The Complete Idiot's Guide to the World of Harry Potter by Tere Stouffer Read Free Book Online

it eats its human prey.
Merpeople
    From the French mer, meaning “the sea,” Rowling uses the politically correct “merpeople” over the more common “mermaid” and the lesser-known “merman” (found in Tennyson’s “The Merman”). Wizard merpeople are not especially attractive, as they are quite fish-like, with green hair, yellow eyes and teeth, and silvery-gray skin.
    Mermaids, on the other hand, which date back to Mesopotamian legend, are fairies/elves of the sea, with magical powers that include, according to some legends, the sirenlike power to call men to their deaths underwater. (See also the “Veela” section for more on sirenlike creatures.)
    Sirens were mythological sea nymphs—part bird, part woman—who sang seductive songs in order to lure sailors toward rocky areas, where the sailors would then crash and die. Hmmm. Sounds like a good excuse for some sub-par sailing!
    Fairy tales abound of men who fell in love with mermaids, some of whom gave up their fish halves and became fully human; others who remained in the sea without their human loves.
    TOURIST TIP
    London’s Mermaid Tavern may be the most famous literary gathering place in the world, counting Sir Walter Raleigh, William Shakespeare, John Donne, Ben Jonson, John Fletcher, Francis Beaumont, Robert Herrick, and John Selden among its early-seventeenth-century patrons. Although it burned in the Great Fire of London in 1666, it once stood just east of St. Paul’s Cathedral.
Owl
    Owls and wizards have a long association. Because owls are nocturnal, they are associated with death, as was the case as far back as in ancient Aztec culture. Like the cry of an Augurey or banshee, an owl’s hoot was said to foretell death among the Aztecs, as well as in Roman times. In Roman folklore, just seeing an owl in daylight was said to cause bad luck. Owls were also included in the lists of unclean birds in the Old Testament books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy.
    Owls have also been messengers to and companions of mythological gods and goddesses, which is where they get their reputation for wisdom. Athena, the goddess of wisdom, had a companion owl, and this fact help elevate the status of owls from that point forward.
    Wizarding owls function as messengers, although they are kept as pets and companions as well. See Chapter 4 for a brief look at how owls transport messages throughout the wizarding world.
    Perhaps the most famous wizard owl is Merlin’s Archimedes, who teaches young Arthur how to view the world from an owl’s perspective in T.H. White’s The Once and Future King. In C.S. Lewis’s The Silver Chair (the fourth book in The Chronicles of Narnia ), an owl, Glimfeather, hosts a parliament of owls to decide whether to allow the children to search for Prince Rilian. Finally, Patrice Kindl’s powerful novel Owl in Love gives insight into the life of a girl who shapeshifts into an owl at night.
Phoenix
    The phoenix is steeped in legend, which usually suggests that only one phoenix lives at a time, for an unusually long life. When its life is ending, the phoenix sets itself on fire and, from the ashes, a new phoenix emerges. Alterations of this legend have the same bird renewing itself again and again, as is the case in the wizarding world. Either way, the phoenix is a bird of immortality that has its place among Egyptian, Chinese, Christian, and Islamic traditions.
    Wizarding phoenixes are, like the phoenix of legend, brilliantly beautiful, immortal, and powerfully magical. But they can also carry heavy loads, and their tears can cure even a deep wound—two characteristics that end up being helpful plot devices for Rowling.
    MAGIC TALE
    "Phoenix” is the name of two Greek mythological characters. One, the brother of Europa, goes to look for his sister when she is abducted by Zeus, until—get this!—he gets tired of looking for her and simply settles down to live out the rest of his life in a nearby city. Nice brother! The other Phoenix is a good