HOM-301 Lessons

Hello students, and welcome to Lesson Eight of History of Magic! I would first like to congratulate you on making it this far. You may be reassured (or perhaps disappointed) to know that your next lesson will be the last full lesson of this year, followed by an interesting surprise lecture on a topic close to all of our lives, and then, your final exam.

Writing Your History

In the past three years in your studies at Hogwarts, I hope you’ve learned to live and breathe the history around you and have realized that each second, you are creating all sorts of history: your history, Hogwarts’ history, your family’s history, and more. It goes to show that every living and breathing thing around you is interconnected and has an effect on the world around them.

Think of life as a timeline. Upon reading to the end of this sentence, you have spent three seconds of your time “writing your history.” But wait a minute, this brings us to the confusing and constant debate about history versus memory. What you just read in the beginning of this paragraph is considered the area of intersection between history and memory, a phenomena that some might argue to possibly be non-existent but it is not necessarily the case. In simple terms, memory is known as a “collective recollection, a sort of living heritage” whereas history is widely known as “a representation of our past in an organized manner.” 

Whilst these given definitions are vague, we can easily summarise and differentiate these two words. History is a representation of what happened in the past that is presented in a collected manner. Its main function is to be analyzed, learned from, and used to identify patterns in an organized timeline. Memory, on the other hand, is an assortment of personal events that have happened and affected you in some form or another -- something you remember from a personal interaction. Its main function, however, is to be used in an innate and more personal manner. Sometimes, it has an extension that aids the building of one’s identity. 

Still, one would be a fool to think that history and memory function independently and strictly related to their own definitions. Remember, definitions are human-constructed meanings put in place to help you understand something from the writer’s point of view. There would be many overlapping factors between both terms but if you want to strictly differentiate them, maybe we can say memory is to an individual as history is to a society. 

Based on the understanding that history “is a representation of what happened in the past,” how much of what we are taught is an accurate representation of what really happened in the past? This brings me to my next topic: the believability of history as presented to us. 

Who Do You Believe?

As a Third Year at Hogwarts, I expect you to start questioning the things you learn in history (or, indeed, all classes) instead of merely accepting information as it is presented to you. I once attended a course on “The Believability of Historical Representation” many years ago as a student here at Hogwarts. In fact, I volunteered to attend it in Fifth Year as the topic interested me immensely. It’s hard to recall exactly what happened and was mentioned in that one-off course but a particular portion struck me like a bolt of lightning. Quoting the conference speaker, Professor Jaqueline Harkross

“I have spoken for exactly 30 minutes on the history of Asian magical culture. Yes, I timed it carefully. I have a question for all of you - How many of you truly believe the things I’ve said? Ah. I see many hands up. But how much of what I have said is true? How sure are you that I’m not making this up?  In fact, I have been talking a whole lot of crap and nonsense for the past half hour and you didn’t even realize it because I’m the speaker. I’m the leader of this course and thus, you are inclined to believe whatever I say.

This same oversight of trust is inherent in history. History is often presented as fact, without argument or error. This is frequently done out of pragmatism, not nefarious or mischievous intent, but the issue remains. However, you must consider the source. Can you trust them? Do they have any reason to lie? To offer accidental bias? To have misinterpreted things or just plain old gotten things wrong? You, as students that are in charge of writing and updating the annals of history for years to come, you must ask questions to ensure accuracy, or at least to be aware that accuracy is not possible.”

Since then, I’ve never once dared to merely accept the things I’ve learned. I’m not here saying that I, or any of your professors, are purposefully teaching you false things about our magical world, but that you should consider the knowledge we impart and look to confirm, supplement, or contradict it with logic, experience, and further research.

Similarly, I’m not saying that what we have read and learned is not true. However, we should take a moment to question what we have learned. Consider that everything you hear comes with its own bias. In all, widen your minds to embrace possibilities. After all, it is not difficult to falsify information or simply omit it altogether. Out of sight, out of mind.

One famous case that illuminates this issue is found in the once-popular textbook, The History We Remember by Penelope Mornington, a known Grindelwald supporter. Her textbook wasn’t widely used in mainstream magical schools such as ours, but was the only textbook available in many more rural villages and charity schools around Europe. In the portion on the Global Wizarding War she eliminated much information that put Grindelwald in a bad light and substituted it with elaboration on the “wrongdoings” of Albus Dumbledore. The final version that Mornington presented painted Grindelwald as a war hero. Because of this, some students grew up believing that whatever Grindelwald did had been meant to save the wizarding world and that the main aim of Muggles was to destroy the world we live in. It took decades to dilute this one piece of knowledge they learned in school as young students. Even upon hearing contradictory information, without critically considering your sources’ motives, you may find yourself accidentally adhering to half-facts and opinion. 

As our former Headmaster has been quoted as saying on numerous occasions, “Words are our greatest source of magic.” And indeed he was not just speaking of incantations. The way a text chooses to word its pages can create nuances and connotations (accidental or purposeful) or leave room for vague interpretations. Thus, I urge and encourage you to always dig deeper.

Now, enough of the general topics  like history versus memory and credibility.  I’m sure you’ll want to hear some contemporary European events.  Let’s move on to today’s topic – contemporary Europe. Though some might argue about when exactly “contemporary” means, what I’ll be going over today is from roughly the 1930s to just a few years before the new millennium.

Wizarding Wars / Muggle World War II

As mentioned, your final year here will spotlight major wizarding conflicts and the wars of magical beings, but today we will just brush up against the subject, with a focus on their similarity and comorbidity with non-magical wars to get a clearer picture of the culture of those times. 

Many wizarding historians have spent years dissecting correlations between the Global Wizarding War and the Muggle World War II that occurred at roughly  the same time but not much has been concluded. However, in today’s lesson, I will briefly go through the main points of these wars, focusing on the former, the Global Wizarding War, known to some as Grindelwald’s War. 

In times of trouble, frequent communication between the Minister of Magic and the Muggle Prime Minister to discuss matters that affect both worlds is crucial. Events or movements in one “world” cause a ripple of related problems and consequences in the other. In reality, our worlds are no more separate than two sides of a coin. We are irrevocably connected. It was necessary for Prime Minister Chamberlain to be made aware of the situation happening in the magical world during the Global Wizarding War. The magical persons fighting for Grindelwald were not shy about exposing our society to the Muggles, nor were they terribly worried about Muggle casualties. To help with cover-ups, and to ensure that the Minister for Magic Spencer-Moon could give the Prime Minister information to keep the greater population of Muggles safe and unaware. You might be thinking that this would mean that he had to know of the existence of the magical world, which, as we know, would be illegal as per the ISOS. Chamberlain was made to sign an amended International Statute of Secrecy so that word of a hidden magical world would not be leaked.

There are many open-minded wizarding researchers who would argue that the Muggle world has the power to affect the wizarding world and sometimes both worlds have a mutually beneficial relationship. A prime example of this is the effects of Grindelwald’s War on the Muggle world -- specifically, World War II -- and vice versa.

In both cases, the wars were resolved in 1945, and the start was nearly the same as well. Grindelwald’s war began in 1938, whereas Muggle World War II started just a year later, in 1939. Some historians presume that this shows the effects of our wars spilling into the Muggle world, but it is entirely possible that global tensions in the Muggle world also contributed to our own. It’s all one vicious cycle! Some wizarding historians even went as far as to claim that Hitler was the Muggle version of Grindelwald, or even more extreme, that Grindewald and Hitler at some point collaborated somehow. However, none of these claims have been backed up with any concrete evidence.

Now, with that said, I have invited a guest speaker in our midst today to tell you more about many similarities between Hitler and Voldemort. Even though Voldemort was not exactly the main character of the Global Wizarding War, he played a major role in the other two Wizarding Wars, with which we are far more familiar and will be covering in later years. Let’s put our hands together to welcome former Divination professor Otto Umbridge!

Hitler Vs. Voldemort 

Good afternoon class! I see a few familiar faces smiling up at me. As for those who do not know me, I am Otto Umbridge, a professor of Divination a few years back. Your professor has kindly invited me to your lesson today to give information regarding certain correlations between two eerily similar tyrants. We will consider these two men today while contemplating the universality of evil. 

I have been invited to speak to you due to my great knowledge on both men (I have passion for history and enjoy delving into the study of people and their motivations) and while I will not be covering every aspect of each of these men, I would like to impress upon you certain similarities. I am sure that you have heard by now of the man that called himself Lord Voldemort. Good, that makes this easier. No doubt many of your parents have spoken about Lord Voldemort from time to time, as many of them were around to see his last rise to power before he was subsequently vanquished. That leads us to the other man we will be discussing today, the Muggle dictator Adolf Hitler. I am sure that some of you may have heard this name too, but probably not all of you. Don’t worry, I will give a short description of both before delving into the similarities between the two.

Lord Voldemort, also known as “He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named,” “Tom Marvolo Riddle,” and many other monikers, is known to have committed a multitude of atrocious acts between the years of 1940 to 1997 when the famous Harry Potter was finally able to defeat him. Voldemort’s reign of terror came in two bursts. He was norn in 1926, and many historians are quite interested in this early period of his life, but for the sake of our topic today, we will be looking at when the real trouble began: when he began to style himself as Lord Voldemort. History tells us that the First Wizarding War officially stretched from 1970 to 1981, though there were certainly smaller incidents prior to this. It was in 1981 when Voldemort tried, for the first time, to kill Harry Potter and was unsuccessful. In his attempt he became “less than a ghost.” Unfortunately, this setback was only temporary as Voldemort lived on, as a shadow of his former self until he regained his followers and attained a new body in the year 1995. This dark period, which was dubbed the Second Wizarding War, was considerably shorter than the first, lasting only until 1998.

Onto the infamous Muggle German dictator: Adolf Hitler. Hitler’s early life rise to power is riddled with many uncertainties, much like Riddle’s. What is certain is that he seized power and was pronounced Chancellor of Germany on January 30th, 1933. He had already begun preaching the idea of a pure race called the “Aryans.” These Aryans were a mythological race of superior beings that had no actual proven existence; however, Hitler’s imagined pure race was composed mainly of blonde-haired and blue-eyed individuals. He brought about a huge war against persons who did not fit in his “pure race” or, more importantly, agree with his agenda. Mass genocide ensued; persons of the Jewish faith, different skin colors, and different sexual preferences were among the most numerous to be slaughtered. I will not get into the atrocities and ways in which he killed, as some of them are uncomfortably unspeakable. It is still a sore subject to many, as it is thought that during his time as ruler of Germany, over 11 million people were killed. This period of time is now referred to as the Holocaust. Hitler’s regime came to an abrupt end on April 30th, 1945 when the dictator committed suicide by cyanide capsule and a gunshot wound to the head (a gun, for those of you who are unfamiliar, is a type of Muggle weapon).

You may be asking yourself, how are the two connected? How can this simple Muggle dictator be compared to the darkest wizard of our time? It is the ideologies these two individuals supported and used to rise to power, and the manner in which they chose their victims that makes them so similar. 

Let us begin to look at the similarities that the two share by looking at their early lives. Both individuals were united in their hatred for their one or more of their parents, in this specific case, their fathers. Voldemort's father, a Muggle, abandoned him and his mother before his birth, and Hitler’s father was a very strict and brutal man. Moreover, both of these men were filled with enmity in their youth and it only amplified as they grew into adulthood.  

Additionally, both managed to amass a loyal and dedicated following, despite strange proclivities. Hitler was in the military where he garnered fame and accolades, whereas Riddle excelled in his studies and services to the school. It is worth mentioning that Hitler, during his stint in the military, was involved in the education department where he spread a lot of his ideology to his students. Likewise, Voldemort spread his ideology in school, but this was prior to his graduation. In short, both men were charismatic and skilled in persuasion and used their positions to their advantage.

Once Hitler obtained power, he sought out items that he believed to possess powerful magic, dabbling in the occult. The same was true of Riddle, as he sought out items of significance and importance, usually magical, with which to make his horcruxes. Of course, being a wizard, Voldemort had significantly more success in his pursuits, but both of these men sought more and more power. 

With these things aside, we can now proceed to the regimes that they brought about. Both Hitler and Voldemort put forth the idea of a pure race. However, this pure race argument was simply a crutch to hide behind, a way to seize power. In promoting the cleansing of certain people, they could eliminate those who opposed them. We know that these men were not nearly as devoted to promoting these pure races, because of one interesting fact. Neither Hitler nor Voldemort fell under the categories upon which their own new world order was based. Adolf Hitler had dark brown hair and blue eyes, whereas Voldemort was born to one Muggle parent and one magical, instead of being a pureblood.

Additionally, each of these men had his own sign or symbol, with Hitler represented by the Swastika (a bent cross) and Voldemort the Dark Mark (a skull with a snake). Both men killed without mercy. Both men had benefactors from wealthy families. Adolf Hitler had the Gestapo (a secret German police force) whose job it was to hunt down those who were not a part of Hitler's ideological perfect race. Parallel to this,  Lord Voldemort had his most precious followers known as Death Eaters and the Snatchers whose job it was to find and bring in those who were not of the magical blood for questioning and possible prosecution. Initially, the numbers suggest that Lord Voldemort was the lesser of the two monsters in terms of death toll; however, it bears considering that Lord Voldemort was working with a much smaller population.

As much as I would love to continue on and on, I realize that your time is precious here and do not wish to take up an entire class period. I appreciate you all allowing me the opportunity to speak with you all today. It has been a pleasure!  If anyone has questions or comments about anything that was discussed today, please feel free to send me an owl. I am happy to answer any questions or further the discussion on these two.  

Let’s give another round of applause to Mr. Umbridge for gracing us with his presence in today’s History of Magic lesson. 

I’m seeing a lot of wide-eyed faces in the class today. I understand that today’s lesson is very heavy on information. You should give yourself a good pat on the back for surviving the class today.

Of course, along with that, many of you might be glad to know that your only assignment today is a short quiz. I would like you to take the time to prepare for the finals happening in Lesson Nine, for in that lesson, I cannot ensure that the workload will be light, nor the assignments simple. Next week, I will be here to administer the finals. So, until then, I wish you all the best and study hard!

Original lesson written by Professor Autumn Maddox
Image credit here, here, here, here, and here