#hogwartslessons

The founders of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry wanted to represent each aspect they would like to see in new students. Each brought different character and personality traits to the table and allowed for students to fit into the four different houses based upon said traits.

Godric Gryffindor

Godric Gryffindor is known to be one of the most powerful duellers of his time. Another interesting fact about him is that some called -- and still call -- him the “crusader against Muggle discrimination”.

Of all the founders, Godric Gryffindor was closest friends with Salazar Slytherin. However, as most of you might have already known, there was a large argument between these two friends when they noticed the difference in what they would like Hogwarts to become.

Like the other founders, Godric tried to shape the Gryffindor house to be like him: loyal, brave, and fearless. It was known that many times, he stood up for his friends, including Salazar Slytherin.

As Second Years, you will have already gone through your very own sorting ceremony, but did you know that the Sorting Hat once belonged to Godric Gryffindor?

While the founders were alive, they were able to sort the students of Hogwarts into different houses, but they got worried about what to do when they passed on. Relying on all four of them becoming ghosts was an unlikely option. Thus, Godric removed his hat and all four witches and wizards enchanted the hat together to give it the “brains” to sort even when they were no longer available.

Salazar Slytherin

Salazar Slytherin had a great many achievements, beliefs, and discoveries attributed to him, including being an adept Legilimens. Unfortunately, however, the thing about him most people know him for is his belief that magic should always remain within a strict group of pure-blooded families; he insisted the Hogwarts must not allow anyone else into the school. This was also the beginning of the well-known argument between the founders. However, contrary to popular belief, Salazar Slytherin was actually a loyal friend, and not a bigoted villain. His scorning of Muggle-born students was actually born out of a desire to protect the rest of the students in the school, as he believed they may betray them to Muggles. 

Salazar Slytherin had a special talent. He was a Parselmouth, meaning he could speak with serpents. It was due to his talent that he was almost killed as a child. He tried to defend a Muggle girl, who was bullied, by speaking to a snake and telling it to attack the aggressors. Frightened, the girl ran home and told her parents about what Salazar had done, causing him to be brutally beaten. Salazar’s parents were able to save him and get their revenge, killing the man, but his hatred of Muggles remained.

Salazar had no idea that Godric was in fact a Muggle-born. When he turned to the other founders for support, he was only met with rejection, as Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff did not see a reason to bar Muggle-borns from their institution.

Students of Slytherin are known to be ambitious and cunning. They would do anything to achieve what they believe in.

Following Salazar’s failed attempt to only accept pure-bloods in the school, he created the Chamber of Secrets and placed a basilisk inside it. This basilisk was placed in order to rid all Muggle-borns in Hogwarts, should the worst come to pass, and fulfill this “noble purpose” Salazar had set for it to do.

Helga Hufflepuff

Helga Hufflepuff came from a very mundane and simple family in Wales. She was the oldest of three children, though the other two children were adopted (one magical and one Muggle). This has allowed her to nurture the motherly characteristics she became famous for and that she has brought to her house in Hogwarts. Caring for her students’ well-being was more important than anything else.

Interestingly, Helga was famous for her wide variety of food-related charms, many of which were, and still are, present in Hogwarts’ feasts. Through food, she was able to form connections with people of many different backgrounds. She had an avid interest in various cultures, Muggle and magical alike. Helga immersed herself in many a culture and was always open to learning about others. This also contributed to her charismatic nature.

Rowena Ravenclaw

  Born in Scotland, Rowena’s maiden name was actually not Ravenclaw. She took the name from her husband, Jares Ravenclaw. Jares was Helga’s cousin. Rowena knew Helga before knowing Jares, and through her friendship with Helga met Jares Ravenclaw, who was ten years her senior. He was persistent in winning her heart, despite her sole interest and love for knowledge rather than relationships. In the end, she was won over with not only his perseverance but also his wit.

As a child, Rowena was always a lover of knowledge and learning. This allowed her to advance her skills in various realms of magic and brought about her interest in magical architecture. It was a relatively rare topic at that time as resources were scarce, but Rowena was determined to use this ability in one form or another. The opportunity arose when Helga introduced her to Salazar and Godric, and thus the idea for Hogwarts was born. Then, she invested all her time into the magical architecture of Hogwarts, the magic behind which is still a mystery to witches and wizards to this very day.

Rowena Ravenclaw became a widow when a wizard’s misfired spell killed her husband. Thus, she brought her daughter, Helena Ravenclaw, with her to live in Hogwarts castle, where she dedicated all her time to teaching and learning. She buried herself in work to distance herself from the hurt in her heart caused by her husband’s death. However, this caused tension between her and her daughter as the latter felt neglected. As a result, Helena later fled the castle with the fabled diadem of wisdom her mother had enchanted. This brought about more hurt to Rowena -- more than she was willing to admit -- as she refused to let go of her pride and denied that her daughter had run away.

Even on her deathbed, Rowena never got to see her daughter one last time. She died of illness and a broken heart in 1000 A.D.

The Wizards’ Council

When talking about the history and the formation of the Ministry of Magic, we must go back much farther than 1990. Before the year 1000, as you have learnt in previous lessons, wizards lived in close harmony with Muggles everywhere in the world. Although the wizarding world didn’t believe they had to announce their existence, Muggles had the knowledge of and, for the most part, tolerated it. For Muggles, it was easy not to interfere in the wizarding world, due to their incapability and ignorance. On the other hand, wizards often found it more difficult to not interfere with the Muggle world due to their skills and knowledge.

Of course, treaties between wizards and Muggles appeared before those years, but old documentation records the first name of a governing group around 990 called the Wizards’ Council. This council, founded around that year, combined the efficiency of a governing group of intelligent leaders with the combined power of a king or emperor. It was, as we would look at it now, a predecessor of the current Ministry of Magic, although, the Wizards’ Council in function was more like the current Wizengamot. The first real record of this council being of service for the wizarding community lie deep within the Ministry’s archives and state this council’s involvement in the founding of Hogwarts, and the creation of the governmental rules and legislation thereof.

The council constantly changed its number of seated council members, from ten at the start, to more than 100 at its largest. These one hundred members weren’t all human wizards, as the council had a difficult time deciding who in the wizarding world should be qualified to share in the governing and legal rights of the council. In 1450, Burdock Muldoon, the Chief Warlock of the Wizards’ Council at that time, declared that “any two-legged creature, hereafter named ‘a being’, may send not more than eight representatives to the upcoming Wizards’ Council meeting, at exactly five strikes of the clock on the Wednesday, May Eighth. While all other creatures, hereafter named ‘beasts’ are banned from said council meeting”. Thus all bipedal creatures were present that day, including a large number of undesirable creatures as Fwoopers, Pixies, Vampires, Trolls, and Yetis. One should note that he excluded the merpeople and centaurs, now impossible to imagine, and that, understandably, the meeting that day went terribly wrong, as you can read in in the records found within the Ministry.

Organizational Shift: Council to Ministry

After the disastrous meeting in 1450, nothing was seen from Chief Muldoon and the new Chieftainess Elfrida Clagg took over, and immediately changed the definition of beings “as being able to speak the human tongue, and could make themselves understandable by council members”. Although that created a better work environment, the Centaurs still weren’t satisfied with the definition, mainly because it excluded the merpeople. Clagg, however, never changed the definition, as a perfectly capable situation was created. She also changed the legislation of the Quidditch games, which, until then, used a Golden Snidget to chase after and win a game. Clagg declared the Snidget to be an endangered species, and proposed a substitute, the Golden Snitch, a golden ball with silvery wings, exactly the same size as the original creature, made by Bowman Wright.

Warlocks’ Conventions

Concurrent with the founding of the British Wizards’ Council, a second, more international governing body was created. The International Warlock’s Convention, founded between the years 1100 and 1150, bound all members to an international governmental body. Little is known about the convention, as its archives are confidential, open only to the members of the current incarnation of the International Warlock’s Convention. Only its legislation and rulings are published. We do however know about a couple of these conventions:

The Warlocks’ Convention in     1289, in which they probably discussed the problems of Quidditch, as it     became a nuisance to keep it a secret from the Muggle world, or the future     possibilities of international educational cooperation.

The Warlocks’ Convention in     1627, decreeing all magical nations should create a national governing     body to protect its citizens from harm and enforce the magical law     created.

The Warlocks’ Convention in     1675, to change their official name into the International Confederation     of Wizards, and start working on the International Statute of Secrecy,     which was finalised in 1689.

A later convention in 1709,     where they passed legislation that outlawed dragon breeding for good.

Much like the various nomes of Egypt, the Maya empire was made up of many smaller cohesive groups. This meant, among other things, that defining one specific culture or pantheon for the Maya is tricky at best. Additionally, as noted with the Aztecs, the Maya pantheon overlaps considerably, with two gods occasionally combined as one, one god having multiple forms, or having multiple names for one god depending on the time or place, and sometimes just having different names for the same god based on regional cultural differences. This only adds to the difficulty in picking apart separate deities for modern-day researchers. Finally, you will likely notice some similarities between the Maya pantheon and the Aztecs based on the fact that the Maya’s pantheon came before and their beliefs exerted some influence on later societies.

Maya Pantheon

One thing you will notice as rather unique to the Maya pantheon is that often one god can have exactly four separate incarnations. In these cases, sometimes the gods will be referred to by a single name, sometimes each of the four incarnations will have four separate names, but be related to each other and considered to be part of the same god. That is, a god can be referred to with one name and be identified by that name, but can also have separate names for their four incarnations. You will see what I meant shortly. This phenomena is due to the beliefs of the Maya and the fact that they felt the world had four corners, thus creating a new facet of a god for each one.

Ah Mun The god of corn, or maize, Ah Mun was highly respected as he represented the most important Maya crop. Naturally, he is also associated with agriculture. He is always depicted as a young man, with ears of corn making up a headdress.

Ah Puch This god goes by many other names including Cizin and Yum Cimil, and can even be split into two separate deities known as  Hun Came and Vucub Came. No matter his name, he is always a highly feared and malicious god. Ah Puch was the primary god of the underworld in Maya tradition, called Xibalba. More specifically, his dominion was the ninth, and lowest level of the Xibalba. I could indeed go on for some length about the Maya underworld, its thirteen primary gods, and their domains (whether it was presiding over a level of the underworld or bringing disease to the humans above), but suffice it to say it was not an enjoyable place. The realm was treacherous to approach, with many obstacles in the path of unwary explorers. More, once an explorer arrived in Xibalba, much of it was full of traps and tests to snare them.

Bacab, or the Bacabs The son of the head deity, Itzamn (who will be covered shortly), Bacab is associated with many magic rituals, including divination, particularly when related to predicting the fertility of crops. He also had an association with the sky like Itzamn. Each of them was placed along the four corners of the world in order to hold up the sky, as there were fortunately four incarnations. The Bacab of the north was named Cantzicnal, the south Hosanek, the east Hobnil, and the west Saccimi. The Bacabs are also highly intertwined with the four wind deities, Pauahtun, insomuch as in some traditions they are one and the same.

Chac, or the Chacs Like the Bacabs, the Chacs (also called the Chaacs or the Chaahks) were another four-in-one deity. The Chacs functioned as rain gods, each one associated with a cardinal direction. Because of their association with rain, they were heavily involved in any rituals or prayers surrounding agriculture or rain. They were all associated with the same aspects and were prayed to equally.

Ek Chuah Also called Ek Chuaj or Ekchuah, this formidable god was a violent one. He was the god of war and the god of death in battle or human sacrifice. This made him quite prominent in Maya society. Interestingly, he had other functions and associations, such as being the god of merchants and one of the gods of travelers.

Hunahpu and Ixbalanque These two figures, also known as the Hero Twins, feature prominently in many Maya myths. They fall in the grey area between human and god, for reasons you will see next week. They are not to be confused with their father, Hun Hunahpu (and his twin, Vucub Hunahpu), who had some similar exploits, but is not as celebrated. Many rulers of the Maya empire claimed to be able to trace their ancestry back to these hero twins as a way to prove their worth and their right to rule.

Itzamn Also known simply as Zamn or Itzamna, this god was the lord of the heavens and was in control of both the day and night. Itzamn occupied the top, most powerful spot of the Maya pantheon, and was their creator god. Interestingly, he was viewed as quite benevolent and was called upon for help and mercy, something which is not often associated with Maya culture. He was often regarded as the spouse of Ixchebelyax and the father of the aforementioned Bacab.

Kukulkan This god is widely regarded as the Maya counterpart to the Aztec Quetzalcoatl, as his name means “feathered serpent.” Confusingly, at one time, there was also a very powerful wizard named Kukulkan and it is hard to tell which came first: the man, or the mythological god. It is equally possible that a powerful wizard either named himself after a god for reasons of prestige, or that the man was so powerful and famous, that he become immortalized in legend and more myths were fabricated over time. Regardless of which is accurate, Kukulkan is famous for creating humankind after a few attempts, alongside the god Tepeu.

Lunatics and Lunacy

 Many Muggles love observing the Moon. However, if you call a Muggle a lunatic, prepare for him or her to get mad. Although the Moon is a powerful and gentle force, there was a time when many Muggles believed that the Moon caused people to be extremely irrational. Many Western philosophers and laws use the word “lunatic” to discuss those who are unable to think rationally at a particular moment. While the majority of Muggles do not actually believe that the Moon causes irrationality, this meaning behind the word “lunatic” still remains today.

Moon and Muggle Tales of Magic

Remember this portrait from the castle? It shows a robed witch flying across the Moon. For many Muggles, this is a stereotypical depiction of witches - black robe, pointy hat, and broomstick. As a Muggle-born, I grew up listening to fairy tales of witches - most of them evil - cackling while casting supposed spells. Ever since the Statute of Secrecy, it seems like the most popular representations of witches in the Muggle world are stereotypes.

By why the Moon? How does the Full Moon tie into the image of a witch? In Chinese, Indian, and Western astrology, of which the basics are known to Muggles, the Moon represents feminine qualities, and thus it is connected to emotions and motherhood. It is interesting to note as well that many Muggle calendars from different civilizations are based on the Moon because the Moon’s phases are regular and easy to observe.

Perhaps the Muggle image of a witch on a broom in front of the Full Moon is a story about certain Muggles’ uncomfortable attitudes around femininity. Even though the stereotypical Muggle depiction of a witch is negative - she is often shown as evil and ugly - she is also shown as powerful and intelligent. Combine it with the idea that the Moon inspires irrationality as well as standing for feminine qualities, the stereotypical Muggle image of a witch could be seen as an attack on feminine power and strength.

Eclipses in History

During earlier times in human history, many civilizations noticed eclipses but did not have the knowledge to explain why they happened. As such, many civilizations created tales to explain why eclipses happened. In some societies, eclipses are seen as the doing of angry or hungry gods. For example, the Incas saw lunar eclipses as a very bad sign. According to Incan stories, a lunar eclipse occurs when the angry jaguar god munches on the Moon. After he is done, legend suggests that he may come to Earth and munch on its inhabitants as well.

The Banishing Charm

The Banishing Charm (Depulso) is the counter-charm to the Summoning Charm. As Accio summons objects to the caster, Depulso sends both objects and living things away from the caster. Unlike the Summoning Charm, which can summon specific objects from anywhere, the Banishing Charm banishes whatever the wand is aimed at.

Depulso can be used to shoot objects away from the caster, whether a living organism or an object. It can be used in duelling, as proved by Severus Snape (in alternate reality) when he blasted Dolores Umbridge away from himself.

Melofors Jinx

The Melofors Jinx (Melofors) is a jinx that encases the victim's head in a pumpkin, although it appears to those watching to transform the victim's head into a pumpkin. The pumpkin can be shattered to free the victim, or can fall apart on its own after a short time.

 Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger used this spell on various erklings throughout the grounds of Hogwarts Castle during the 1994-1995 school year, overlooked by their Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Bartemius Crouch Jr (who at the time was disguised as Alastor Moody).

 In the very next school year, Headmaster Albus Dumbledore managed to escape Cornelius Fudge, Dolores Umbridge and Percy Weasley after they came to arrest him, and the next day a rumour spread that Fudge was in St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries after having had this jinx used on him.

   The Cushioning Charm

The Cushioning Charm (Molliare) creates an unseen softening effect on target surfaces. It is primarily used in broomstick manufacturing to make the brooms more comfortable for riders.

This charm was invented by Elliot Smethwyck in 1820.

 During their break-in of Gringotts Wizarding Bank, Hermione Granger used this charm to protect Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley, Griphook, herself, and an Imperiused Bogrod when the Mine Cart in which they were riding derailed after passing through the Thief's Downfall.

A Memory Charm (Obliviate), also known as a Forgetfulness Charm, was a spell that could be used to erase memories from an individual's mind. It was different from the charm that creates false memories

Incantation: Obliviate  (oh-BLI-vee-ate)

Type: Charm

Hand movement:

Light: Green

Effect: Erases memory

Creator: Mnemone Radford (1562-1649)

Mnemone Radford was the witch who first developed Memory Modifying Charms. She became the first Ministry of Magic Obliviator, due to her skill with the charm.

These spells are used routinely by the Ministry of Magic as they work to keep the wizarding world a secret from the Muggles.

Minister for Magic Ottaline Gambol was responsible for the creation of the Hogwarts Express to transport young witches and wizards to Hogwarts. However, the secrecy surrounding the project entailed a mass operation involving one hundred and sixty-seven Memory Charms and the largest ever mass Concealment Charm performed in Britain.

Some Muggles slipped through the cracks in these situations, according to Blenheim Stalk in Muggles Who Notice. When particularly intense memories needed to be erased, it often left the victim disoriented for a short period of time, as happened with the Roberts family after the Quidditch World Cup in 1994.

If performed improperly, a Memory Charm could erase significant portions of an individual's memory and cause brain damage, with difficulty in recovery. For instance, Gilderoy Lockhart attempted to wipe the memories of Harry Potter and Ron Weasley during the events surrounding the re-opening of the Chamber of Secrets.

However, Ron's damaged wand backfired, thus causing Lockhart to suffer extreme obliviation. He thereafter became a permanent resident in the Janus Thickey Ward of St Mungo's. Although Lockhart did retain some of his memories (mainly his vain liking for signing autographs despite not knowing why, and knowing how to write in cursive), he never fully recovered.

Barty Crouch Snr placed a Memory Charm on Bertha Jorkins to try to make her forget her discovery that he was keeping his son in captivity. However, the charm he put on her was was too strong, and thus it damaged her memory permanently, making her chronically forgetful about other things as well.

Breaking the charm:

Memory Charms could be broken through torture. In 1994, Lord Voldemort and Peter Pettigrew broke a Memory Charm placed by Barty Crouch Snr on Bertha Jorkins, and extracted information from her regarding the whereabouts of Crouch's son. However, the breaking of the charm had caused a great toll on Bertha, and her body and mind was damaged beyond repair.

In 1997, Voldemort had Antonin Dolohov and Thorfinn Rowle tortured with the Cruciatus Curse after they failed to capture Harry Potter. Hermione Granger had cast Memory Charms on them so as to cover the trio's tracks. It appears that the charms were not broken by torture, since the Death Eaters remained unaware that Ron Weasley was with Harry and Hermione, rather than sick at home with spattergroit, as had been claimed. This may mean that a certain level of torture was necessary to break the charm, or that the torturer needed to be specific on wanting to break it, rather than just inflicting the pain.

Since Lockhart's backfired Memory Charm was never been broken through, it is possible that torture was the only method of complete recovery (with possibly irreparable mental and physical damage being clear side-effects), as it is doubtful that St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries would commit crimes against humanity just to recover Lockhart's memory. It is also possible, however, that since it was cast improperly, Lockhart's memory was actually erased permanently with no chance of recovery whatsoever. Although spending time in the hospital did help him regain the basics of his memory — mainly to write in cursive and his enjoyment of signing autographs, the latter of which he does not remember why — he never fully recovered.

Etymology

The incantation "obliviate" may be derived from the Latin oblivisci, meaning "to forget", or the English word oblivion, defined as "the fact or condition of forgetting or having forgotten".

It may be derived from the Latin term oblivio, which also means "to forget"

The Tickling Charm (Rictusempra), also known as the Rictusempra Charm, is a spell that causes a victim to buckle with laughter. It also has at least two other side effects on the victim.

Incantation: Rictusempra (ric-tuh-SEM-pra)

Type: Charm

Hand movement:

Light: Silver

Effect: Tickles and weakens

It is usually used as a diversionary tactic in duels. Harry Potter used it on Draco Malfoy in the Duelling Club during their second year. It is not known if this affects a person who is not ticklish, however in the Chamber of Secrets film, Malfoy was knocked backwards instead, and perhaps this could be the effect on a person not ticklish.

General Counter-Spell

The General Counter-Spell (Finite or Finite Incantatem) is a counter-spell for general use. It may be used in duels or on an entire home, as a precaution before a wizard answers the door. It is taught at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Incantation: Finite (fi-NEE-tay)

Finite Incantatem (fi-NEE-tay in-can-TAH-tem)

Type: Counter-spell

Hand movement:

Light: Red

Effect: Terminates all spell effects

Organic and Inorganic Materials

Organic materials are those that come from some living organism, either a plant or an animal. Examples of some organic compounds include nucleic acids, sugars, fats, proteins, enzymes, and hydrocarbon fuels, or compounds that consist of only carbon-hydrogen bonds. While inorganic compounds include salts, metals, and other substances composed of single elements or lacking a carbon-hydrogen bond. In terms of transfiguration, organic materials are typically harder to work with due to their increased complexity.  They are composed of molecules and cells that are the building blocks of life and therefore have a stronger resistance to unnatural change.

Rabbits

Rabbits are small mammals of the family Leporidae.  They can be anywhere from eight to twenty inches in length and have long ears that can grow to be four inches or longer. Their hind legs are strong, allowing them to jump and hop around the meadows, woods, deserts, wetlands, or grasslands in which they are known to reside. In terms of appearance, rabbits, also colloquially called “bunnies,” have long, soft fur covering their bodies and a large tuft in the rear that is their tail.  They are herbivores, eating mainly grass and hay, but also enjoying fresh fruits and vegetables.  They can also be domesticated, being a popular pet among wizarding families as they have a slight affinity for magic. They aren’t full magical creatures, so you do not need to worry about overcoming a strong magical barrier. However, they can sense magic, similar to owls, and certain parts, such as the fur, liver, and feet, can be used in potion making.

Slippers

Slippers are light footwear, typically worn indoors, that are easily put on and taken off.  While there are many different types of slippers, from moccasins to Cinderella’s famous glass slippers, made from many different materials, today we are aiming for fuzzy slippers with synthetic fur. Fake furs can be made from acrylic polymers that are composed of chemicals derived from coal, air, water, petroleum, and limestone which are all inorganic compounds.

The Transformation

This spell we will be using transfigures one rabbit into one slipper. That being sad, you will need two rabbits in order for this spell to achieve its purpose. The spell information is given on the board, so when you feel ready, come up and grab a rabbit. Once you are successful with the first, you may attempt with a second if you so choose. Now onto the transformation!

You must be sure to concentrate on the intended materials for this transformation.  Due to the strong visual and textural similarities that exist between rabbits and slippers, some forget that there are still more changes that must take place, particularly when it comes to the interior of the shoe and the molecular differences between natural and synthetic fur. It is for this reason that the issues that are most often seen with the Rabbits to Slippers Transformation include the creation of a solid slipper, such that there is no hole for your foot, and a slipper with real rabbit hair, rather than a synthetic fur.

Origin