I was all set to rant about this month's topic of "Ancient Civilizations." Really?? Do you know how many History of Magic classes I've slept through? How much more deadly-dull can one get than the monotone of a ghost droning on about the long-ago wars of Goblins?
All that changed, though, when Kalina rolled her eyes at my grousing and pointed out that there were other things in ancient culture than a bunch of dry names and dates. When I challenged that obviously absurd notion, she raised one perfectly plucked eyebrow and said the magic words: Fireworks, dragons, and sports. Well. That definitely put a whole new spin on things! So instead of complaining, I'm just going to mention a few amazing things related to those wonderful topics that have come out of the ancient past.
First, there's magical sports. I mean, we all know about Quidditch, but that's obviously not ancient. In fact, as far as I can tell, all the broom-related sports aren't truly ancient at all. They only date back to the Middle Ages. That's still seriously old, mind you, but not exactly the product of an ancient civilization. But did you know that one of the oldest magical sports comes out of ancient African magical culture? Long before the Muggles came up with those running competitions in Greece, Africans were competing both individually and in teams with magical prowess including contests such as Synchronized Transfiguration. Don't believe me? Just check out the reports of some of their exhibition antics from about 1200 years ago, and that was just school kids! If I have understood the sport correctly, what they perfected wasn't really Animagus Transfiguration as we know it here. It was more like a full-body deliberate Transfiguration into a variety of species. The sport grew out of an adaptation of hunting techniques but it gradually evolved into a combination of entertainment and competition. I don't know why it gradually died out about the time that Quidditch was developed a continent away. It sounds like a really exciting sport both to participate in and to watch, and far less dangerous than the broom-and-ball games we invented here in Scotland and Ireland!
Next, the ancient Chinese civilization developed fireworks. I know that the "official" version claims that fireworks were both accidental and relatively recent, not ancient at all. However, those accounts all appear to have been written by Muggles. I did a bit of digging, and long before wands were commonly used, sometime about three or four thousand years ago, Asian wizards, witches, and wix were experimenting with a variety of methods to provide both light and noise to deter a variety of insects that were attacking their fields and families. What eventually became wands that channeled and enhanced magical power, especially when paired with magical cores actually started out as hollow bamboo that, when swept the right way, could be coaxed to produce brightly colored sparks with accompanying pops and crackles that sent unwanted flying bugs heading for peace and quiet elsewhere. Since they were in mostly Muggle-free areas, it took several thousand years before the Muggles caught on that the bamboo reeds might be good for more than punting boats or playing pretty tunes on.
Finally, the best thing to come out of ancient civilizations has got to be dragons. Not that they created such wonderful beasts, but several of them have venerated dragons for as long as archives go back. Unfortunately, no matter how much time I spent in the library, I couldn't find anything about dragon care and history from back then. It was all within the past 300 years ago or so. But I've seen all sorts of pictures of ancient sites and images of dragons that go back to caves. So dragons definitely have to be tied to ancient civilizations, right?
And with that, I'm done with history for a while. If only History of Magic were this interesting!