The Sorcerer's Companion: A Guide to the Magical World of Harry Potter (81 page)

n many ways, Albus Dumbledore is the quintessential wizard. At its root, “wizard” means “wise,” and the Hogwarts headmaster is certainly adept at dispensing sage advice and handling sticky situations. His magical powers are unparalleled, and his flowing purple robes, silver beard, and pointy hat complete the picture of wizardry we have all come to expect.

This image of the wizard is the product of both fiction and history. From
Merlin
to Dumbledore himself, the delightful products of literary invention include wizards who can turn into
cats
or
owls
, produce lavish banquets with a wave of the wand, disappear into thin air, or cast
spells
to make castles look like cabbages. Their historical ancestors included thousands of very real men and women of medieval and Renaissance Europe who were widely believed to have both special wisdom and magical abilities. The women were known as wise women, cunning women, or white
witches
; the men were called wise men, cunning men, or wizards.

Most villages in medieval Europe had at least one professional wizard, who offered his clients an assortment of magical services, including finding lost objects, hidden treasure, or missing persons; detecting criminals; curing illnesses; telling fortunes; casting and breaking spells; making
amulets
and
charms
to ward off both natural and supernatural harm; and concocting
potions
. Belief in
magic
was widespread, and the wizard was generally both respected and feared by the community he served. As late as the seventeenth century, a wizard’s identification of a thief (usually made by asking the victim about potential suspects and then practicing some form of
divination
) was taken seriously, sometimes providing the basis for legal arrests.

A villager might seek out a wizard’s magical assistance for almost any purpose—to win at cards or dice, protect a house from rodents, make children sleep through the night, or avoid arrest for unpaid debts. As the local wise man, a wizard might also be asked to offer advice on matters of the heart or help decide between two courses of action. In response to a request, he—or his female counterpart—might read the future in a
crystal ball
, fashion a protective amulet, brew a potion, or instruct the client to gather a certain herb while uttering an incantation. In return, he would receive a small fee or donation.

Most patrons were poor, and so were most wizards and wise women. But members of the upper classes did not hesitate to consult them when the occasion warranted it, and a wizard who developed a reputation among aristocrats could make an excellent living. Many wealthy women sought out love potions to win the husband they desired or regain the affections of a wayward spouse. Men engaged in politics were sometimes said to turn to a wizard for help, whether to gain the favor of a king, carry out a rebellious plot, or ensure success in a delicate diplomatic mission.

Because the services they provided were in such demand, village wizards were relatively safe from the legal prosecution that was applied to all forms of magical practice at one time or another. In England, three Witchcraft Acts passed between 1542 and 1604 made it a felony to tell fortunes, make healing charms or love potions, or divine for treasure or stolen property. However, the number of people prosecuted for such crimes was quite small compared to the number who stood trial for engaging in malevolent forms of magic such as consorting with the Devil or conjuring evil spirits. For the most part, village wizards were protected by their customers. Nonetheless, they were vulnerable to the whims of dissatisfied patrons, who might report them to the authorities or accuse them of witchcraft.

(
photo credit 92.1
)

During the sixteenth century, the word “wizard” began to take on new meanings. The term was applied not only to village wise men, but to magicians who practiced alchemy and summoned
demons
, court astrologers, and conjurers who performed magic tricks as entertainment. Eventually, it came to refer to practitioners of any kind of magic and became the favorite term of storytellers, who endowed their characters with magical powers more spectacular than any historical wizard had even imagined.

That does the well-dressed wizard wear? Well, if he’s a storybook wizard, chances are he’ll be decked out in an elegant robe and a tall, pointy hat festooned with moons and stars. It’s an instantly recognizable look that’s been used by illustrators, moviemakers, and many others to instantly convey the idea of “wizard.” While we can’t point to the moment when this outfit became stylish, the essential elements of robe and hat are very old.

Wizards’ robes began as priestly robes. In the ancient world, magic and religion were closely related, and it is likely that sorcerers and temple priests dressed in similar fashion when enacting the sacred ceremonies intended to appeal to the gods. Over the centuries, as priestly dress evolved, so did wizard wear. Well-dressed Romans, for example, wore a wizard-like, T-shaped robe with long, open sleeves. Known as a dalmatic (it was worn over the toga), it became a vestment of early church deacons and may have influenced what practicing wizards wore. When the church went on to found the first colleges and universities, the tradition of wearing robes was continued by medieval professors who wore long, black robes to indicate their scholarship and academic credentials. Scholar
magicians
such as Cornelius Agrippa followed suit (see
Magic
for an illustration of a sixteenth-century wizard in academic robes). Steeped in both priestly and academic traditions, wizard robes convey the mantle of knowledge, wisdom, and access to the supernatural.

As for the wizard’s hat, the likely key to its origin lies in the customary star and moon decorations, which link the hat to ancient astronomy and
astrology
. Some scholars have suggested that the cap began as an actual map of the heavens that was twisted into a conical shape and worn to symbolize astral knowledge. Or perhaps, like a church steeple or spire, it was meant to symbolize a connection with heavenly powers, or to draw those powers down to earth.

This 29-inch hat, housed at the Museum of Pre- and Early History in Berlin, Germany, is one of four similar Bronze Age headpieces unearthed in Europe over the past 200 years. It may originally have been worn with a matching gold cape, making for a most impressive outfit
. (
photo credit 92.2
)

Until recently, these theories were speculation, as there was no direct evidence to prove that either historical wizards or astrologers ever wore such a hat. That changed when scholars identified what they believe to be, in effect, a three-thousand-year-old wizard’s hat. Fashioned from a single sheet of pure, beaten gold, the hat was once thought to be a vase or a temple decoration. The key to understanding the puzzling headpiece was the realization that the nearly two thousand symbols embossed on the hat (consisting of discs, concentric circles, crescent moons, eye shapes, and one star with eight rays) were not simply decorations, but a sophisticated lunar/solar calendar. Whoever wore the hat was likely someone who understood the recurring patterns of the heavens, could anticipate the seasons, and knew when to plant and when to harvest. This was powerful knowledge, and the individual who possessed it would likely have been regarded as a kind of priest-king-wizard with supernatural powers. Archaeologists believe that the hat would have been worn on ceremonial occasions to convey the status of the wizard and, by pointing heavenward, indicated his connection to the gods.