All Things Alliterated in Harry Potter

While reading or watching the Harry Potter series, you might have experienced that certain names or titles are so melodious and sonorous. That is because the texts of Harry Potter use a literary device called alliteration. The repetition of sounds and letters in words is known as alliteration. These similar phonetic sounds decorate the sentences and amplify the reader’s experience. An easy example of alliteration is ‘Seven sisters’, the sound of ‘S’ is repeated here. Many names in the Harry Potter universe have this form of alliteration. Let’s start an interesting game and count all the names of characters or places that are alliterated.

First, let’s begin with the names of characters in the lore of Wizarding World that contain the same sounds.

 

The Four Founders

 

 

Like the title, The Four Founders of Hogwarts have names that are so articulated and easy to say. The names, ‘Godric Gryffindor’, ‘Helga Hufflepuff’, ‘Salazar Slytherin’ and ‘Rowena Ravenclaw’ have the same alphabet in the first and last name which adds an effect to the overall reading experience.

 

Hogwarts Teachers

 

 

Various professors at Hogwarts also have a phonetic name. ‘Minerva McGonagall’, ‘Filius Flitwick’, ‘Severus Snape’, ‘Poppy Pomfrey ‘, and ‘Quirinus Quirrell’ all harbor the same pattern of repetition.

 

Hogwarts Students

 

 

Now the students of the school who have this structure in their names are ‘Cho Chang’, and ‘Colin Creevey’. ‘Gregory Goyle’, ‘Luna Lovegood’, ‘Pansy Parkinson’, ‘Padma Patil’, ‘Parvati Patil’.

 

Hogwarts Ghosts

 

 

The titles of many misty ghosts of Hogwarts are also similar to the above. Slytherin’s ‘The Bloody Baron’, Hufflepuff’s ‘The Fat Friar’, Gryffindor’s ‘Nearly Headless Nick’, ‘Moaning Myrtle’, and ‘Peeves the Poltergeist’ carry similar consonant chimes.

 

Other Wizards and Witches

 

 

‘Bathilda Bagshot’, ‘Dedalus Diggle’, ‘Gellert Grindelwald’, ‘and Peter Pettigrew’ are some other names that are similarly woven.

 

Muggles

 

 

Harry’s cousin ‘Dudley Dursley’ and Nymphedora Tonks’s father ‘Ted Tonks’ are some other examples.

Finished with the characters, now we are onto other things in the Wizarding World that are titled like them.

 

Spells

 

 

All incantations used in the world of witchcraft are mellow and mellifluous and some of the spells contain the sounds which are repeated. The spells such as ‘Vera Verto’ used to transform an animal into a goblet and ‘waddiwasi’ used to propel an object are both articulated. The ‘Bat Bogey Hex’ transforms the target bogeys into bats that fly out of their nose is also phonetic. The chant ‘Peskipiksi Pesternomi’ used by Gilderoy Lockhart when he tried capturing cornish pixies is alliterated with both ‘P’ and ‘S’.

 

Places

 

 

There are tons of magical locations in the Wizarding World that have a poetic and resonant title. From ‘Malfoy Manor’ to ‘The Ministry of Magic’, there are various sites that are adorned with titles like these. Diagon Alley’s streets are crowded with shops that have aesthetic titles such as ‘Florean Frotescue’s Ice cream parlor’, ‘Eeylops Owl Emporium’. Additionally, a magical pet shop ‘Magical Menagerie’, cloaks and robes shop ‘Madam Malkin’s Robes’ are another bunch of examples. Fred and George’s popular joke shop ‘Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes’ is another one. Some others are Knockturn Alley’s antique shop ‘Borgin and Burkes’ and Hogsmeade’s ‘Shrieking Shack’ and ‘Hogs Head’. There are some places in Hogwarts such as ‘The Room of Requirement’, ‘Forbidden Forest’ and ‘Hagrid’s Hut’ which are as fluently vibrant in their names as their ambiance.

 

Magical Things

 

 

There are various bewitched and magical things and objects in the Harry Potter universe that are named using alliteration such as Hermoine’s ‘Time Turner’ and the magical map of Hogwarts ‘Marauders’ Map’. Prank objects created by Fred and George Weasley such as ‘Weasleys Wild-fire Whiz-Bangs’, ‘Skiving Snackboxes’, ‘Headless Hat’, ‘Ton-Tongue Toffees’, ‘Extendable Ears’, ‘Pygmy Puffs’ are some other example

 

Phrases and Idioms

 

 

The idiom ‘Galloping Gargoyles’ or ‘Gulping Gallons’ is used to express shock. The infamous and popular tongue twister ‘Babbling Bumbling Band of Baboons’ by Professor McGonagall is heavily alliterated. The phrase used to close off the Marauders Map ‘Mischief Managed’ is highly melodious as well.

Have we missed any titles that contain alliterations in the Harry Potter Universe? Let us know in the comment section below!