Professor Maria Nikolajeva
recently gave a talk at Cambridge University concerning how children's books help young people become 'critically thinking' adults. She also touched on the use of language in Harry Potter.
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She said books such as the Harry Potter series, which include made up words for spells such as "Alohomora" or "Evanesco", represented a language that needed to be acquired to exert power.
"It is in this respect interesting to consider the character of Hermione, who gets all her knowledge from books and who is the most proficient of the three friends," said Prof Nikolajeva.