The Sorcerer's Companion: A Guide to the Magical World of Harry Potter (8 page)

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The Meaning Behind the Names

Acknowledgements

Bibliography

Illustration Credits

f you’re like most Harry Potter fans, you probably know that Harry’s prized possession is his broomstick, Hermione’s favorite subject is arithmancy, and a magnificent creature called a hippogriff helped Sirius Black evade capture. But did you know that wizards were once thought to fly on pitchforks, arithmancy is an ancient form of fortune-telling, and the hippogriff was first mounted by the legendary knights of Charlemagne? Or that Professor Dumbledore’s friend Nicholas Flamel, creator of the Sorcerer’s Stone, was a real person?