanting realm of witchcraft and wizardry.

However, Rowling’s work holds a more meaningful element that isn’t obvious at first glance. In fact, the books contain many powerful hidden messages that can be found between the lines. Here are some hidden messages from Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.

Character Names

Rowling’s imagination knew no bounds when it came to naming her characters. Yet, many have deeper meanings than first thought. In fact, the names are often closely related to their traits. Here are a few examples:

The name Voldermort translates from the French language as “flight of death”, fitting the character’s need to escape from death. Voldermort splits his soul into pieces so that he cannot be killed easily. He is also the epitome of death throughout the series. He represents the death of Harry Potter’s parents as well as many more.

The French translation of Draco Malfoy is “bad faith”. This sums up Draco’s personality as a whole, it is also a clue to his intentions from the get-go.

The names Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore each hold a significant meaning. Albus, in Latin, translates as “white” which symbolises the colour of “goodness”, it also refers to his long, white beard. Percival was the name of one of King Arthur’s knights of the round table. He was the first to search for the lost grail. This parallels to Dumbledore’s search for Voldemort’s Horcruxes. Wulfric of Haselbury was a 12th-century, miracle-working historic figure. Although Rowling could have placed ‘Brian’ into the mix to mock his overtly long-winded name, it could also be a nod to a Celtic translation meaning “noble”. In an interview with Lyndon Christopher back in 1999, Rowling stated that she had given the name Dumbledore as “[he] is very fond of music, I always imagined him as sort of humming to himself a lot.” As Dumbledore is an old English word for ‘bumblebee’, the name fits perfectly.

Hogwarts House Colours

The colours that represent the four Hogwarts houses loosely link to the four elements. Gryffindor has a lion as its emblematic animal, and the house colour, red, signifies fire. Slytherin’s emblem is of a snake, and the colour is green which identifies with water. Hufflepuff has a badger as its symbolic animal and the main colour is yellow, linking to earth. Finally, Ravenclaw’s badge is of an eagle, and blue which roughly links to air.

It is possible that the house colours also represent the four British Isles. Godric Gryffindor originated from England and the logo of a lion corresponds with England’s own coat of arms. Rowena Ravenclaw was Scottish. There is also a link between the blue of Ravenclaw’s symbolic colour and the blue found in the Scottish flag. Helga Hufflepuff was a Welsh witch. It isn’t clear where Salazar Slytherin first resided, but the house colours, green and white, could resemble Irish descent.

Hedwig

Hedwig appears in every one of the Harry Potter books. The owl is like a guardian to orphaned Harry Potter, and this could be exactly why Rowling named him as such. In Catholicism, St. Hedwig, or Hedwig of Silesia, is known for her generosity and kindness during her rule beside her husband, Duke of Greater Poland. Named after the patron saint, St Hedwig orphanage in Chicago took in thousands of orphaned children up until its closure in the 1950s.

Snape’s first words to Harry Potter

Snape’s first words to Harry is a question about the mixing of certain potions: “What would I get if I mixed root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?” Though, this isn’t a way of embarrassing Potter as you would first believe. When delving deeper into the two ingredients, a message emerges. Asphodel is, in fact, a flower from the Lily family, also the name of Harry Potter’s mother and the long-lost love of Snape. Also, lilies are often gifted after death as they represent the restored innocence of the soul that departed. Wormwood associates with regret and has a bitter taste.

The sorting hat

Harry first encounters the sorting hat on his first day at Hogwarts. The hat “sorts” the newcomers into their appropriate houses. It’s significant that the hat attempts to place Harry into Slytherin, as he has the qualities the house desires, but Harry is determined to stick with noble Gryffindor. This signals that Harry has a connection to Slytherin although he is yet to realise this.

Dumbledore and Hagrid: Two contrasting father-figures

We’ve established that Albus translates to “white” in Latin, but “rubeo”, also in Latin, means “red”. It looks like Rowling didn’t accidentally use colours to describe Harry Potter’s two father figures. Using Pottermore she describes how the two colours are actually contrasting in the science of alchemy: “I named them for the alchemical colours to convey their opposite but complementary natures: Red meaning passion (or emotion), white for asceticism; Hagrid being the earthy, warm and physical [father figure] […] Dumbledore the theoretician, brilliant, idealized and somewhat detached.’ For Potter, both traits are essential in his guardianship as he journeys through the wizarding world.

Are there any hidden messages in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone we missed? Let us know in the comments below.

Read more of our Harry Potter articles HERE

Read IMDB information about the Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone movie HERE.

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Comics & Literature

DC Fandome 2021 – Revelations, Trailers and the future

Published

1 year ago

October 18, 2021

Sarah Casserley

At the recent virtual DC Fandome 2021 over 66 million fans tuned in across 220 countries. They listened in 12 different languages. All to find out the scoop on what’s to come for the comic book franchise, new DC revelations and even watch trailers of soon to be released films and TV shows.

But, if you weren’t one of the millions to be watching from home, below is the Film, TV and Gaming announcements and revelations that would interest any DC fan.

FILMS

Black Adam

DC Fandome 2021 started with a world exclusive trailer of Black Adam! The man himself Dwayne Johnson. Along with a host of the films other stars including Pierce Brosnan, Aldis Hodge, Quintessa Swindell and Noah Centineo. They introduce themselves and the exclusive trailer.

During the 4-minute intro below, you see Johnson excitably launch his passion project. He explains how much the Black Adam universe means to him. We are also told that the film is currently in post-production with the film being released on the 29th of July 2022.

We don’t get much information or storyline from the trailer. But Dwayne’s enthusiasm for the character and the gritty darkness of what we do get in the trailer is enough, for now, to keep us excited about this Movie.

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom

During the day’s events, Jason Momoa was on hand to give fans an in-depth dive into the world of Aquaman. Firstly, apologising for the four-year wait. However, Momoa and director James Wan appeased fans with a host of behind-the-scenes clips. Plus a glimpse of some unusual conceptual art. Which included quirky looking desert creatures and giant grasshoppers.

We have also been promised by Wan that we are going to be getting a film that’s more mature, giving the audience something new, exciting and an experience we haven’t seen before. The 2-and-a-half-minute look into the sequel, below, was enough to make any fan excited for its theatrical release in December 2022.

DC’s League of Super-Pets

A fun animated adventure was also announced. DC’s League of Super-Pets will bring super-pets like Krypto and Ace the Bat-Hound to life for the first time.

In an exclusive trailer, fans were introduced to the two pups, voiced by Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart, in a light-hearted look into the film. The full movie voice by the comedy pairing along with some other famous names such as Keanu Reeves and Vanessa Bayer is set to be released next November.

The Flash

Another film trailer to hit the DC Fandome 2021 screens was The Flash. Portrayed once again by Ezra Miller and directed by Andy Muschietti. Fans were introduced to the trailer and the concept of the film, where the Flash unlocks the DC cinematic universe. He time hops back to the ’90s where Michael Keaton, reprises his role, he originated in 1989’s ‘Batman’ and 1992’s ‘Batman Returns’.

We’re elated that we get another film with Michael Keaton as Batman. Even if the storyline does sound a little farfetched. We’re sure Muschietti will get the narrative across perfectly and the film will be an instant hit. The film is due to hit cinemas in November 2022.

The Batman

The DC Fandome 2021 team knew exactly what they were doing when they left the release of the second Batman trailer to the very end of the day. Like fans around the world, we also couldn’t wait to see more of Patterson, fully suited up, showcasing his gritty take on the hero. Director Matt Reeves, Robert Pattinson (Batman) and Zoe Kravitz (Selina Kyle/ cat woman) were there to lead the trailers release.

Granted the jury is still out if Patterson can pull of the dark knight or not but we have to admit we are excited to see him in action. We also have a sneaky suspicion that for the first time in a film setting since Michelle Pfeifferthey may have nailed the casting for Selina Kyle with Zoe Kravitz. We don’t have long left to find all this out though, as after a few Covid related interruptions Batman is now set to be released in theatres on March 4th, 2022.

Injustice and Catwoman: Hunted

If some of these DC film releases seem a little far away, fear not because we were also made aware that two animated films will be released quite soon. With Injustice’s release this October and an anime-inspired animated DC offering in the form of Catwoman on February the 8th 2022, both the feature-length animations will be available on digital, 4K and Blu-ray. To take a sneak peak of Catwoman: Hunted you can watch the trailer below.

RETURNING TV

When it came to the TV side of the DC world there were a lot of announcements and trailers mainly around continuing shows such as, Titans, Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow and Stargirl along with the more anticipated trailers for:

Batwoman

Has been renewed for another season, despite the departure of Ruby Rose. The new trailer showcased its new Batwoman – Ryan Wilder played by Javicia Leslie.

Doom Patrol

Is set to be returning for a fourth season. During the announcement followers of the show were treated to a wonderfully odd and endearing mid-season trailer.

The Flash

Is set for yet another inter-universe team up as The Flash team takes on a deadly mission against the ‘Armageddon’ villains. Which could decide the fate of humankind. The villainous gang is headed up by Tony Cuttan as Despero, Arrowverse’s Tom Cavanagh as Eobard Thawne/Reverse Flash and Neal McDonough as Damien Darhk.

NEW TV

Peacemaker

First seen in this summer’s ‘The Suicide Squad’ Movie, John Cena’s comedic take of the Peacemaker is set to have its own HBO Max show. The fun and quirky trailer to the first series premiered at the event. Along with a behind the scenes look at the making of the series. It shows that director James Gunn is staying true to his unique, comedic style. The Trailer also shows the other great actors involved in the series including the hilarious ‘Orange is the New Black’ star Danielle Brooks, Christopher Heyerdahl, Robert Patrick and Jennifer Holland. This eight-episode series is set to be released on 13 January.

The Sandman

Viewers of the event didn’t find out much about this Netflix offering. But we did get glimpses of Gwendoline Christie as Lucifer Morningstar. Wwhich let’s be honest along with the announcement that this is actually happening, is enough to get most of us DC fans excited about its release. There is no release date yet but I’m sure over the coming months there will be more announcements about this extraordinarily dark and forbidding series.

NAOMI

Based on the comic book series of the same name created by Brian Michael Bendis, David F. Walker and Jamal Campbell. The TV adaptation of the story was announced with a one-minute ten-second trailer. This superhero drama is based around a comic book-loving teenager who discovers she has superpowers. Her curiosity leads her onto a journey into the Multiverse in search of answers. We haven’t got a definitive release date yet, but we have been promised it will be in 2022.

GAMES

Suicide squad: Kill the Justice League

Since the announcement of this game at last year’s Fandome we haven’t had much information or even any gameplay footage. However, at this year’s event, we did get quite an in-depth trailer and a little look at the storyline. In this game, the player gets a choice of playing Harley Quinn, King Shark, Captain Boomerang or Deadshot. As they take on a new mission against an alien threat that has brainwashed the Justice League. There is still no hint to a release date or even a gameplay trailer, but we have been assured 2022 will be full of hints about the game and hopefully a conclusive release date.

Gotham Knights

Another game trailer that was released at the Fandome, that excited fans across the world was Gotham Knights. Continuing its Arkham-style adventures, Games Montreal has been working hard on the narrative and gameplay functions of this game. This game, in particular, was supposed to be released sometime in 2021 but it was delayed and we have now got a 2022 release time frame.

In this game you get to play a number of characters including Batgirl, Nightwing, Robin, and Red Hood in an open-world action online RPG in order to uncover secrets and take down the Court of Owls.

So there you have it, some of the top DC new from the Fandome 2021. What do you think about all the new announcements? What are you most excited about? Let us know in the comments below..

Read our review of DC’s The Suicide Squad HERE.