HOM-301 Lessons

Welcome back, Third Years. I hope the week has been good to you. You are now halfway through the year and have survived, you deserve a good pat on the back. Congratulations! This week, we will be discussing this history of wizards and their associations with magical creatures. I hope you’re as excited as I am because this week is an interesting one filled with stories instead of just plain facts. Treat it as an adventure!

 I will be teaching you about three historical wizards and what they did to make them must-know characters in our European history lesson. Who, then, better than Professor Anne to discuss the topic of creatures? She’ll be coming in shortly after her meeting. Shall we begin?

Wonderous Wizards and Witches

In today’s lesson, we’ll be covering three witches and wizards who lived in three different time periods. Each of these magical figures have their own story to tell, and I assure you, it’s an interesting one that will leave you on the edge of your seats.

Eleanor of Aquitaine (1123 CE to 1204 CE)

Known as one of the most powerful women of her time, Eleanor of Aquitaine was born into a wealthy royal family in the year 1123 CE. Crowned Duchess of Aquitaine at 15 after her brother and father’s death, she was groomed for leadership early on. Soon after, Eleanor married King Louis VII of France and became the Queen Consort of France (between 1137 and 1152), and then the Queen of England (between 1154 and 1189) after her husband’s death.

As a child, Eleanor received the best possible education a female could get in those times.  Though Latin wasn’t her first language, she spoke it fluently. Additionally, she excelled in arithmancy, history, and astronomy, and was trained in the more domestic aspects of life as well. 

After 15 years of marriage to King Louis VII without the pair producing a son, there was a lot of tension between the couple. For this reason, an annulment was considered and formalized on the grounds that Eleanor was simply “unable” to bear male children. After her marriage was annulled, Eleanor became engaged to Henry of Anjou. Together, to the ironic delight of historians, they had five sons and three daughters. However, Henry and Eleanor had problems of their own as well, and she was imprisoned in 1173 for being plotting against him with her two sons. She was finally released by her eldest son, Richard I, after Henry’s death. She continued to work closely with the court and the governors, building relations with other territories and countries. Ultimately, Eleanor outlived not only both of her husbands, but also her eldest son, who died in 1199. She then took the throne once more along with her youngest son, John, though this period of coregency did not last long, as she passed away five years later.

Some of you may be noting that these facts are easily accessible to those of you who know anything about Muggle history and wondering why we would cover a Muggle in History of Magic. The answer is that there is much more to the story than Muggles are aware of. You may have actually picked up on a few signs of Eleanor’s true -- magical -- nature, namely her education, her annulment, and her age.

Little was it mentioned in royal histories, but Eleanor of Aquitaine was actually a pure-blooded witch. Coming from a family of royal blood that was frequently involved with Muggles, it was a risk for anyone to know that every member of said family was able to practice magic. Of all the languages available in the early 1000s, Eleanor’s father, William X, insisted that all his children must speak, write, and read fluent Latin as this was the language in which most spells were written in the English-speaking world. William X did his best to train his children completely on his own, based on a curriculum of his own devising -- centered around learning the spell-casting lingua franca (or common language) as well as studying the stars and arithmancy -- so as not to cause political unrest. 

Now we move on to the second indicator that something was amiss in this purely Muggle tale. As you hopefully recall from Year One, we discussed that one of the first forms of magic was the power of persuasion. Eleanor too, had a way with words. In those times, a divorce or annulment was seen as taboo and should always be a last resort as it would ultimately result in being shunned by society. Hence, when the proposition of the annulment was mentioned, it was quickly rejected and disapproved by the Pope. However, within the short span of only one week, Eleanor was able to convince the Pope to agree that the marriage never existed and their daughters were duly named legitimate children of her second husband, Henry.

Lastly, we come to the issue of age, which is where the real story begins. Eleanor outlived her child Richard I. While this is not entirely unheard of, it was not mere happenstance. Unlike herself, Eleanor’s son, Richard I was not a wizard and neither were any of her children. Moreover, Eleanor had a secret; she was an ardent alchemist. She spent her life attempting to find a recipe that would allow her to live forever, believing that her existence was crucial to the betterment of the country as a whole. Often in the middle of the night, she would sneak her way to her chambre de nécessité that appeared only upon her command. Her constant disappearances brought about many rumors whenever hours passed and no one could find her, even though they searched in every nook and cranny of the palace. In the end, considering her death, it is fairly certain that she probably failed in her quest and ironically, some historians suggest that she would have lived longer had she not exposed herself to so many of her own incorrect concoctions. However, this is difficult to prove as, following her death, no one was able to locate the chambre de nécessité and therefore the presumed elixirs and lists of ingredients and recipes within.

Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus was lucky enough to be born in the Renaissance period where everything was “reborn” and new. It was a time when people were open to new ideas and new discoveries.

When we speak the name of Christopher Columbus, many would immediately say that he was the explorer who discovered America, but that piece of American history is inaccurate. After more research, Muggle historian Lancave Joven, from the Museo di Fisica di Sardegna, came to realise that America was already discovered at least 500 years before by the Vikings from Europe. Additionally, it bears mentioning that even before both of these “discoveries,” there were already people inhabiting the two continents. 

So you must be wondering, what in the world did Christopher Columbus do that gives him the right to be included in our lesson today? Despite not being the first man to set foot in America from Europe, he did bring about constant contact between both lands through his multiple voyages. He was courageous to set sail to Cuba and Hispaniola, and opened a whole new world to the Europeans -- one they had never seen before, and he did so with magic.

If we look at the dates, his adventure to America happened in 1492. It was a time when maps weren’t complete and journeys could take eight to ten weeks in the best of circumstances. Therefore, I would like to draw your focus towards the question of how? The answer is Versusio!

Versusio (Ver-SOO-see-oh), seemingly an earlier, though unrelated, form of what we know today as the Four Point Spell, is the enchantment that gives one a clear indication of north. For Columbus, it was a spell he developed and secretly used when at sea. It allowed him to always be aware of where north was and not waste time sailing in the wrong direction. Whenever the incantation is spoken, the wand lights up when the user points it towards north. Of course, this does have its disadvantages, namely, when it is too bright out to see the glow of the wand or when stealth is imperative, and thus additional development has led us to where we are today.

But, back to the past! That advantage allowed Columbus to discover and rediscover places around the world. The spell allowed him to go back to the places he had been before to build upon his past work, rather than start over after each voyage. 

Sir Isaac Newton

Time traveling forward to the 17th century, specifically the day that Sir Isaac Newton was born: the 4th of January 1643. Born to a Muggle father and a Squib mother, no one initially realised that Isaac Newton would grow into a wizard.

As his father died three months before his birth, he had no father figure and became very independent, especially when his mother remarried and left him in the care of his grandparents -- who happened to be magical. His grandparents kept him largely in the dark about their true nature as they assumed him to be a normal, Muggle child.

It was when Newton turned nine that he first showed a hint of magic. He had a spirited fight with his grandmother over his reluctance to eat her cooking -- it may entertain you to know he hated peas and beans. He simply refused to eat any of the food presented to him and argued that there needed to be meat on the plate. Usually, the fight would have ended quickly, as he was extremely pampered, but this time, his grandmother put her foot down. Fuming, Newton was left to glare at the bowl of peas placed in the middle of the table, and suddenly, the bowl exploded into pieces, causing all the peas to roll onto the kitchen floor. If that’s not shocking enough, they had guests that night. Suffice it to say, that was a busy evening for his grandparents.

As expected, Newton received a letter for his admission to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry when he turned 11 and was sorted into Hufflepuff. Fortunately, Newton’s slightly spoiled attitude changed after being exposed to his peers and the excitement and sense of adventure that many Muggle-borns feel upon attending Hogwarts. He took particular interest in Arithmancy, Astronomy, and Transfiguration and went on to excel in them. After Hogwarts, he continued on to Cambridge University and achieved many accomplishments in both the Muggle and wizarding worlds.

And that ends our famous wizards discussion -- please turn your attention to Professor Anne!

Chronicles of Creatures

Hello students! Firstly, thank you to your professor for asking me to guest lecture for History of Magic today! This is my first guest lecture of the year, so I am quite giddy. Today I will discuss the history of magical creatures, and their interactions with Muggles. I will try to be brief, but please forgive me if I ramble on a bit!

Magical creatures were first seen in Muggle history during the Middle Ages in art and literature. While Muggle literature shows dragons, centaurs, unicorns, and other magical creatures, we have evidence that they were frequently misidentified by Muggles, and that magical creatures were concealed by those that knew about them.

"Today while travailing in the Herbe Garden, I did push aside the basil to discover a Ferret of monstrous size. It did not run nor hide as Ferrets are wont to do, but leapt upon me, throwing me backwards upon the grounde and crying with most unnatural fury, ‘Get out of it, baldy!’ It did then bite my nose so viciously that I did bleed for several Hours. The Friar was unwillinge to believe that I had met a talking Ferret and did ask me whether I had been supping of Brother Boniface’s Turnip Wine. As my nose was still swollen and bloody I was excused Vespers.” -Brother Benedict

In this telling, we can see that Brother Benedict is talking about a Jarvey, which, as we will learn in Care of Magical Creatures this year, is a ferret-like magical beast that says very rude things to anyone it sees. This example is strong evidence that Muggles associated magical creatures with mundane creatures, therefore, magical creatures were safe from discovery and exploitation.

As we move into the 17th century, however, the magical and mundane world starts to collide. At this time we see the burning of witches and “witch fever,” when people were accused of being witches, and had to forcibly partake in strange activities, like stonings, to prove their innocence or guilt.  While people were being sought out, we also saw the reappearances of dragons, Hippogriffs, and unicorns, adding to the hysteria of the Muggles. Because of these events, much was discussed at the 1692 International Confederation of Wizards summit meeting. Seven weeks were spent discussing the future of magical creatures, and how to keep them from the mundane world.

It was finally agreed that twenty-seven magical creatures, including dragons and Hippogriffs, and smaller creatures like Bundimuns, were to be concealed from the Muggle world. As more creatures were discovered, and risked detection from Muggles, the list grew. In 1750, Clause 73 was added to the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy, which says:

“Each wizarding governing body will be responsible for the concealment, care and control of all magical beasts, beings, and spirits dwelling within its territory’s borders. Should any such creature cause harm to, or draw the notice of, the Muggle community, that nation’s wizarding governing body will be subject to discipline by the International Confederation of Wizards.”

While we all wish things had gone smoothly from this point forward, there have been breaches of Clause 73. The year 1932 saw a Welsh Green, living in the wild, alight upon a Muggle beach. Thankfully, no fatalities occurred because of wizarding families present, who received Order of Merlin, First Class, and we saw the largest batch of Memory Charms of that century.

The International Confederation of Wizards has fined several countries for breaking the clause; Tibet and Scotland being the common offenders. We also see task forces placed in several locations, such as the mountains where Yeti sightings have grown immensely, and in Loch Ness, where the largest Kelpie on record still evades capture, but not detection from the Muggles; it appears as though it enjoys being in the Muggles’ eye.

Now, how do we hide these creatures? Some have their own camouflage, like Pogrebins, while others must be hidden where no Muggle will ever be able to reach them, like in a protected ward deep in the forests. There are some creature that don’t attract Muggle attention because of their speed and/or size, like the Billywig, so the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, the second largest in the Ministry of Magic, does not worry about them, as there are plenty of other cases they have to deal with on a daily basis, despite Clause 73.

Well, I do hope that you enjoyed that lecture. Clause 73 is an important part of our history as a people, and it is a reminder of the events that caused it. I would like to thank your professor for allowing me in his humble classroom today, and with that, I turn the lesson back over to them, as I’m off to collect some Fwooper feathers!

I think that’s a fine place to end. I highly recommend that you revise Lessons One to Five before attempting the midterms this week. Next week we will be covering the lesson on the introduction of goblin politics. It’s rather fascinating, if you ask me. Feel free to take a chocolate frog before you begin your midterm, but eat it quickly! I don’t want to see frogs jumping all over the classroom.

Original lesson written by Professor Julius Dowler
Guest lecture by Professor Anne Young
Image credits here, here, here, and here