While “Harry Potter at the Sorcerer’s Stone”, the first part of the magical saga, is broadcast this evening on TF1, a look back at the amusing motto found on the Hogwarts crests.
In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, the first part of the magic saga adapted from the work of JK Rowling, the young protagonist played by Daniel Radcliffe discovers with wonder the secret universe of magic, and in particular the castle of Hogwarts, where he is preparing to study.
Between the countless floating candles in the Great Hall, the moving staircases, the animated paintings and the gloomy secret passages, the school holds many surprises for Harry, and also conceals many small hidden details for the attention of the spectators.
While Chris Columbus’ feature film is being broadcast tonight on TF1, did you notice, for example, that the school’s coat of arms appeared in different places, and in particular on the Hogwarts Express locomotive, which takes students to the castle? ?
Warner Bros.
Composed of the emblems representing the 4 houses of Hogwarts (Gyffindor’s lion, Slytherin’s snake, Ravenclaw’s eagle and Hufflepuff’s badger), the coat of arms is also accompanied by a strange little phrase in Latin: “Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus.”
These few words, which actually constitute the motto of the school, can be translated into French as: “Never tickle a sleeping dragon.” No doubt this is a reference to the English expression “Never Tug has Tiger’s Tail!” (“Never pull the tiger’s tail!”), which calls for caution and temperance.
In addition to its coat of arms and motto, Hogwarts also has an official anthem, sung by the students at each banquet or beginning of the school year. Even if we never hear it in the final cut of feature films, it still resonates in a deleted scene from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the fourth part of the saga released in 2004 (see below):
In the works of JK Rowling, here is how the words of this hymn have been translated:
Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Pou du Lard du Hogwarts Teach us what we need to know, Whether we’re young or old or bald Or if we have marshmallow legs, We want to have a full head Until in have a migraine Because for the moment it’s donkey juice, Which simmers in our skulls, Force us to study everything, Repeat to us what we forgot, Do your best, let’s get together surpasses Until our brains cry out for mercy.
(Re)discover all the hidden details of “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone”…