The Dark Lord is he who shall not be named for a reason! J.K. Rowling revealed via Twitter on Thursday, Sept. 10, that muggles have been mispronouncing the name Lord Voldemort wrong this entire time.
The famed British author mused about the evil Slytherin while responding to a fan’s tweet.
“@Universe_Box One piece of Harry Potter trivia I always forget to mention: the ‘t’ is silent in Voldemort, according to @jk_rowling,” the commenter wrote.
Rowling, 50, retweeted the post and quipped: “…but I’m pretty sure I’m the only person who pronounces it that way.” (Of course, Hermione Granger would know better!)
… but I’m pretty sure I’m the only person who pronounces it that way. https://t.co/HxhJ5XY5HP
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) September 9, 2015
Back in 2009, Rowling apologized for choosing the name Voldemort, which means “flight of death” in French. “I want to thank my French readers for not resenting my choice of a French name for my evil character,” she said at the time. “I can assure you that no anti-French feeling was at the origin of this choice.” (Voldemort appears to be spoken the right way in the films.)
Ralph Fiennes played the vicious and freaky-looking Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter movie franchise. His costume was so hideous, in fact, that he once caused a script supervisor’s child to cry on set.
“I felt very good about myself,” Fiennes, 52, told The Guardian in 2011. “When I was young, there was this character in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang called the Child Catcher. I remember being terrified by this figure. I think children should be really scared of Lord Voldemort.”
