For all my fellow witches and wizards who anxiously await the arrival of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, there’s a new magical story in town. J. K. Rowling has released a four-part miniseries entitled The History of Magic in North America detailing just exactly what the name describes. Harry Potter nerds everywhere, rejoice!
The History of Magic in North America illuminates the story of the struggles witches and wizards endured during the growth and modernization of North America. Each piece focuses on a certain time period in history stretching from the 1400s to the early 1900s, telling tales of wizards in America before and after colonization. This new installment informs us of the North American equivalent to Hogwarts, Ilvermorny, as well as covers the subjects of Native American myths concerning transfiguration and the Salem witch trials.
There has been a small spark of controversy over the inclusion of the Navajo skinwalkers legend, however. Some took Rowling’s use of the legend as an insinuation of discrediting the Native American history, and leading readers to assume that those legends are fake or make-believe. Many choose to instead believe that Rowling included the legends in her new stories to try and accurately portray the history of the United States while incorporating magic into it.
If you want to read The History of Magic in North America in order to form your own opinion, just check out Pottermore. The place where nerds like me spend a little too much free time. Rowling has been publishing more and more content about the wizarding world, for example, information and stories about other schools for witchcraft and wizardry. Who knows what she will decide to expand on in the future, or like Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, have turned into a new movie? As if Harry Potter memes couldn’t get any better.