The Magical Worlds of Harry Potter Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  Introduction

  Did Alchemists Really Search for a Magic Stone?

  Who Was the Most Amazing Animagus?

  Is “Avada Kedavra” a Real Curse?

  Are Basilisks Just Big Snakes?

  Which “Fantastic Beasts” Come from Legend?

  Why Would Sirius Black Become a Black Dog?

  Why Does the Black Family Appear on a Tapestry?

  Which Creature Doesn’t Know When to Say Good-bye?

  Have Witches Always Flown on Broomsticks?

  Why Would Mundungus Fletcher Steal Cauldrons?

  Why Do Centaurs Avoid Humans?

  What’s the Favorite Trick of Cornish Pixies?

  Why Would Voldemort Put the Dark Mark on Death Eaters?

  What Story Began with a Dark and Stormy Knight?

  Why Would Chocolate Help After Escaping a Dementor?

  Does Dumbledore Trust Divination or Doesn’t He?

  Which Creature Is Fit for a King?

  Who Were the First British Wizards?

  Why Doesn’t Dumbledore Fight Voldemort?

  Why Would Durmstrang Students Travel by Ship?

  Where Does Magic Come From?

  Which Character Can’t Die?

  Was the Real Flamel a Successful Alchemist?

  Why Would Fluffy Come from “a Greek Chappie”?

  Why Would the Forest Near Hogwarts Be “Forbidden”?

  What Does Ice Cream Have to Do with Witchcraft?

  Are All Giants All Bad?

  Which Real-Life Creature Still Eludes Scientists?

  Why Are Harry and Cedric Like Knights of the Round Table?

  Why Are Goblins Such Good Bankers?

  Which of Draco’s Sidekicks Is Also Named for a Dragon?

  Which Creature Is Master of Both Earth and Sky?

  Why Do Parents Worry About Grindylows?

  Where Do the Nastiest Mandrakes Grow?

  Which Is the Least Likely Magical Creature?

  Why Would Anyone Go to School with a Slytherin?

  Which Creature May Not Bow Its Head?

  What Is the Most Important Language for Wizards?

  Why Is Each Malfoy Aptly Named?

  Why Won’t Wizards Go Near a Manticore?

  Why Is the Third Task Set in a Maze?

  Why Might McGonagall Appear As a Cat?

  Why Might a Human Fear Merpeople?

  Why Are Mirrors Magical?

  Which of Voldemort’s Cohorts Comes from India?

  Where Do Those Names Come From?!

  What Were the Models for the Order of the Phoenix?

  Besides Mail, What Does the Arrival of an Owl Mean?

  Could Snape’s Potions Actually Work?

  What Makes Harry a Universal Hero?

  Why Are Runes Carved on the Pensieve?

  Why Does the Sphinx Ask Harry a Question?

  How Do You Scare a Spider?

  Why Do Trolls Stink?

  Why Should Wizards Never Be Inquisitors?

  How Do You Catch a Unicorn?

  What Makes Veela Angry?

  What Kind of Nightmares Created Voldemort?

  Why Do Wizards Use Wands?

  Are Any of the “Famous Witches and Wizards” Real?

  How Did Seven Become the Most Magical Number?

  When Would a Muggle Want a Horcrux?

  What’s J. K. Rowling’s Idea of a Hero?

  Is Harry’s Story About Religion?

  What Evil May Be Worse Than Voldemort’s?

  Is Rowling a “Master of Death”?

  Afterword

  Acknowledgements

  Bibliography

  Notes

  Index

  About the Author

  PRAISE FOR The Magical Worlds of Harry Potter

  “A feast for future game-show contestants . . . You could use it as reference to set up a round of Jeopardy!”

  —Orlando Sentinel

  “A guide to the history, literature, and mythology Rowling sprinkles throughout her . . . Harry Potter books. Grown-ups might like [it] too, because it painlessly exposes youngsters to Shakespeare, Chaucer, Ovid, Flaubert, and more.”

  —St. Louis Post-Dispatch

  “This irresistibly dippable book gently draws children in to the joys of works of reference.”

  —The Times (London)

  “[An] enthusiast’s treasury of facts.”

  —The Times Educational Supplement

  “Harry Potter, the young hero of J. K. Rowling’s successful book series, lives in a world enriched by references to myths, legends, literature, and history. By probing this subtext—and revealing, for example, the hidden meanings in some characters’ names—David Colbert gives a fresh insight into Rowling’s books.”

  —New Straits Times (Malaysia)

  Titles by David Colbert:

  The Magical Worlds of Philip Pullman’s “His Dark Materials”

  The Magical Worlds of Narnia

  The Magical Worlds of The Lord of the Rings

  The Magical Worlds of Harry Potter

  The Magical Worlds of Harry Potter Spellbinding Map and

  Book of Secrets

  Eyewitness to America: 500 Years of Firsthand History

  Eyewitness to the American West

  Eyewitness to Wall Street

  Baseball: The National Pastime in Art and Literature

  WWII: A Tribute in Art and Literature

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  For details, write: Special Markets, The Berkley Publishing Group, 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

  THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP

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  Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

  Copyright © 2001, 2004, 2008 by David Colbert.

  This book was not authorized, prepared, approved, licensed, or endorsed by J. K. Rowling, Warner Bros., or any other individual or entity associated with the HARRY POTTER books or movies.

  HARRY POTTER® is a registered trademark of Time Warner Entertainment Company, L.P.

  HARRY POTTER® is a registered trademark of Warner Bros.

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form

  without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in

  violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized ed
itions.

  BERKLEY® is a registered trademark of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

  The “B” design is a trademark belonging to Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

  PRINTING HISTORY

  Lumina Press, LLC, trade paperback edition / June 2001

  First Berkley trade paperback edition / June 2002

  Updated Berkley trade paperback edition / May 2004

  Updated and Complete Berkley trade paperback edition / May 2008

  eISBN : 978-0-425-22318-5

  The Library of Congress has catalogued the original Berkley trade paperback edition as follows:

  Colbert, David.

  The magical worlds of Harry Potter : a treasury of myths, legends, and fascinating facts /

  David Colbert.

  p. cm.

  Includes bibliographical references and index.

  1. Rowling, J. K.—Characters—Harry Potter. 2. Children’s stories, English—History and

  criticism. 3. Fantasy fiction, English—History and criticism. 4. Potter, Harry (Fictitious

  character). 5. Wizards in literature. 6. Magic in literature. I. Title.

  PR6068.O93 Z59 2002

  823’.914—dc21 2002020857

  http://us.penguingroup.com

  For my nieces Emma, Lillian, and Molly, and my nephew Sam

  Read myths with the eyes of wonder: the myths transparent to their universal meaning, their meaning transparent to its mysterious source.

  The first of Joseph Campbell’s Ten Commandments for Reading Mythology

  Guide to abbreviations of the book titles:

  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (U.S. title), Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (U.K. title): Stone

  Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: Chamber

  Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: Azkaban

  Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: Goblet

  Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: Phoenix

  Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: Beasts

  Quidditch Through the Ages: Quidditch

  Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: Prince

  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Hallows

  The Harry Potter books by J. K. Rowling are published by Scholastic Inc.

  Introduction

  ONE OF THE PLEASURES OF READING J. K. ROWLING IS discovering the playful references to history, legend, and literature that she hides in her books. For instance, the Sphinx in the maze during the Triwizard Tournament asks a riddle, just as the Sphinx of ancient Greek mythology did. Hagrid’s pet dog, Fluffy, is actually another famous beast from Greek mythology, Cerberus. “Durmstrang,” the name of the wizarding school that admits only full-blooded wizards and has questionable links to Lord Voldemort, comes from a German artistic style called Sturm und Drang, which was a favorite of Nazi Germany. As well, Durmstrang students arrive at Hogwarts in a ship like the one featured prominently in a famous Sturm und Drang opera. Alert readers know Rowling also hides fun clues in the names she chooses for characters. Draco, Harry’s nemesis, gets his name from the Latin word for “dragon” or “snake.” Dumbledore’s pet phoenix, Fawkes, gets his name from a historical figure linked to bonfires just as phoenixes are said to be reborn in fire.

  This book decodes her clues to reveal the artfully hidden meanings. In an online chat with fans, she encouraged one reader who asked the origin of a particular phrase to go and look it up. Rowling clearly believes that her readers should do some investigating of their own. That’s what The Magical Worlds of Harry Potter is about: a little investigation, in a spirit of fun. The point is to entertain, amuse, and fascinate.

  You may even be sharing a laugh with Rowling herself. As TIME magazine said when noting that Hogwarts caretaker Argus Filch gets his name from the Argus of Greek mythology, a watchman with a thousand eyes on his body, “it’s the sort of touch that can prompt an author’s inward smile.”

  If you’ve never noticed those clues, don’t feel alone. One of Rowling’s amazing gifts is her ability to toss them out without breaking stride in telling her story. For example, she’s happy to make only a passing reference in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban to a manticore—a nasty, man-eating, imaginary beast. Skipping the opportunity to describe that creature in detail takes discipline. But for Rowling, it’s just a casual reference. Still, when you know what a manticore is, and that it has appeared in legends for thousands of years, Rowling’s story is all the more satisfying.

  J. R. R. Tolkien, author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, refers to a “cauldron” of ideas to describe an ever-cooking pot of ideas, themes and characters from which every writer takes, and to which every writer adds. Though the fictional world created by J. K. Rowling is unique, it grows from a deep foundation of myths and folklore that have endured across distance and time. The popularity of Rowling’s books testifies to the breadth of culture from which she draws many of her images, characters, and themes. This book reveals that broader realm to fans whose awareness has been awakened by reading Rowling. As you’ll see, she creates something entirely new with the bits of material from which she draws; yet she remains remarkably true to the essence of each.

  Did Alchemists Really Search for a Magic Stone?

  JUST WHAT WERE ALCHEMISTS TRYING TO do? Did they accomplish anything, or did all their work disappear in a cloud of smoke?

  Anyone who has read Stone knows that alchemy is an ancient mix of chemistry and magic. Alchemists tried to create gold from less valuable metals, and to concoct a potion that could cure all ills and make the drinker immortal.

  The ancient Arab world is credited with the development of alchemy. The name comes from the Arab term al-kimia (“the transformation of metals”), which also gives us the word “chemistry.” Alchemy’s origins go back even further. The Arab term was borrowed from ancient Greek, and seems to have first appeared in Egypt. There is also evidence of alchemy in ancient China and India.

  “The Stone will do it. She shall feel gold, taste gold, hear gold, sleep gold . . .” Ben Jonson, The Alchemist (1610) (Act IV, scene i)

  Just as the Arabic word al-kimia gives us the terms “alchemy” and “chemistry,” Arabic mathematics, once the most advanced in the world, offers another term we hear in classrooms today: al-gebr. It means “equalize,” which is what students do with the two sides of an equation in algebra.

  We tend to think of alchemists as greedy and overreaching, obsessed with wealth and immortality. But some people say their work laid the foundation for modern chemistry. Indeed, real scientists studied alchemy. Sir Isaac Newton, the physicist and mathematician, wrote millions of words on the subject. However, in keeping with tradition, Newton was secretive about his alchemy experiments—at one point urging another alchemist to keep “high silence” about the work.

  THE METROPOLIS OF ALCHEMY During the late 1500s two emperors hired the world’s leading alchemists to work in the city of Prague in what is now the Czech Republic. This led to a nickname for the city: “the Metropolis of Alchemy.” Emperors, however, can be fickle. When a British alchemist, Edward Kelley, failed to create gold, he was thrown in a dungeon. Even the efforts of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth I failed to win his release. He died trying to escape.

  Of course, there were many frauds. A story is told of the arrival in Prague during that era of a stranger from Arabia, who invited the city’s wealthiest men to a banquet where he promised to multiply the gold they brought. After gathering the offerings he prepared a mixture of chemicals and odd ingredients, such as eggshells and horse manure. This blend proved to be a stinkbomb, which permitted the charlatan a quick escape with the gold.

  THE PHILOSOPHER’S STONE

  One source calls the actual process followed by One source calls the actual process followed by alchemists “hopelessly complicated.” However, the basics were simple. According to the standard theory, all metals were a combination of mercury and sulfur. The more yellow theThe original title of the first adventure, Harry Potter a
nd the Philosopher’s Stone, appeared on books in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and other territories. It was changed to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by the American publisher, because “Sorcerer’s” seemed more exciting.

  See also: Flamel Fluffy Mirrors

  metal, the more sulfur in the mixture. So combining sulfur with mercury, in the right proportion and with the proper sequence of steps, would create gold.

  Eventually, alchemists became frustrated with simple methods that did not work. They began to search for a magic ingredient, which they called the philosopher’s stone. Some alchemists continued to believe the magic ingredient was simply sulfur. However, in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone it is described as “blood-red,” so Rowling probably had one of the more interesting formulas in mind.

  Who Was the Most Amazing Animagus?

  ADDING MAGUS, THE LATIN WORD FOR “wizard,” to animal, J. K. Rowling coined the term “Animagus”: a wizard who can become an animal yet retain magical powers.

  The ability to transform into an animal is as old as legend. In Celtic mythology, transformation into stags, boars, swans, eagles, and ravens is common. Shamans in Native American cultures often transform into animals, usually birds.

  One of the first wizards to display this ability was Proteus, of Greek mythology. He was a servant of Poseidon, god of the oceans. Proteus enjoyed a special talent: the knowledge of past, present, and future. Unfortunately, this meant he was often being asked for predictions. To get away from people he would quickly transform into a variety of animals and terrifying creatures. Something that changes shape is still said to be “protean.” ThisEagle-man totem figure from the Haida of the Pacific Northwest.