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Eipjoo Posted 13 years ago
Vocabulary
can't spell it
He threw a dirty look at the Dursleys.
"Well, it's best yeh know as much as I can tell yeh -- mind, I can't tell yeh everythin', it's a great myst'ry, parts of it...."
He sat down, stared into the fire for a few seconds, and then said, "It begins, I suppose, with -- with a person called -- but it's incredible yeh don't know his name, everyone in our world knows --"
"Who? "
"Well -- I don' like sayin' the name if I can help it. No one does."
"Why not?"
"Gulpin' gargoyles, Harry, people are still scared. Blimey, this is difficult. See, there was this wizard who went... bad. As bad as you could go. Worse. Worse than worse. His name was..."
Hagrid gulped, but no words came out.
"Could you write it down?" Harry suggested.
"Nah -can't spell it. All right -- Voldemort. " Hagrid shuddered. "Don' make me say it again. Anyway, this -- this wizard, about twenty years ago now, started lookin' fer followers. Got 'em, too -- some were afraid, some just wanted a bit o' his power, 'cause he was gettin' himself power, all right. Dark days, Harry. Didn't know who ter trust, didn't dare get friendly with strange wizards or witches... terrible things happened. He was takin' over. 'Course, some stood up to him - an' he killed 'em. Horribly. One o' the only safe places left was Hogwarts. Reckon Dumbledore's the only one You-Know-Who was afraid of. Didn't dare try takin' the school, not jus' then, anyway.
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Does the highlighted mean (1) I don’t dare spell it for his name is dreadful,
or (2) I don’t know the spell of the name?
"Well, it's best yeh know as much as I can tell yeh -- mind, I can't tell yeh everythin', it's a great myst'ry, parts of it...."
He sat down, stared into the fire for a few seconds, and then said, "It begins, I suppose, with -- with a person called -- but it's incredible yeh don't know his name, everyone in our world knows --"
"Who? "
"Well -- I don' like sayin' the name if I can help it. No one does."
"Why not?"
"Gulpin' gargoyles, Harry, people are still scared. Blimey, this is difficult. See, there was this wizard who went... bad. As bad as you could go. Worse. Worse than worse. His name was..."
Hagrid gulped, but no words came out.
"Could you write it down?" Harry suggested.
"Nah -can't spell it. All right -- Voldemort. " Hagrid shuddered. "Don' make me say it again. Anyway, this -- this wizard, about twenty years ago now, started lookin' fer followers. Got 'em, too -- some were afraid, some just wanted a bit o' his power, 'cause he was gettin' himself power, all right. Dark days, Harry. Didn't know who ter trust, didn't dare get friendly with strange wizards or witches... terrible things happened. He was takin' over. 'Course, some stood up to him - an' he killed 'em. Horribly. One o' the only safe places left was Hogwarts. Reckon Dumbledore's the only one You-Know-Who was afraid of. Didn't dare try takin' the school, not jus' then, anyway.
**
Does the highlighted mean (1) I don’t dare spell it for his name is dreadful,
or (2) I don’t know the spell of the name?
Top answer
Hi It's a good question I think that Hagrid is not too good at writing:so, yes, he may not be able to spell the name of Voldemort However, there's a tradition in English (and in other cultures, I expect) that it is bad luck to spell or name the devil So you are right with (1) and (2). Hagrid probably has some trouble with the spelling, but he doesn't want to do it anyway But he does say it, which makes him a bit of a hero at this point in the book ... Dave
- Hi It's a good question I think that Hagrid is not too good at writing:so, yes, he may not be able to spell the name of Voldemort However, there's a tradition in English (and in other cultures, I expect) that it is bad luck to spell or name the devil So you are right with (1) and (2).
- Hagrid probably has some trouble with the spelling, but he doesn't want to do it anyway But he does say it, which makes him a bit of a hero at this point in the book ...
- Dave
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3 Answers
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Hi
It's a good question
I think that Hagrid is not too good at writing:so, yes, he may not be able to spell the name of Voldemort
However, there's a tradition in English (and in other cultures, I expect) that it is bad luck to spell or name the devil
So you are right with (1) and (2). Hagrid probably has some trouble with the spelling, but he doesn't want to do
It's a good question
I think that Hagrid is not too good at writing:so, yes, he may not be able to spell the name of Voldemort
However, there's a tradition in English (and in other cultures, I expect) that it is bad luck to spell or name the devil
So you are right with (1) and (2). Hagrid probably has some trouble with the spelling, but he doesn't want to do
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dave_anonHowever, there's a tradition in English (and in other cultures, I expect) that it is bad luck to spell or name the devilSo you are right with (1) and (2). Hagrid probably has some trouble with the spelling, but he doesn't want to do it anywayThe reason I wondered is that Hagrid look up some books for keeping a dragon in the book, and he also was a bo
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Hi
Although I've read the book, my main impression is from the film (Robbie Coltrane, of course, is Hagrid)
I think it's possible that he doesn't usually gain his knowledge from the books. He's definitely not ignorant, but maybe he takes things in, in a different way
Davw
Although I've read the book, my main impression is from the film (Robbie Coltrane, of course, is Hagrid)
I think it's possible that he doesn't usually gain his knowledge from the books. He's definitely not ignorant, but maybe he takes things in, in a different way
Davw
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