Hey everyone,
Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory. In this video, we’re going to be
discussing both wizardkind and humankind- with the former of course being a subset of
the latter. First, we’ll be taking a look at the history of humankind and the first
instances of witch/wizards, and then we will be taking a look at the physiological differences
between a regular human and a magical being.
While the original ancestors of humans were thought to have first existed about 6 million
years ago- the more modern form of humans, the ones that we’re accustomed to, have
only been around for 200,000 years or so. The first link to humanity began with a primate
group called Ardipithecus- a group based out of Africa that were revolutionary in that
they were the first group to begin the path of walking upright, as we do now. The Ardipithecus
group originated over 6 million years ago- and this group was of particular importance
to the development of humanity as their ability to walk upright allowed for free use of the
hands. With their hands free, it allowed pre-humans to develop further and begin to focus on using
their hands for other purposes.
The next group of pre-humans that rose to prominence were the Australopithecus group,
which are thought to have first existed sometime between 2 and 4 million years ago. The Australopithecus
were notable in that, in addition to walking, they were also able to climb trees. Next came
the Paranthropus, thought to have first existed sometime between 2 and 3 million years ago-
which can be most notably distinguished by its enlarged teeth- which allowed for a broader
diet.
As you can see, as time passed, these pre-humans developed more and more of the traits that
we see in more modern day humans. However, It wasn’t until just over 2 million years
ago that the Homo Group- the group which contains our own species - Homo Sapiens, first arose.
The Homo group can be most notably distinguished from the other groups by their bigger brains,
tool-making, and ability to expand their territory- reaching far beyond the confines of Africa.
Homo Sapiens, which WE ARE, didn’t pop up until 200,000 years ago, and were particularly
resilient in that they were able to survive and thrive despite climate change. Over the
course of the last 200,000 years, humans have continued to develop, evolve, and adapt- and
I think that wizardkind, which is course a subset of humankind and not an entirely different
species altogether, is just another one of these natural developments - achieving, in
some ways, a newer and more advanced form of humanity. But, when did wizardkind enter
the mix? At what point in history did witches and wizards first come to prominence- or show
signs of life?
Unfortunately, In the Harry Potter universe at least, the origins of wizardkind are unknown,
or undefined. HOWEVER, we do have some information about the first witches/wizards to have appeared
in certain parts of the world. The first known member of wizardkind to exist in Europe was
a witch named Cliodna who first presided there sometime in the middle ages.
She was an animagus with the ability to turn into a sea bird, and she actually has her
own chocolate frog card. While the middle ages were a long long time ago, the period
between the 5th and 15th century, I would have still expected the first member of European
wizardkind to have popped up much sooner. However, while Cliodna was the first to appear
in Europe, there is one known wizard that lived much sooner than her in another part
of the world. The first known wizard, across all continents, was a wizard by the name of
Jajamanekh who hailed from Egypt as far back as 2600 BC. There is little to no information
available of Jajamanekh, other than where he was from and the period in which he lived,
but I do wonder if wizardkind went back further than that, or if he was truly the first.
The origins of magic are still unclear to this day. No one knows whether the inception
of wizardkind was born from humans randomly discovering their magical abilities - or if
it was created in some form - by way of pact, ritual, or potion. I find the first theory
more intriguing, however, as it aligns with the concept of muggle-borns and how they would
first develop their magical abilities. So, the first known magical being didn’t appear
until 2600 BC- however, members of wizardkind are of course a kind of subspecies of human-
meaning they possess many of the same physical characteristics. However, in subtle, perhaps
non-visual ways, they also differ physiologically to some extent. One of the largest ways that
wizardkind differs from humankind is life expectancy. According to a figure reported
by the ministry of Divine Health, the average wizarding life expectancy was reported at
an average of 137 ¾ years old- whether that’s down to purely their physiology is up for
us to decide- but they do live considerably longer than their human counterparts.
If they live to 137 ¾ years old ON AVERAGE, this means that members of wizardkind live
for 57% longer than members of humankind- who cap out at 79. I suspect that one of the
largest reasons for this is a subtle difference in their physiology that renders them less
susceptible to common diseases, illnesses and sicknesses.
Witches and wizards also have access to better medicines, and medical remedies. This means
that, in addition to their already superior physiology, they’re more effectively able
to treat a wide variety of illnesses/conditions. Wizarding medicine is particularly advanced,
and where a human may suffer from a potentially fatal bone break, their wizard counterpart
would be able to take advantage of a potion like Skele-gro, which either mends broken
bones or regrows them entirely. A broken bone can be fixed in ONE night, where a human may
require a cast along with months of physical therapy. This is just a prime example of how
much more advanced wizarding medicine is- and one reason why they may be able to live
for so much longer than their human counterparts. Unsurprisingly, witches and wizards also differ
from humans in the way that they might react to being attacked by a magical creature.
However, one thing that needs to be addressed is that, just as wizardkind is a subset of
humankind- there are also subsets of wizardkind itself- witches/wizards that are born with
unique traits or abilities uncommon to the majority.
There are quite a few subspecies or subtypes of wizards- let’s take a look.
The first subtype of wizardkind is Seers- witches/wizards who are born with the ability
to see or predict future events. Utilizing objects like crystal balls and tarot cards,
Seers are able to further tap in to their abilities and gain additional insights in
to the events of the future.
The next subtype of wizardkind is Metamorphmagi - witches/wizards who are born with the ability
to change their physical appearance at will. Among other physical attributes, Metamorphmagi
are able to change their noses, eyes, hair colour and more.
The next subtype of wizardkind is witches/wizards who are born with the ability to speak parseltongue-
these members of wizardkind are known as parselmouths, and the ability is thought to be a hereditary
trait passed on through descendants of Hogwarts Founder Salazar Slytherin.
The next subtype of wizardkind are maledictuses- witches who are born carrying a blood curse
that leads to their eventual and inevitable transformation in to some sort of beast. The
maledictus curse is exclusive to women- and the most notable example of this is Nagini-
Voldemort’s trusty sidekick that starts off as a quiet, gentle woman and slowly turns
in to a giant snake over the course of her life. Regardless of when the family was first
cursed- once in the bloodline the maledictus curse will continue to persist, and is passed
on from generation to generation by mother to daughter.
The final subtype of wizardkind are half-veela, witches who have one wizard parent and one
veela parent. Veela are semi-human magical beings, who in their regular form are beautiful
women with white gold hair and glowing skin. However, when angry, the form of a Veela changes
dramatically- as their faces begin to elongate into “sharp, cruel-beaked bird heads’
with ‘long scaly wings’ that burst from their shoulders.
The traits of a veela are thought to be hereditary, which is why, if they have a daughter with
a wizard, the daughter will often inherit the beauty, charm and seduction of their veela
parent.
Though the aforementioned subtypes of wizardkind paint a good picture of the types of witches/wizards
that can exist as a result of hereditary, born-traits, it’s also worth mentioning
that there are also many witches/wizards that have been able to dramatically change their
appearance, abilities etc through the use of magic, and learned-traits. A few examples
of these witches/wizards include animagi- who garner the ability to transform in to
some kind of animal, legilimens, who gain the ability to read minds, and even obscurials
- witches/wizards who,
“due to being raised in an environment where their magic is viewed negatively” develop
an ‘Obscurus’ -a “dark parasitic force” that is the result of their magic being suppressed
and tainted by a negative emotion.
And that’s it for this video. It turns out the average member of wizardkind isn’t ALL
that different from the average member of humankind. What did you guys learn in this
video? What surprised you? Let me know down in the comment section below.
Until next time
YER A WIZARD ARRY