History of Magic! Listen to this!

The wizarding world is gearing up for the fantastic fete that is young Dumbledore and all that Ezra Miller can bring to red carpets. While we are counting the minutes until we can see the next chapter of Fantastic Beasts, I was remaining spoiler free and doing as all other Ravenclaws are wont to do. Spending my time in a library, well sort of. I listened to Harry Potter: A History of Magic, An Audio Documentary from Pottermore Publishing.

Here’s something to shout about – Harry Potter: A History of Magic opens @NYHistory today! We hope you enjoy your journey to where magic and myth began as much as we did… #HarryPotterNYHS pic.twitter.com/Dg1ud8yGqM

— The British Library (@britishlibrary) October 5, 2018

Narrated by Natalie Dormer of Anne Boleyn, The Tudors and Margaery Tyrell, Game of Thrones fame, this was a bit like someone reading an encyclopedia except it wasn’t. Sure she takes you on an adventure of magic. Magic that has fascinated humans and muggles for centuries. The book journeys through the years showing how real life studies of “magic” influenced science and philosophy, asking you to believe in something before unlocking its secrets.

Harry Potter: A History of Magic is book of all things full chapters from Magical Creatures, Herbology, Defense Against the Dark Arts and Potions. It isn’t a straight narration either. If the book has an image of Dumbledore, the audiobook has input from illustrator Jim Kay, US and UK audiobook narrators Stephen Fry and Jim Dale and how they all created the characters.

British Library Exhibit

The book also features items from the British Library Exhibit, now also open in New York City at the NY Historical Society. these are items not technically related to the Harry Potter world but which would be in Professor Snape’s potions store room, or the creatures which inspired Professor Kettleburn’s care of magical creature classroom.

JK Rowling worked with Joanna Norledge, one of the British Library’s experts on contemporary literature and three of her colleagues Julian Harrison, Alexander Lock and Tanya Kirk to curate an exhibition about the link between Harry Potter and the real history of magic. Throughout the audiobook these experts lend their knowledge from mid-evil history to manuscripts and curator of the archives to explain to the listener why the pieces were selected to be a part of this amazing exhibit.

Witches with a Cauldron

The book and exhibit are full of artifacts from talismans and charms from across the world. From understanding the various forms of the zodiac and astronomy to cauldrons and the first image of women around a cauldron from 1489 (below) there are so many things I found fascinating as I listened to this audio-documentary.

One that particularly stood out was in the potions chapter when they talked about Bald’s Leechbook. Yes, researchers found a 10^th-century Old English recipe for an eye salve that had ingredients like onions, garlic, wine and cow stomach bile. Then it would sit in a brass cauldron for nine days. Sound awful? The thing is, researchers brewed the mixture several times and found it battled MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus).

Magical Creatures

After Professor Kettleburn retired, Hagrid took over in Harry’s 3rd year. The image below shows the scale of Buckbeak in Hagrid’s hut but the exhibit and the book covers other creatures like dragons and basilisks. You’ll find a pamphlet from 1680 written by James Salgado called A brief Description of the Nature of Basilisk or Cockatrice. And according to Historia Animalium written in 1595 you’d discover that the smell of a weasel can kill a basilisk.

Do you Believe in Magic?

I’m not saying everyone should start looking to witchcraft, but to quote Lewis Carroll or the Mad Hatter:

 

What class would you take at Hogwarts? Interested in the exhibit at the New York Historical Society? Watch for Jamie W. and Lorena’s adventure there. Tickets for the US exhibit available until January 2019.