Astronomy, I think.
What about Kreacher? It is supposed to be said the same as c-r-e-a-t-u-r-e right? Right?? It’s fitting, given he is a “strange creature” after all.
apart from the names…has anybody noticed that hermione’s parents are NEVER around? we see them briefly, buying her school things, and we know that they are muggles and dentists…but she hardly ever goes to visit them, spending most of her summers and other holidays with harry and ron - you would think they’d want their daughter around more, especially when i get the implication that she is their only one, as she never mentions brothers or sisters
also, i just read that Hermione (the mythological figure) was the daughter of King Menelaus (sp?) of Sparta and Helen of Troy - she is nine years old when Helen runs off with Paris
weird…
I knew there was something… thanks for that, MEBuckner! Also, thanks to Katisha for the right pronunciation… “wiz-en-ya-mote” rolls off the tongue surprisingly well, I’ll have to use it when I read it aloud tonight. 
Crabbe and Goyle.
Grabbe and Coyle.
The two main actions of a snake.
Earl of the CC gave me that one.
Just for the sake of completeness lets mention Professor Sprout teaching Herbology. Not especially witty or creative, but follows the tradition of informative names.
Peeves the Poltergeist is another character with an apt name.
I quite like Grimmauld Place, too, as it surely is a Grim Old Place.
Nymphadora Tonks - her prospects look interesting, if her name is anything to go by.
Cornelius Fudge is well named, as he willfully misinforms and bends the rules to his own agenda.
Actually, Nymphodora is a saint (I don’t remember if I originally saw this here or on an e-mail list I’m on), along with her sisters Menodora and Metrodora.
Can someone tell me who St Mungo was? When I first read the reference, I thought that she’d just made up a strange sounding name, (silly manx…) but I’m sure I’ve read somewhere that St Mungo was the nickname of another Saint. I’m guessing that he had something to do with healing or illness, but other than that I’m lost
St Mungo, for those of you who are interested, was an seventh centuary bishop, who founded Glasgow, and was aparently related to King Arthur. So there you go.
St Mungo’s is also a London-based organisation that offers aid to the homeless, among other things.
Well, I was doing some poking around, and there’s St. Mungos in London - it’s a center for homeless folk.
Aha! I found something: St. Mungo, but his proper name is apparently Kentigern. He is (according to that second link) the founder and patron of Glasgow.
Thanks Lsura. Guess I should actually look around, before I ask, huh?
Looks like Rowling has gotten a dictionary of saints to go along with her dictionary of plant names!
I don’t know any Old French, but I was wondering if “foi” might also be an archaic form of the verb “faire” - to make. “Badly made” for that lineage-obsessed family would be an evern more delicious pun…
A lot of the spell names are based on Latin… I’ll go look a few of them up later. (The boards are slow posting for me anyways at the moment.)
Off the top of my head…
Severus Snape
Severus is latin for “Grumpy”.
Snape could be snake or snipe, either would fit quite well.
I can see “snake” and “slytherrin” (sp), but hw does snipe fit?
Cos he’s always sniping at Harry… 
anyways, I found this - The Harry Potter Lexicon.
It has a dictionary of all the spells and their grammatical roots.
Most are based on Latin, but there’s also some Persian in there: eg:
Also some bits and pieces from Hawaiian, Old/Middle English/French, and no doubt a few others too!
She’s does some research has our bird! 
It’s quite a nice site that one, don’t be put off by the cluttered home page.
sorry, not persian, aramaic :smack:
(Persian came from Aramaic though, right?)
Anyways, there is some persian in there too.
Also should snipe become sniping or snipping?
I am confusing myself today…
Listening to the audio books is interesting for me because I don’t always mentally pronounce words when I’m reading. She has a lot of homophone puns. Some of the ones that struck me for the first time on hearing the books were:
Diagon Ally
Floo (flue) powder
Kreecher (creature)
Grimauld (grim old) Place
Also, I like Rita Skeeter’s name, because (Book 4 spoiler)
she is an animagus who can turn into a bug (skeeter/mosquito) - quite a pest.