Baked beans
Rowling was so poor in her early writing career that one day when she tried to buy a tin of baked beans she found she was two pence short. To hide her embarrassment she pretended she’d left a ten pound note in her other coat. The beans, meanwhile, remained at the counter. Many nights she went to bed hungry before fame struck.
Balderdash
Password used to gain entry to the Gryffindor common room. Another one is Flibbertigibbet.
Balmoral Hotel
The venue at which Rowling completed The Deathly Hallows on 11 January 2007.
Banishing Charm
The opposite of the Summoning Charm.
Bans
In some countries Harry Potter books have been banned, thereby giving them even more publicity. Joking apart, the people who accuse them of encouraging children to practise witchcraft, or appearing to condone such an activity, are dramatically over-reacting to their subject matter. As Lisa Cherrett remarks in her book The Triumph of Goodness (published by the Bible Reading Fellowship), ‘This immediately puts a barrier between Christian youngsters and their peers, and begins to breed in them the ghetto mentality of fear and suspicion.’
Banshee
A female spirit, derived from the Gaelic ‘bean’ (woman) and ‘sí’ (fairy), that wails and shrieks when death is imminent. No wonder Rowling’s Irish character Seamus Finnigan (is there a nod to James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake here?) is terrified by the prospect of them.
Interestingly enough, during Rowling’s bohemian years, when she was drifting aimlessly between jobs and immersing herself in the dubious delights of punk rock, she formed an attachment to the music of a group called Síouxie and the Banshees, now long forgotten. This phase of her life was necessary for her to rid herself of her rebellious streak, paving the way for a time she would be entertained by the Queen—and end up out-earning her!
Bashu
Chinese publishing house that brought out three apocryphal Harry Potter novels, making quite a profit out of all of them before Christopher Little, Rowling’s agent, put it out of business. The books were called Harry Potter and the Leopard Walk up to Dragon, Harry Potter and the Golden Turtle and Harry Potter and the Crystal Vase.
Basilisk
The terrifying serpent in Chamber of Secrets that can turn people to stone. The only thing that can control a Basilisk is a Parselmouth. One of them killed Moaning Myrtle.
Bell, Katie
One of the three Chasers on the Gryffindor Quidditch team.
Bibliomania
Rowling is so fond of reading she says that if she finds herself in a bathroom with no books, she reads the labels on the toiletries.
Bildungsroman
A novel dealing with the spiritual, moral, psychological and social development of its main character, from the above German term that translates directly as ‘novel of education’. The Harry Potter saga certainly fits this particular bill.
Binns, Professor
This is Harry’s History of Magic professor. We can see what Harry and/or Rowling think of his ability by dint of his surname, though when Hermione asks him about the Chamber of Secrets in the book of that name, all the class are agog. Unfortunately, in the American version of the book, ‘dustbin’ is changed to ‘trash can’ so this pun is lost. Binns, it should be added, is a ghost, having forgotten to bring his body to class with him one day. (As you would.) He enters the classroom through the blackboard.
Birthdays
Harry was born on the same date as Rowling: 31 July. Daniel Radcliffe, who plays him in the films, was also born in July though not 31 July as Connie Ann Kirk mistakenly states in her biography of Rowling.
Black, Regulus
Younger brother of Sirius.
Black, Sirius
The literal meaning of his name is ‘Black Dog’. He’s Harry’s godfather and the former best friend of Harry’s father, but we initially fear him after he escapes from Azkaban because we hear he’s a serial killer. Only later does it emerge that he’s been framed by Peter Pettigrew and is actually on Harry’s side. (Unfortunately, he dies before managing to clear his name.) He’s also his secret benefactor, providing him with his trusty Firebolt broomstick. Black dies protecting Harry from Voldemort, which is a pity as he was a popular character with readers, and one of Harry’s few true allies.
Blood
Wizards can be pure-bloods or half-bloods. Draco Malfoy is a pure-blood (this in fact being his password to get into the Slytherin common room) whereas Tom Riddle and Harry himself are half-bloods. Those born of Muggle parents are ‘filthy little Mudbloods’, as Malfoy delights in reminding them. When Hermione reaches higher academic standards than he does, he puts it down to teacher favouritism. Rowling has ostensibly written a wizard story but the class struggle is ubiquitous. The fact that she makes the aristocratic pure-blood the villain nails her democratic colours to the mast very early on. Her background in the classics has enabled her to capture the collegiate atmosphere to a ‘t’, but she’s also known poverty and has an empathy with the poor, like Ron and his siblings. Her books undermine elitism from the inside.
Bloody Baron
The house ghost of Slytherin.
Bloomsbury
Rowling’s publishers, who offered her an advance of £2000 for her first book in 1996. It was a huge amount to her at that time as her marriage had just broken down and she was living on lean rations, but of course it would be mere pocket money to her now.
Bludgers
The