View source for Hermione Granger and the Boy Who Lived/Trivia

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* [[Bilingual Bonus]]:  "Malenfant" is French for "bad child" or, as Hermione [[Lampshade Hanging|mentally translates it]] when she first meets Drake, "bad baby".  The Wellesleys much later refer to the Malenfant family as "Mal-enfant" (bad child), "Mal-père" (bad father) and "Mal-maman" (bad mother).
* [[Continuity Nod]]:  To ''[[The Secret Return of Alex Mack]]'':  
** In a discussion of world-class hackers, Willow Rosenberg's early hacker handle, S4L1x680, gets mentioned.  Much later, Hermione is explicitly (and favorably) compared to S4L1x680.
** In sixth year, we find out that Luna believes there are ape-men in deepest Africa who should be recruited to fight Lord Deathstrike's wolf-men and lizard-men.  There are, the result of some really horrific Nazi experimentation, and Terawatt encountered them a few years later.
* [[Genius Bonus]]:  Many of the given names of older members of the Black Family require you to be cognizant of British and American celebrities from the 1970s or earlier in order for the [[Theme Naming]] to make sense.
* [[Mythology Gag]]:  When "a school in Scotland" is first brought up in a roundabout way, Hermione wants to know that it's not "an asylum or prison or something with a name like 'St. Brutus' Secure School for Incorrigible Girls'."
**  Hermione in third year saying, "I'm not a wizard!"
** In chapter 140 there is an off-hand joke about Arthur Wellesley's car acting as though it had a mind of its own.
** Hermione's [[Pixie cut|pixie cut]], which she gets in the same chapter, echoes [[Emma Watson]]'s own post-''Harry Potter'' haircut.
** Combined with an [[Actor Allusion]] when Hermione reminds Ron of an appointment at "nine ack emma" ("ack emma" being British slang for "A.M.").  He replies, "Not interested in [[Emma Watson|Emma]].  I like Hermione."
* [[Shout-Out]]:
** To [[Sherlock Holmes]] and the "Dr. Gideon Fell" mysteries by [[John Dickson Carr]], when Hermione describes how incompetent the policeman investigating the disappearance of her friend was -- she compares him to the bumblers who are routinely out-thought by these fictional detectives.
** There's a fairly subtle one to ''[[Hogan's Heroes]]'' -- a British version of the FBI's [[w:Hogan's Alley (FBI)|"Hogan's Alley" training facility]] is called "Newkirk's Alley".
** One of the third floor defenses at the end of first year are [[Doctor Who|Daleks]].  This discovery is immediately followed up with a ''[[Blackadder]]'' reference:  "I have a plan." "Is it a cunning plan?"
** IT Professor Burbage makes a reference to the famous ''[[Iron Man (film)|Iron Man]]'' "in a cave with a box of scraps" meme.  Since the scene takes place in late 1992, this is further evidence that the Teraverse's version of the [[Marvel Cinematic Universe]] launched some fifteen years or more earlier than it did in our timeline.
** Similarly, when Fred and George call Hermione both "Light Yagami" and "L" early in her second year, it seems to indicate that ''[[Death Note]]'' appeared in some form at least a decade earlier than it did in our timeline.
** Another time during second year, Fred and George compare her to both [[Mission: Impossible (TV series)|Jim Phelps]] and [[Mission: Impossible (film)|Ethan Hunt]].  Again we have something of an anachronism, as the film version of ''Mission: Impossible'' did not premiere until 1996, four years later.
** Fred and George, upon learning what access Hermione has to the dorm hand scanner, sing, [[Tommy|"She's a handscan wizard, there's got to be a twist..."]]
** Ron suggests that Harry say, [[The Princess Bride (film)|"Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die"]] when they finally face Seorus Black.
** Fred and George identify a kidnapper who committed suicide as [[Monty Python's Flying Circus|"an ex-parrot"]].
*** In general you can count on the Wellesleys making ''Python'' references whenever appropriate (or not).
** The tasks of the Inter-School Tournament are deliberately styled around [[James Bond]] movies.
** When Viktor learns how quickly Hermione decoded the clue for the second task of the IST, he says
{{quote|"As the Americans say, [[Wayne's World|we are not worthy]]."}}
** Hermione and Ron codename Crabbe and Goill [[The Cat in the Hat|"Thing One" and "Thing Two"]], and Malenfant "The Cat" one Saturday when they're following them.
** To the [[Firesign Theater]], when they decide to codename "Team Potter" -- which is made of more people than just the Golden Trio -- as "Bridge Night".  The twins quote the album ''Don't Touch That Dwarf, Hand Me The Pliers'':
{{quote|"Isn't that bridge built yet?"}}
** Hermione can't resist a ''[[Blackadder]]'' quote in chapter 120:  "Milord, I have a cunning plan."
** When Harry is angry at Cormac McLaggen, he almost-quotes [[Alan Rickman]] in ''[[Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves]]'':  
{{quote|"I'm going to kill him.  I'm thinking... a spoon.  It's dull, it'll hurt more."}}
** Hermione's boss in MI5 has her call him [[Mission: Impossible|"Mr. Phelps"]] rather than tell her his real name.
** During a hacking run, Hermione discovers that someone at Borgin and Burke's uses the [[The Spice Girls]] for his passwords.
** When going to explore a possibly-trapped room, Ron reassures Hermione "I'll bring my ten-foot pole along."  She vaguely IDs it as the ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' reference it is.
** The reinforcements who show up for the expected attack on Harworts at the end of year six use codenames from the ''[[Narnia]]'' books.  Charlie's girlfriend is not happy when she finds out she's the White Witch.
** After the attack on Harworts, when Hermione is directing the Ravens to help with the aftermath, one shouts out, [[Marathon Man|"Is it safe yet?"]]
** When Hermione re-meets Detective Inspector Merrill (the police officer who discovered her responsibility for Oliver Herstein's gaslighting and suicide) she realizes that nothing she can say will convince him that she's not "[[The Silence of the Lambs|Hannibal Lecter]] in a dress."
** Seventh-year Hermione compares her first-year social skills to [[Mr. Bean]].
** During the summer between sixth and seventh year, Alicia Spinnet describes the Wellesley Twins by quoting Kyle Reese from ''[[The Terminator]]'':
{{quote|"They can't be bargained with.  They can't be reasoned with.  They don't feel pity, or remorse, or fear.  And they absolutely will not stop, ever..."}}
** [[Fight Club (film)|"The first rule of Team Potter is:  you don't talk about Team Potter."]]
** "Herm smash!" -- Ron playfully compares Hermione to the Hulk when recounting an incident where she accidentally scored a [[One-Hit Kill|One-Hit Defeat]] on an opponent in martial arts class.
* [[Shown Their Work]]:  As is usual for a Diane Castle fic, if you see anything explored in any detail "on-screen", such as an effective way to write term papers, or the chemistry of nerve gases, or the proper usage of guns, or an advanced math assignment, it ''will'' be accurate -- although sometimes lacking [[And Some Other Stuff|a few details critical to actually reproducing]] some of the more harmful (or legally dubious) results.
** One such detail:  While taking apart a "secure" piece of of electronics, Hermione discovers that some of the screws involved have unusual star-shaped slots (for which, fortunately, she has drivers).  These are [[w:Torx|Torx]] screws, commonly found in computer systems (among other places) and often used wherever tamper-resistance is important -- but almost unknown outside of those applications.

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[[Category:Trivia]]