Parallels in History
October 23rd, 1998
Magical History and Culture
It was another welcomed Friday at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The seventh year students were back in their Magical History and Culture Class. Today they would be discussing Grindelwalds war.
“Good morning.” Professor Tonks said as she greeted the class.
”Today we will be discussing GrindeIwald's war. From his rise to power, to his defeat in 1945.”
The class was silent, as they listened to the lecture.
“An important piece of this story happened in 1899, when Gellert Grindlewald met Albus Dumbledore, While visiting his Aunt in Godric's Hollow. The pair instantly got along, and became quite close.
“Grindelwald greatly disliked the International Statue of Secrecy; claiming it was only a means of the international magical authorities imposing corrupt and unethical methods to make witches and wizards abide by laws that were pathetic and unnecessary. He strongly had the idealism that magic was something that was granted by not only nature, but by a higher power as a gift for only rare individuals. (1)
“It was said that the bond between the pair was strengthened by their shared beliefs, and the interest they shared in peaceful revolution. Their bond was strong enough the pair formed a blood pact, which seals the two creators' in a strong bond of unity and also forbids them from causing any harm or death to each other under any circumstances. Following a duel Grindlewald had with Albus, and Aberforth Dumbledore, which resulted in the death of Ariana Dumbledore, Grindelwald was forced to leave Godric's Hollow. (1)
“After fleeing Godric's Hollow, and Great Britain, Grindelwald settled in Austria. During his time in Austria he further developed his magic, becoming the dark, and powerful wizard that people remember. He started his revolution, believing everything he was doing was for the greater good.”
When Harry, and Hermione heard that statement they just looked at one another. Both went pale, immediately remembering how often Dumbledore would use for the greater good as his justification for everything.
Professor Tonks continued with her lecture.
“Grindelwald slowly began his reign of terror on continental Europe, between 1910 and 1926. His attacks and risks of exposure he caused spread fear worldwide among wizards, and he and his fanatics became widely feared, even in places where they weren't active. (1)
“As his attacks became more intense, the fear of the exposure of our world increased. This led to an international manhunt for Grindelwald.”
Professor Tonks paused, and assessed her students' reactions. They were all listening intently as she lectured.
“In 1926, he made his way to New York City, where he infiltrated MACUSA by using polyjuice potion. He posed as the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, until he was captured after finding, and trying to harness the power of an obscurial. Who has heard of an obscurial before?”
Hermione, and only Draco Malfoy raised their hands.
“Can one of you explain What an obscurial is?”
Hermione was unable to remember the full definition, so she put her hand down.
“Mr. Malfoy?”
“An Obscurial was a young wizard or witch who had developed a dark parasitical magical force, known as an Obscurus, as a result of their magic being suppressed through abuse. (2) Obscurial children don't often live past their 10th birthday.”
“Thank you Mr. Malfoy. Take 5 points for Slytherin. Grindelwald wanted to harness the power of the obscurial for his own gain. He was unable to do so. There was a battle in the New York City subway system, where Grindelwald was defeated, then captured by Newt Scamander, and a contingent of MACUSA Aurors. He remained in MACUSA custody for six months before he escaped, using a polyjuice potioned body double.
“He escaped to France, which had already been infected with his terror. From 1927-1930, Grindelwald stayed close to his base at Nurmengard Castle, where he continued to build his army. In 1932, he chose to run for the office of Supreme Mugwump. He tried to cheat the Quilin ceremony, by using one he had killed previously, and reanimated with necromancy.
“Grindelwald was exposed as a cheat by one of his followers, which was confirmed when the reanimated Quilin died a second time. He declared this day as the official start of his war.
“A second Quilin was delivered, which bowed to Albus Dumbledore. When he refused the seat, Vicencia Santos was selected as the Supreme Mugwump. Soon after Grindelwald tried to kill his follower that spoke up, causing Albus, and Aberforth Dumbledore to intervene. Actions taken broke the Blood Pact between Albus, and Grindelwald.”
The students were captivated by how their Professor was lecturing about GrindeIwald's War. All students were paying attention, and no one had fallen asleep. This was a far cry from when the ghost Binns taught.
“In the years that followed, Grindelwald continued to rise to power across Europe. Open war between the Wizarding public, and Grindelwalds followers started in 1939, at nearly the same time as non-magical World War Two. He used this time to strike terror throughout Europe.
“By 1941 there was international outcry, demanding Albus Dumbledore intervene, and stop Grindelwald. Dumbledore delayed confronting the man who was once his best friend, until the summer of 1945. A duel broke out between the former friends, where Albus was the victor. After his defeat, his remaining followers were easily subdued.
“Following the duel Grindelwald was imprisoned in the uppermost cell of his beloved Nurmengard, where he was to live out the remainder of his days in solitude. The last face Grindelwald ever saw was that of Lord Voldemort, who infiltrated Nurmengard, interrogated him, then murdered him in early 1998.”
The students were still in awe of what they had just learned. Professor Tonks could see their faces were littered with shock, confusion, and even disgust.
“Do any of you have questions?”
Hands shot up around the room. Professor Tonks pointed to Justin Finch Fletchley.
“How was he able to go on so long unchecked?”
“So that is rather a long answer. First, it was in part that he operated through his followers. He would share his beliefs, and motivate his followers to do his bidding, without giving them direct actions. This meant it was very difficult to actually pin anything directly on Grindelwald in the beginning. Second, he was absurdly powerful. The only person who could truly keep him in check was Albus Dumbledore, but given the two of them had a blood pack for the majority of their lives, Dunbledore wasn’t able to do much.”
“Excuse me Professor, but based on the timeline you discussed the Blood Pact was dissolved following the Supreme Mugwump ceremony in 1932. Why did Dumbledore wait so long to do anything?” Susan Bones asked.
“To be honest, I don’t know. I believe the only person who can truthfully answer that question is Albus Dumbledore, and he never answered it during his lifetime.”
The remainder of class continued with discussion about Grindelwad’s life, and his war. The students could feel the weight of the discussion as they left the classroom.
Study of the Non-Magical World
“Good morning!” Professor Campbell said to her students.
“Good morning.” They replied.
“Earlier this morning you covered GrindeIwald's War, we will be continuing that discussion, but from the muggle perspective. The muggle war was called World War Two.
“World war two, started in 1939, and concluded in 1945. The war was the largest, and deadliest fought in human history. Over 50 countries were involved in the fighting, by land, sea, and air. They were largely delineated as the Axis, and Allies. The Axis nations were led by Germany, Italy, and Japan. The allies were led by Great Britain, USSR, and the United States. This conflict led to the death of 60 to 80 million people. For comparison, there are only 3,000 people in the British magical population."
Jaws dropped around the classroom, as the seventh years took in the scale of the muggle conflict.
“Unlike Grindelwald's War, the non-magical war was fought, and supported by entire countries, rather than a single madman with followers. Although there were a few madmen on the side of the enemy.
“The most prolific was the German leader, Adolf Hitler. Like Grindelwald, Hitler had a specific set of views about a subset of the population. Instead of believing muggles were inferior, Hitler believed those who were Jewish were inferior. Jewish people were like any other muggles, but followed the Jewish religion. He believed that those who were Jewish were not worth a place in society.
“His reign of terror first started by segregating the Jewish population into specific areas, called ghetto’s, making them carry papers which stated their religion, and he branded them by forcing them to wear the Star of David on their clothing. The general population sit back and watched as this occurred. Soon, the segregation was not enough and the Jewish population was moved into camps.
“These camps were either work camps, or death camps. Anyone who was considered not useful was put to death, via the gas chambers. Those deemed suitable to work, were forced to work in deplorable conditions at these work camps.
“The German Government, led by Hitler, killed between 6 and 8 million Jewish Europeans during WWII.”
Shock resonated among the students who were raised in the magical world.
“How was he able to get away with that?” Padma Patil asked.
“At first it was because the general population in Germany was ignoring what didn’t affect them. After that it was because Germany started invading, and going to war with other European countries, keeping the international focus on war, rather than on the Human Rights violations. At the height of Germany’s power they occupied territory from the shores of western France, to eastern Ukraine, including Norway, and Finland.
“In the Pacific, Japan was on a quest to take over as much land as possible. They were occupying many Pacific Islands, including the Philippines, Korea, and parts of China, among other smaller nations. They had been invading countries, and taking over land from the start of the 1930’s, but the conflict escalated on December 7th, 1941, when Japan attacked the United States, at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
“The United States, until that point, had not entered the fighting. They had chosen to remain neutral, although they did supply European countries supplies for fighting Germany. Following the attack by Japan in 1941, the United States fully entered the war in Europe, and the Pacific.
“Fighting continued in Europe, and the Pacific by Land, Sea, and Air, until 1945 when the Allies were victorious, and the Japanese officially surrendered. Now, this is an abridged version of WWII. If we were to discuss the events of the second world war in detail, it would need its own class.
“I understand that’s a lot to take in, but what I need you to take away from this discussion is that prejudice is not just inherent to the muggle world. In the last 50 years, the magical world has seen two individuals try and use prejudice to further their own agendas. In the cases of Grindelwald, and Voldemort both were nearly successful as the magical world was unable to recognize their behaviors early.
“Understanding the history of the non-magical world allows us to learn from the mistakes of those around us, and how to blend in. The non-magical population is significantly greater than the magical population. Why not learn about the mistakes they’ve made, so we don’t make the same ones. Let's take a five minute break, then we will come back to learn about the muggle government in Great Britain.”
Although the seventh years were given a break, the majority of the classroom remained silent. There was a sense of reflection, and contemplation among the class.
Draco Malfoy, was sitting in the classroom oblivious to those around him. He was raised with strict views on blood purity, and the belief the muggle world had nothing to offer wizards, but was having an internal struggle.
The last thing he wanted was to perpetuate beliefs that hurt people like Voldemort, and Grindelwald did. He wanted to give more to society than he has already taken, and he wanted to ensure young children wouldn’t be entrapped into the belief system of their parents.
Even he, after two lectures about history, could see how learning about these things from a young age could change the way people think. Also, he was confused how the magical world could exist for so long without learning from the muggles that outnumbered them.
Without thinking, as he was still oblivious to the world, Draco shoved his hand up in the air.
Professor Campbell was caught off guard with his formality while on a break, but could easily see her student needed to talk.
“Mr. Malfoy, we’re still on break. You don’t need to raise your hand.”
“Thank you ma’am. Do you mind if I ask a question?”
The rest of the class was now staring at him, surprised he, Draco Malfoy, was initiating a discussion in a class that was basically Muggle Studies.
“Not at all, let's hear it?”
“The magical world has been around since the time of Merlin, and in that time the population of Witches, and Wizards has never exceeded the muggle population, correct?”
“That is correct. The population of Witches and Wizards in Great Britain, has always remained between 3,000 and 10,000 regardless.” The Professor responded.
“Thank you. Given that we are significantly outnumbered by muggles, how have we not already started to leverage the things they know, outside of their history? During our time with you, we’ve seen muggle technology that far supersedes magical technology.”
Around the room, many students were nodding in agreement with Malfoy’s statement.
“How is it, that for hundreds of years we’ve been walking this continent side by side with muggles, and we haven’t used any of their technology or advancements as a jumping off point for our own?” He paused for a moment before continuing.
“I don’t understand. Everyone here knows I was raised with extreme prejudice. I was told that muggles were useless, stupid, and not worth the mud on my shoe, but the things I’ve learned in this room have made it seem like we are the ones that are useless. The things muggles have created, and accomplished without magic seem impossible, but they’ve done it, and we are nowhere close. If I can realize it in a handful of lessons here, how were the prejudiced views of Grindelwald and Voldemort able to fester for so long that they ruined multiple generations?”
Reactions to Draco’s statement were mixed. Harry and Neville were both slack jawed, and unable to believe that Malfoy just called out the muggle world being better, and how the beliefs he was raised with were abhorrent.
The Slytherins around Draco were in agreement with him. To be frank, they were all pissed off that there was so much of the world their parents kept from them due to irrational beliefs about muggles.
Professor Campbell was standing at the front of the classroom with a big smile on her face. The revelation Draco Malfoy just has, was exactly what she was hoping all of her students would eventually have. She didn’t want to tell them their beliefs were problematic, she wanted them to realize it on their own, and that is exactly what Malfoy just did.
“Unfortunately, I cannot tell you with certainty what allowed such prejudiced beliefs to fester. Humans, with or without magic, all have the inherent need to feel as though they have a place within society. Some individuals, like Grindelwald, and Voldemort feel the need to be superior to those around them, rather than coexist. This is often referred to as a superiority complex. Couple that with the charisma they had to compel those around them to do their bidding, and you have a recipe for a cult leader.”
Malfoy, and the class took the remaining break time to think about the Professors answer.
The remainder of their class time was used to introduce the structure of the muggle government to the class, ahead of their field trip tomorrow.
They learned that the British government was broken down into multiple branches, known as the executive, judicial, and legislative. They also discussed the Queen, as their field trip tomorrow would be visiting Buckingham Palace.