MART-701 Lessons

As students approached the Magical Art classroom, they could hear a faint whistling coming from inside. Upon walking in, not only were they greeted with the sight of Professor Rosenquist whistling while decorating the room with what seemed to be brooms, Quidditch balls, cauldrons, and the like, but also the unexpected, and intimidating sight of Professor Penrose seated at the professor’s desk. The desk had what appeared to be stacks of wand boxes on it, instead of the normal papers and additional art supplies. The students shuffled to their seats quickly at the beckon of Professor Rosenquist, but were slightly hesitant at the sight of the former Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. The two Slytherin professors were having a lighthearted chat with each other as more students funneled in, which calmed some of the students down; well, that is until Professor Penrose looked at them again. As Professor Rosenquist set up the last decoration, she noticed her slightly terrified students and tried to hold back a laugh as she addressed them.

Hello students, I see that you have noticed our special guest for today. Please welcome Professor Penrose, who I’m sure you are familiar with. In today’s lecture, we will be discussing art in the design of various magical items. Obviously, we won’t talk about every magical item out there, as that would most likely take another seven years at Hogwarts to barely scratch the surface, but hopefully you will get the general idea based on the few that we will go over. Now, I’m not sure if you know this, but although Professor Penrose has quite the impressive resume from his career as an auror and professor, he is also extremely knowledgeable in wandlore; which is why I have asked him to come lecture about the design of wands, so, please give him your undivided attention.

Thank you, Professor Rosenquist. I won’t waste our precious time talking about how and why I got interested in wandlore; if you want to know more I’m happy to discuss that after class. Instead, I will dive into the artistry of wands.

Some of you may have heard of wandlore itself referred to as an art - and it is. The crafting and creation of a wand is a skill that many can learn but few can master. The better the artist, the better the wand. This is why we recognize the Ollivander family’s as some of the highest quality wands you can get - they have been perfecting their craft for generations upon generations. Because of this, I will not be spending a lot of time on the art of wandlore - that is its own entire study, but I wanted you all to be aware of it. Instead, we will bring our attention to the magical focus each of you possesses.

Using some of my own terminology here, though I’m far from an art expert, as Professor Rosenquist can well attest, wands are what I like to call living art. Because there is such an intimate connection between the wand and the witch or wizard, the wand will sometimes change itself and grow into a form more fitting to the person holding the wand. To better demonstrate, I have brought some replicas that I had kept from my time as an auror. One example that I have displayed here is the wand of Bellatrix Lestrange. As you may notice, the wand is more curved than is traditional. The person holding the wand would need to account for that when aiming a spell, as there would be a risk of their spell going off in a random direction no matter how much concentration is applied to the spell. However, Lestrange was a… unique individual and was willing to manipulate the world to fit her own views. She never looked at things quite straight on and always had an angle she was coming from. The wand sensed that and, it is my theory, that the wand grew to fit her twisted approach to life. This alteration in her wand became more apparent as time went on and she became more corrupted by the forces of the Dark Arts.

While the contortion of Lestrange's wand is a great example of how a wand can change its design to reflect the wielder, there are also manmade ways to change a wand's appearance, though they require the intervention of a skilled wandmaker. Some wands, such as that of Lucius Malfoy, have additional ornamentation (in this example, a snake head adorning the handle). Things like this are more personal additions to make the user feel that their personality is reflected in the wand, similar to the idea of people getting tattoos. Some individuals will take that so far as to have their wand branded with artistic designs or symbols from various scripts, whether they be displays of art or symbols of meaning such as you have been learning in Ancient Runes. Wand modifications can be extremely tricky, though, and should never be attempted without the assistance of a professional wandmaker. Attempting modifications on your own can result in damage that will make your wand unstable and cause more frequent occurrences of miscastings.

That said, if your wand trusts you, and you trust your wand, then it is essentially a blank canvas upon which you can work wonders. Many individuals will never design their wands. However, those who do can create some elaborate and beautiful displays of personality and ingenuity. To that end, I encourage you all to consider your own personalities and how your wands reflect them. What does your wand’s design say about you, and what designs might you want added to your wand to really show the full extent of your personality?

While I would love to talk more about the art of wands, I know time is limited and Professor Rosenquist has much to cover in so little time, so I will return you to her capable hands. Thank you again, professor, for having me in today.

Thank you, Professor Penrose for that wonderful insight into wands! I can see some of you around the room seem to have some questions, however, I must ask that you wait until the lecture is over. Don’t worry, Professor Penrose will be here afterwards to answer your inquiries, your life isn’t over. Anyway, let’s move onto our next topic: broomsticks.

I’m sure, with all of you being Seventh Years, that you are plenty familiar with broomsticks by now; whether you have taken a flying course, are on one of the four Quidditch teams, or have one at home. While riding a broom can be exhilarating, have you ever stopped to think about what goes into the design? For my Quidditch players in class, did you pick the broom that you ride because it was designed for practicality or did you think it just looked nice? Obviously a trustworthy broomstick that can do its job reliably is a huge factor when purchasing one, but the overall design of it also plays a big factor that can be traced back to when brooms were invented.

Centuries before the International Statute of Secrecy was put into place, wizardkind has always desired the ability to fly. Flying spell creation attempts proved to be, at the time, quite infeasible and were unable to provide results that lasted more than a few seconds due to the amount of concentration and willpower required to fully lift a person. It wasn’t until 962 C.E. that the first broomsticks were used by witches and wizards. Due to their nature of being a cheap, portable household item, broomsticks were easy to acquire and easy to hide from inquiring Muggles. The quality varied and the need for better design was present early on. The brooms were not aerodynamic due to the handles being unvarnished and ends were constructed of rough twigs. The handles were also very hard to sit on with little to no back and leg support, and more often than not, wood splinters ended up in places you would rather them not be. Ouch!

The varying quality of broomsticks continued up through the 19th century C.E., but comfort was greatly improved due to the invention of the Cushioning Charm in 1820. The broom models at the time were made with a focus on craftsmanship and aesthetics rather than helping the overall performance. This brought about the beginning of the first truly artistic broomsticks. Some had patterns or varying shades of blues, greens, purples, and metallics painted, which, although more common now, broke the norm of wood finishes. Though some broom-makers experimented with different bristle shapes like the fan (i.e. the Turbo X broomstick, which is still seen in its present-day iteration, the Turbo XXX (pictured at the top right)), this was when the cone became superior for making the broom aerodynamic. Around the late 1800s to the early 1900s saw the rise of more purposefully designed and even artistic handles, such as the renowned Silver Arrow broomstick. Made by Leonard Jewkes in 1904, the Silver Arrow was one of the most prominent Quidditch broomsticks that existed before manufactured racing brooms. Not only is it known for its sleek, metallic look, and its cone bristle shape, but the end of the handle was shaped into an arrow as a play on its name. The Silver Arrow eventually couldn’t be made quick enough by the individual broom-makers to keep up with the incredible demand. This led to the birth of mass production for brooms in 1926 when the first broom manufacturing company, the Cleansweep Broom Company, was born along with the first racing broom, the Cleansweep One. The invention of the Cleansweep One also brought along the first usage of foot grips on brooms as they not only provided better mount support for Quidditch players, but also helped their chances of not falling off the broom as often during a match. In regards to aesthetics, some felt that the foot grips hindered the overall look of the broom while others reasoned it was a practical addition for sports more so than traveling. Nevertheless, there are companies to this day that make brooms  without foot grips but do provide  the option of attachable foot grips when customers make their purchase.

While it would be fun to go on about the history of brooms, this is not a Flying course, and we do have other things to get to. To wrap this up, I do want to highlight two brooms that are used today that do prove that even though practicality is king, artistic design still plays a part.

The Siberian Arrow is a broom I have seen a lot while growing up and may be one that you have also seen if you have ever watched a match of the Nordic National Quidditch Team. The interesting thing about this broom is that it was originally a commission for Napuin Zinchenko, a broom-maker from Siberia, in 1983. Zinchenko was a private broom-maker known for his brooms that were heavily inspired by Siberian and other Northeast Asian mythology, which the captain of the team at the time was very enthralled with. Since he was designing for the Nordic team, Zinchenko drew inspiration from Thor, the Norse god of thunder and lightning, and wanted to create a fast broom that made it appear as if a bolt of lightning was zipping across the field. To achieve this, he attached a barbed golden arrow piece at the tip of the broom handle that looks much like a lightning bolt, which then transitions to a wrapped grip at the base of the bolt. The wrapped grip is an homage to the handle of Thor’s hammer, Mjölnir, so that the flier appears to be controlling the lightning much like Thor would when he slams his hammer down. The dark wood finish of the broom handle is juxtaposed by the light beige bristles, which Zinchenko said would give it an airy, cloud-like feel. The Nordic team adored the feel and design of the broom that the current team still uses Siberian Arrows today.

The Transylvanian Barb is another world-class racing broom that you might have seen if you are a fan of the Transylvanian National Quidditch Team, or if your broom collector friend happens to have one. How it found its way into the hands of a national Quidditch team was almost the opposite of the Siberian Arrow. In 1989, the Transylvanian team was poorly funded due to their less than stellar performances in the past several World Cups. Things were not looking so great for the Transylvanian team and it was only a matter of time before all funding was cut and the team was forced to disband. That all changed when Emanoil Ardelean, an entrepreneur and the founder of a new and upcoming broom company called Ardeal’s Aerial Apparatuses, saw the Transylvanian team’s woe as a business opportunity. Ardelean decided to sponsor the Transylvanian team by providing them with renovated practice areas, new robes, new brooms, and even hired internationally renowned Quidditch coaches. The provided broom was the Transylvanian Barb, a conceptually intriguing broom that was designed to look like it was completely made out of thorns. Although it was not actually piercingly sharp, it garnered attention for its sleek black look that complimented the team’s now green Quidditch robes and stood out from the other teams’ brooms for being thematically innovative. When the 1990 Quidditch World Cup came around, the world was shocked to see the revamped image of the Transylvanian team and even more shocked that the team was actually doing well. Even though the Canadian team won that year, it was the furthest that the Transylvanian team had gotten since 1966. It restored the Romanian Ministry of Magic’s faith (and funding) in them and it worked out in Ardelean’s favor as numerous Quidditch fans lined up to buy Transylvanian Barbs.

Since we are still on the topic of Quidditch, I would like to shift your attention to other crucial pieces of equipment used: the Bludgers, the Quaffle, and the Golden Snitch. All three have gone through design changes since the earliest incarnation of the broomstick game, and all for completely different reasons, which is quite fascinating!

Let’s talk about the Bludger first. Aside from the fact that early Bludgers, which were originally called Blooders, were charmed rocks that chased players, this ball went through the smallest number of aesthetic design changes. What mainly prompted the evolution of Bludgers was actually the material that it was made of. The rocks quite obviously didn’t work out. The variation of shape of the charmed rocks had messed with their direction when flying, as it is nearly impossible to find a perfectly round rock, and the rocks proved to be way too fragile for the Beaters’ bats. The rocks would break into gravel but the charms still worked, which led to several pieces of gravel chasing players. The next iteration of the Bludger was a ball made of lead. While this did fix the direction problem initially, the lead proved once more to be too soft for the bats. Instead of breaking, it would dent the Bludger’s surface which would then lead to more directional problems. Also, people who handled them often without protective gear, such as Quidditch referees, eventually started having health issues that were later discovered to be symptoms of lead poisoning. A Bludger made out of a lead alloy was tested for a short amount of time before the decision was made around the 1500s C.E. to have it be the black, iron ball that we know of today.

The Quaffle was the earliest of the three to be ever used in Quidditch. Originally made of patched leather pieces, the main problem with early Quaffles was that players dropped it often and it would fall to the ground more often than stay in the air, which required Chasers to retrieve it from the field. As there were no such things as Gripping or Slowfall Charms at the time, there were two notable designs of the ancient Quaffle that, while they weren’t the best, seemed to remedy the gripping problem slightly. One design had a leather strap attached that would allow the Chaser to either grab it or slip their hand through it. The other is a design that involved three holes in it that made it resemble the Muggle bowling ball. The former design was favored as it was easier to grip onto between the two. It was easier to catch and immediately throw something with a strap rather than attempt to shove your fingers in the Quaffle mid-game. The ''bowling ball holes'' also made it highly inconvenient for Chasers to throw the Quaffle overhand as the positioning of your hand gripping the holes increased the chances of throwing the ball downward rather than across to another Chaser. The color of these early designs were also problematic when playing Quidditch during bad weather conditions or at night. The dark brown color of the leather often blended in with mud or the darkness and they would have to pause the game often from anywhere from a few minutes to thirty minutes because the player tasked with retrieving the Quaffle would not be able to distinguish it from the elements. That problem was remedied with the decision to change the Quaffle to scarlet in 1711 C.E. Within a few years afterwards, Daisy Pennifold had the idea of charming the Quaffle with a Slowfall Charm so that the ball would fall slower to the ground, which led to the invention of the Pennifold Quaffle, which is still used today. The final change to the Quaffle came in 1875 with the creation of Gripping Charms, which allowed Chasers to grip onto the Quaffle without the use of holes or a strap. This, in combination with a better grip applied to Quidditch gloves, revolutionized today’s Quaffle, which is a scarlet ball with three palm-sized indents, which were placed so that the Chaser could throw the ball easier.

For those who don’t know a lot about Quidditch history, or haven’t taken Care of Magical Creatures, you might not be aware that the Golden Snitch wasn’t originally a ball, but a bird named the Golden Snidget. The incorporation of the Golden Snidget did not start until 1269 C.E. when one was released into a Quidditch match by Barberus Bragge with an offer of 150 Galleons to the player who could catch the bird. I won’t be going into the entire history of the Golden Snidget here, but if you would like to know more, I do believe there’s more information in Year Five, Lesson Four of Care of Magical Creatures. The invention of the Golden Snitch was actually quite unique as instead of it being an evolution of redesigns like the Bludger and the Quaffle, it was a commission for Bowman Wright. Wright was a metal charmer, which is a metalworker that works specifically with Deep Object Charming on metals. The Golden Snitch was made to mimic the Golden Snidget to almost a T, and I say almost because it obviously does not have a metal bird head. Contrary to its name, the Golden Snitch is not made out of pure gold; the metal wouldn’t be durable enough to last multiple Quidditch games. Instead it is composed of 10k gold, which is actually a gold alloy that contains around 41.7% gold, 52% silver, and 6.3% copper. This is a common alloy used in jewelry, but it is also known for being highly durable due to the lower concentration of gold. How funny that the Golden Snitch indeed has more silver in it than gold! The wings are constructed of very thin, delicate strips of this alloy and the feathers are attached through the Permanent Sticking Charm. Some Golden Snitches do have wings made out of a white gold alloy too. The wings sit on what appear to be two bead-like attachments, which allow the wings to twist and rotate around the ball, mimicking the wings and flight patterns of its living counterpart. The main sphere of the Golden Snitch is also hollow and can be opened through activating the locking mechanism built in, though there isn’t much reason to do so.

Last but not least, let’s talk about the design of cauldrons. At this point you are definitely familiar with the three standard cauldrons used in Potions: pewter, brass, and copper. If you recall all the way back to your First Year, you may also remember there are other types such as gold and silver. Or, if you took Year Five of Alchemy, you may even remember me requiring ceramic or Fire Crab shell cauldrons for your spagyric elixirs. Essentially, you get the main idea that cauldrons are big pots used to brew potions in. The main design is relatively the same across the board, and usually anything fancy added to it is purely for aesthetics.

Now, in my experience, typically the more expensive the material, the more intricate the design, such as this dragon-themed gold cauldron. However, that’s not always the case! It is possible to get a nice pewter cauldron with patterns carved into the outside, but at the price for a cauldron like that, you could get a cauldron with a better brewing time for the same price. There’s nothing wrong with wanting a fancy cauldron though! There are some plated with different colors, ceramic cauldrons with decorative glazes, and even bejeweled Fire Crab shell cauldrons. I will say, if you are interested in the last one, you may have to consider the ethics of acquiring the cauldron or perhaps face the possible wrath of magical creature activists.

Anyway, there are some innovative modern designs for cauldrons such as the Collapsible Cauldron, which was created in Germany in the late 20th century. Unlike the typical pot shape of a cauldron, this resembles an accordion as it can be ballooned up or folded down for portability. Another late 20th century invention was the Self-Stirring Cauldron. Although not exactly an example of aesthetic design, this cauldron was invented by Gaspard Shingleton for practicality in that it stirred potions on its own. Of course in the early iterations there were problems with the cauldron not knowing which direction to stir, but eventually those worked out in production. There was also a cheese cauldron that never actually took off due to the cauldron melting into the fire right under it and the cheese reacting with the potion ingredients. Nevertheless, the idea itself could have proved quite useful in the snack industry. Imagine buying tiny cheese cauldrons with crackers, though I digress! No matter whether you are trying to buy a fancy cauldron or a modern cauldron, the one thing I do caution is to make sure that the cauldron is the standard amount of thickness. A main problem seen with intricate cauldrons is that a lot of them are imported and not made to Ministry standards. Typically if you do buy it from a reputable cauldron shop, such as Potage’s Cauldron Shop, you should be in good hands as a faulty cauldron can wreck a business.

And that’s all I have today! Thank you again Professor Penrose for stopping by and imparting us your knowledge of wands. If you do have any wand-related questions, feel free to ask him any question your heart desires. Other than that, remember to do your homework and I will see you next week for our first art form of the year!

Lesson written by Professor Serafina Rosenquist
Guest lecture written by Professor Jericho Penrose