But let's be real as to why I made up this feature: I just want the opportunity to post something about Harry Potter.
This past week, J.K. Rowling revealed new information about the history of magic in North America in a series of writings on Pottermore. Here are 7 things we learned on the subject:
1. The legend of the Native American "skin walker" is based around Native American Animagi. The Native American wizarding community were particularly gifted in wandless magic as the wand is a European invention.
2. When No-Maj (short for "No Magic") Europeans began to settle in North America, their magical counterparts did too. A corrupt and brutal taskforce known as the Scourers rose up in the late seventeenth century.
4. The Salem Trials also led to the creation of the Magical Congress of the United States of America (MACUSA) in 1693. At this point, the Scourers - some of whom had acted as Puritan judges during the Salem Trials - were put on trial and executed.
6. MACUSA is also more intolerant of magical spirits and fantastic beasts as a result. Such magical creatures present a serious risk of alerting No-Majs to the existence of magic.
7. Whereas Ollivander is the one great wandmaker of Britain, North America has four great wandmakers. These wand makers are (along with their respective magical material): Shikoba Wolfe (Thunderbird tail feathers), Johannes Jonker (hair of the Wampus cat), Thiago Quintana (White River Monster spines), and Violetta Beauvais (hair of the dog-headed Rougarou).
Very intriguing, no?? These new pieces of information are obviously going to play a big part of the lore in the upcoming Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them movies. Head over to Pottermore to read more about each of these factoids in detail.
The haunting teaser trailer for this new Fantastic Beasts promo:
ANY new information from the Wizarding World rocks my world! I want to know all about these North American Wandmakers and their cores/woods of choices! I'm also dying for JKR to give us more of her take on The Salem Witch Trials! Oh and I do find myself wishing that she'd put a little focus on Canada specifically LOL! Who knows though - that might be coming up at some point :D
ReplyDeleteWoot!! I would say that those writings were very much a very brief, surface overview of a history of magic in North America and there is a lot more to be uncovered, especially with respect to other North American countries outside of the US. But like you, I'll take what I can get!
DeleteLove this! Thanks for the little breakdown. I still need to read all of these. I've always found the Salem Witch Trials to be fascinating - I've written a couple research papers during school on the subject - so I'm curious to read more about that. :)
ReplyDelete-Lauren
Oh cool! I'd love to learn more about them myself... I think the bulk of what I know is from my reading of The Crucible in high school.
DeleteWow, that teaser trail was awesome! It's making the wait for the end of the year that much harder. :(
ReplyDeleteTis true, but hopefully they'll keep teasing us with cool stuff up to the lead up!
DeleteVery nice recap, Eilidh!!! I've been kind of lolly-gagging on the computer lately, so I haven't read JK Rowling's new writings on Pottermore...now I really have to! They sounds extremely interesting!! :D
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing! :D
Aw, thanks Ambur :D
DeleteDefinitely intriguing! I don't think I can read this soon though because I'm set on reading the entire Harry Potter series first. I'm one of those few people who haven't read the series yet :( but I've just finished Goblet a week ago and hopefully the entire series before Fantastic Beasts come out.
ReplyDeleteOhhh you haven't read the series!! I didn't know that about you, Chel! That's super exciting that you are getting to experience the series for the first time :D
DeleteNo-maj is still such a weird name ^_^ and dude thank you so much for this post. I actually have the collection of spin-off books and I've never read them - guess what I'm going to do instead of revision now?
ReplyDeleteAmy;
Little Moon Elephant
Right?? I suspect I'll have gotten used to it by the time the movie has come out and they've used it a whole bunch, but until then it doesn't really fit in my head.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteInteresting!! This is actualy the first time that I have seen this trailer... I need to get reading the book
ReplyDeleteVanessa
www.amomenttoread.blogspot.co.uk
Interesting!! This is actualy the first time that I have seen this trailer... I need to get reading the book
ReplyDeleteVanessa
www.amomenttoread.blogspot.co.uk
The book is super fun :) Written like a textbook, but with little notes from Harry and Ron.
DeleteI'm so intrigued about the new film coming out, Aylee, although I'm rather behind on the movie news and ALL of these facts were new to me, since I don't really use Pottermore at all. /: But I am keen! It's so bizarre to have more of the Magical world opening to us and I love the fact it's a world that can be expanded, although I think it'll feel a bit weird to go backwards in time and see so much that's different. And I'll miss my favourites, of course. *wistful smile*
ReplyDeleteOh, of course I miss my favourites too, Romi. But I am also quite firm in the idea that they absolutely deserve their happy ever after. They have more than dealt with enough conflict and drama to last them their entire lives numerous times over. So I guess if we want more from the wizarding world, it'll need to be with new characters.
DeleteI love this! I always rely on you to get my Potter stuff straight. Because let's be honest- all those articles can sometimes get too overwhelming and confusing. So thank you for what you do!
ReplyDeleteSarika @ The Readdicts