a lot of Names, interrupted with a lot of Traitors, Lily's Crush, McG/Hooch

[houyhnhnm102]

No: HPFGUIDX 154819

Neri:
> I couldn't find this information myself, but I suspect that 
> in both cases it's the RL history/folklore regarding Agrippa 
> and Paracelsus,

houyhnhnm:

Right.  It's Muggle history.  It's what would be found in 
a Muggle history book in the Potterverse, written with the 
bias of the Muggle worldview, one which doesn't accept the 
existance of witchcraft and wizardry.

In the same way, wizard history books reflect the bias of 
the WW, that the power of Muggles is infinitessimal compared 
to that of wizards and poses no real threat.

So it is canon that WW history books *claim* no real witches 
were ever burnt, but who knows whether or not that is the truth.

You can't trust everything you read in books. ;-)