Hogwartian

Definitions

Adjective. [B2]

Examples

“You cannot go to Turin without expecting to see⟳ its greatest attraction: the Sindone, or as we call⟳ it in English, the Shroud. The problem is that the Turin Shroud is kept well and truly shrouded in the Duomo, the rather subdued Renaissance cathedral. Enclosed in a Hogwartian trunk behind a sheet of plate glass, bulletproofed in case anyone wanted to assassinate it, the shroud’s appearances are strictly controlled.”

“With just the right sequence, we can get⟳ a computer to read⟳ a book out loud, understand⟳ human speech, anticipate (and prevent⟳) a heart attack, or predict⟳ the movement of a stock-market holding. If an incantation is just slightly off mark⟳, the magic is greatly weakened or does not work⟳ at all. One might object to this metaphor by pointing out that Hogwartian incantations are brief and therefore do not contain⟳ much information compared to, say⟳, the code for a modern software program⟳.”

“Despite the Hogwartian allure of Yale’s Gothic-style colleges, Muggle undergraduates may have⟳ to look⟳ elsewhere to catch⟳ a true glimpse of the magical world of Harry Potter.”

“Consider⟳ the role of Hogwarts in the Harry Potter series. From the first volumes, Hogwarts played a tremendous role in the story, gathering the young protagonists—Harry [Potter] and his friends—into its curious and often-changing halls. It became the place⟳ where magic was learned and friendships formed. It stood for what must be saved: the ideals of the Hogwartian school, where magical powers were taught for the sake of good.”

“To me, the UO [University of Oregon] is Hogwarts, a secretive organization that pirates the best of the very poor, teaches them to value their new status much too highly and leaves the suffering to understand⟳ that they, of the inferior mundane class, simply don’t deserve⟳ housing, legal care, medical care, dental care or even a basic sense⟳ of belonging. […] Getting a Ph.D. in sociology or mathematics must be a fascinating exercise in Hogwartian mysticism, but what on earth does that do for the very poor, the despairing, those left on the other side of the town-gown wall?”

“But I’d never seen a hurling match⟳ before and sat fixated by the TV in our room, which showed one of the fastest, most bizarre, and seemingly most dangerous games I’ve ever experienced. Harry Potter would love⟳ it. Fifteen men a side hurtled by and into one another in seemingly total Hogwartian disarray, flailing long cáman paddle-sticks on which they carried—yes, carried—a small white leather ball (sliotar)—although in the truly wild days when the game first emerged I heard it was often a human skull.”

“[…] part of [J. K.] Rowling’s skill lies in the way in which she makes this bygone world instantaneously modern to an age of children who live⟳ in an electronic multimedia world. For example, moving staircases, portraits of ancient Hogwartian dignitaries who talk⟳ and move⟳, the Marauder’s Map and flying dragons are familiar features of computer virtual reality games.”

“Bookended by J.K. Rowling at Harvard [University]’s Commencement and the traditional laying-on of hands at Clare [College]’s, her year had a Hogwartian quality.”

CEFR level