Magic's Beginnings

Chapter 3

Magic’s Beginnings

 Wizards can be traced back to the very beginnings of mankind, even during the time of the Neanderthals. Displays in the Australian museum of magic show rock paintings of people in loincloths brandishing one regular arm and one long, oddly-shaped arm. Australian wizards have studied their Aboriginal ancestors and their acquisition of what looks suspiciously like a wizard’s wand. Professor Milano Sundarian of the Australian Academy for Magic has always believed that magic was first born in the Australian outbacks, but was it really?

 In the 17th century, up north in the mountains of the Himalayas, a team of European wizards set up a campsite, initially to observe the habitat of the Yeti, and discovered remains of an ancient tunnel that led deep into the mountain, where it is believed that Himalayan wizards had set up a community before abandoning it for unknown causes. The tunnels date back to the time of the Ice Age. What kind of wizards lived in these tunnels? Were they as advanced as their Australian counterparts?

Research is still ongoing to predict the moment that the first wizard came to life. Theories have been proposed over the years, but none have yet proved the period when the first wizard emerged. There are three controversial theories that have their supporters and their detractors.

The Uno Mas Theory

 The Uno Mas Theory is the most popular of all theories of Wizarding beginning. The theory implies that all magical blood came from one man who was christened Uno Mas. Uno Mas was born at the Time of the Reptiles, which Muggles call Dinosaurs. He was a stocky, built man with a head shaped like a gorilla’s head. He slouched and walked dragging his abnormally long limbs on the ground. Uno Mas manifested the same communication traits as those who lived during his time, communicating in grunts and pokes. Some theorists believe that Trolls also stem from Uno Mas but have not evolved as quickly as wizards did.

 Unlike the Muggle men of that time, Uno Mas had a keen sense of discovery. He would pick up pieces of wood and stone and fashion them into items which, at that time, meant nothing, but were the beginning of the wizards’ aspiring quality to improve and to develop. While the Muggle men focused more on food acquisition and mating, Uno Mas was busy creating many things. Some believe he developed the first wheel, but no solid proof has been found to back up this claim.

 The theory also explains that Uno Mas made the first wand. Stories have circulated that it came from the bonfire from which fire began. Others say that it belonged to a very high, prehistoric tree, a branch from which Uno Mas picked up and threw, frustrated that the fruit did not fall when he shook the tree, hitting a fruit and causing it to fall. Full details about the Theory of Uno Mas can be found in The First Wizard: Uno Mas, written by renowned wizard archaeologist, William Marangue. Its counterpart, The Anti-Uno Mas Theory, written by wizard activist Josiah Loppet, also sheds some light on the theory’s shortcomings.

The Great Migration Theory

  As seen in animal behaviour, migration is a normal survival method. Migratory routes As seen in animal behaviour, migration is a normal survival method. Migratory routes have been monitored to discover the whereabouts of our wizard ancestors’ birthplaces and their burial grounds. In this theory, wizards, unaware of their abilities and still mingling with the Muggles in an effort to survive the natural conditions, would travel with them to wherever the food source would travel. Sometime during the Descent of Blizz, called by Muggles “the Ice Age,” these wizards, having discovered their unique gift, set up their own group, left their non-magical brethren, and began their own journey around the world. They still followed the migratory routes, which are still being researched by wizards and Muggles alike, but the wizards’ tracks lead into non-existence.

In 1535, a Chinese explorer named Ho Mao Tseng followed these tracks before stopping in the middle of a deserted area in the shadow of the Swiss Alps. At the time, Prior Incantato had not yet been invented, so Tseng only deduced that the entire group died in an avalanche, but in the early 1800s, a group of Gringotts’ curse breakers unearthed the spells that hid their lair from the world. An underground chamber, much like the Himalayan tunnel, was discovered, and a few artefacts remained intact, encased in a block of ice. Tools, clothing, and a few of their other items held magical properties, including a vanishing cloak that held a number of diricrawl feathers and unicorn horns made into necklaces. Bodies were never found, but it is believed that these ancient wizards abandoned the tunnel and decided to go their separate ways and thus created the societies that exist today.  

The Theory of Hocus Pocus

 The Theory of Uno Mas focuses on the first wizard.  The Theory of Hocus Pocus focuses on the first encounter with magic. According to historians of the Brussels Museum of Ancient Magical History, magic was first encountered even before that fateful first controlled fire. The museum has a very broad collection of ancient note-taking materials and documents. Markings were written on bark, and researchers constantly make new discoveries for every new piece of evidence given to them. One tree bark told the story of how men chose their women, and it wasn’t the Muggle interpretation of hitting your woman with a giant club and dragging her by her hair. It was actually a very simple test. Women prefer strong men, so naturally, the strongest man would have his pick of women to choose from. However, men of that time also wanted a particular kind of woman: submissive, but with a great deal of talent. The writing goes on to say that it was the women who chose the men by presenting their chosen mate a tamed man-eating, giant lizard. At that time, women were naturally gifted with the power of persuasion. The woman with the most powerful sense of persuasion, the one who could win the heart of a man-eating, giant lizard and live to show it off to her future in-laws, would gain the honour of claiming that man. Muggles who were able to decipher the tree barks were considered mad or ‘loony,’ and thus, this theory gained little support from the Muggles who believe that magic exists.