The Complete Idiot's Guide to the World of Harry Potter
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Introduction
Part 1 - Wizards, Monsters, and Creatures of All Sorts
Chapter 1 - Wizards, Witches, and Warlocks
Chapter 2 - Creatures of All Shapes and Sizes
Part 2 - Where and How the Wizards Are
Chapter 3 - The Wizard’s Wardrobe and Toolbox
Chapter 4 - How Wizards Spend Their Days
Chapter 5 - Getting Around: Modes of Transportation
Chapter 6 - The Sporting Life: Quidditch, Chess, and Other Games
Part 3 - Magical Places
Chapter 7 - Where the Witches Go in London
Chapter 8 - Hogwarts School and Hogsmeade
Chapter 9 - International Wizarding Schools
Part 4 - Spells, Potions, and Other Ways of Performing Magic
Chapter 10 - Herbology 101
Chapter 11 - Round About the Cauldron Go: Draughts and Potions
Chapter 12 - Watch What You Say: Spells, Charms, Hexes, Jinxes, and Curses
Chapter 13 - Advanced Wizardry
Part 5 - Regulating Magic and the Wizards Who Perform It
Chapter 14 - The Ministry of Magic
Chapter 15 - Crime and Punishment
Chapter 16 - The Final Word
Appendix A - Glossary of British Terms
Appendix B - Cool Wizarding Websites
Index
About the Author
ALPHA BOOKS
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Copyright © 2007 by Tere Stouffer
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International Standard Book Number: 978-1-59257-599-2
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2007926846
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To J.K. Rowling, for giving us a reason
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Contents at a Glance
Part 1: Wizards, Monsters, and Creatures of All Sorts 1
Chapter 1 Wizards, Witches, and Warlocks 3
Need to get up to speed on your wizard terminology and history? This chapter quickly sums up the terminology and famous wizards with which you need to be acquainted.
Chapter 2 Creatures of All Shapes and Sizes 19
From an acromantula to the yeti, this chapter explores the background, mythology, and literary connections of nearly fifty creatures in the wizarding world.
Part 2: Where and How the Wizards Are 43
Chapter 3 The Wizard’s Wardrobe and Toolbox 45
Robes, hats, wands, quills, and ink—what does it all mean? This chapter fills you in on the contents of the wizard’s toolbox.
Chapter 4 How Wizards Spend Their Days 61
The wizarding world is a whole new place, with its own money, mail system, entertainment, and food. This chapter gives you a tour of how typical wizards spend their days.
Chapter 5 Getting Around: Modes of Transportation 75
Whether traveling by broomstick or using a network of fireplaces, wizards travel by the simplest, cheapest methods in the world.
Chapter 6 The Sporting Life: Quidditch, Chess, and Other Games 85
This chapter gives you an inside look at wizard sports and games, many of which have a rich history: Quidditch; wizard-style chess; dueling, Gobstones, and card games.
Part 3: Magical Places 95
Chapter 7 Where the Witches Go in London 97
Isn’t it time you paid a visit to Diagon Alley and its dozen or more wizard stores? This chapter also introduces you to a few other London hotspots, including the wizard hospital.
Chapter 8 Hogwarts School and Hogsmeade 109
No reading, writing, and arithmetic are taught at Hogwarts School, but similarities to British boarding schools abound. In this chapter, you also pay a visit to Hogsmeade, the only all-wizard town in England.
Chapter 9 International Wizarding Schools 125
Well hidden from the prying eyes of Muggles, wizarding schools flourish all over the world. In this chapter, we visit two of these international academies.
Part 4: Spells, Potions, and Other Ways of Performing Magic 131
Chapter 10 Herbology 101 133
Before you can start to make potions, you have to know your herbs. This chapter gives you the botanical, literary, and mythological background on two dozen herbs used in the wizard world.
Chapter 11 Round About the Cauldron Go: Draughts and Potions 145
From love potions to truth serum, this chapter reviews the nomenclature and background of 25 potions used in the wizard world.
Chapter 12 Watch What You Say: Spells, Charms, Hexes, Jinxes, and Curses 163
Want to know more about wizard spells? This chapter shares dozens of charms
, hexes, jinxes, spells, and curses, including the Latin, Greek, French, and Italian sources for many of their incantations.
Chapter 13 Advanced Wizardry 179
Eight advanced wizarding skills are discussed in detail here, from understanding prophecies to deciphering runes.
Part 5: Regulating Magic and the Wizards Who Perform It 191
Chapter 14 The Ministry of Magic 193
Like any good civilization, the wizarding world has a governing body that helps keep the peace. This chapter introduces you to the Ministry of Magic, pointing out both the similarities to and differences between it and the British government.
Chapter 15 Crime and Punishment 203
Some wizards do go bad, and the wizarding world has an effective way to deal with them. This chapter discusses how Aurors help keep the peace, and what happens to wizards guilty of serious crimes.
Chapter 16 The Final Word 213
The final novel wraps up the series and gives us additional spells and other delights. This chapter ties up loose ends and brings you up to speed, with the latest Potterisms and the language and history behind them.
Appendixes
A Glossary of British Terms 225
B Cool Wizarding Websites 233
Index 239
Introduction
The book you hold in your hands gives you an in-depth look at the world of Harry Potter in only 16 chapters. In these pages, you won’t find character sketches, plot summaries, or details about who said what on which page of which novel. Instead, you get to explore J.K. Rowling’s genius even more deeply, discovering the background of terminology, characters, places, and ideas throughout her novels.
Every detail created by Rowling has been researched to determine how she may have chosen that particular setting, that incantation for a spell, or that age-old symbol that has appeared in fantasy literature for centuries. Greek, Roman, and Celtic mythological similarities are explored. Latin, Greek, French, and Italian phrases are translated. Literary and Biblical characters are reintroduced, as are folk- and fairytale patterns. And comparisons to J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, C.S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia, Ursula Le Guin’s Earthsea, and other fantasy classics are made.
Along the way, you’ll recall details of the wizarding world that you may have forgotten, or, if you’ve never read the Harry Potter novels, you’ll have a chance to read them with informed eyes.
How to Use This Book
This book can be read cover to cover, or it can be used as a resource, reading only the chapters or sections on which you want to learn more about the wizarding world. If you want to get a complete education, sit down at Chapter 1 and read straight through. By the end of the book, you’ll not only have an excellent understanding of the origins and background of Rowling’s work but also a greater appreciation of the genius of her creativity. Few of the hundreds of names, incantations, and places in her novels were selected without a reason.
To use this book as a quick, get-in-get-out resource, flip to the Table of Contents or Index and start with your most pressing questions. From there, read only the chapters and sections that appeal to you. You’ll find that each chapter and section is self-contained and does not rely on your having read the section or chapters before.
This book is divided into five parts:
Part 1, “Wizards, Monsters, and Creatures of All Sorts,” teaches you a little wizarding lingo, introduces the most famous wizards and witches, and gives you the scoop on creatures of all shapes and sizes.
Part 2, “Where and How the Wizards Are,” gets you acquainted with the way wizards live their everyday lives, from how they dress to what they eat to how they travel around town.
Part 3, “Magical Places,” takes you on a tour of the wizarding hotspots in both London and Hogsmeade and gives you the lowdown on Hogwarts School and other wizard schools around the globe.
Part 4, “Spells, Potions, and Other Ways of Performing Magic,” reveals the botanical, linguistic, literary, and mythological background on hundreds of herbs, potions, and spells. You also get the goods on advanced wizardry that’s reserved for the talented few.
Part 5, “Regulating Magic and the Wizards Who Perform It,” introduces you to Ministry of Magic officials, shares information about their departments, and lets you see how crimes are punished in the magical world. This part also offers a final chapter that gives you the lowdown on Rowling’s seventh novel, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, describing wizarding phenomena that don’t exist in the other six novels.
Extras
Throughout this book you’ll find three types of boxes that will make understanding the wizarding world even easier:
KING’S ENGLISH
Can’t make heads or tales of all those British terms sprinkled throughout the Harry Potter novels? This box contains quick translations of British terms and customs that may be unfamiliar to you, and defines wizard terminology as well.
TOURIST TIP
One of the best ways to enjoy the wizarding world is to get out and see the sights around the world. This box tells you where you can travel (real or imagined) to bring you that much closer to where the wizards are.
MAGIC TALE
Want additional literary and mythological background for the wizarding world? This box brings you up to speed on how Rowling’s work ties in with mythology, folklore, Biblical tales, and other fantasy literature. It also includes some related information to enhance your understanding of the text.
Acknowledgments
Thanks to Marilyn Allen, who took this idea to Alpha Books. To Michele Wells, who liked the idea enough to champion it, despite many unexpected roadblocks and interruptions. And to Lynn Northrup, Megan Douglass, and Emily Garner, who made the text 100 percent better and made the writing process as easy as possible for me.
Thanks also to illustrator Carl Feryok, the Legal Department at Penguin Group (USA) Inc, and the entire production department at Alpha Books.
Finally, my most special thanks to the following friends and colleagues, who supported the idea, celebrated with me when Penguin decided to publish this book, and offered a shoulder to lean on when the process got bogged down from time to time: Amanda Cockrell, Kimberly Dmytro, Dr. Janet Dunn, Renee Englot, Joseph Goetz, Natasha Graf, Loribeth Huck, Cathy Koon, Brian Kramer, Elizabeth Kuball, Marcia Larkin, Dave Milner, Dr. Julie Pfeiffer, Taylor Poling, Lara Saguisag, Laura Seybold, Brie Shannon, Paige York Sibold, Jenny Snodgrass, Anne and Richard Stouffer, Judy and Mike Stouffer, Dr. C.W. Sullivan, Sheila White, and Frank Wood.
Special Thanks to the Technical Reviewer
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to the World of Harry Potter was reviewed by an expert who double-checked the accuracy of what you’ll learn here, to help us ensure that this book gives you everything you need to know about the world of Harry Potter. Special thanks are extended to Nicole Notowitz.
Nicole Notowitz has been a Harry Potter fan since before the series gained popularity. She is originally from New York and currently resides in North Carolina, where she teaches second grade and shares her love of reading with her students.
Trademarks
All terms mentioned in this book that are known to be or are suspected of being trademarks or service marks have been appropriately capitalized. Alpha Books and Penguin Group (USA) Inc. cannot attest to the accuracy of this information. Use of a term in this book should not be regarded as affecting the validity of any trademark or service mark.
Part 1
Wizards, Monsters, and Creatures of All Sorts
Welcome to Wizarding 101. In this part, you acquaint yourself with basic wizarding terminology—words like Muggle and Dark Wizard. You also get to know some of the most famous wizards of all time, both from Rowling’s novels and from rich folkloric history. And, best of all, you get to meet nearly 50 creatures and discover their mythological, historical, and literary histories.
Chapter 1
Wizards, Witches, and Warlocks
In
This Chapter • Discovering basic magic terminology
• Getting the lowdown on the most important characters of the wizarding world
• Exploring the history of some famous wizards
• Reviewing Rowling’s biggest influences
Before we can wade knee-deep into the specifics of Harry Potter’s magical world, we need a common vocabulary, both for wizarding terms and for a few key wizards. This chapter gives you both, detailing terminology you’ll read throughout this book and giving you brief descriptions of the wizards mentioned most often in Rowling’s novels, plus a few famous real-life wizards who have a place in literature and mythic tales.
What’s What in the Wizarding World: Basic Terminology
Let’s begin at the very beginning, with some basic definitions:• Wizard: This term has long been used throughout history, folklore, and written literature; it is synonymous with sorcerer, magician, and conjurer. The word can be applied to both males and females in the wizarding world, but it tends to be used to refer to a male magician. Derived from the word wise, in the Muggle world it also applies to any wise person or someone who is exceptionally skilled (as in, “he’s a computer wizard!”).
• Warlock: Another name for a wizard; the two terms can be used interchangeably when discussing a male. (But not a female; a warlock is always male.) In the TV series Bewitched, males with magical power were always referred to as warlocks, not wizards. In the wizarding world, warlock is hardly ever used. The word is derived from the Middle English warloghe, meaning “traitor” or “liar”—apparently warlocks didn’t have the best reputations!
• Witch: A female wizard, also historically called a sorceress. (A male possessing magical abilities is never, ever called a witch.) The word derives from the same source as Wicca (see the following bullet). Witches have long been stereotyped as being ugly, ill-tempered old women, even if they have transformed themselves to be beautiful to the observer. Witches have also reportedly (in folktales) made deals with the devil to obtain their skills. Witches in the wizarding world are simply female versions of wizards, and they do not bear any resemblance to those two stereotypes, unless you count Dark Witches.