As "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows -- Part 2," is set to hit theaters Friday, consider J.K. Rowling's villains.

Nasty boy Draco Malfoy's first name is downright draconian; any last name that starts with Mal does not bode well. His aunt Bellatrix (female warrior) is also Lestrange. The sibilant-rich and spiteful Severus Snape possesses a name that needs no explanation. Dolores Umbridge? The senior undersecretary of the Ministry of Magic takes constant umbrage at any and all who challenge her authority.

Even if young readers did not realize it, Rowling infused her characters with context and linguistic markers. Rowling was a French and classics major at Exeter University. Hence the Latin derivatives, old-school Briticisms and French panache.

Of course, it is the story of an ordinary 11-year-old boy who discovers he is a wizard that reels in readers. Harry is not just any wizard; he is "the boy who lived" after a fatal battle between his parents and a dark lord.

At the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Harry befriends Ron and Hermione. For the first time, the orphan feels a sense of family. Draco Malfoy does his best to make the three feel inferior, but Harry, Ron and Hermione discover and develop their own talents. They must learn how to harness magic without being corrupted by it. And they must destroy the dark Lord Voldemort (French for "flight from death") before he annihilates them.

Adults can appreciate that, without lecturing, Rowling makes a strong case for kindness -- without which knowledge is hollow. Harry's father, James, used magic for frat-boy pranks, but mother Lily's love gave her the strength to protect her son from Voldemort.