Magic use in Harry Potter novels charted

Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2016/10/20/magic-use-in-harry-potter-nove.html

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Truly laconic, that Snape.

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First, as someone who skipped that particular series and was introduced to it mostly through movies, I was disappointed when I learned the spell was not, in fact, “Abra Cadaver”. I like the way I heard it better.

Second, the D&D player is toally unsurprised that “kill that thing” is one of the most-used spells. In fact, I’m surprised there aren’t a wider range of offensive spells: “set that on fire”, “hit that with a brick”, “turn that inside out”. I suppose if the murder spell is that easy to learn, why would you bother, but it’s still weird to me.

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This isn’t quite what is claimed. Though the description says each occurrence is an actual usage, the infographic also includes each time a spell is mentioned without being used. That makes avada kedavra’s 6th place appearance much more understandable and much less interesting. It hasn’t been used nearly as often as it has been mentioned by name.

I dunno.

Other than “Accio,” “Lumos,” and “Muffliato,” (Telekinesis, Light, and Silence spells, respectively) the other 8 of the top 11 spells are attack spells. Granted, two of them are only effective against particular types of magical creature, but in addition to the Killing Curse, there’s also Stun, Disarm, Pain, Slow, and Paralyse among the most commonly used.

Alan Rickman was awesome-sauce.

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If you ask me, Silencio sounds more proper. Muffliato seems more like a title for what it sounds like…making muffins. Possibly caffeinated muffins.

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I thought Muffliato conjured a tasty sandwich with olive tampenade

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