When I was young and had a super nintendo I loved playing Super Mario RPG.
I’m playing the remake and I’m at the scene after defeating Valentina. Mallow goes into the castle and Mario was left standing outside.
Back then I didn’t know why Mario pulled out an umbrella and it rained. I just realised after 20 years of playing the original that Mario knew it was going to rain because whenever Mallow cries it rains; Mario knew that Mallow would get all emotional when meeting his parents for the first time.
Blew my mind.
You don’t wanna know how long it took for me to realize diagon alley in Harry Potter was a pun on diagonally.
What’s sadder is it took me two weeks after that to make the connection to nocturne alley to nocturnally.
Don’t think about how Hogwarts is just Warthogs reversed either.
Idk if its a pun or a play on words, because nothing is diagonal, horizontal, or nocturnal in any of these alleys. Its always seemed like Rowling trying to be creative but giving up after the initial idea, but then keeping the names, and its always irked me more than it should.
Its like naming a bar The Candy Bar but having no association with sweets.
Knockturn alley was where the dark arts shops were. What would the dark arts be if not nocturnal?
And Diagonal Alley runs diagonally between an existing block in London.
Okay I made that last part up, but it could be true enough.
Yeah I can kinda see that but I’m not familiar with alleys in London enough to know if any run diagonal. If not then it’s like a “wonky wizard alley that’s different from muggles alley” thing.
I mean, it’s definitely at least intended as a play on words. And Knockturn Alley kind of works at least, because it’s meant to be a dark/shady street, it’s specific name being “Knockturn” rather than “Nocturn” works well because its also, functionally, directions. You knock to get into Diagon Alley, then you turn to go down Knockturn Alley. But yeah, the name Diagon Alley seems to exist exclusively for the sake of the word play, potentially even just to set up the mispronuncuation with the flu network later on the series.
I know what you’re talking about, but I think it was intentional.
Books for children and young adults often have an “I’m 14 and this is deep” aesthetic. And in this case, JK could especially lean into that trope because she was trying to present a wizarding world that was above the muggle world.
So, things were different and complicated just to throw the muggles reading the story off-balance and give a sense of depth or wisdom where this is in fact none. And then JK could say this is on purpose because it’s a muggle trait to expect rationality or meaning behind things that have none, and so the muggles continue to prefer to live in the box they put themselves in. Once again, “I’m 14 and this is deep”.
I read this series once as an adult. It was enough.
Uhhh well it took me until just now to realize that pun. Oof.
I’m here joining ya! You beat me by 7 hours lol
Well then you probably didn’t get Knockturn Alley either… (nocturnally)
The second one, yeah just now
Doesn’t Harry screw up and say diagonally in the movie, and that’s why the flu messed up??
Yes.