Chapter 34: Priori Incantatem

 

(For the romanisation of Chinese and Japanese, see Transliteration. To understand the writing systems of CJV, see Writing Systems. For word order notes, see Word Order)

Where a Vietnamese word has been borrowed from Chinese, the original Chinese character is shown in parentheses.

 

Chinese (Mainland)	闪回咒 Shǎn-huí-zhòu	闪 shǎn = 'flash'. 回 huí = 'return'. 咒 zhòu = 'spell, curse'.	Flash return spell
Chinese (Taiwan)	呼呼，前咒現 Hū-hū, qián-zhóu xiàn	呼呼 hū-hū = 'whistling sound'. 前咒 qián-zhóu = 'previous spell'. 現 xiàn = 'appear'.	Whoosh whoosh, previous spells appear
Japanese	直前呪文 Chokuzen jumon	直前 chokuzen = 'immediately preceding'. 呪文 jumon = 'magic formula, spell'.	The immediately preceding spell
Vietnamese	Những câu thần chú từ trước tới nay	những = plural marker câu = 'expression, phrase'. thần chú (神咒) = 'spell, incantation'. từ = 'from'. trước = 'before'. tới = 'until'. nay = 'now'.	Spells so far

A Latin expression for 'the reverse spell effect', where a wand is forced to regurgitate the spells it has performed, in reverse order. This is difficult to summarise or translate, which accounts for the rather different renditions.

The Mainland Chinese is the most succinct, but the meaning is none too clear.

The Taiwanese uses the name of the spell, a whistling sound plus the words 'previous spells appear'.

The Japanese is a simple and effective explanation. Continued repetition of the 'previous spell' effect will result in the reverse appearance of spells performed so far.

The Vietnamese is the longest and most elaborate, but still fails to indicate that the spells appear in reverse.

(A summary of this chapter can be found at Harry Potter Facts. Detailed notes on the chapter can be found at Harry Potter Lexicon)

Chapter 33

Chapter 35