Defence Against the Dark Arts

Professor Lupin
Remus Lupin taught Defence Against the Dark Arts in Harry Potter's third year at Hogwarts. Unbeknown to the students, he was actually a werewolf, who transformed every Full Moon.

Jim Kay’s pencil drawing shows Lupin with greying hair, with dark rings under his eyes. A poster of the Moon hangs on the shelves behind him.

Human-Devouring Werewolves

Johann Geiler von Kaysersberg preached a sermon on werewolves, published in this book, called Die Emeis (The Ants). He listed seven reasons why they might attack and explained that they especially liked to eat children.

According to Geiler, the likelihood of an attack was influenced by the werewolf’s age and its experience of eating human flesh.

Tricksy Sphinx

Edward Topsell’s The Historie of Four-Footed Beastes was the first major book about animals (both real and legendary) to be published in English.

In this chapter on the sphinx, Topsell describes an animal ‘of a fierce but tameable nature … having his body rough like Apes’. Less well known is its ability to store food in its cheeks – just like a guinea pig!

The kappa is named after the Japanese for ‘river’ (kawa) and ‘child’ (wappa). Written by Akamatsu Sōtan, Tonegawa zushi is an illustrated history of the Tone River. According to Sōtan, the river was believed to be home to the neneko kappa, illustrated here. With webbed claws and scaly skin, it was a dangerous creature that moved location every year, causing chaos wherever it went.

'The Kappa is a Japanese water demon that inhabits shallow ponds and rivers. often said to look like a monkey with fish scales instead of fur, it has a hollow in the top of its head in which it carries water.'
Fantastic Beats and Where to Find Them

The Snake Charmer

This image of a ‘wizard’ charming a serpent is found in a medieval bestiary. The text describes the emorroris, an asp whose bite caused the victim to sweat out blood until they died.

It could be trapped if a conjurer sang to it in its cave, lulling it to sleep. This allowed the snake charmer to remove the precious stone growing on the asp’s forehead, rendering it powerless.

This illustration shows a reticulated python, native to South-East Asia. It was owned by Albertus Seba, a Dutch apothecary and collector. Based in Amsterdam, Seba supplied the port’s ships with medicines, which he traded for exotic natural specimens.

In 1731, he commissioned artists to draw every item in his collection, including this snake.

'He realised with a thrill of terror that it was a gigantic snake, at least twelve feet long.'
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

This magic staff was carved from 'bog oak', timber that had been buried for centuries in peat. The staff has been decorated with a serpent to enhance its power.

Snakes represent a capacity for renewal and transformation, and their coils symbolise the dual cycles of light and dark, healing and poison, protection and destruction.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Jim Kay’s Basilisk

In this striking image made for The Chamber of Secrets, the giant basilisk is shown coiling past Harry Potter.

Harry is clutching the ruby-decorated sword of Godric Gryffindor in his hands, frozen in the air mid-swing.

The basilisk’s terrible yellow eyes are streaming with blood after Fawkes the phoenix has scratched at them with its claws.

A Brief History of the Basilisk

Comprising just two pages, this pamphlet lives up to its name: A Brief Description of the Basilisk. It was written by James Salgado, who displayed a basilisk given to him by a Dutch doctor.

He described the beast as yellow, with a crown-like crest and a cockerel’s body attached to a serpent’s tail.

This creature is portrayed having just killed a man.

A Book of Magic
Written in Ge’ez or classic Ethiopic, this book of Ethiopian magic contains a collection of protective amulets, talismans and charms. It would have belonged to an exorcist or däbtära, a highly educated religious figure.

The images would have been used for making amulet scrolls. Talismanic drawing focuses on the image of the eye, as a defence against the evil eye.