An A–Z of Harry Potter. Aubrey Malone

Чтение книги онлайн.

       Connery, Sean

      The James Bond star was originally offered the role of Dumbledore. He declined, and Richard Harris stepped in.

       Corner, Michael

      Cho Chang’s boyfriend.

       Counselling

      Waterstone’s children’s manager Wayne Winstone said, after the publication of The Deathly Hallows, ‘This could be a similar moment to when Take That split up—there could be a lot of upset teenagers out there. We’re looking at setting up a helpline for them.’

       Crabbe, Vincent

      Draco Malfoy’s rather dim bodyguard, alongside Gregory Goyle, who seems only slightly less dim. (The terms Goyle—reminding one of ‘gargoyle’—and Crabbe speak for themselves.) Both have more brawn than brains and use each other as crutches. Like most bullies, including Draco, they’re probably lily-livered at heart. They accompany Draco everywhere like extensions of his body, providing moral (or should that be immoral) support for him in his endless taunting of Ron and Harry.

       Critics

      No author pleases everyone. The movie critic Leslie Halliwell wrote of The Philosopher’s Stone: ‘A curious mish-mash of fairytale, myth, fantasy and British public school ritual. All that seems to be missing, regretfully, is Billy Bunter and the girls from St. Trinian’s.’ He added grudgingly, ‘Some splendid production designs add visual interest to the bland proceedings.’ Rowling, no doubt, cried her way to the bank.

       Crookshanks

      Hermione’s cat, who warns her that Scabbers isn’t all he seems.

       Crouch, Barty

      A wizard who, like Voldemort, kills his father. Crouch Senior, his namesake, sent him to Azkaban after he got into trouble with the Ministry of Magic.

       Cruciatus Curse

      The one used by Bellatrix Lestrange to drive Neville Longbottom’s parents insane. Its incantation is ‘Crucio’ and it’s one of the Unforgivable Curses.

       Cuarón, Alfonso

      The director of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. He also makes a cameo appearance in the movie, playing a wizard in the Leaky Cauldron shop. The direction of the film was beset with problems, including a worker’s strike and a train crash on the set that caused a fire, resulting in the destruction of 100 acres of heathland.

       Cuffe, Barnabus

      Editor of the Daily Prophet.

       Cupboard

      The fact that Harry is forced to live in a cupboard under the stairs by his cruel step-parents may be a metaphor for the fact that there’s a skeleton in that cupboard—the secret of his parents’ death at the hands of Voldemort rather than in a car accident, as Vernon Dursley insists.

       Curtis, Jamie Lee

      This actress (the daughter of Tony) was the first to suggest to Daniel Radcliffe’s mother that he would be a good choice for Harry on screen.

       Cushioning Charm

      This makes flying by broomstick less arduous by creating an invisible ‘pillow’ on the stick.

       D

       Dahl, Roald

      Dahl is probably one of the strongest influences on Rowling, from the point of view of both style and character, though she herself thinks she’s a much more realistic writer than he is and isn’t a fan of his. Nonetheless, Harry’s childhood is similar in many ways to events in Dahl’s James and the Giant Peach. James (whose surname is Trotter, not Potter) has evil guardians like the Dursley family and shares many personality traits with Harry Another novel by Dahl, Matilda, featured a young girl whose bullying parents kept calling her stupid even though she was much smarter than they were. Dahl once said, ‘There are 40 000 children’s books printed in Britain every year, and most of them are bloody awful, pulped, and never reprinted.’

      He believed that to empathise with children you had to go down on all fours and look up at the adults. This would help one to understand their point of view—literally Like Dahl, Rowling does this. But her voice is unmistakably her own, even if, like most authors, she’s soaked up moods and images from the voracious reading she’s been engaged in all her life.

       Daily Prophet

      The most popular wizard publication in Potterworld.

       Dark Arts, The

      Black magic. Professors of Defence Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts have a rather hapless time, the position being something of a poisoned chalice.

СКАЧАТЬ