HOM-201 Lessons

Welcome, students, to week number six of Second Year History of Magic. I hope you all did well on your midterms! The remaining lessons of this year will all cover outstanding contributors to the wizarding world, ranging from individual achievements to group endeavors with a spotlight on education, government, or cultural improvements. Today we will be specifically looking at different figures in the wizarding world who have changed it for the better. 

Famous or Infamous?

In previous lessons and assignments, you’ve heard me use the words “famous” and “infamous,” but I haven’t stopped to explain why we are bothering to make the distinction. Both infamy and fame contribute to the person’s overall level of recognition among their peers. More, even though a person may be famous for their contributions, sometimes that fame will attract accusations of infamy, simply because that makes a more interesting story.

For example, when Harry Potter -- savior of the wizarding world known mostly for his defeat of the Dark wizard, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named at only seventeen -- was growing up, he was the subject of much mud slinging and infamy. Just a brief glance at the headlines of various newspapers throughout his childhood show wild speculation about his potentially dark powers he used to defeat You-Know-Who, his tendency to lie to get attention, and much more. 

In retrospect, all of these headlines clearly seem sensationalist and difficult to believe, as with time it’s become obvious that the man is just a simple wizard, who greatly prefers to be out of the spotlight, that was forced into a heroic role and did not back down. He did not deserve his infamy, but, for a time, he had it all the same. When people achieve something famous, suddenly they are the focus of much more attention. On occasion, this means that darker periods of their lives are uncovered for all to see. In other cases, if there is nothing to be found, something is often invented to sell papers or spark intrigue. 

Whatever the case -- whether infamy is deserved or not in individual situations -- this is the distinction. Infamy is the state of being well known for a negative quality (believing in blood purity) or deed (murdering innocent Muggles). Fame, on the other hand, is being well known or discussed particularly (but not always) due to notable achievements. You notice that fame does not necessarily require that the person has done anything important or beneficial for society. 

All of this lead up is to open our second topic of the day: The Museum of Magic’s British Hall of Fame. This hall details the lives and accomplishments of an amazing array of 593 wizards and witches renowned for their outstanding contributions to the wizarding world, ensuring they will be remembered for their historical contributions to the British nation. To tie in previous definitions, none of the persons in this hall are in here for infamy (though people, like Potter, who have attracted accidental (usually unwarranted) infamy in addition to their achievements are still included). To go one step further, all entrants into the British Hall of Fame have achieved their fame for positive contributions to society. 

This means there are no Astrid Alixans, who have bewilderingly become famous for ostensibly no reason at all. Alixan, and others similar, such as famous singers like Celestina Warbeck, or Quidditch stars like Eurig Cadwallader, are in a group of people who are simply “famous for being famous” an odd concept to be sure. However, the problem with this lies in subjectivity. Many may think that Warbeck has been a positive role model for young witches, or some other benefit, and therefore may insist that she has contributed positively to society. Or, perhaps, Alixan has made many generous donations to various charities with the numerous Galleons she received for being a Primpernelle spokeswitch. In any case, the problem at the heart of this discussion is that sometimes calling a person “famous” is analogous as calling the weather “nice” or a book “boring”-- you may well find people who disagree with you. However, to alleviate this, the Museum of Magic has strict rules as to what does and does not qualify. We won’t be going over those rules (ah, are those sighs of relief I hear?) but this discussion and its various points is something to keep in mind as we talk about a handful of entrants into the Hall of Fame. 

Now, with all that said, in alphabetical order, we are discussing several witches and wizards today in various levels of detail due to time constraints. Of course, by nature of the way history works (in that history requires people to act and do things), we have already covered quite a few crucial witches and wizards that live in this hall of fame, such as the four founders of Hogwarts, Merlin, and Morgana, just to name a few.

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore

One of the best-known headmasters of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore lived constantly under the watchful eyes of what amounted to nearly the entire wizarding community. Those of you that have not been sleeping through class will have noticed his surname come up quite a few times, and will hopefully know of him due to his recent involvement in history. As mentioned, his early life was a bit tumultuous. He achieved several honors (read: nearly every single award Hogwarts offered) while at school, gained the praise of numerous professors and other professionals, showed great magical ability, and was even proven to be an excellent autodidact (someone who excels at teaching themselves a skill) when his formal education fell short. However, all of this just made any failings in his personal life “juicer.” His father’s run-in with the law and the three-way duel in Godric’s Hollow were all the more scandalous because of their connection with the Dumbledore family, and many other less newsworthy things were equally scrutinized, though they would not usually have been as interesting had they been connected to another man. 

Regardless of any rumors circulating around him, Dumbledore continued to excel, becoming an expert at nonverbal spells, alchemy (even working with Nicholas Flamel), and transfiguration. Following his truly astonishing defeat of Grindelwald just years later, Dumbledore finally cemented himself as a household name, achieving the First Class of the Order of Merlin, and even dabbling in politics. While he never did throw his hat in the ring for minister, he served as Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot several times. Without turning this into a lesson-long ode to Dumbledore, we do also need to mention a few more of his accomplishments, including his recent tenure as Hogwarts’ headmaster for quite a few years. Relatedly, there is also his involvement in the First and Second Wizarding Wars, which, to be brief, was nothing short of instrumental. We won’t go into the details of this, however, as the topic is better suited to our year looking at the wars of our world. For now, let us move on!

Cassandra Vablatsky

Born in 1894 to impoverished parents in Durham, the famous Ravenclaw started out in a rather humble situation. Her parents, then trying to support a failing family store that sold everything from troll repellant to cauldrons, were struggling to make ends meet in a town whose magical population (and thus their clientele) had recently dwindled. Hoping to assist her family in these hard times, Vablatsky turned to impractical means. Having always been strangely lucky, the young woman gathered up a few Galleons and made her way to the nearby Abraxan races in Yorkshire county. In a stroke of good fortune, young Vablatsky won every single bet she placed that day, earning a tidy sum that could keep the family going for at least a year in comfort. 

That wasn’t the end of her family’s financial concerns, but it was the beginning of the young woman’s journey as a seer. Over her lifetime, she went on to author five books on various topics concerning various areas of divination, the most famous of which is undoubtedly Unfogging the Future. In this (and her other works), she laid out the magical theory behind divination in a way that had not been done before to date. The book, full of concrete references to procedure and practical (and tested) tips, is the cornerstone of modern divination and advanced the field of divination tremendously, all at once opening it up to more people, as well as earning it more credence in magical academic circles. 

It is rumored that an unpublished journal (or perhaps multiple) of her own personal predictions has been passed down through her family (much like her innate magical ability with the Inner Eye), but any confirmed knowledge of this died with her in 1997, and current family members have never spoken on the subject. Should it exist, it is widely considered that it would rival the predictions of Tycho Dodonus.

Damocles Belby

A more recent addition to the Museum of Magic’s Hall of Fame is the still-living Damocles Belby. A potioneer by trade, Belby has invented over a dozen new potions, as well as perfected different recipes of variations of current potions. The most famous of these is undoubtedly the Wolfsbane Potion, a brew which allows those affected by lycanthropy to retain their senses during transformations, a feat which has significantly improved the quality of life of werewolves everywhere. It is specifically for this potion that he received not only entrance to the hall of fame, but also received the Order of Merlin, Second Class. The former Gryffindor is tight-lipped about his projects, but continues working passionately on his projects still.

Ignatia Wildsmith

Born in 1227, Ignatia Wildsmith was part of a moderately well-to-do wizarding family with connections to the lesser members of the Plantagenet house. From the small amount of documentation of her early life via secondary records and correspondence with family members, it is known that she harbored a great love for herbology before, during, and after her time at Hogwarts. This passion paid off not only for Wildsmith herself, but also for the wizarding world at large. 

After much experimentation (presumed to be mostly with flora), Wildsmith successfully happened upon the perfect formula for what we know today as Floo powder. While the recipe (and even the failed experiments that were rejected) remains a secret, the silvery powder is still a staple in magical households and is one of the greatest developments in magical transportations to date. 

Miranda Goshawk

An ambitious witch born in 1921 to a large pureblood family in Wales, Goshawk resolved to achieve despite her older sisters’ attempts to hinder and heckle her. Sorted into Slytherin, and intently soaking in any and all knowledge she could get her hands on, the witch compiled fastidious notes to aid her in her search for accurate spellcasting information. After graduation, Goshawk quickly propelled herself to worldwide recognition with her various publications based on her notes, not the least of which is the entire seven-volume collection of the “Standard Book of Spells” series. These books revolutionized not only Hogwarts’ education, but are also used in schools all over the world. Goshawk did not stop at simply spells, either, producing quite a few publications on various topics including herbology and magizoology. For this reason, the wizarding world owes her a debt of gratitude. 

Mungo Bonham

Growing up in the beginnings of the Renaissance, but also some of the most tumultuous years for witches and wizards prior to the signing of the International Statute of Secrecy, it is only natural that Mungo Bonham have aspirations to improve the medical practice while also keeping the wizarding world safe. As such, the founding of St. Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries seems as though it was a foregone conclusion, but, in fact, it had a difficult birth. Bonham, while certainly a proficient student in his tenure at Hogwarts, did not originally have any medical aspirations. It is unknown exactly what the Slytherin planned to do, as accounts of his youth are limited due to the time period and ill fortune, but whatever his path, Bonham was out of the country when his sister fell ill. 

By the time Bonham returned, his younger sister, Morfydd, who had been diagnosed with vanishing sickness, was no more. Bonham is on record as having been greatly distraught at this, as vanishing sickness was not, at this time, an incurable disease. However, the healing arts were not a very standardized field, and each healer had different procedures, remedies, and practices. In an effort to spread knowledge (and combat ill-handled healing practices), Mungo dedicated the rest of his life attempting to treat the ill, particularly those who might not otherwise be able to afford or find treatment. This took him to many locales abroad before he finally decided that creating an institution that could provide standardized, formalized, and reasonably priced care would do more good than he could do on his own in one lifetime, no matter how hard he worked. However, I won’t go much further into the founding of St. Mungos, as that is a topic that we will touch on in later years. 

Newton Artemis Fido Scamander

Finally, we come to another contemporary (though now rather getting on in years) wizard, Newton “Newt” Scamander. Over his lifetime since his birth in 1897, Scamander compiled quite the list of achievements including the honor of the Order of Merlin, Second Class; worldwide recognition as an exceptional magizoologist; and authorship of quite a few publications including Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Interestingly, his academic career was spotty at best, having been expelled from Hogwarts before completing his standardized tests. However, it appears Scamander was in no way hampered by his partial lack of formal classroom education, particularly because of his subject matter of interest. 

Apart from his debut textbook (for which he collected all the information personally), Scamander later went on to work in the Ministry in  the Department for the Control and Regulation of Magical Creatures, where he wrote on two pieces of groundbreaking legislation: the Werewolf Register in 1947 and the Ban on Experimental Breeding in 1965. Both of these acts remain slightly controversial. The Werewolf Register did not entirely go as planned, serving only to further alienate lycanthropes despite its good intentions. Furthermore, some magizoologists believe that the anti-experimental breeding act has set the magical community back in terms of knowledge of magical creatures. These opponents state that experimental breeding is necessary in order to better understand the anatomy and makeup of magical creatures. However, only time will tell which side of the argument will win out.

That’s quite the assortment of characters, isn’t it? I assure you, the winding halls of the hall of fame have even more, should you ever wish to pay a visit! The interactive exhibits are my personal favorite. Ah, but I’m getting a bit off topic. It’s time to end the lesson there, I’m afraid. The assignment of this week is pretty standard, and even though you all deserve a break, will consist of a short essay on your opinion on one of three statements. Take care, and I’ll see you in the next lesson.

Original lesson written by Professor Julius Dowler
Image credits here, here, here, here, here and here