Yeah, very true. Yikes, that's a lot of reading to do, isn't it? :)
BTW, what I know of Latin wouldn't fit in a thimble...what does your tagline say?
A knowledge of French and Latin is very helpful when reading Rowling. A lot of the spells use words with roots in these languages. For example, "lumos" is from the Latiin for "light" (in French the word is "lumiere" -- "luminous" is from the same root), and "nox" is from the Latin for "night" ("nocturnal" is from the same root). The "leviosa" in "wingardium leviosa" is from the same root as "levitate." "Lever" in French means "to rise." Just like the English word "lever" (spelled the same, but pronounced differently). I don't remember what it is in Latin though (I'm fluent in French, but only took 1 year of Latin, and that was more than 25 years ago).
The names Rowling gives her characters are interesting also. "Argus Filch" is particularly cool. "Argus" is a mythic Greek giant with a hundred eyes. "Filch" means "to steal." How appropriate! JKR's character "sees all, knows all," and he also confiscates contraband.
"Draco" means "dragon." "Malfoy" means "badly done" or "bad deed" (from the French "mal fait"), so "Draco Malfoy" is a GREAT name for a character who associates with the Dark Lord.
And, speaking of the Dark Lord himself, "Voldemort" probably has something to do with death, because "mort" means "dead." "Vol" comes from the French "voler," which can mean either "to fly" or "to steal." Both are appropriate, I'd say.
Is it a coincidence that Ginny (short for Virginia) has red hair? So did Queen Elizabeth, the "virgin queen." Elizabeth was a powerful woman who never married because her sense of duty to her country was all-important to her.
There are so many levels in which JKR's work can be enjoyed. Only people who've read Jane Austen's "Mansfield Park" will get the joke that Filch's cat is named "Mrs. Norris." Devotees of Georgette Heyer have already met characters named Snape (Heyer's Snape is also a teacher with a bad disposition), Trelawney and Flitwick.
I stand by my contention that these books are NOT just for kids.