If you think the Harry Potter series, which has thousands of fans around the world, is fiction from start to finish, you’re wrong! Harry Potter author JK Rowling, who explains her inspirations and the secrets of the magical universe she established with a documentary series, begins her story with the magic word ‘Avada Kedavra’. We know that the word is a word whose meaning is not clear. Although this word is thought to be inspired by the magic word “abracadabra”, used by magicians when pulling a rabbit out of a hat, the reality is quite different.
Sources have revealed that the word was first used in ancient Rome. Researchers have studied the word “abracadabra” written on a small piece of parchment paper centuries ago. According to what was written on the parchment paper, writing the word ‘abracadabra’ by dividing it into syllables to form a small triangle and hanging it around the neck protected from evil and malaria. When famed writer Rowling came across this information, she thought the word was magic in itself and said she thought it should be used in the Harry Potter series.
THE SECRET OF POTIONS IS HIDDEN HERE
The potions included in JK Rowling’s series of books have a very important place in the wizarding world. The author was inspired by the famous botanist Nicholas Culpepper when constructing the story. Nicholas Culpepper is recognized as a key figure in the herbal medicine revolution in Britain.
Growing up in the fields of Sussex, Culpepper has a book where he writes all about flowers and plants, and it was published 400 years ago and has been and continues to be published countless times. Saying he has two copies of the book, JK Rowling noted that she took the recipe for potions in Harry Potter from Culpepper’s book.
WHERE DOES THE OLLIVANDERS ASA BOUTIQUE COME FROM?
The world-renowned author also explains how wands, one of the first things that come to mind when thinking about Harry Potter, appeared in the documentary. In the first book in the series, Ollivander recounts that the Wand Shop has been working for 14 generations to reveal tree spirits. Said to be related to an alleged father and son.
12. Dusty Miller and his son 13. Dusty Miller are two living wandmakers from a long line of wandmaker dynasties. Millers carry on their tradition of making wands from trees they believe have spirits. The paths of JK Rowling and Miller then crossed. The works of father and son, who believe in the existence of magic, also inspired Harry Potter.
INSPIRED THE PHILOSOPHICAL STONE
Immortality has been a goal that everyone has wanted to achieve throughout history. While some have dedicated their lives to finding the secret of immortality, others have become great legends even though their names are not even known today. Much research has been done on the Philosopher’s Stone, which has been written and drawn for centuries, and it has been determined that the only Philosopher’s Stone in existence today belongs to Nicolas Flamel.
Nicholas Flamel, a household name among Harry Potter fans, may not have uncovered the mystery of eternal life, but the alchemists took inspiration from him and continued to search for the elixir of life. They even found “magical instructions” written on a piece of parchment paper. JK Rowling, whose path crossed these instructions, said she had never seen anything so impressive before. Under the influence of this parchment paper, Rowling said she wrote The Philosopher’s Stone, the first book in the Harry Potter series, with this inspiration.
THE LINK BETWEEN SECRET PRAYER AND MAGIC
In every society, in every culture, there is a curiosity to understand magical or supernatural things. Researchers attribute this to the fact that magic is a universal language. Eyob Derillo, Curator of African Studies, recently made an exciting discovery. He discovered a text written in Ge’ez’, one of the ancient languages of Ethiopia. The text contained the following statements:
“If you want to become a lion or transform yourself into a lion, read the prayer above and write it on a silk cloth and tie it on your head. If you want to be a snake, write it and tie it on your wrist. It’s a prayer for transformation or whatever.”
Despite the Ethiopian origin of this manuscript, which has been kept in all its mystery for centuries and whose counterpart is extremely rare, it turned out to be very similar to an important subject taught at Harry Potter’s school at Hogwarts. The book the spell was contained in was actually about self-defense against “dark deeds”. Therefore, the purpose of this prayer was to protect the person from unseen dangers. When curator Eyob Derillo translated this supernatural text, he said it was surprisingly similar to the magic taught at Hogwarts, and it was very impressive.