To have just realised that mandrakes are real plants? (And not just made up by JK Rowling)?

[StormyDaniels]

I can't be the only one.... can I??

I'm guessing you didn't have to read Romeo & Juliet at school.

Or the metaphysical poets:

Go and catch a falling star
Get with child a mandrake root

etc

Sadly (or happily!) they dont have little screeching men for roots in real life

Really?!! No, I'd never heard that until now!

A lot names in the HP books are real words. Dumbledore is a west country dialect word for a bumblebee, hagrid means to appear shocked or terrified, Draco is latin for dragon.

Albus is latin for white, so Albus Dumbledore is white bumblebee.

Nothing surprises me since I was at an outdoor astronomy event and the woman next to me said, “do you think they named the Dog Star Sirius after the Harry Potter character?”

Ok , I'll put my hand up , I didn't know either

Yes but they don't scream in real life fyi

Yes, YABU

Buy the Harry Potter History of Magic books that have recently come out - they are fascinating and tell you about where she got a lot of her ideas from.

Never did any John Donne poetry I take it?

Me either.

Always knew demetors were real though

I knew they were real.
They do look like funny little men, we went to the History of Magic exhibition at the British library and saw one there.

Whaaaaat!???

Dementors are real for sure though, I know for a fact that there are lots of people suck all the happiness out of your soul

I don't know either.

I always think JK Rowling must have gone to a very good school as she seems to have an extensive knowledge on all sorts of things, not least Latin.

No I never studied R&J in depth, or any john Donne poetry uneducated

I only realised this the other week when mandrake was an answer on Pointless.

I don't think JKR had a particularly highbrow education, I think she grafted and put the hours in and did her research.

My dad had an old folklore book with photos of them, it said they scream when pulled up and the way to stop the noise killing you was to get a black dog to pull them up for you. I wanted to try it so much when I was about 11 but they're not very common in Nottingham apparently

Isn't her degree in languages?

Loads of mandrake history here! And a cute dog....
www.facebook.com/OxSparks/videos/1635581106519510/

Isn't her degree in languages?

Classics, I think (so including Latin & Greek)

French and Classics apparently so both right

The HP exhibition at British Library revealed much of what is in hp books are based on reality one way or another. Rowling did a lot of research.

There is a great book:

Harry Potter - A History of Magic: The Book of the Exhibition https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1408890763/ref=cmswwrcppapiii_S034AbJ6PNH11

If you'd have only said the name to me, and not mentioned plants, I would have guessed it was a bird!