The Sorcerer's Companion: A Guide to the Magical World of Harry Potter (53 page)

A twelfth-century book on herbology illustrates the safest way to pick mandrakes
. (
photo credit 54.2
)

The mandrake was also employed for
divination
. Fortune-tellers insisted that the doll-like roots would nod their heads in answer to inquiries about the future. In Germany, peasants were known to take great care of their carved mandrakes, attaching bits of grain for eyes, dressing them, and tucking them into tiny beds at night—all to keep them ready and willing to answer any important question that might arise.

f any beast could give us nightmares, the manticore would be the one. Not only is it the proud parent of Hagrid’s feisty blast-ended skrewts, but its name means “maneater” in Persian, and its favorite activity—as you might guess—is devouring human flesh.

First described in the fifth century
B.C.
by the Greek physician Ctesias (who also gave us early
unicorn
lore), the manticore was said to inhabit the jungles of India, where its strength, speed, and sheer ferocity made it the most dangerous predator around. Although its reddish, hairy body resembled that of a lion, Ctesias reported, it had a human face, a melodious voice, and an extraordinary scorpion-like tail spiked with poisoned darts. The manticore could shoot these darts like arrows in any direction, striking prey at a distance of up to one hundred feet. Once a victim had succumbed to the fast-acting poison, the manticore was ready to get down to business. Set in each of its enormous jaws and spanning the distance from ear to ear were three rows of razor-sharp teeth, perfect for reducing its favorite dish—humans—into bite-size morsels. Good eater that it was, the manticore devoured its victims entirely, including skull, bones, clothing, and possessions. When someone vanished from a jungle village without a trace, it was clear that a manticore was nearby.

(
photo credit 55.1
)

Like so many fantastic creatures of antiquity, the manticore was thought to be quite real, and Ctesias’s account was repeated by later authorities, among them Aristotle and the Roman naturalist Pliny. By the second century
A.D
., however, when a specimen of the manticore had yet to turn up, other explanations for alleged sightings of the creature were proposed. The Greek travel writer Pausanias offered the likely theory that the creature in question was really a man-eating tiger—now known as the Bengal tiger. While belief in the manticore did not survive, its legend inspired the imaginations of many artists and illustrators, and it became a recognized symbol of evil and malevolence.

erlin the Magician—
sorcerer
, prophet, and advisor to King Arthur—is probably the most famous
wizard
of all time. Much-loved English legends tell us that he could use his magic to win wars, transform himself into a greyhound or a
stag
at will, see into the future, and control the destinies of men.

Although Merlin and his life are the stuff of legend, he can be traced to a real historical figure—a sixth-century Welsh poet named Myrddin, who went insane in battle and fled into the forests of Scotland, where he made many
prophecies
about the future. Myrddin’s name was changed to Merlin by the historian Geoffrey of Monmouth, who introduced the
magician
to English folklore in his
History of the Kings of Britain
, an account of the legendary beginnings of Britain written in 1136. Over the centuries, Merlin’s story was amplified by many writers, most notably Sir Thomas Malory, author of a fifteenth-century account of the Knights of the Round Table called
Le Morte d’Arthur (The Death of Arthur)
.

Like many mythological figures, Merlin had extraordinary parents who bestowed him with special gifts. Geoffrey of Monmouth reports that the great magician’s mother was the virtuous daughter of a king, while his father was a
demon
or evil spirit called an “incubus.” Merlin inherited both his mother’s goodness and his father’s magical powers. He demonstrated his supernatural abilities while still a child, and in so doing, saved his own life.

The story begins with a fifth-century British king named Vortigern, whose efforts to construct a tower were a failure. No matter how much progress his workers made, each day’s work would crumble to the ground overnight. Desperate, Vortigern consulted his magicians, who told him to strengthen the tower by mixing the mortar with the blood of a child who had no human father. Commanded to find such a child, Vortigern’s emissaries soon discovered Merlin and brought him to the king. Although he was only seven years old, Merlin explained that the tower was unstable because it was built over an underground pool. He also predicted that if the pool were drained, two dragons would be found sleeping at the bottom in two hollow stones. When Merlin’s words proved accurate, the king spared his life.

After Vortigern’s death, Merlin became an advisor to three kings—Aurelius, Uther Pendragon, and, most famously, Uther’s son, Arthur. Legend holds that during the reign of Aurelius, Merlin procured one of England’s national treasures, Stonehenge, by using his magical powers to transport the enormous stones from Ireland. Aurelius wished to construct an impressive monument, and Merlin selected this circle of stones, known in Ireland as the Giant’s Dance, because they were believed to have great healing powers. Although 15,000 English soldiers armed with cables and ladders were unable to budge the stones an inch, Merlin moved them in a flash. Made light as pebbles by his magical assistance, the stones were carried to boats and brought to the plain of Salisbury in England, where they remain today. (In reality, Stonehenge was erected around 2100
B.C.
, thousands of years before the earliest of the Merlin stories. However, there are a few bluish stones at Stonehenge known to have come from Wales, so the idea that the stones were quarried elsewhere and brought to Salisbury by way of water may have a grain of truth in it after all.)