Harry Potter: A History of Magic


Harry Potter: A History of Magic

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Transcript


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Have a watch of this.

Phew!

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"As there is little foolish

wand-waving here,

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"many of you will hardly believe

this is magic.

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"I don't expect you will really

understand the beauty of the softly

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"simmering cauldron

with its shimmering fumes.

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"The delicate power of liquids that

creep through human veins,

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"bewitching the mind,

ensnaring the senses.

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"I can teach you how to bottle fame,

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"brew glory, even stopper death.

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"If you aren't as big a bunch of

dunderheads

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"as I usually have to teach."

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In Harry Potter, JK Rowling created

one of modern fiction's

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most alluring and magical worlds.

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But it's a vision based on more

than mere make-believe.

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A lot of the things that we read

in fiction in Harry Potter

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were actually believed in and

enacted upon in history in the past.

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What Jo has done is, she's taken

known values,

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she's taken familiar stories

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and added them in her own

beautiful blend.

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My mandrakes aren't quite

like that.

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The search for magical knowledge has

obsessed humans since time began.

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From the age-old quest

to conquer death...

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..to master destiny...

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..and overturn fate...

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Look at this. Oh, my Lord!

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THEY CHUCKLE

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I think it worked.

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..human beings have dreamt up

magical ways of thinking.

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I don't think everyone should

believe in magic,

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but I'm not sure I would trust

anyone who doesn't,

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in some way or another.

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Accio.

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This is the story

of the real-life magic

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at the heart of Harry Potter.

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This year marks a special

anniversary

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and some very strange celebrations

are under way.

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We came all the way

from Brooklyn, New York.

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This is my mom. This is my

daughter.

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And these are my granddaughters.

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Obliviate!

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I've come as Moaning Myrtle

because she has a lot of personality

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for a dead person.

Yes.

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I'm Professor Minerva McGonagall

and I can't do a proper accent

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so I'm not really going to try.

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Go on.

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You're welcome to share

my cubicle, Harry.

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Aw...

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It's been 20 years since

an orphaned boy wizard made muggles

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out of all of us.

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There's something buried deep

within all of us, I think,

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that would like to get the owl

and be told...

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..you are not only

unique and special,

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I'm going to take you

to where your people are.

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I mean, that's such

a seductive idea, I think.

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That's not just something that

children crave,

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it's something that all of us crave.

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I've kind of loved to be

in that world.

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I'd just love to be in that world.

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I wish I was a wizard!

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But Rowling's wizarding world

is closer to our own than we think.

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As Harry's great friend

Hermione Granger once said...

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Don't legends always have

a basis in fact?

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In The Magician's Nephew

by CS Lewis,

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there is one of the most beautiful

fictional worlds

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that I've ever read, which is

the world between the worlds,

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which is a place where you're in a

forest and there are multiple pools

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and every pool you jump into will

take you to a different world and

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that to me has always been

a library.

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I was one of those bookish children

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who never left the library

if she could help it.

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So, yeah, of course, to me, a

library is truly a place of magic.

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At the British Library,

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all kinds of magical preparations

are taking place.

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And it's all to create

a new exhibition

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which aims to reveal the link

between the real history of magic

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and JK Rowling's writing.

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And it's all there

from the very first book.

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Most of the JK Rowling material has

never been exhibited before.

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It's the first time

it's going on display.

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So this is a typed synopsis of Harry

Potter And The Philosopher's Stone.

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In the early '90s,

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this was written to be sent to

agents and to publishers

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to sell the story.

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Yeah, she's having to sell

Harry Potter.

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You wouldn't think it, would you?

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The conceit is that we muggles,

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we sort of glimpse this hidden world

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because we know some

of the mythology,

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but what we think we know

is often wrong.

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The real magic, as it were, is not

quite as we believe it to be.

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Using pre-existing myths or ideas

of fantastic creatures and so on

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was a way of giving texture

to the world.

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I think JK Rowling used magic

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and the history of magic in

an exceedingly sophisticated way,

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and possibly there are aspects of it

that your general reader

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just might not even see.

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"The ancient study of alchemy is

concerned with making

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"the philosopher's stone,

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"a legendary substance

with astonishing powers.

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"The stone will transform any metal

into pure gold.

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"It also produces

the elixir of life,

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"which will make the drinker

immortal."

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The pursuit of immortality was a

quest to which medieval alchemists

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devoted their lives.

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And one amongst them

became the stuff of legend.

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"There have been many reports of the

philosopher's stone over the

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"centuries, but the only stone

currently in existence belongs

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"to Mr Nicolas Flamel, the noted

alchemist and opera lover.

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"Mr Flamel, who celebrated his 665th

birthday last year,

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"enjoys a quiet life in Devon

with his wife Perenelle, 658."

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In the stories, Nicolas Flamel,

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he's the person who's actually

discovered the key to eternal life

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and is alive and well.

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I hate to spoil the story, but he is

based on a real-life figure

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who lived in Paris

in the early 15th century

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and obviously, sadly, he did die,

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but we do actually have

his tombstone.

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It's quite a magical object

in itself.

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Nicolas Flamel may not have

achieved immortality,

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but alchemists continued their

search for the elixir of life.

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And some of their mysterious

instructions survive

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on a magical scroll.

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Let's take this one out of the box.

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So, this is the...amazing...

Oh, my God.

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..Ripley scroll. There you are.

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It's extraordinary.

I think

it's made about the year 1600...

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and it tells you how to make

the philosopher's stone.

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Oh, look.

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Isn't that incredible?

Oh, it's so gorgeous. Look at this.

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I've never seen...

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anything quite like this before.

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I would imagine few people have.

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What fascinates me about alchemy is,

you have this mixture of science,

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actual science, right?

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Because this was old chemistry,

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so some of it is genuinely

scientific.

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They were observing phenomena that

we recognise now as the basis

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for chemistry. So it's just this

fascinating hybrid, isn't it?

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Yeah, combination

of all these ideas.

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And I'm really disappointed

you haven't tried to make one.

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Because the joke's on us

if this works!

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We'll make sure it does work.

Yeah.

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Many scientific discoveries were

actually made as a result of people

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carrying out that alchemical

process.

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There's a very famous painting,

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it's by Joseph Wright of Derby,

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and it shows a German chemist,

alchemist,

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in the 17th century.

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He's trying to create gold

and he's boiling a flask of urine!

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He doesn't create gold, but he

discovers phosphorus in the process.

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The relationship

between magic and science,

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particularly in the early modern

period, is extremely important.

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What powers are there out there that

we perhaps can't see

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but which we can harness and adapt

for our own use?

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And to some extent,

that is a form of magic.

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Perhaps penicillin

is a form of magic.

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It's just magic

that consistently works.

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But even in our rational,

enlightened age of today,

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perhaps there's still a place

for the old ways of thinking.

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Magic is fascinating to me, clearly,

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because I've spent a lot of time

writing about it,

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but I think that it connects to very

important things about what it is

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to be human and what human beings

want and what they believe.

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"When he had been younger, Harry had

dreamed and dreamed of some unknown

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"relation coming to take him

away, but it had never happened.

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"The Dursleys were his only family.

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"Yet sometimes he thought,

or maybe hoped,

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"that strangers in the street

seemed to know him.

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"Very strange strangers

they were, too."

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Children believe in magic because

they're starting to make sense of

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and control their world.

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But I think

we all have that inside us.

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The world is complex

and largely unknowable,

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and although we've moved on to

science,

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I think that we all, at heart,

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retain a certain amount

of magical thinking.

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Tarantellegra!

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Locomotor Wibbly!

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Evanesco!

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Rictusempra!

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Whoosh! I've got to do

a whoosh sound,

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it's the only way it makes it

real to me.

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To trace the real history of magic,

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there can be few better places

than the British Library.

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It has 150 million items

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and the curators have been searching

amongst them for over a year.

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As every Hogwarts student knows,

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a good magical textbook can save

your life or solve your problems.

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But in the 16th century,

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members of the British cultural

establishment believed in them, too.

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So, this is one of my favourite

manuscripts in the exhibition.

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It's an actual book of spells and

is extremely beautiful to look at,

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I think, and has a lot of

interesting content.

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A real magical textbook,

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and it belonged to the Elizabethan

poet Gabriel Harvey.

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But this one is an experiment

or a spell on how to be invisible

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and how it must be prepared.

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There's lots of text written

about Gabriel Harvey,

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but as far as I know,

I don't think he ever disappeared.

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HE RECITES THE MANUSCRIPT

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"By the mercy which you bear

upon mankind,

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"make me to be invisible."

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"He set off, drawing the

invisibility cloak tight around him

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"as he walked.

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"The library was pitch-black

and very eerie.

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"Harry lit a lamp to see his way

along the rows of books."

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Conveying the rich imaginary world

of JK Rowling is a huge challenge

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for the curators.

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To help them, they've enlisted Harry

Potter illustrator Jim Kay,

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whose drawings and paintings will

bring to life the links between

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literary fantasy

and historical fact.

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So I first started illustrating

Harry Potter

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back in 2013,

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and back then,

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I thought, "Well, it'd take about

six months to do all of book one,"

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and it actually took me

two and a half years

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working seven days a week,

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usually 12 hours at once, a day.

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It was terrible pressure

and you don't want to mess up

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the world's

most successful children's book.

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The British Library team are

selecting examples of Jim's work

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to feature in the show.

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Who is this?

McGonagall.

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It's actually based loosely

on my partner,

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who I aged for this painting,

I must stress.

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Jim's most intriguing illustrations

are these curious-looking specimens,

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mandrake roots and their seedlings.

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Harmless enough, you might think,

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but these roots must be handled

with care.

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"Harry snapped the earmuffs

over his ears.

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"They shut out sound completely.

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"Professor Sprout put a pink, fluffy

pair over her own ears,

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"rolled up the sleeves of her robes,

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"grasped one of the tufty plants

firmly and pulled hard.

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"Harry let out a gasp of surprise

that no-one could hear.

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"Instead of roots,

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"a small, muddy and extremely ugly

baby popped out of the earth.

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"The leaves were growing right

out of his head!

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"He had pale-green mottled skin

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"and was clearly bawling

at the top of his lungs.

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"Professor Sprout took a large

plant pot from under the table and

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"plunged the mandrake into it,

burying him in dark, damp compost,

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"until only the tufted leaves were

visible.

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"Professor Sprout dusted

off her hands,

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"gave them all the thumbs-up

and removed her own earmuffs.

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"'As our mandrakes

are only seedlings,

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"'their cries won't kill yet,'

she said calmly,

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"as though she'd just done nothing

more exciting than water a begonia.

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"'However, they will knock you out

for several hours.'"

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In herbal folklore, the

bloodcurdling scream of the mandrake

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was thought to kill

or send its listener mad.

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The British Library have uncovered

an unusual illustration of the myth.

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A very unusual illustration indeed.

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My mandrakes aren't quite like that.

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Broadly speaking, I adopted the myth

with some tweaks.

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Very similar. No dogs involved

in mine, though.

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Humans did actually pull them up

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and mandrake root was an essential

component in a restorative potion

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that was needed

at Hogwarts that year.

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There are real mandrakes

and the root is human-shaped,

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so I think that's where the myth

came from, isn't it?

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As often happens, people

extrapolated from the real object.

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The mandrake is no longer

commonplace.

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Yet the elaborate folklore that

surrounds it all came down

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to this rather small, grubby root.

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There's definitely something

in these roots that...

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Yeah, anthropomorphic.

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It's almost like

a sort of pot belly.

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So you could have

a more distended stomach

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leading to legs...

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which I quite like.

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These severed hands symbolise

its use as an anaesthetic

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in amputations.

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Medieval herbals like these

reveal the wonder and mystery

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inspired by plants.

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This is a time when most people

couldn't get access

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to any form of medicine. A small cut

could kill you, you know?

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It's no wonder that people put

so much stock

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in the potential life-saving

properties

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of the plants around them, really.

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Plants are a key ingredient

in JK Rowling's wizarding world,

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where they're used to make potions,

and supplies can be found

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in the apothecary of a certain

Mr Mulpepper.

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His name might sound a little bit

like another exhibit in the show,

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the Complete Herbal

by one Nicholas Culpeper.

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So Culpeper really was

a herbal hero.

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He was the guy who revolutionised

medicine in Britain.

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He took the power from the

physicians and gave it back

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to the common people.

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Nicholas Culpeper grew up

in the Sussex countryside

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here in Isfield.

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So, this footpath here would've

been the exact footpath

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that the young Culpeper

would have walked down

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from his grandfather's church

over to the village,

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and it's here

he would've learned all about

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the flowers and the plants

of the English countryside.

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The book was published

almost 400 years ago and

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it's still in print today.

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In the 1600s, you could buy it

on a street corner.

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You can buy it online today.

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It's the book that's been in print

for the longest

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apart from the Bible.

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Culpeper's book has special

significance for JK Rowling.

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Oh, yes.

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I know this book.

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This is Culpeper's Complete Herbal

and I own two copies of this.

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Am I allowed to touch this?

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I will be tremendously careful,

I'm so scared.

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Oh, wow, look.

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It's not even the properties

of the plants,

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it's just the way that they wrote

about the plants

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and observed them and tied them to

planetary movements and so on.

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There's such a poetry to it.

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"Oh, yes, it is fat,

unctuous and temperate.

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"Generated of that which is moist,

aerius and moderately hot."

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I love it.

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"Midnight came and went while Harry

was reading and rereading a passage

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"about the uses of scurvy-grass,

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"lovage and sneezewort,

and not taking in a word of it.

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"These plants are most efficacious

in the inflaming of the brain and

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"are therefore much used in

confusing and befuddlement drafts,

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"where the wizard is desirous

of producing hot-headiness

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"and recklessness."

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Even when I didn't really use

what they were saying,

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I found it inspirational.

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I found the way they talked about

these plants inspirational.

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This is a gorgeous book.

Look at this.

0:19:160:19:18

And sometimes I would use old names

to make my own names, you know?

0:19:200:19:23

You just look at the way that

they put the words together.

0:19:230:19:26

Sea colewort - love it.

0:19:260:19:29

Nicholas Culpeper was also accused

of witchcraft about ten years before

0:19:310:19:36

he published his book.

0:19:360:19:37

In 1642, he was accused of being

a practising witch.

0:19:370:19:41

Now, this is possibly because of

antagonisms that he was creating

0:19:410:19:44

with the College of Physicians,

0:19:440:19:46

but it's also because I think people

0:19:460:19:48

that are mixing up herbs,

creating potions,

0:19:480:19:51

there's always going to be

those questions about them.

0:19:510:19:54

"Non-magic people,

more commonly known as muggles,

0:19:580:20:01

"were particularly afraid of magic

in medieval times,

0:20:010:20:05

"but not very good

at recognising it.

0:20:050:20:08

"On the rare occasion they did catch

a real witch or wizard,

0:20:080:20:11

"burning had no effect whatsoever.

0:20:110:20:14

"The witch or wizard would perform

a basic flame freezing charm

0:20:140:20:17

"and then pretend to

shriek with pain

0:20:170:20:20

"while enjoying

a gentle tickling sensation.

0:20:200:20:23

"Indeed, Wendelin the Weird

enjoyed being burnt so much

0:20:230:20:27

"that she allowed herself to be

caught no fewer than

0:20:270:20:30

"47 times in various disguises."

0:20:300:20:33

Witches and wizards

in the Potterverse,

0:20:350:20:36

they are morally neutral.

0:20:360:20:38

You are as good or as bad

as you decide to be.

0:20:380:20:40

There's nothing inherently wrong

about performing magic,

0:20:400:20:43

it's simply an ability

that some people have.

0:20:430:20:45

Yet in history, most references to

witches are resoundingly negative.

0:20:480:20:52

And the link between witches

and powerful dark magic

0:20:550:20:59

was forged by a book.

0:20:590:21:01

So this is the earliest illustrated

printed treatise on witchcraft.

0:21:020:21:07

It's called De Lamiis Et

Phythonicis Mulieribus,

0:21:070:21:10

which roughly translate as

"of witches and soothsayers".

0:21:100:21:14

This is the first time

0:21:140:21:16

that you get a printed visual

representation of witches.

0:21:160:21:21

And it was published in 1489,

0:21:210:21:21

And it was published in 1489,

0:21:210:21:23

written by a man

called Ulrich Molitor.

0:21:230:21:27

In the book, Molitor claims

0:21:270:21:28

that witches were not as powerful

as people thought,

0:21:280:21:31

but his illustrator clearly didn't

read his text,

0:21:310:21:35

because the drawings tell

a different story.

0:21:350:21:39

So here you have two women.

0:21:390:21:41

They're old, they're haggard

and they're evil-looking.

0:21:410:21:45

They're dangerous

and they're powerful.

0:21:450:21:47

It shows them as able to create

dangerous weather magic,

0:21:470:21:51

hailstorms, using cauldrons.

0:21:510:21:53

This is the earliest printed image

of witches using a cauldron.

0:21:550:21:59

The book was published

in 49 different editions

0:22:020:22:04

and was still in print

a century later.

0:22:040:22:07

The whole text is written in Latin,

0:22:080:22:10

which wouldn't really be that

accessible to your average person

0:22:100:22:14

even if they could read.

0:22:140:22:15

But the images are something that

everyone can read

0:22:150:22:18

and that is where the power of this

book comes in,

0:22:180:22:21

and it cemented the iconography of

how we understand witches to look.

0:22:210:22:26

At the edge of the Atlantic

on the North Cornwall coast,

0:22:380:22:41

Boscastle is one of the most magical

places in the land.

0:22:410:22:44

It even has its own

museum of witchcraft.

0:22:450:22:47

So this broomstick belonged

to Olga Hunt of Manaton.

0:22:510:22:55

She used to,

on the night of the full moon,

0:22:550:22:59

scamper and leap about

0:22:590:23:02

on this broomstick on the rocks

of Haytor, on Dartmoor.

0:23:020:23:06

Olga Hunt's broomstick is one

of the artefacts

0:23:080:23:10

that will feature in the show.

0:23:100:23:12

The British Library has been

scouring the museum

0:23:120:23:15

for other objects that might fit.

0:23:150:23:16

There are 3,000 to choose from.

0:23:160:23:20

This cauldron has a very unusual

story attached to it

0:23:200:23:23

because it exploded,

0:23:230:23:25

much like the one in the stories

of Harry Potter.

0:23:250:23:28

Ooh, this is interesting!

0:23:280:23:30

The tarred head.

0:23:300:23:31

I most definitely believe in magic.

0:23:330:23:34

Do I have to justify that?

0:23:360:23:38

The museum owns one of the largest

collections of witchcraft artefacts

0:23:400:23:43

in the world.

0:23:430:23:45

So this is a dried cat.

0:23:450:23:47

They're often found in old buildings

0:23:470:23:49

and they were used as a protection

charm to ward off infestation.

0:23:490:23:53

You'd think that a live cat would do

a better job of it, but here we are.

0:23:530:23:57

And here we've got

a selection of wands,

0:23:580:24:01

one of which is going to feature

in the exhibition.

0:24:010:24:04

Now, wands are subtle tools.

0:24:040:24:06

They're used to direct energy,

0:24:060:24:08

but they're also used

for creating a magical space.

0:24:080:24:12

We have an example here

of a very dark use...

0:24:140:24:18

..of the practice,

which is a blasting rod.

0:24:190:24:23

And blasting rods are basically used

to blast people and to direct

0:24:230:24:28

negative energy at them

for a curse of some form.

0:24:280:24:31

Oh, it could kill somebody

very easily, I should imagine,

0:24:320:24:35

so... Used by the right person

in the right way.

0:24:350:24:39

So it's kept behind glass normally.

0:24:390:24:41

Every Hogwarts pupil needs

their very own magic wand.

0:24:440:24:48

But no two wands are the same.

0:24:480:24:50

"'You talk about wands like

they've got feelings,' said Harry.

0:24:520:24:55

"'Like they can think

for themselves.'

0:24:550:24:57

"'The wand chooses the wizard,'

said Ollivander.

0:24:570:25:01

"'That much has always been clear

to those of us who have studied

wandlore.'"

0:25:010:25:05

Wands are an essential part

of casting a spell

0:25:070:25:10

and everyone has

their favourite.

0:25:100:25:12

Expelliarmus!

0:25:120:25:15

Did that work?

0:25:150:25:17

If we could only use them

in the muggle world,

0:25:170:25:20

they'd come in very handy.

0:25:200:25:22

I would cast a spell

to make TJ in my class like me.

0:25:220:25:25

Oh, not on telly!

0:25:250:25:27

BOTH:

Obliviate!

0:25:300:25:31

But for the spell to work,

0:25:310:25:33

you need exactly the right flick

or twist of the wrist.

0:25:330:25:37

ALL:

Piertotum locomotor!

0:25:370:25:39

I couldn't find anything on wands,

so I just made it all up.

0:25:430:25:46

That was all me and I had so much

fun

0:25:460:25:49

and actually, I do remember

exactly where I was.

0:25:490:25:52

I literally was sitting under a tree

out in the open

0:25:520:25:55

on a very warm summer's day

when I wrote that chapter,

0:25:550:25:58

the wand shop

in the Philosopher's Stone.

0:25:580:26:01

And I just sat there and made up

all these properties

0:26:010:26:03

and the cores and, yeah,

I really enjoyed that.

0:26:030:26:06

So, yeah, no, I'm afraid I don't

know anything about...

0:26:060:26:09

I don't know what anyone else has

said about wands.

0:26:090:26:11

I made the whole thing up!

0:26:110:26:13

But there are folk out there

0:26:190:26:21

who have been making wands

for centuries.

0:26:210:26:24

Dusty Miller, father and son,

come from a long line of wandmakers.

0:26:240:26:29

I'm Dusty XII.

0:26:300:26:32

XIII, sorry. My father was XII.

Hello, Grandad!

0:26:320:26:35

My son is the XIII. XIV!

0:26:380:26:41

I like that, I got promoted then.

Did you see that?

0:26:410:26:43

We work for the tree spirits,

0:26:510:26:53

so they tell us when to go

and collect a piece of wood,

0:26:530:26:56

where to collect it,

0:26:560:26:58

which tree to collect it from.

0:26:580:26:59

It's all very complicated

0:26:590:27:01

and often means getting up

in the middle of the night

0:27:010:27:04

to be in the forest at daybreak.

0:27:040:27:05

Why they always want daybreak,

I don't know.

0:27:050:27:08

Why it can't be lunchtime...

0:27:080:27:10

another matter entirely.

Trees don't have lunch!

0:27:100:27:12

No, that's true, they don't.

0:27:120:27:15

The wood they collect

is made into wands,

0:27:190:27:22

which they believe channel

the sacred power of the trees.

0:27:220:27:25

Because we have this partnership

with the tree spirits,

0:27:270:27:29

when they tell us to make certain

tools, to create certain items for

0:27:290:27:34

people to make changes

in their lives...

0:27:340:27:38

and be able to... Maybe do healing

on other people, or themselves,

0:27:380:27:41

then we're quite happy to do that

0:27:410:27:43

and that's what we've spent

our entire lifetimes doing.

0:27:430:27:46

In Rowling's wizarding world,

0:27:510:27:53

the effects of a spell can happen

in an instant.

0:27:530:27:56

Expecto Patronum!

0:27:560:28:01

You just have to say the words

the right way.

0:28:020:28:05

Take the doubling spell.

0:28:050:28:07

Geminio.

0:28:070:28:09

Geminio.

0:28:110:28:12

Geminio!

0:28:130:28:15

The spells often have their roots

in classical languages

0:28:150:28:19

and Rowling's degree in French and

Classics turned out to be useful.

0:28:190:28:22

Sometimes I just invented it.

0:28:240:28:26

It usually depended on the gravity

of what I was inventing.

0:28:260:28:29

I often tended to give a richer

provenance to things

0:28:290:28:32

that were very significant,

like the Cruciatus Curse

0:28:320:28:36

or Avada Kedavra,

whereas the more...

0:28:360:28:38

The fun things, Wingardium Leviosa

is exactly what it sounds like

0:28:380:28:41

and it's flippant and it's fun.

0:28:410:28:43

Wingardium Leviosa!

0:28:430:28:45

It's only in fourth year that Harry

encounters the most sinister spells

0:28:470:28:51

in the wizarding world -

0:28:510:28:53

the three unforgivable curses.

0:28:530:28:56

What are the unforgivable curses

and what do they do?

0:28:570:29:00

Imperio!

0:29:000:29:01

There's Imperio,

which is the controlling curse.

0:29:010:29:05

Crucio!

0:29:050:29:07

Crucio is a torture curse.

0:29:070:29:09

It makes whoever you're casting it

at go into great pain.

0:29:090:29:12

So...pretty bad.

0:29:120:29:14

And the final curse,

the most dreadful of them all -

0:29:160:29:20

the killing spell.

0:29:200:29:21

"Avada Kedavra!

0:29:220:29:24

"A blast of green light blazed

through Harry's eyelids

0:29:260:29:31

"and he heard something heavy

fall to the ground beside him.

0:29:310:29:35

"The pain in his scar reached

such a pitch that he retched

0:29:360:29:39

"and then it diminished.

0:29:390:29:41

"Terrified of what he was about to

see, he opened his stinging eyes.

0:29:420:29:47

"Cedric was lying spread-eagled

on the ground beside him.

0:29:480:29:53

"He was dead."

0:29:560:29:57

It sounds so powerful, doesn't it,

Avada Kedavra?

0:30:020:30:05

It's got a real force to it.

0:30:050:30:07

It's Aramaic, I think.

0:30:070:30:09

Well, that is genuinely

the derivation of abracadabra,

0:30:090:30:12

not many people know that.

That's where abracadabra came from.

0:30:120:30:15

And literally translated, it means,

"May the thing be destroyed."

0:30:150:30:19

Abracadabra is today often

thought of as a charm

0:30:250:30:28

which stage magicians use when they

are pulling a rabbit out of a hat,

0:30:280:30:33

but actually it was first used

in Roman times as a protection

0:30:330:30:37

against catching

the disease malaria.

0:30:370:30:40

"'Double divination

this afternoon,'

0:30:440:30:47

"Harry groaned, looking down.

0:30:470:30:49

"Divination was his least favourite

subject, apart from potions.

0:30:490:30:54

"Professor Trelawney kept

predicting Harry's death,

0:30:540:30:57

"which he found extremely annoying."

0:30:570:30:59

A nice item relating to divination.

0:31:050:31:08

"On wonders past and present

and to come."

0:31:080:31:11

About the prophecies

of Old Mother Shipton,

0:31:110:31:13

who was a famous witch that made

prophecies from Knaresborough.

0:31:130:31:17

A nice interesting image of a witch,

which I think is...

0:31:170:31:20

Yes, in no way a cliche,

with her enormous nose

0:31:200:31:23

and her chin that almost

meets the tip of it!

0:31:230:31:26

That's great.

0:31:260:31:27

I have a lot of fun with divination

in the Potter books

0:31:270:31:30

because I make it quite clear

0:31:300:31:32

that you get lucky

once every million times.

0:31:320:31:35

Free will is the abiding principle

of the Potter books, not prophecy.

0:31:350:31:39

"There was a lot more to magic,

as Harry quickly found out,

0:31:430:31:46

"than waving your wand

and saying a few funny words."

0:31:460:31:49

The exhibition will be divided

0:31:570:31:58

into subjects corresponding

to the Hogwarts curriculum,

0:31:580:32:02

from divination to astronomy.

0:32:020:32:04

The most spectacular

and bizarre exhibits

0:32:060:32:08

belong to a section on

care of magical creatures.

0:32:080:32:12

So this is Edward Topsell's

History Of Four-footed Beasts.

0:32:170:32:20

He describes a number

of different beasts

0:32:200:32:23

that feature in Harry Potter,

including the Sphinx.

0:32:230:32:26

Yes...

0:32:260:32:28

Yeah. She's interesting.

0:32:280:32:30

Yeah.

Very unusual. It's not how

we'd actually imagine a Sphinx

0:32:300:32:34

to look like from

classical mythology, is it?

0:32:340:32:36

No. They are bred

in India and Ethiopia.

0:32:360:32:39

Interesting.

0:32:390:32:41

When it comes to beasts,

the hippogriff or the dragon,

0:32:460:32:49

there are certain beasts

that absolutely must be in Potter

0:32:490:32:52

because they're so well known, you

would just expect to see them there.

0:32:520:32:56

And I've played with them

to an extent.

0:32:560:32:58

This one dates from probably

the early 13th century.

0:33:020:33:05

First of all, the phoenix is

making its own funeral pyre

0:33:060:33:10

by picking twigs and leaves

and branches from the trees.

0:33:100:33:13

Oh, that's fantastic.

And there you are.

I love that.

0:33:130:33:16

It's on fire and it's going

to rise from the ashes.

0:33:160:33:20

That's my favourite creature.

He's gorgeous, isn't he?

Yeah.

0:33:200:33:23

Stunning. I also like this chap,

0:33:230:33:26

because that's like an Augerey,

which I invented.

0:33:260:33:29

There's no such thing,

but I call it the Irish phoenix.

0:33:290:33:31

These are so beautiful.

0:33:330:33:34

Incredibly human-looking owl.

0:33:370:33:38

In Harry Potter, JK Rowling

refers to over 100 species

0:33:450:33:48

of mythical creature,

drawn from across the globe.

0:33:480:33:51

In every society and every culture,

0:34:000:34:02

there is the practice of magic

0:34:020:34:04

or the understanding

of the supernatural.

0:34:040:34:07

Magic is a universal language.

0:34:070:34:09

In the Department

of African Studies,

0:34:100:34:13

one curator has made

an exciting discovery.

0:34:130:34:16

It's a text written in Ge'ez,

an ancient language of Ethiopia.

0:34:160:34:21

"If you wish to turn into a lion

or transform yourself into a lion,

0:34:210:34:26

"read the above prayer

0:34:270:34:29

"and write it on a silk cloth

0:34:290:34:32

"and tie it around your head.

0:34:320:34:34

"Or if you wish to be

0:34:340:34:36

"a serpent, write this

and tie it on your wrist."

0:34:360:34:40

This is a prayer for transformation

or to turn...

0:34:410:34:45

You know, to change into

something else.

0:34:450:34:48

By the 15th century,

0:34:480:34:49

this type of magic had been outlawed

by Ethiopia's Christian king.

0:34:490:34:53

So manuscripts like these

are exceptionally rare.

0:34:530:34:56

But despite its Ethiopian roots,

0:34:580:35:00

this branch of magic is very similar

0:35:000:35:02

to an important subject

taught at Hogwarts.

0:35:020:35:05

This book is

defence against the dark arts.

0:35:050:35:09

So the purpose of this talisman

is to protect the client

0:35:090:35:13

from real or imagined harm.

0:35:130:35:15

In Defence against the Dark Arts,

0:35:190:35:22

Harry's magical ability shines

0:35:220:35:24

when he masters wizarding's

most powerful protective charm.

0:35:240:35:28

"'Expecto Patronum,' he yelled.

0:35:300:35:33

"And out of the end of his wand

burst not a shapeless cloud of mist

0:35:350:35:40

"but a blinding, dazzling,

silver animal.

0:35:400:35:44

"He screwed up his eyes

to see what it was.

0:35:460:35:49

"It looked like a horse.

0:35:490:35:51

"It was galloping

silently away from him

0:35:510:35:54

"across the black surface

of the lake."

0:35:540:35:57

As the last few objects arrive

from museums across Britain...

0:36:040:36:08

..they're being joined by works

that are rather more recent.

0:36:090:36:13

These date from the 1990s.

0:36:130:36:16

I chose them all because

they had particular meaning to me.

0:36:180:36:23

They're all pieces of writing

0:36:230:36:25

or doodles that

I could particularly remember.

0:36:250:36:29

And they come from very different

stages in the process.

0:36:290:36:32

So some of it's on my very old

manual typewriter.

0:36:320:36:35

Lots of hand-written stuff.

0:36:350:36:37

They just show what I was thinking.

0:36:370:36:39

This is a sketch of Hogwarts that

JK Rowling sent to her publishers,

0:36:420:36:48

Bloomsbury, and it maps out

all the key elements of Hogwarts

0:36:480:36:54

and she's given notes, as well.

0:36:540:36:57

My favourite bit about this one is

0:36:570:36:59

where she's drawn the squid

that lives in the lake.

0:36:590:37:02

So this is one of mine.

0:37:060:37:08

So I don't feel quite so reverent

about this one.

0:37:080:37:10

Professor Sprout is the herbologist.

0:37:160:37:19

Very lovable character.

0:37:190:37:21

I would say she's the most maternal,

actually, or parental,

0:37:210:37:24

of the four Heads of House

at Hogwarts.

0:37:240:37:28

So I drew this picture

on December 30th, 1990.

0:37:290:37:34

And I can be very precise

about when I drew this picture

0:37:350:37:38

because I was staying

at a friend's house,

0:37:380:37:41

I'd been writing Potter

for six months

0:37:410:37:44

and I stayed up when everyone else

had gone to bed

0:37:440:37:47

because I was watching the movie

The Man Who Would Be King.

0:37:470:37:51

And the reason I can be

incredibly precise about

0:37:510:37:54

when I drew this is because...

0:37:540:37:56

at some point...

0:37:560:37:58

during the time I was watching that

movie and drawing this picture,

0:37:580:38:01

my mother died 250 miles away

0:38:010:38:04

and I got the phone call

the next day

0:38:040:38:07

to say that she had died.

0:38:070:38:09

So this obviously means

a great deal to me, this picture.

0:38:110:38:14

But there was something quite

extraordinary that I only realised

0:38:160:38:19

about 20 years later, so it seems

very appropriate to say it now

0:38:190:38:22

in the context of this exhibition.

0:38:220:38:24

The Man Who Would Be King,

for those who don't know,

0:38:260:38:28

is a story with Sean Connery

and Michael Caine in it

0:38:280:38:32

and it's from

an old Rudyard Kipling story.

0:38:320:38:35

And the Masonic symbol is

very important in that movie.

0:38:350:38:39

And it was literally 20 years later

0:38:390:38:41

that I looked at the sign

of the Deathly Hallows

0:38:410:38:45

and realised how similar they were.

0:38:450:38:48

The Deathly Hallows is comprised

of the Elder Wand,

0:38:490:38:53

the Cloak of Invisibility

and the Resurrection Stone.

0:38:530:38:57

And whoever possesses all three

is said to be Master of Death.

0:38:580:39:02

When I saw the movie again

and saw the Masonic symbol,

0:39:040:39:06

I sort of went cold all over

and I thought...

0:39:060:39:09

..is that why the Hallows symbol

is what it is?

0:39:110:39:13

And I've got a feeling that,

on some deep subconscious level,

0:39:130:39:17

they are connected.

0:39:170:39:19

So I feel as though I sort of

worked my way back over 20 years

0:39:190:39:24

to that night because the Potter

series is hugely about loss...

0:39:240:39:29

And I've said this before,

if my mother hadn't died,

0:39:300:39:33

I think the stories would be utterly

different and not what they are.

0:39:330:39:37

Um... So, yeah.

0:39:370:39:39

So, this picture is very meaningful

to me

0:39:390:39:43

on a lot of different levels.

0:39:430:39:46

"Harry was so close

to the mirror now

0:39:530:39:56

"that his nose was nearly touching

that of his reflection.

0:39:560:40:00

"'Mum?' he whispered.

0:40:000:40:02

"'Dad?'

0:40:050:40:06

"They just looked at him...

0:40:080:40:10

"..smiling...

0:40:100:40:12

"..and slowly Harry looked

into the faces

0:40:120:40:15

"of the other people in the mirror

0:40:150:40:17

"and saw other pairs of green eyes

like his,

0:40:170:40:20

"other noses like his,

0:40:200:40:22

"even a little old man who looked as

though he had Harry's knobbly knees.

0:40:220:40:26

"Harry was looking at his family

for the first time in his life."

0:40:280:40:34

I meet people quite regularly

who tell me

0:40:420:40:45

what Potter meant to them

0:40:450:40:47

and I can only say that even they

have no idea what it meant to me.

0:40:470:40:51

So I wrote Potter during what I hope

will turn out to have been

0:40:520:40:56

the most turbulent period of my life

0:40:560:40:58

and I put a huge amount,

more than people will ever know,

0:40:580:41:01

of my own life and experiences

into those books

0:41:010:41:05

and it's not that

lots of people liked it,

0:41:050:41:09

it's the fact that it meant

that much to a few people even

0:41:090:41:13

is more than enough for a writer.

It's an amazing feeling.

0:41:130:41:16

"Hermione, however,

clapped her hand to her forehead.

0:41:280:41:31

"'Harry, I think I've just

understood something.

0:41:310:41:34

"'I've got to go to the library.'

0:41:340:41:36

"And she sprinted away

up the stairs.

0:41:360:41:38

"'What does she understand?'

said Harry, distractedly,

0:41:450:41:48

"still looking around trying to tell

where the voice had come from.

0:41:480:41:51

"'Loads more than I do,'

said Ron, shaking his head.

0:41:530:41:56

"'But why's she got to go

to the library?'

0:41:560:41:58

"'Because that's what Hermione

does,' said Ron, shrugging.

0:42:010:42:05

"'When in doubt,

go to the library.'"

0:42:050:42:08

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