ANST-701 Lessons

The professor welcomes the students into her classroom with a smile. She seems a bit sad, and the students note that many of her trinkets and treasures have been tidied up for the year. Once everyone has settled into their seats, she whips out her wand and levitates the last remaining item on her desk - a globe - and rotates it until the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean is facing the students.

So here we are at the end of our journey… Or perhaps the beginning of a new adventure? Regardless, we are at a time of transition, as is normal this time of year. I hope that you have enjoyed your time in my class, but before I send you all off to write your N.E.W.T.s, I wanted to tell you about a few little islands scattered throughout the Pacific Ocean that are of particular interest to the magical community for reasons that shall become clear as we study each one in turn. We will not be going into a significant amount of detail about these islands, but just touching upon a few interesting points. 

Siquijor: The Not-So-Secret Magical Island

The first island we will discuss today is Siquijor - a small island in the Philippines.

Research into the history of the people of Siquijor is rather limited, but suffice to say that, as part of Philippines, it was settled around the same time as the surrounding islands approximately 67,000 years ago. Additionally, the first written histories of the Philippines are dated at around 900 C.E., so we do know that a somewhat literate society existed by that point in history. Furthermore, the Spaniards “discovered” Siquijor in the late 1500s, and we do know that by the time of their arrival, the island was home to a predominantly magical community. That is to say, the majority of the inhabitants of this island were magical.

So far, you may be thinking that none of this information sounds rather spectacular or interesting, but let’s dig a bit deeper here. The people of this island, far away from the turmoil of the Spanish Inquisition, and before both the Salem Witch Trials and the implementation of the Statute of Secrecy, took it upon themselves to form a magical community separate from Muggles, who, at least as far as we can tell anthropologically, neither feared nor persecuted them. Why?

Why is a good question, and one that I hope you continue to ask yourself on a regular basis. It is a question that drives the research and knowledge in general, even once your studies here are done. But, I digress.

In terms of the magical community on Siquijor, we strongly suspect that the move was made simply for the growing conditions present on the island. You see, to this day Siquijor is renowned for the herbs it produces that are used in healing magic. Healers, herbologists, and other witches and wizards interested in magical plants gather every year on Black Saturday, a holy day situated between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. They convene in order to trade, learn, and even heal each other. This gathering has been going on for as long as anyone can recall. What you need to remember about this particular situation is that fear is not the only reason that people have for changing where they live and with whom they associate.

Siquijor is also an oddity when it comes to the ISoS itself, as any Muggle who has a slight interest in natural healing, or the Philippines in general, can easily find information about the magic found on the island of Siquijor. Muggle tourists visit regularly hoping for healing of the body and spirit. If they happen upon a witch or wizard in a pleasant mood during their stay, these hopes may well be fulfilled. 

Why on earth would the wizarding community let this happen? To be quite honest, these minor magical occurrences are written off by the Muggles as fake stories. In general, they believe that either the person who said they were healed was never sick in the first place, or the malady was already in the process of resolving itself before they even arrived on the island. Additionally, witches and wizards on the island are careful to only cure minor ailments, not something that would cause Muggle interest to increase. Never underestimate the power of disbelief - it has served our wizarding community well!

Dobu - The Island of Dark Magic

Another helpful tool to hide magical communities is misdirection, which is a technique that has been used by the wizarding community living on the island of Dobu, off the coast of Papua New Guinea.

Similar to the inhabitants of Siquijor, the community of Dobu is historically a magical one. The difference is that while the inhabitants of Siquijor are mostly healers and herbologists, the community on Dobu have historically focussed on charms and divination. While not specifically clear, it is generally accepted that this magical community formed sometime during the early 1400s. As to why, it is thought that they did so in order to protect the Muggles from their previous home in Papua New Guinea; they didn’t want their experiments with magic to endanger their friends.

While this may seem like a bit of a stretch to believe, consider the more recent, documented history of the island. The Europeans did not make landfall onto Dobu until the late 1800s. As was common, researchers were sent to study the cultures and peoples of the island. One prominent Muggle, Reo Fortune, studied this community in great detail and published his findings to great acclaim in the Muggle world. And yet the ISoS was not breached. 

How is this possible? Quite simply put, the witches and wizards of Dobu completely misdirected the Muggles so they could carry on their work in peace. Using a variety of spells, they convinced Fortune that they were worshipers of black magic and believed in all sorts of terrible practices that were distasteful to Muggles, such as human sacrifice, cannibalism, and more. Once Fortune’s publication was put forward, no Muggle had any interest in visiting the island whatsoever. Fortune’s findings were eventually challenged in the early 2000s by other Muggle researchers who found that Fortune’s claims may have been exaggerated. Not to worry though, the magical community on Dobu now uses much more modern ways to hide their magical heritage from Muggles, and as such, breach is not a concern.

Rapa Nui

Given our last two examples of wizardkind outsmarting the Muggles, I would like to temper any thoughts of magical superiority to Muggles that you may have. Remember, witches and wizards are just as prone to errors and can just as easily be blinded by an obsession as Muggles. The former magical colony on Rapa Nui is one such example.

As mentioned in our previous class, Rapa Nui (sometimes called Easter Island) is located at the easternmost point of Polynesia, and therefore their people were related to those of New Zealand, Hawaii, and other islands in the Pacific Ocean. I will not be going into detail about the history or culture of this civilization as there are thorough descriptions in Year Six of Ancient Runes that you may have already learned. If not, I suggest you consider taking that class! 

What is important to note is that the people of the island (called Rapanui) are a scattered and tattered population in this day and age, largely of their own doing. Their downfall, in part, is due to  their absolute obsession with spell tablets combined with a sheer stubbornness that defies explanation. Simply put, the elite rulers of the population were obsessed with the wood that grew on the island. It was absolutely essential - or so they believed - to make spell tablets. So, they clear-cut the island. Not a single tree was left.

If you are not aware of the ecological effect of such an action, suffice to say it was devastating. It left the island all but inhospitable, and the community was enraged. They rebelled against their predominantly magical leadership and killed them. Of course, the devastation to the island was not so easily fixed, and what little population was left after the rebellion began to sicken and wither. When they were at their weakest, their neighbors from South America also stopped by and enslaved many who were left, in the guise of offering an escape. The others eventually died out on the island where the rest of their magical knowledge was also lost.

Now, I absolutely hate to end our discussions this year on a sad note, but there is a point to the three islands we have discussed today. Everyone has a weakness and can be misled. None of us are immune from these flaws. What we can do is keep our eyes open: ever vigilant, ever asking why, ever searching for the truth. Many of you who are here hoping to become magianthropologists or curse-breakers, and these skills are critical to your success in those fields. 

Conclusion

And now, it is time to see how far you have come in your many years at Hogwarts, and many years with me in Ancient Studies. Well, almost, anyway. You have a few days before your N.E.W.T.s, so I hope you revise well! Remember, they are not called “nastily exhausting” for nothing! The tests will cover all civilizations touched on throughout all years of the course, as well as see how well you can apply critical thinking to what we’ve learned. 

For now, though, I will see you off with a simple quiz to cement today’s studies in your head. As always, my owl is available to you if you should have questions between now and the exam, or if you simply want an ear to listen and a cup of tea. However, know that I fully believe in each and every one of you and your skills. I know you are ready for this, and to prove yourselves capable as you prepare to leave Hogwarts. Good luck!

Image credits here, here, here, here, and here
Original lesson written by Professor Liria Morgan