Magical Transportation
written by Hermione Potter
This book will cover the very intricate and unique ways that muggles and magical people use to get from point A to point B! This book will cover things like the Knight Bus, Hogwarts Express, Brooms, Portkeys and much more! I hope that you will find this book to be a brilliant asset for you!
Last Updated
05/31/21
Chapters
9
Reads
2,270
Floo Powder
Chapter 4
Chapter Four
Floo Powder
Floo Powder is a silver, glittery powder that will allow you to travel through the Floo Network. What is the Floo Network you ask? Well the Floo Network is a network of magical fires that are connected, allowing one to travel to any fireplace in the network with the use of Floo Powder.
History of Floo Powder
Floo Powder was invented in the 13th century by a witch by the name of Ignatia Wildsmith. Ignatia struggled with Apparition. Even when she did manage it, she did not like the feeling it caused. So she went on a hunt to find a new way to travel. It is unclear how she managed to create it but after many failed attempts, she accomplished Floo Powder. She found that as long as there were fireplaces that were connected to each other by a certain kind of magic, her powder would allow someone to transport to each connected fireplace.
This allowed her to get around quicker than using Muggle transportation and it also allowed her to avoid the discomfort of Apparition.
No one knows how Floo Powder is made. Wildsmith did not want the public to know how it was made. Instead she passed the secret on to her daughter and the Floo Powder secret has been handed down through each generation. Wildsmith wanted to protect her secret so bad that she would not give it up even facing certain death. Indeed, that is how she died; murdered for the Floo Powder mystery.
It is because of this horrible history, that only one company in Britain knows how to produce it, Floo-Pow. This company provides all the Floo Powder to the outlying stores that sell it. They are headquartered in Diagon Alley, but there is no need to try and get your Powder directly from them, as they do not answer the door no matter how many times you knock. There was one man by the name of Julius Endoshire who knocked consistently on their door for 8 hours. He left feeling defeated and concluding that they must put a silencing charm on their door to avoid people who do not want to leave their door alone.
Of course, there are people who have tried to make their own powder. None of them have been successful. In fact, they have all caused themselves serious injuries. This has become such an epidemic that St. Mungos has given it a name. They call it “Faux Floo.” Some people are desperate enough to make their own Floo Powder that they crush Runespoor fangs and use that. Just for your information, that is not a smart plan. If you do that, do not be surprised if you find yourself blown out of your own chimney. At the very least, you will receive serious burns. No matter what happens, you will find yourself spending a substantial amount of time in St. Mungos. If you do show up to St. Mungos with Faux Floo, do not expect for the Healers there to be very happy with you. Healers struggle to understand why people refuse to buy Floo Powder when it is so cheap. It is only two Sickles per scoop which makes it a very easy thing to keep stocked in your home.
Floo Network Authority
The Floo Network Authority is the division in the Department of Magical Transportation that regulates the Floo Network. It is this division that establishes and maintains the Floo Network. It is their job to make sure that the proper fireplaces are connected to the network. It is important for them to stay on top of their jobs because if a fireplace gets disconnected from the network, it can cause serious harm to any witch or wizard who tries to gain access through that fire grate.
Another job that they have is to monitor the Floo Network. These people are called Floo Network Regulators. It is their job to make sure that no wanted criminal is traveling or communicating through the Floo Network. If they find one of these criminals, it is their job to inform the proper authorities.
The Floo Regulation Panel is a committee that is in charge of connecting fireplaces to the Network. If you are a witch or wizard and you want to have your fireplace connected to the network, you will need to send an owl with your information and a short letter explaining why you want to be connected. Normally, they will get back with you within two weeks to let you know if your fireplace was approved or denied for placement in the network.
Pros & Cons
Just like all other forms of magical transportation, there are some good aspects and bad aspects about Floo Powder. For starters, it is quicker than traveling by brooms. It is, however, slower than Apparition. Depending on how much you use magical transportation, Floo Powder can be cheaper than broomsticks. In order to Apparate legally, one must have a license. You do not have that restriction with Floo Powder. Anyone can use Floo Powder. It is for this reason that most wizarding families will have a stock of Floo Powder next to their fireplace, to make traveling throughout London easy.
Using Floo Powder
There are a couple of uses for Floo Powder. One of the most popular is to travel to a different location. It may seem like a scary aspect, but traveling through the Floo Network is actually fairly safe. In order to use it, you must take a handful of Floo Powder, throw it into a fireplace connected to the Floo Network. Once you throw the powder into the fireplace, it will turn the flames a bright emerald green. Once they turn green, you are free to walk into them. Then you must state your location loudly and clearly and then tuck your elbows in. You will then feel yourself get whisked away. If you have a strong stomach, you can try to keep your eyes open. You will see a quick glimpse of other fire grates. It is recommended that you keep your eyes closed however, because it can be a very dizzying experience. As you get closer to your destination, you will feel yourself start to slow down. At this point, you need to prepare yourself since you are about to come out of the Network. You will come shooting out of the grate and that means that you have reached your destination.
It is important that you know to speak clearly. If you do not speak clearly, you may find yourself in a different grate. This happened to Harry Potter in 1992, when he was traveling to Diagon Alley with the Weasley family. Instead of saying ‘Diagon Alley,’ he said ‘Diagonally.’ Luckily, he only ended up one grate too far so no damage was done. However, there have been instances where unfortunate people have ended up in areas no where near where they were intending to go. Below is a table of locations you will end up when you say their name.
Desired Location
Final Destination
Diagon Alley
The Leaky Cauldron
Knockturn Alley
Borgin and Burkes
Ministry of Magic
Atrium
Obviously, there are many more but these are the major ones in London. However, it is not recommended that you travel to Knockturn Alley. Trust me, children your age, should avoid going there as long as they possibly can. It is not a pleasant place.
In addition to traveling to a new location, there is another use for the Floo Network. It can be used to transport your head only. This can be useful when you need to talk with someone and you don’t have time to apparte. It is also much quicker than sending an owl. To do this, you need to kneel down on the ground, throw a handful of Floo Powder into the fireplace and then stick your head, and only your head, in to the fire grate. Then say your desired location and you will find your head traveling through the fireplaces. This can be an uncomfortable experience. Your body will remain firmly on the ground behind you, while your head spins through multiple fire grates. Usually, everyone keeps their eyes closed during this experience because it can be very unsettling. Once your head starts to slow down, you are about to appear at your location. Once your head stops spinning completely, you will know that you have arrived and it is safe for you to open your eyes. From there, you can speak with the person that you needed to. Just remember that it can be extremely uncomfortable, so try to keep your conversation to the important stuff.
Floo Powder
Floo Powder is a silver, glittery powder that will allow you to travel through the Floo Network. What is the Floo Network you ask? Well the Floo Network is a network of magical fires that are connected, allowing one to travel to any fireplace in the network with the use of Floo Powder.
History of Floo Powder
Floo Powder was invented in the 13th century by a witch by the name of Ignatia Wildsmith. Ignatia struggled with Apparition. Even when she did manage it, she did not like the feeling it caused. So she went on a hunt to find a new way to travel. It is unclear how she managed to create it but after many failed attempts, she accomplished Floo Powder. She found that as long as there were fireplaces that were connected to each other by a certain kind of magic, her powder would allow someone to transport to each connected fireplace.
This allowed her to get around quicker than using Muggle transportation and it also allowed her to avoid the discomfort of Apparition.
No one knows how Floo Powder is made. Wildsmith did not want the public to know how it was made. Instead she passed the secret on to her daughter and the Floo Powder secret has been handed down through each generation. Wildsmith wanted to protect her secret so bad that she would not give it up even facing certain death. Indeed, that is how she died; murdered for the Floo Powder mystery.
It is because of this horrible history, that only one company in Britain knows how to produce it, Floo-Pow. This company provides all the Floo Powder to the outlying stores that sell it. They are headquartered in Diagon Alley, but there is no need to try and get your Powder directly from them, as they do not answer the door no matter how many times you knock. There was one man by the name of Julius Endoshire who knocked consistently on their door for 8 hours. He left feeling defeated and concluding that they must put a silencing charm on their door to avoid people who do not want to leave their door alone.
Of course, there are people who have tried to make their own powder. None of them have been successful. In fact, they have all caused themselves serious injuries. This has become such an epidemic that St. Mungos has given it a name. They call it “Faux Floo.” Some people are desperate enough to make their own Floo Powder that they crush Runespoor fangs and use that. Just for your information, that is not a smart plan. If you do that, do not be surprised if you find yourself blown out of your own chimney. At the very least, you will receive serious burns. No matter what happens, you will find yourself spending a substantial amount of time in St. Mungos. If you do show up to St. Mungos with Faux Floo, do not expect for the Healers there to be very happy with you. Healers struggle to understand why people refuse to buy Floo Powder when it is so cheap. It is only two Sickles per scoop which makes it a very easy thing to keep stocked in your home.
Floo Network Authority
The Floo Network Authority is the division in the Department of Magical Transportation that regulates the Floo Network. It is this division that establishes and maintains the Floo Network. It is their job to make sure that the proper fireplaces are connected to the network. It is important for them to stay on top of their jobs because if a fireplace gets disconnected from the network, it can cause serious harm to any witch or wizard who tries to gain access through that fire grate.
Another job that they have is to monitor the Floo Network. These people are called Floo Network Regulators. It is their job to make sure that no wanted criminal is traveling or communicating through the Floo Network. If they find one of these criminals, it is their job to inform the proper authorities.
The Floo Regulation Panel is a committee that is in charge of connecting fireplaces to the Network. If you are a witch or wizard and you want to have your fireplace connected to the network, you will need to send an owl with your information and a short letter explaining why you want to be connected. Normally, they will get back with you within two weeks to let you know if your fireplace was approved or denied for placement in the network.
Pros & Cons
Just like all other forms of magical transportation, there are some good aspects and bad aspects about Floo Powder. For starters, it is quicker than traveling by brooms. It is, however, slower than Apparition. Depending on how much you use magical transportation, Floo Powder can be cheaper than broomsticks. In order to Apparate legally, one must have a license. You do not have that restriction with Floo Powder. Anyone can use Floo Powder. It is for this reason that most wizarding families will have a stock of Floo Powder next to their fireplace, to make traveling throughout London easy.
Using Floo Powder
There are a couple of uses for Floo Powder. One of the most popular is to travel to a different location. It may seem like a scary aspect, but traveling through the Floo Network is actually fairly safe. In order to use it, you must take a handful of Floo Powder, throw it into a fireplace connected to the Floo Network. Once you throw the powder into the fireplace, it will turn the flames a bright emerald green. Once they turn green, you are free to walk into them. Then you must state your location loudly and clearly and then tuck your elbows in. You will then feel yourself get whisked away. If you have a strong stomach, you can try to keep your eyes open. You will see a quick glimpse of other fire grates. It is recommended that you keep your eyes closed however, because it can be a very dizzying experience. As you get closer to your destination, you will feel yourself start to slow down. At this point, you need to prepare yourself since you are about to come out of the Network. You will come shooting out of the grate and that means that you have reached your destination.
It is important that you know to speak clearly. If you do not speak clearly, you may find yourself in a different grate. This happened to Harry Potter in 1992, when he was traveling to Diagon Alley with the Weasley family. Instead of saying ‘Diagon Alley,’ he said ‘Diagonally.’ Luckily, he only ended up one grate too far so no damage was done. However, there have been instances where unfortunate people have ended up in areas no where near where they were intending to go. Below is a table of locations you will end up when you say their name.
Desired Location
Final Destination
Diagon Alley
The Leaky Cauldron
Knockturn Alley
Borgin and Burkes
Ministry of Magic
Atrium
Obviously, there are many more but these are the major ones in London. However, it is not recommended that you travel to Knockturn Alley. Trust me, children your age, should avoid going there as long as they possibly can. It is not a pleasant place.
In addition to traveling to a new location, there is another use for the Floo Network. It can be used to transport your head only. This can be useful when you need to talk with someone and you don’t have time to apparte. It is also much quicker than sending an owl. To do this, you need to kneel down on the ground, throw a handful of Floo Powder into the fireplace and then stick your head, and only your head, in to the fire grate. Then say your desired location and you will find your head traveling through the fireplaces. This can be an uncomfortable experience. Your body will remain firmly on the ground behind you, while your head spins through multiple fire grates. Usually, everyone keeps their eyes closed during this experience because it can be very unsettling. Once your head starts to slow down, you are about to appear at your location. Once your head stops spinning completely, you will know that you have arrived and it is safe for you to open your eyes. From there, you can speak with the person that you needed to. Just remember that it can be extremely uncomfortable, so try to keep your conversation to the important stuff.
