ANCR-701 Lessons

Students filter into the dimly lit classroom, the last rays of light from the setting sun in the hallways only slightly brighter than the witchlight lamps in the Room of Runes. While pulling out materials and engaging in casual conversation, some students notice a rather out-of-place artefact on the professor’s desk. Upon closer inspection, it seems to be a series of enchanted statues and structures showing a highly advanced city on an island. Little puffs of smoke and sparks from spells float up intermittently. Overall, it looks like the kind of over-complicated toy that children never truly get to play with for fear of breaking an expensive heirloom. 

Mindful of the animated quill scratching away to the right, even curious students keep a respectful distance, and one wonders aloud about asking to see it after class. Though, it somehow seems doubtful Professor Wessex has suddenly become a doting teacher, even with the nostalgia of N.E.W.T.s clouding things. As the clock tolls the late hour, any milling students find their way to their seats, waiting for the professor’s entry and the beginning of the lesson.

Introduction
Good evening, class. Today, as indicated, we will be covering the different ways in which Muggles — via their presence, absence, or use of a script — can affect the development of runic magic, and the nuances of how this can both harm and help. Yes, I see some of you looking at me with doubt, but all will be explained. 

Before we dive directly into that, however, a bit of context. The entire point of covering these particular topics this year is for you to use this information to further your studies. Therefore, each time you encounter a script, you will need to be considering many different questions, such as what categories they fit in and what characteristics those categories reveal about said script. As an example from your last lesson, you may wish to ask yourself how long the script was in use and, if possible, how long it took before the script developed magical meanings. Additionally, it could be beneficial to consider the number of symbols in the overall corpus, as well as the number of symbols with magical uses. It may not initially tell you anything, but you can start to form a picture in your mind about what this script was like and how to approach its study.

Today, we will be introducing a set of categories that all scripts — or, at least, all scripts thus far — fit into: magical scripts, mixed scripts, and purely mundane scripts. 

Degrees of Magic
The first of these is scripts that only have magical functions. This includes alphabets and groups of symbols that were created only to be used by magical persons, or created to only be used in magical ways. They did not — at least when they originated — have any mundane purposes at all. These can either be manufactured purposefully or can come about naturally. One example of the former is the Alphabet of the Magi, which you will be familiar with if you have taken Alchemy. Examples of either of these are hard to come by, but rest assured that we will be going over both types in class today. 

The next type of script is what is colloquially known as a “shared script” or a “mixed script.” These alphabets are the most common type all over the world. To be a mixed script, the writing system must have been used by both Muggles and magical persons, and the Muggles must have had significant impact on the development of the script’s magical uses. All magical scripts you have studied so far in this course fit this description. The Elder Futhark, ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, Proto-Canaanite, and Phoenician are all currently classified as mixed scripts as they were used by both magical and non-magical people. As a note, instances where Muggles uncover magical scripts do not automatically make a script “mixed” In this situation, although a Muggle researcher or strange cult may have attempted to use the script, it is still solely magical, as it was not created or shaped by Muggles at all, and the Muggles’ use of the script did not influence its development in any way. 

Lastly, we have purely mundane scripts. In essence, these are scripts that are not used for magic on their own. In truth, they are of very little importance to this class. Purely mundane scripts are not part of Ancient Runes as they have no magical meaning or significance. However, it is an important category to know of for three reasons. Firstly, it is only logical to know the category for all other scripts that don’t fit in the aforementioned two. Secondly, and more critically, what was once historically considered a purely mundane script can suddenly change with the addition of new information. Phoenician has done this, for example.¹ Similarly, many fringe scholars believe that the Anglo-Saxon Futhork and/or the Younger Futhark may someday make the switch as well, should the right information — namely information about activation — be uncovered. Lastly, many so-called “mundane” scripts were still used by witches and wizards for record-keeping purposes which contained accounts of rituals, the names of spells, or potion recipes.

Basic, Better, Best

The question that naturally arises from learning of these groups is which is more powerful, more long-lasting, more likely to be widespread, more likely to be widely used, or in some way “best.” The potentially surprising result is neither. Of course, purely mundane scripts are obviously out, as they are of minimal use until magical evidence is discovered. However, the other two categories each have their uses, with mixed scripts perhaps having the slightest of edges over purely magical scripts. 

Let us take a moment to explain why that is. It’s easy enough to see why mixed scripts are the most common. During the time period in which ancient scripts were developing, there was significantly more Muggle and magical cooperation and open interaction. This means that our history, our towns, our discoveries, and our languages and scripts were shared with Muggles. Nearly every single script from this period — and therefore nearly every single magical alphabet — has had Muggle influence because of this. It is very common for there either to be an “extra dimension” to the script that Muggles are not aware of, as is the case with ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, or for Muggles to be aware of these meanings only via historical accounts of the past. For example, many ideographic meanings of the Elder Futhark are known to Muggles via historical records and manuscripts, but they simply dismiss these meanings as primitive beliefs inferior to science.² 

The question remains as to why Muggle influence could be beneficial. Essentially, the answer is greater numbers. There are roughly ten times more Muggles in the world than witches and wizards. When we talked about the fact that scripts with larger numbers of symbols are not as commonly represented among magical scripts, we also talked about how it takes a large enough group of people to “reinforce” the belief in the runes. As an extension of this idea, even if the people contributing to that overarching belief are Muggles, it still helps to cement the belief in the minds of witches and wizards. As an example, suppose there was an alphabet that was used only at Hogwarts, only by Hogwarts students. Then imagine that there was a magical script that was used by 57 million people, all the time, and in all situations. Which would be more likely to subconsciously internalized? 

Finally, onto the topic of solely magical scripts. We have already noted that there are both naturally occurring examples of this and fabricated examples of these kinds of scripts. The Alphabet of the Magi, created by Paracelsus himself, is a prime example of the latter. While we have not discussed it in Ancient Runes because of its less-than-ancient origins, it is certainly still a magical script. However, it does have its limitations, just like any other contrived magical alphabet. In the simplest sense, the problem is that the script has not “earned” its magical meanings through centuries, or even millennia of mental association and everyday use. As Professor Rosenquist noted, the Alphabet of the Magi has never seen such great success or as widespread use as, say hieroglyphics or Germanic runes, and this is for good reason.

Because these magical meanings are “forced,” their associated magical attributes are often weak at best, or extremely volatile at worst. This changes depending based on both the person using the script and the script itself. Most often, the power is simply weakened, as the script does not serve as a good “anchor” for magic. It needs more time to develop belief or credibility in the user’s eyes.³ In rarer cases, the script’s effects can be volatile. This occurs when the symbols’ meanings are very strongly believed, but inevitably, the user cannot completely ignore the fact that the script was invented, and that these symbols have other meanings in different scripts. Essentially, it is a problem of concentration and one that is very difficult to overcome. In these instances, your inscriptions may not always do what you intended.

Paracelcus was so successful (at least in comparison to other attempted “forced” magical meanings or scripts), due to a few factors. Firstly, he was an incredibly skilled and knowledgeable wizard. However, this might not be important for the reasons that you think. While being an incredibly powerful witch is all well and good, sheer magical ability does not instantaneously imbue your created script with more magic. You need others to believe and internalize the meanings, and there is no shortcut for that. However, we are more likely to trust in a script created by a highly intelligent and skilled magical practitioner, rather than the average witch or wizard. For example, if a Third Year prone to accidental explosions told you he created a magically functional runic script and the top of your year said the same, whose would you be more likely to believe? 

Obviously, Paracelsus and those witches and wizards who knew him well benefitted the most from this magical script. Their inherent belief was likely stronger than your average Seventh Year reading about him and his alphabet many hundreds of years later. Additionally, because Paracelsus rooted his script partially in kabbalistic doctrine, it had some level of credibility already for practitioners of that artl It is for these reasons outlined above that most people do not experience great success with the Alphabet of the Magi and stick to more traditional forms of ancient runes instead. 

Still, with all that said, there was — and still is — incredible potential in the idea of developing an all-magical script. By association, Muggles can, and often do, decrease the overall magical perception and power of a language. Taking Muggles out of the picture removes the need to have phonetic, syllabic, or other non-magical meanings that can clutter up a script. Unfortunately, a perfect script like this without the downsides evident in the Alphabet of the Magi has not yet been accomplished, at least, not according to the majority of scholars. 

Atlantean Alphabets
However, that brings us to our last topic of discussion for today. If you’ve been paying attention, I did promise to talk about an example of a naturally occurring solely magical script. This particular group of scripts is the subject of great interest in many magical scholarly circles, not the least of which are magilinguists. The only issue with these scripts is that they are typically only talked about in a theoretical sense or disregarded as wishful thinking (or myth) by the larger academic community. While all-magical villages or entire communities are not uncommon, either in the past or present day, entire civilizations — complete with unique forms of government, economies, languages, and scripts — are incredibly rare. You will likely have talked about the majority of the notable exceptions in class, including the prehistoric beings known as Homo Ghul Akeer, the Bell-Beaker Culture, or the people of El Dorado. For one reason or another, none of these civilizations ever produced a purely magical writing system. The only all-magical civilization that is believed to have done this endures serious skepticism: Atlantis.

Granted, it is generally agreed upon that Atlantis existed, that Atlantis was closed-off enough to escape any Muggle influence, and that Atlantis likely had some sort of script as well as script-based magic.⁴ However, that’s as far as proven fact goes. As you will likely have covered in Year Five Transfiguration when discussing vanishment, the entire civilization disappeared long ago. With it, most assume, went any evidence of their society, their impressive magical advancements, and any remnants of a magical script. 

There are still some, though, that believe that fragments of Atlantean writing still survive. However, considerable doubt is cast upon their credibility as none seem to agree on exactly which artefact may have come from Atlantis or precisely how it escaped Vanishment. Theories range anywhere from Atlantean being the “mother tongue” upon which many ancient Middle Eastern and Asian scripts like Sumerian and Grantha are based, to being a completely indecipherable code that is far too advanced for us to comprehend, due to their highly advanced magical ability and technology. 

Each camp in this (already quite small) population of fringe magilinguists supports a different alleged artefact as originally hailing from Atlantis. One of the most interesting is a herbological sketchbook full of images of impossible and strange plants that no herbologist or magihistorian can identify. The book contains a few scenes of palace gardens, complete with a strange courtyard full of odd symbols arranged in a circle with an explosion of light at the center. Quite a few theorists point to this as a glimpse at the Atlantean runic system. 

Of course, there are issues with this theory, the most obvious one being that the book exists in the first place. The owner of this book insists it is many thousands of years old but rather suspiciously, he refuses to allow it to be dated with diagnostic spells. There is also the issue of how the book might have escaped Atlantis’s destruction and disappearance in 9200 B.C.E. when Atlanteans are suspected to have been isolationists almost to the point of xenophobia. Hypotheses abound as to how this might have happened. They range from the accidental transport of the book by bird to a tale of a woman escaping in order to protect her Squib daughter.⁵ Regardless of whether you buy into any of these theories or not, the main takeaway from this discussion is that a naturally formed, purely-magical script is rife with possibilities, though one may not have existed and may never exist in the future. 

Closing
That is quite enough for this week. When theory is involved, it can be difficult to keep every abstract idea straight. Your homework assignments this week will attempt to help you solidify your knowledge of this theory with the use of concrete examples based on runic systems that actually exist. You will also have a quiz on general information, as well as a research assignment, should attempting to prove or disprove the existence of an Atlantean script be of interest to you.

In your continued perusal of Spellman’s Syllabary, you will benefit immensely from knowing the basics about Cypriot and Phaistos, as next week they will be examples through which our theory is explained. In addition, if you are still uncertain about how the scripts mentioned in this lesson relate to our topic of magical and mixed scripts, I recommend you reread the pertinent sections. However, do note that you will not find any mention of Atlantean, for obvious reasons.

Footnotes

1. Because of the still very recent entry of Phoenician into the world of magical scripts, and the publication date of your textbook, you will notice that Spellman’s Syllabary does not include this discovery. Fortunately, as you have only studied this script a few months ago, you should still have a fairly good memory of Phoenician’s features.
2. There are, of course, some that do believe. However, fortunately, no matter how strongly a Muggle believes, they cannot produce an effect via runes, as they lack the inherent magical ability to use them, just as with potions, brooms, and wands.
3. However, let it not be said or implied that the Alphabet of the Magi is useless. An excellent student of the script, with strong conviction and thorough study of it may still produce excellent effect, even if the potential may never reach that of Elder Futhark. There is also something to be said for using more obscure methods if your aim is to outwit.
4. At this point, only the most die-hard conspiracy theorists still deny the existence of Atlantis, though there are a few. 
5. This theory includes a number of presuppositions about how Atlanteans would have viewed accidental non-magical births which can not be proven in the slightest, not to mention the fact that it is highly unlikely that a civilization from 9600 B.C.E. would have used the same terminology when referring to non-magical persons born to magical parents.

Original lesson written by Professor Venita Wessex
Image credits here, here, and here