The Sorcerer's Companion: A Guide to the Magical World of Harry Potter (38 page)

The word “hex” comes from
Hexe
, the German word for
witch
, and a hex is generally considered to be a form of witchcraft. Although the practice of hexing probably originated in Europe, it is most closely associated with the folk magic of the Pennsylvania Dutch, people of German ancestry who first settled in colonial America during the seventeenth century. Hexing was the specialty of “hex doctors,” whose services for casting and removing hexes were available for hire to anyone in the community.

A traditional Pennsylvania Dutch hex sign
. (
photo credit 39.1
)

Among the early Pennsylvania Dutch farmers, a mild nuisance, such as the inability to churn cream into butter or a more serious concern, such as diseased livestock, might have been attributed to a hex. Hexing would be suspected if an animal’s fur fell out, or if it stopped eating, or it became uncommonly restless. Even more grave was the hexing of a human being. A person who had been hexed might experience incurable insomnia, wasting away due to loss of appetite or inability to keep down food, a persistent uncomfortable or painful physical sensation, or general bad luck.

A number of options were available to anyone eager to protect his family and livestock from being
ferhexed
(hexed or bewitched). Drawing a five-pointed star on a door frame or windowsill was said to prevent a hex doctor from entering a building. A hex letter—a short declaration of animosity toward the hex doctor—could be hung from the rafters of a barn to protect its occupants. Animals could also be protected from, or even cured of, hex-induced illnesses by hanging small cloth bags containing mercury over their stalls.

Additional protection from hexes and other evil spells may have been offered by hex signs—colorful geometric figures traditionally painted on the sides of houses or barns. Like hexing itself, the custom of drawing hex signs probably originated in Germany, but by the nineteenth century the signs were much more common in eastern Pennsylvania. Today they are considered folk art, but some experts believe hex signs were originally used to protect both animals and humans from becoming hexed and to ward off the evil eye (see
Amulet
). Although they are most often seen on buildings, hex signs are sometimes painted on cradles, household tools, and wooden or metal disks designed to hang in windows.

on Weasley isn’t the only wayfarer to have found himself waist-deep in mud after an encounter with the wispy one-legged spirit known as a hinkypunk. In the folklore of England’s West Country, the hinkypunk is said to lurk in remote areas at night, waiting for an approaching traveler before he lights a lantern and steps into view. The weary pedestrian, overjoyed to see a flicker of light in the distance, heads toward it, mistaking it for his destination or for a fellow traveler up ahead on the trail. The next thing he knows, he falls in a ditch, sinks into a bog, or tumbles off a cliff—much to the amusement of the hinkypunk.

Many similar spirits—characterized by flickering flames and the desire to lead gullible travelers into peril—are said to roam the English countryside. English folklore abounds with tales of travelers who wander around in circles, fall into ditches, lose their bearings, and end up north when they were headed south. Perhaps this is because so much of the English countryside is covered by marshes, bogs, and moors, which are treacherous to negotiate, particularly at night. Rather than blame the landscape itself, centuries of tradition have pointed the finger at supernatural beings. Some are said to be
demons
, some are thought to be
ghosts
whose souls cannot rest, and still others are rumored to be guardians of treasure, teasing humans with a vision of wealth that is forever just out of reach.

Interestingly, in many parts of England, strange lights with no human attached to them
are
frequently seen flickering in the distance. But according to the scientific view, what travelers are actually seeing is the spontaneous ignition of marsh gases commonly emitted from boggy areas. For centuries, however, people believed the lights were caused by malicious spirits, and wherever such lights have regularly appeared a version of the hinkypunk is part of the local lore.

A traveler has a near miss as one of the hinkypunk’s close relatives, the Welsh
pwca,
tries to lure him over a cliff
. (
photo credit 40.1
)

ittle did Harry and Hermione know what a noble tradition they joined when they mounted Buckbeak, Hagrid’s beloved hippogriff. The offspring of a rare union between a male griffin (itself half eagle and half lion) and a female horse, the hippogriff is said to have been the favored mount of the knights of Charlemagne, warriors of the eighth and ninth centuries whose adventures were recounted and highly romanticized by later writers.

Although the hippogriff was presented in these heroic tales as a rare but real animal, the winged beast was invented around 1516 by Ludovico Ariosto, author of the Italian epic poem
Orlando Furioso
, which chronicles the exploits of several of Charlemagne’s knights. Like a griffin, Ariosto’s hippogriff has an eagle’s head and beak, a lion’s front legs with talons, and richly feathered wings, while the rest of its body is that of a horse. Originally tamed and trained by the
magician
Atlante, the hippogriff can fly higher and faster than any bird, hurtling back toward Earth with the speed of a thunderbolt when its rider is ready to land. Even normally fearless knights find this a little scary, but they are delighted by the steed’s ability to soar easily from one side of the globe to the other.