The article argues that where as Harry POtter lacks the " sense of the numinous" found in Tolkien and Pratchett, it has a special magic that plays upon the fantastic potential of language. Everyday language is full of metaphors, personifications, and strata of archaic beliefs; it has diversified discourse types (the use of Latin; technical terminology; class characteristics); and carries a great deal of associative cultural goods. Rowling is an expert in exploiting this - truly maical - aspect of human experience and thus shows how, merely in virtue of words, we all move in a magical world.