American Wizarding History

From Namericanpotter

[edit] Colonies and Revolution

The Beginnings of a Magical Society:
Wizards in the American Colonies

From its beginnings as a British colony to its current state as a world power, the United States has had a huge influence on the world. It has accomplished much in the two hundred and twenty-five years since General George Washington first stepped into the roll of President of a fledgling nation, becoming a strong force both politically and socially. Buried deep within the history of America, however, are the exploits of countless witches and wizards, fighting for and aiding their country with every means they have available while still keeping magic from the eyes of Muggles. Their history is just as noteworthy as those of their Muggle compatriots, and shall be discussed below.

Before the wars, before ships began making the dangerous trek across the Atlantic, there were the native tribes of American Indians. Having arrived millennia ago, the numerous tribes lived off the land, following the advice of their chieftains and shamans. A number of the shamans were true wizards, using their magic to better the lives of their tribes. Some of the chieftains were wizards as well, although they were fewer in number. As the representatives of their tribes, these august persons were often those who spoke with the ambassadors of other groups. The most well-known of these ambassadors, of course, were the European settlers.

Much like their Muggle counterparts, the first European wizards who arrived in North America were at first cordial, then antagonistic against the native shamans. Barring a few rare examples of cooperation, interactions between the true groups often went sour quickly. The most notable example of this occurred on the island of Roanoke in 1587. Although information on the incident is scant, it has been determined that a magical backlash of biblical proportions swept over the island during an intense fight between native shamans and British settlers, causing every living person on the island to vanish without a trace.

As more settlers arrived, a number of branches of the wizarding ‘pure-blooded’ families came over to settle in this odd new land. These families include the Tattersalls, Bryants, and Blacks from Britain, the Delacours from France, the Hoffmans from Germany, and the O’Briens from Ireland. They settled throughout the colonies, although most of them remained in New England. They quickly made their mark in their new homes; in particular, the Tattersalls founded the Weston Academy of Thaumaturgical Practices, the first magical academy on American soil, in the spirit reflection of the newly-formed Harvard College in 1650.

In 1692, a message was sent out to all the wizards in the world, calling them to London. There, wizards from all over the globe came together and decided that magic should be kept away from the eyes of Muggles…in theory, anyway. The native shamans of numerous countries – including the American Indians – didn’t agree with this tenant. Their people had known for centuries that they could tap into the power of the gods, they said. Why should they stop now? Over weeks of deliberation, the agreement was finally reached, but it left a bad taste in the European wizards in the American colonies.

The American wizards also had a massive blow dealt to them in the form of the Salem Witch Trials. Although only one witch was actually burned, it sent a wave of panic through the pure-blooded families, reinforcing the importance of the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy. They retreated farther from Muggle society, while the Muggle-born and half-blooded wizards retained their close ties to the less magical population.

The French-Indian War had wizards acting on both sides of the conflict, both as ‘normal’ soldiers and during smaller magic-fueled skirmishes away from Muggle eyes. Barring a few notable exceptions (such as the compact between the Apalachee Indians and the Spanish colonists), relationships between the native shamans and European wizards ranged from terse to out-right hostile, and would not begin to clear up until after the Revolutionary War.

The Revolutionary War is notable in that it is one of the few notable instances where wizards from two different countries fought against each other. A number of Muggle-born British wizards were in the forces that came to fight against the rebels, along with a considerably larger number of wizards who fought alongside their fellow colonists. The pure-blooded families in the colonies stayed out of the fighting for the most part; barring a few exceptions, the British families supported the monarchy. Much like during the French and Indian War, smaller magical skirmishes occurred behind the scenes while wizards took the lines during the Muggle battles. One notable wizard on the colonial side was Nathanial Thatcher, an Obrimos who served as an assistant to General George Washington.

When the war ended, the colonists were victorious. Both Muggles and wizards cheered at their victory…then realized that they had to figure out what to do next. While the country chose George Washington as their first president, wizards from around the country gathered in Philadelphia to decide on their own ruling body. Nathanial Thatcher, one of Washington’s aides, was chosen to be the equivalent of the Minister of Magic. In 1789, Thatcher revealed his abilities to his former commander, and the two worked out a plan: the wizards would keep their magic out of the eyes of mortals, and the Muggle government will allow the wizards to do their own thing. There was one notable difference between the newly-created Department of Magical Affairs and the British Ministry of Magic, though: while the Ministry of Magic was completely separate from the British government, the members of the Department of Magical Affairs would also be employees of the State Department (and later departments as they were founded). This allowed the two to work together in a more effective fashion, and also cemented the closer bond to Muggle society that separates British and American wizards.

Jonathon Linden
American Wizarding History
11/23/07

[edit] America during the Voldemort Years

A Time of Tumult:
The Effects of the Dark Lord on American Wizards

Even ten years after his death during the Battle of Hogwarts, the name of Lord Voldemort carries much weight among wizards. Some older wizards who lived during his original reign of terror still refuse to speak his name, while every mage born since that fateful battle has been told the story of the Boy Who Lived and his triumph over the Dark Lord. Although Lord Voldemort’s forces were mainly focused in England, smaller movements were found in other countries across the world. One of the most notable – if only for the brutality of the attacks – was the United States.

It is thought that, while Voldemort was focusing his efforts in the United Kingdom, he wanted to make sure that other countries would be unable to send the British aid. Thus, small cells of mages now known as Death Eaters began arriving in the early 1960’s and set up shop in most of the major cities on the East Coast. They spread around the country in the years to follow, spreading the ‘gospel’ of their Lord as they went. The movement grew, finally reaching a peak in 1967. Then, while the Summer of Love went into full swing, the now greatly-expanded cells of Death Eaters emerged and threw the American Wizarding community for a major loop.

Most of the new adherents to Voldemort’s worldview came from the pure-blooded families that had carved themselves a place in the United States since their arrival centuries earlier. Some of these pure-bloods viewed mixed-bloods and Muggle-born wizards in a similar light as most Muggles viewed African-Americans during the tumultuous Civil Rights Movement. In fact, it has been documented that some Death Eaters used the chaos that sometimes ensued during the movement to make attacks on mixed-bloods and Muggle-born. The Department of Magical Activities began to take some of these Death Eaters into custody as a result, although even they were surprised by the events of 1967.

Almost as one, the Death Eaters cells revealed themselves in a wave of attacks on both mixed- and Muggle-born wizards and normal Muggles. Some masked their activities through the numerous protests going on against both segregation and the Vietnam War while others went straight to the matter and merely killed without mercy. The Department of Magical Activities quickly sprang to action, working with the British Ministry of Magic to train a number of new agents in a similar manner to the British Aurors. These American Aurors quickly went to work, wrangling up these Death Eaters and, after thorough questioning, placing them under arrest in the American version of the dreaded Azkaban Prison: Blackgate Penitentiary.

Blackgate Penitentiary is actually a network made up of a number of notable prisons throughout the United States, all connected the use of powerful Space magic. Each prison which holds a section of Blackgate has two doors that only the staff of Blackgate has access to: one leads to the observation deck for the penitentiary as a whole. After being placed in shackles that greatly diminish their magical ability, inmates are lead through the second door, which creates their own personal Oubliette as they pass through it; the Department of Magical Law Enforcement preferred to use straight magic over creatures such as the dementors found at Azkaban, a choice which proved wise during the Dark Lord's return in the 1990's. The Oubliettes can only be opened by officials of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and even then only at certain times set by the wardens unless a medical emergency occurs. The system has been exceptionally successful and other prisons around the world haven begun to use it as a model.

Although the bulk of the Death Eater cells were eliminated by 1970, it was not until Voldemort’s failed attempt on the life of Harry Potter in 1981 that activity truly stopped. During those eleven years, American wizards had to deal with both the threat of returned attacks by Death Eaters and the Muggle issues of the day: gas shortages, a flailing economy, issues with the Soviet Union, and, of course, Watergate. Among wizards who follow such things, the years between 1970 and 1981 are most notable mainly due to the fact that the position of Secretary of Magical Activities changed hands an amazing total of seven times, more than any other similar span of time in the Department’s history.

The most notable of these revolving-door Secretaries was Arthur Manning, an Obrimos who was Secretary from 1967-1972; his term was the longest of the period. Having been chosen as the secretary only a few months before the full-scale emergence of the Death Eaters, Manning was thrown into the deep end rather quickly. However, those who worked with Secretary Manning said that he worked diligently and without rest to keep the Muggles unaware of the magical aspects of the attacks happening across the country. He was the one who pioneered the Auror program within the Department, and as one of its primary members he was credited with a number of Death Eater arrests. Unfortunately, Secretary Manning was assassinated in the summer of 1972 by one of his assistants; the aide was later revealed to be the leader of a Death Eater cell in Washington, D.C.

The fall of 1981 notes the end of Voldemort’s reign of terror in the United Kingdom, brought on by the Dark Lord’s attack on the then-one-year-old Harry Potter. As we all know, this attack failed miserably, sending Voldemort deep into hiding until his return in the 1990’s. The Dark Lord’s apparent demise sent shockwaves through the world, ending the bulk of attacks by his followers. Of course, some of his followers still remained active, but for the most part the violence stopped. Wizards who lived during those times still carry the scars of those terrifying eleven years. However, unlike the scar borne by Mr. Potter, there were often no physical representations; rather, they laid in memory, a much harder place to remove such things from.

Samantha Meridian
History of the Dark Arts
12/12/07

[edit] American Wizards and Muggle Culture

This is My Rifle, This is My Wand:
Wizards and the American Armed Forces

Even before the United States took on the form we recognize today, wizards have played valuable roles in its history. Although these acts mostly took place behind the scenes, some wizards did their best in the open, taking part in the workings of the American government. The most notable, of course, are the wizards and witches that serve in the various Muggle departments as well as the Department of Magical Activities. What some may not know, though, is that a number of wizards and witches have served in the various armed forces that make up the United States military.

The first notable presence of wizards in the military was, as one could expect, during the American Revolutionary War. Although the wizarding population of the time was quite small, a number could be seen on both sides of the war. Some of the most notable Revolutionary wizards include Nathanial Thatcher, the first Secretary of Magical Activities; Friedrich von Barner, a powerful Hessian Moros who is said to be the inspiration for Washington Irving’s Headless Horseman; and Joseph Tattersall, a minor Loyalist commander who defected to the rebels despite his family’s close ties to the crown.

As the United States slowly got onto its feet, smaller wars broke out on her soil. Compared to the Revolutionary War, wizards were rare on the frontlines of the War of 1812; however, wizards on both sides often took place in smaller skirmishes outside of the sight of Muggle soldiers. Overall, though, most of the fighting was done by Muggles, with the American wizards staying out of the fighting as much as they could. This trend continued until the next major confrontation; namely, the American Civil War.

Surprising to some, a number of Southern wizards of the time did own slaves. Some of the smaller plantations served as safe havens for African shamans who had found themselves dragged to America. One notable haven was the Vieux Carré Center of Magical Study, a school of wizardry located outside of New Orleans. These havens were few and far between, however. Some Southern wizards, it is said, were quite convinced that African magicians were not as powerful magic-users due to their ‘lesser’ status. This was often rudely shown to be wrong, however, during a number of slave revolts in the South that left plantations burned to the ground by magical fire.

Barring those wizards who withdrew even farther into their own small magical communities, many took up arms either under the grey or the blue during the Civil War. American society as a whole was changed drastically during the Civil War, and those wizards who remained close with Muggle society found their connection to it even stronger than it had been before the war. A notable cabal of powerful Life mages known merely as the Angels crossed the battle lines on numerous occasions, healing soldiers of both sides. Also notable was a Union Major by the name of Phillip Hunt, who made a point to preserve any magical items or text that he found while accompanying Sherman’s March to the Sea.

Despite the overall withdrawal from Muggle society, every wizard alive at the time felt the effects of the two World Wars. Both wars drew (some would say dragged) wizards and witches into the fighting, if only to protect their own homes. While Americans did not enter either war until a few years after it started, a number of wizards joined the fight once the call to action was called. Wizards used their abilities as best they could to aid their fellow soldiers; a number of Muggle soldiers were saved from death by mustard gas or by mortar shell thanks to quick action by an Obrimos in his unit.

One particularly notable wizard of the Second World War was an Acanthus by the name of Terrence Reynolds. Reynolds, who completed his service at the rank of Major General, served as a bombardier in the 13th Bomb Squadron in the Pacific Theatre after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Reynolds was also part of the first wizard-only plane crew, an experiment done by the Department of Magical Activities which proved immensely successful. After the end of the war, an official cross-branch group of wizards known as the Thatcher Coalition (named after Nathanial Thatcher) was formed with Reynolds as its leader, acting both as a fraternity for those magic-users who serve in the military and as a place for the combination of Muggle military technology and magic to thrive.

In comparison to the Second World War, relatively few American wizards fought in the Korean War. The wizarding community at the time was focused inward for the first time since its solidification at the end of the 18th century, mainly due to a number of notable mages being called before the House Un-American Activities Committee. A number of wizards did serve in the Korean War, although they were sometimes looked down upon by the more conservative parts of wizard society for their ‘blatant’ exposure of their abilities during such troubling times. The Thatcher Coalition stood by their own, however, and the mutterings eventually died down.

The Vietnam War was exceptionally notable in the wizarding world. As the draft drew a number of mages into the fighting, those who remained at home were forced to deal with the emergence of the Death Eaters during the last years of the war as well as the general turmoil of the era. While many of the wizards who were called by the draft were able to avoid service by withdrawing further into magical society, a decent number chose to serve instead. Through some wrangling of orders by the Thatcher Coalition, a wizard-only platoon was formed in the 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment in the 25th Infantry Division. The commander of that platoon, a Second Lieutenant (a Colonel by his retirement) Jacob Archer, used his considerable control over Space to make sure that his men were exactly where they needed to be.

Those who were born in the past twenty years will easily recall the First Gulf War, which sent an extremely large of American soldiers home classified as ‘permanently disabled’ by the US Department of Veterans Affairs. While a number of wizards did go into Iraq and Kuwait as soldiers, the majority of civilian wizard involvement in the Gulf War took place at home, treating the returning soldiers. The Nightingale Society, a group of Life-proficient wizards and witches that had existed since the early 1900’s, reached its peak during this time as they did what they could to aid the soldiers. A Thyrsus by the name of Felicity Harper was the chairman of the Society at the time, and she and the Society as a whole received a number of awards from the Department of Magical Activities.

The American wizarding community and the military have been connected nearly from the beginning of the country, and the connection is only stronger today. No matter what ones view on the War on Terror is, it is known that a number of wizards have served tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Members of the Thatcher Coalition are found throughout the world, with a number of wizard-only squads active as well as individual mages in Muggle battalions. One can say that a wizard may have even more reason to join the military than a Muggle, if only because of the additional talents that they can offer to their country. This writer believes so, anyway.

Michael Johnson
History of American Magic
12/14/07