The Sorcerer's Companion: A Guide to the Magical World of Harry Potter (15 page)

The word
bezoar
(pronounced bē zōr) comes from the Persian word
pâdzahr
, meaning “counter-poison.” These intestinal oddities were used to treat poisoning and disease in the Arabic world as long ago as the seventh century. They were usually obtained from goats, but were also found in the stomachs of cows, deer, camels, and other cud-chewing animals. The bezoar could be ground into a powder and swallowed, or added to hot water and taken as a tea. Ground bezoar was also made into a poultice and applied externally as a treatment for fever, leprosy, epilepsy, and other afflictions.

It was customary for bezoars to be set in precious stones and given to royalty as presents. This one is set on a gold ring and capped with an emerald-studded crown
. (
photo credit 6.1
)

The renowned Arab physician Avenzoar, who lived in Spain in the twelfth century, was the first to write for a European audience about the healing properties of bezoars. The idea of such a powerful medicine appealed greatly to a populace beset by bubonic plague and other deadly epidemics. England’s King Edward IV is reported to have credited his recovery from an infected wound to his physician’s application of a bezoar. Centuries later, the Emperor of Persia presented several bezoars to Napoleon, who allegedly threw them away before his death (which may have been due to poisoning!). Other, more cautious monarchs took to placing bezoars in their drinking goblets as a precaution against poisoning.

As the popularity of bezoars spread, prices soared. A price-list issued by a German apothecary in 1757 offers rubies, sapphires, emeralds, and other precious stones for medicinal uses. But the highest price is commanded by the bezoar, which is offered at nearly fifty times the price of emeralds. Those who could afford these precious objects often used them as
amulets
, wearing them around the neck or carrying them about in jeweled boxes. England’s Queen Elizabeth I had several set in rings, which later became part of the crown jewels.

Not surprisingly, such a valuable item was subject to counterfeiting. In 1603, a British goldsmith was taken to court by a customer who alleged that the bezoar he had bought for £100 (about $25,000 today) was a worthless fake. In 1714, a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in London raised concerns about a drug wholesaler who claimed to have 500 ounces of bezoar in stock—an unlikely amount that would have required the slaughter of 50,000 goats.

Others were less concerned with fakery than with whether bezoars actually worked. When King Charles IX of France was given a bezoar as a gift, he summoned his personal physician, Ambroise Paré, to tell him if the stone could protect him against all poisons. Paré said it was impossible; since all poisons were different, no substance could be a universal antidote. The king decided an experiment was in order. He summoned a convicted thief who had been sentenced to death by hanging and offered him a choice. Instead of hanging, the thief would be given a deadly poison, followed by a bezoar. If he recovered, he would receive his liberty. The convicted man readily agreed and downed a glass of poison prepared by the king’s apothecary, followed by a dose of powdered bezoar. He died in agony a few hours later, and the king tossed the remaining bezoar into the fire.

Despite this demonstration that the powers of the bezoar were overstated—or even imaginary—people continued to hold bezoars in high regard for centuries. As recently as 2005, a bezoar in a gold and silver holder sold at the auction house Christie’s for more than $65,000—though we doubt its new owner intended to swallow it.

he boggart is well known in Northern English folklore as a shape-shifting spirit that, while normally invisible, can materialize as a human, an animal, a skeleton, or even a
demon
. Most boggarts, like the one Professor Lupin keeps in a closet at Hogwarts, delight in frightening people. Some are merely mischievous, resembling the
poltergeist
in their efforts to create chaos in an orderly household. According to tradition, you know one of these meddlesome creatures is around when doors slam for no reason, candles suddenly go out, tools disappear, and mysterious noises echo through the house. Other boggarts of a more vicious nature lurk on dark roadsides and frighten lonely travelers, sometimes causing injury or death.

The boggart is a relative, some might say the evil twin, of the far-more-friendly brownie. Brownies appear in English folktales as household helpers who take great personal responsibility for the homes in which they live and bring good luck to the homeowner. They clean up messes, complete unfinished chores, make bread, harvest grain, herd sheep, and mend broken tools and clothes. In return for their labors, they are entitled each evening to a bowl of milk or cream and a piece of cake. An offer of any greater reward is taken as an insult, and brownies are easily offended and angered. When offense occurs, a boggart may appear to take the brownie’s place.

Household boggarts are said to be dark, hairy, and ugly, with over-large hands and feet. To complete the look, they dress in rags. In centuries past, when a house was thought to be infested with a boggart the owner usually made great efforts to get rid of it. But boggarts were stubborn, and sometimes a family might be forced to move to another town to escape one. Even that did not always work: One story tells of a farmer who was so fed up with the destruction caused by a boggart that he packed up his family and all of his possessions and headed for a new home. Just as he passed through his front gate, a surprised neighbor asked if he was moving away. Before he had a chance to answer, a voice from deep within his suitcases said happily, “Yes, we’re leaving!” The farmer and his family sadly turned around and went home, realizing there was no escape from the wily boggart.

“Be good, or the bogeyman will get you!”
The warning is familiar to us all. A bogeyman is a supernatural being who lurks under the bed, in closets, down unlit stairways, and in any other dark and scary place. The bogeyman has no particular appearance. Rather, like the Hogwarts boggart, he takes whatever shape will terrify you the most.

The bogeyman is a descendant of two other malicious spirits, the Scottish bogle and the English bogie, both of which are closely related to the boggart. The bogle is a shape-shifter that can appear as anything from a dog to a cloud to a sack of corn. Bogles are known for playing tricks on travelers, but they cause serious harm only to villains who deserve a bad end. Bogies are described as small, black, and hairy mischief-making goblins. Like the bogeyman himself, bogies are often called upon to frighten children into good behavior.