History of Magic
Intro to History of Magic

Looking Forward

• I’d like to start off by saying that there are many facets to magical history. It is deep, and there is a lot to cover. Over our nine weeks, we will skim the surface and what I want you all to really get out of this class isn’t the dates: it’s the people and their stories. I want you to understand how people have shaped history. I want you to be able to look at events in history, and as long as you know around when they are, I’ll usually not ask you questions on specific dates. It’s not as important as the ideas, the people, and the messages; that’s what’s important in history.
  

An Introduction to History

• History is important to us because we are living it, because we are in it, and because we are going to make it. It is happening at every second, minute, and moment in time. Consider a timeline; there is not one moment in time where we stand still for two seconds. So, basically, we are creating history this very moment as you read this sentence.
  
  


• History is also important to us because without it we cannot possibly hope to survive. If we as a wizarding society didn’t study history, we wouldn’t know that there was a Statute set forth to separate us from Muggles. We wouldn’t know that those underage cannot use magic outside of school. There would be laws broken everyday and wars breaking out every second, because we just wouldn’t know.