And the example ritual which Quirrel references is if I’m not mistaken the failed attempt to summon Death in The Sandman.
I immediately went to check when I read that passage and no, the sacrifical items don’t match at all (although the style is the same). Next I thought it might be from Terry Pratchett’s Mort, but it wasn’t that either, although this passage is strikingly germane:
The Rite of AshkEnte, quite simply, summons and binds Death. Students of the occult will be aware that it can be performed with a simple incantation, three small bits of wood and 4cc of mouse blood, but no wizard worth his pointy hat would dream of doing anything so unimpressive; they knew in their hearts that if a spell didn’t involve big yellow candles, lots of rare incense, circles drawn on the floor with eight different colours of chalk and a few cauldrons around the place then it simply wasn’t worth contemplating.
I immediately went to check when I read that passage and no, the sacrifical items don’t match at all (although the style is the same). Next I thought it might be from Terry Pratchett’s Mort, but it wasn’t that either, although this passage is strikingly germane: