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A History of Magic
Harry Potter buff triumph — there are two tours about our wizarding hero in New York City justly now . Harry Potter : A History of Magicis showing at the New - York Historical Society through the end of January . And Museum Hack’sThe Boy Wizardtour is magicking at the Metropolitan Museum of Art , as well as the de Young Museum in San Francisco year round .
Both delve into the history of magic see at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry . For instance , did you know " hocus pocus " — figure in " Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets " when Harry threateningly teases his full cousin Dudley — likely comes from the religious blessing " Hoc est corpus meum " ? According to Museum Hack , the shortsighted " charm " is potential a sexual perversion of the original Latin phrase , which means " this is my body . "
Bezoar stone
In Harry ’s first potions family , Professor Snape reveal our wedge ’s ignorance of the wizarding world by asking him about bezoars ( BE - zors ) , supposedly powerful antidotes to poison . But these stones are n’t unequaled to witches and wiz ; bezoars also also appear in the Muggle ( non - magical ) world . Bezoars are indigestible fibers that cluster together in the digestive organisation , specially in those of goat , cow and elephant . Here is one encased in a 17th - one C gold filigree case . There areother bezoars at the Met , Museum Hack steer out .
But do n’t expect bezoars to cure you if you ’re poisoned . They ’re not really counterpoison .
Sorcerer’s stone
In " Harry Potter and the Sorcerer ’s Stone " ( Scholastic Press , 1998 ) , the evil wizard Voldemort is after something powerful ( beware , spoiler in advance ): A stone that makes amber and bestows immortality on its owner .
But the thaumaturgist ’s stone — also live as the philosopher ’s stone — is n’t a unexampled idea . The famous 16th century Ripley Scroll , evince here , is a nearly 20 - foot - long ( 6 measure ) scroll that bid a elaborated recipe about how to make such a prize . you may see the whole scrollhere . In veridical life the stone was also thought to transmit immortality upon its finder .
Nicolas Flamel
Nicholas Flamel is a cardinal character in the Potterverse . After all , he created the Sorcerer ’s Lucy Stone .
But Flamel was really a real person who died in 1418 . His tombstone is above . Flamel was a landlord in medieval Paris , and there were many rumour that he had discovered the Sorcerer ’s gem . Even more challenging , when his grave was exhumed , the torso was missing .
Mandrakes
Harry Potter and his friend come across the mandrake root when they take herbology at their charming schooling . It is in truth a queer plant . Harry learns that its cries can kill a somebody , so he wear earmuff to protect himself . fortunately , these magical plants can also cure people who have been petrify , as we learn in " Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets " ( Scholastic Press , 2000 ) .
In antiquity , the resemblance of the Mandragora officinarum ’s root to the human form prompted many cultures to attribute special powers to the plant , according to the New - York Historical Society . In reality , the devil’s apples ’s antecedent and leaves are poisonous and can make hallucination .
Abracadabra
In ancient time , " abracadabra " was thought to be a appeal with healing might . In the thirteenth - century aesculapian playscript " Liber Medicinalis , " readers are instructed to write out the integral word and omit one letter on each subsequent line . Then , the spell could be wear out as an talisman around the neck opening to drive out malaria - stimulate pyrexia .
accord to a 2004 audience , Harry Potter source J.K. Rowling revealed that the kill expletive " avada kedavra " comes from abracadabra .
Astronomy
Harry Potter studied astronomy at Hogwarts , and he was in ripe fellowship . Here ’s the notebook computer of Leonardo da Vinci ’s , one of history ’s great astronomers and innovators . In the notebook , write between 1506 and 1508 , da Vinci wrote back in Italian from right field to left , so that his body of work would n’t be plagiarize .
Here , da Vinci shows the sun and lunar month roll around Earth , reinforcing the ( incorrect ) view that Earth was at the center of the universe . Da Vinci also ( wrongly ) believe that the Sun Myung Moon was covered with water and that its control surface reflected light like a convex mirror , according to the New - York Historical Society .
Star-filled map
Harry Potter meditate the nighttime sky with Professor Aurora Sinistra , the witch who teach uranology at Hogwarts . Perhaps he would have benefited from this supernal orb , which shows the position of the stars in the sky , created in Venice in 1699 . It was made by Vincenzo Coronelli , a Franciscan friar and cosmographer who was considered one of the greatest globemakers in the world .
Oracle bones
Forever logical , Professor Minerva McGonagall foretell soothsaying " one of the most imprecise branches of magic . " But J.K. Rowling did n’t conjure this branch of illusion out of thin gentle wind . Here is a Chinese vaticinator osseous tissue date stamp to the Shang Dynasty , which lasted from 1600 B.C. to 1046 B.C.
The oxen shoulder joint blade was engraved and then heat with metal sticks , which caused the ivory to break . Then , a priest-doctor show the resulting patterns ( reportedly made from the spirits of ancestors ) to answer motion about the emperor butterfly ’s health and affairs , as well as warfare , agriculture and instinctive catastrophe , according to the New - York Historical Society .
Werewolves
Remus Lupin , who teaches defense against the dark arts , is one of Harry ’s favorite professors . But Lupin is also ( mollycoddler ahead ) a loup-garou . In this illustration , Lupin ward off his gaze from the watcher while the full moon is ominously shown in the backdrop .
The surname Lupis is Latin for wolf and the name Remus is from one of the fabled father of Rome , who was suckled by a wolf .
Owls
Students at Hogwarts can have a pet cat , frog or owl , Harry find out as he prepares for his first year at school . Much to Harry ’s delight , Hagrid , the Hogwarts groundkeeper , buys him a snowy bird of night named Hedwig .
Snowy bird of night ( Bubo scandiacus ) — demonstrate here in a 1829 water-colour paint by John Audubon — hunt during the day and the other evening . In this watercolor , the hooter are show at twilight with a gathering blizzard in the background .
