The Complete Idiot's Guide to the World of Harry Potter Read Online Free PDF Page A

(young Arthur) and helps him fulfill his destiny as king. Many believe Merlin was the basis for J.R.R. Tolkien’s Gandalf, both being wise and noble wizards. Note that this wizard’s name is frequently spelled Merlyn.
Morgana
    Nearly as famous as Merlin, Morgana, the famous witch, was also an important figure in the King Arthur stories. Wart encounters Morgana (also called Morgan le Fay) in a castle. He later learns that they are half-brother and sister: Arthur’s father (Uther Pendragon) seduced Morgana’s mother, Igraine. Although both Morgana and Merlin are powerful, Morgana is angry and bitter, and she often uses her powers for evil.
    MAGIC TALE
    One of the wizards on the Chocolate Frog cards is Alberic Grunion, who is said to have lived from 1803 to 1882 and was the inventor of the dung-bomb (the purpose of which you can probably make out for yourself: dung + bomb). However, no such person appears to have existed in history. Several priests and saints named Alberic have been documented, but none in the nineteenth century.
Paracelsus
    Auroleus Phillipus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim, whose nickname was Paracelsus (pair-a-SELL-sus), was a noted fifteenth-century physician and alchemist. He was one of the few alchemists who sought the powers of chemicals not for riches or immortality but to improve the abilities of physicians to heal. He contributed much to the medical field, including the idea that wounds can heal on their own, if free from infection. He also named the element zinc. Hogwarts Castle has a bust of Paracelsus.
Ptolemy
    Claudius Ptolemy (TOE-lehm-mee) was a second-century geographer and astronomer who first proposed the idea that the sun circles the earth. His ideas became known as the Ptolemaic system. He was wrong, of course, but his ideas prevailed for over 1,000 years and gave Copernicus and Galileo something to work with and, later, disprove.
Witch of Endor
    The Witch of Endor is mentioned in the Old Testament (1 Samuel 28: 4-25) when she conjures up the spirit of Samuel at the request of King Saul. Samuel’s ghost then predicted Saul’s losing his kingdom.

Where Rowling Found Her Muse
    All literature influences the novels, poems, and plays that come after it, and fantasy literature is no different. As mentioned throughout this book, Rowling was deeply inf luenced by fantasy greats C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, as well as by Greek, Roman, and Celtic mythology; British folklore; and nonfantasy literature, from Shakespeare to Jane Austen.
    In addition, there’s no denying that the Harry Potter series owes a great debt to British fantasy author Diana Wynne Jones, who started writing novels in the early 1970s (when J.K. Rowling was a young girl) and continues to publish today. Jones is considered one of the great fantasy authors of the twentieth century; as an undergrad, she even attended lectures at Oxford taught by Lewis and Tolkien (lucky girl!). Some fans fiercely believe Jones is a far more imaginative writer than Rowling, but on the flip side, the popularity of the Harry Potter novels has recently put many of Jones’s earliest novels back into print after a long hiatus. Both authors create fantasy worlds that, because they are so painstakingly detailed, become utterly believable. Yet both also relish silliness and absurdity in their stories.
    Regardless of who’s the better writer, Jones invented magical fantasy worlds that likely made a deep impression on Rowling. In Jones’s novels, wizards and witches practice magic through spells; wear robes and cloaks; attend schools that train wizards; work as seers and healers; invite guests into a Great Hall for meals; stretch the insides of their houses to accommodate more people; plant annoying (attacking) flowers; drink from goblets; and live in a world with dragons, griffons, flying horses, serpents, owls, and other magical creatures. You’ll even find a Dark Lord in Dark Lord of Derkholm (HarperCollins, 1998). Do all those features sound