BADD ANGST TBAY, Part II

[bluesqueak]

No: HPFGUIDX 81641

Remnant wrote:
> I continue to wait for canon that there has been a long line of 
> evil wizards or Dark Lords who tried to take over the WW. We only  
> know that Dumbledore killed some evil wizard named Grindelwald. 
> That's it. And Binns has not said anything about any other Dark 
> Lords. 

Pip!Squeak remarks:

Since Professor Binns is so deadly boring that Harry and Ron have to 
rely on Hermione's notes to pass History of Magic, it's a little 
difficult to tell *what* he's said.

Funny, that. ;-)

But the bits of relevant canon which have sneaked in are:

`particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald 
in 1945' PS/SS Ch 6 p. 77,  

Everyone knows that one - but note that Dumbledore is *particularly* 
famous for defeating Grindelwald, implying that it was something of 
an event.

`scribbled down names and dates and got Emeric the Evil and Uric the 
Oddball mixed up' PS/SS p. 99 Ch. 8

Emeric, which is often spelt Emerick or Emerich is from Old German; 
it was sometimes used in England. It is a human, not a Goblin name. 
Emeric and Uric were both used around the 12th Century, so we're 
probably talking early Middle Ages.

Whoever Emeric the Evil was, he was a) important enough to be 
included in history lessons and b) a seriously not-nice wizard.

In CoS Voldemort is described as the `greatest dark sorcerer of all 
time' CoS Ch 1. p.9

'Greatest' is a comparitive. It implies others.

And in PoA the implication of other Dark wizards is made clearer: 
Lord Voldemort is `the most feared Dark wizard for a hundred years'. 
Ch. 1 p. 10 – 11. This is repeated in GoF. `most powerful Dark 
wizard for a century' Ch. 2 p.23.

Grindelwald was around in 1945; the repeated use of 'for a century' 
implies that there were other dark wizards *before* Grindelwald 
(i.e. more than a century before Voldemort came on the scene). 
Either that, or Grindelwald was the most feared and most powerful 
Dark wizard for one heck of a long time ;-)

 
And in OOP we have – Urquhart Rackharrow 1612 – 1697, Inventor of 
the Entrail-expelling Curse. He gets a portrait in St Mungo's. He is 
described as looking a bit vicious. The names also bring to 
mind 'being harrowed on the rack' (ie tortured) and Sir Francis 
Urquhart, one of the UK's great fictional villains of recent times 
('you may think so, but I couldn't possibly comment').

So the inventor of a rather nasty sounding curse gets a portrait in 
St Mungo's, hey?

Remnant:
> So while the WW may have its prejudices, it is not clear that  
> those will continueto spawn more Dark Lords. If you disagree,     
> show me the canon!

So canon gives us three named Dark Wizards. One is important enough 
to get his name and dates into a history lesson, and has a name that 
suggests 'Middle Ages'. One is important enough to get a mention on 
Chocolate Frog cards, and his 1945 defeat is what Dumbledore 
is 'particularly' famous for. One is Lord Voldemort.

In addition, another 17th Century magician has his painting in St 
Mungo's for inventing a curse. Meanwhile, Voldemort is described in 
ways that imply other, earlier 'great' Dark wizards. The greatEST. 
Most feared for a hundred years. Most powerful for a century.

So, there is a line. Middle Ages, 17th Century, early 20th Century, 
late 20th Century. Dark wizards who get into history books, or have 
their portraits hanging in hospitals.

And even Ollivander in PS/SS speaks of Voldemort in a way that 
suggests the WW is rather ambiguous in the way it sees Dark wizards.

'He Who Must Not Be Named did great things - terrible, yes, but 
great'. PS/SS Ch. 5, p.65



Pip!Squeak