Mandrake to Ghosts - Flamel - Dragons - Elvis

[tmarends]

No: HPFGUIDX 40783

> Cindy (the one with squiggles) said:
> 
> "Well, Muggle's aren't supposed to have known about magic, are 
they? How 
> could Flamel possibly be a muggle? Not every famous wizard on the 
card took part in the fight against Voldemort, did they? If that was 
the case then it would have been impossible for Merlin and the other 
wizards to have been on the cards. So, assuming that he is a wizard, 
he would most likely still 
> have a card wouldn't he? Sorry if I sound dumb in all this, it is 
just not 
> clicking in my brain yet!"
> 
> Rosie wrote:
>
> I don't think Flamel was a Muggle either...but... with your point 
about Merlin: Merlin lived ages ago, long before the time of 
Voldemort. He obviously couldn't have taken part in the war. However, 
Flamel (although old) *was* alive at the time and *was* a friend of 
Dumbledore, so I would have expected him to be involved in the war *a 
bit* at least, on the Light Side. Maybe he was though, and we just 
don't know it yet!
> 

According to the Chocolate Frog Trading Cards: "Merlin -- Charms 
Specialist.  The wizard Merlin taught and helped King Arthur. (Arthur 
once ruled the land that is now part of England.) Merlin wanted 
wizards to help non-wizards, so he created the Order of Merlin.  The 
Order made rules against using magic on non-wizards."

Depending on when Arthur and Merlin lived (there is no reference to 
the actual dates in any HP material I've seen) there could be several 
different scenarios here.  Was Merlin before the founding of 
Hogwarts?  Was he after, say somewhere in the 1300/1400s??  Could 
Flamel, a Muggle, personally have known Merlin, a Wizard??  Could 
Dumbledore's friendship with Flamel be because Flamel is a family 
friend and Dumbledore is a descendant of Merlin?  My feelings are 
that Flamel was a Muggle Alchemist who stumbled upon the secrets of 
creating the stone.