Chapter Text
The distinction between Sanctuaries and Ministries is ultimately rooted in the ancient, most fundamental schism within magic, so it is necessary here to address the very origins of magic.
Humanity first recognised magic in what is now India. Doubtless wizards have existed as long as Homo sapiens, but it is only in the last 3,000 years that magic has been practiced widely. For little over a thousand years, magic consisted principally of little more than light shows. Nonetheless, the few “spells” that those Indian proto-wizards practiced spread very quickly; within two generations, there were wizards from the Nile to the Yangtze.
The spread of magic to the north was comparatively slow. For some reason, magic was slow to spread northwards through Asia, only entering what is now Russia via Japan and Korea in the first century BC; less dramatically, it took over a century for magic to pass through Constantinople. When it did meet Athens, it was well received. Initially, as elsewhere, it was principally used to “contact” the local gods, often in exchange for considerable sums of money. With time, the Athenians became the first to establish formal schools of magic, the foremost amongst them being Plato’s academy.
Plato is widely recognised as the founder of modern magic. However, whilst Plato originated several commonplace modern spells (the Summoning Charm, widely credited to Marcus Aurelius, is now believed to be his), he did not consider magic to be worthy of the same amount of attention that ideals such as Justice and Beauty drew from him. It was left to his finest pupil, Aristotle, to formalise Plato’s work on magic. It is probable that no Muggle has contributed more to the advancement of magical scholarship than Aristotle.
There is considerable argument to be made, however, that several Roman Muggles contributed more to magic in general. Long after the time of Aurelius, a succession of Emperors sought to extend the reaches of the Empire, and pushed the magical communities in Rome, Athens and Constantinople to militarise their power. They did not fail; this bloody period of history saw mages learn to throw fire, both with and without Incendio. Far worse, however, was the development of the Cruciatus curse. This single innovation probably saved thousands of Roman lives, allowing them to claim hundreds of miles of barbarian territory to the north of Rome.
When they attempted to spread their Empire southwards past the Sahara, they were met with unimaginable resistance. African mages did not have formal Platonic training, but low levels of magic were probably an everyday occurrence throughout much of the Sahel. After a few battles that would probably be better characterised as slaughter, the Africans quickly discovered innovative uses for their magic. The Roman fire-throwers found themselves neutered, and foot soldiers would collapse to the floor, gasping for breath. Our modern understanding of the science of magic tells us that this was probably done by crudely manipulating the oxygen in the air. The Africans also counted the first warlocks amongst their ranks. The subsequent persecution of warlocks during peacetime is dealt with excellently elsewhere (see Binns, 1952), but it goes without saying that, for the first time, the Romans found themselves outgunned and were forced to retreat to the pre-war border.
The success of the Africans in overpowering their would-be conquerors can be attributed, rather blithely, to Africa being a “Cradle Of Magic”. As with Ireland and Australia, there is something about Africa that makes magic more potent there. The effect is strongest in children born and raised in the hotbed, but adults begin to feel the benefits after approximately a decade living on the cradle. What exactly causes this effect is totally unknown. A plucky team of English mages exported Irish soil to their homes on the Isle of Wight, but found no statistical benefit.
There is no doubt, however, that it is real – the Roman mages who set foot on Irish soil in the 2nd century immediately advised their fellow soldiers that they had a better chance of keeping their lives by returning to Britannia to face Hadrian’s wrath than if they stayed on the island. Their terror convinced Hadrian to fortify the borders of England against invading mages from Wales and Scotland. There is no evidence magic was being practiced in either country, though Scotland is a disputed fourth Cradle of Magic.
The battles between Rome and her enemies grew ever fiercer. New, increasingly unwieldy forms of magic were constantly being weaponised. Battles were simultaneously bloodier and more protracted, as both sides developed more complex defences against the total devastation the other side were perfectly capable of unleashing. That ended dramatically with the event that would eventually lead to the schism. One anonymous Barbarian sorcerer developed the Killing Curse.
The Romans suffered heavy losses immediately. They had no defence against Avada Kedavra. Rome was likely to fall any day. The Emperor commanded his subjects to pray for a miracle. They got two. First, the Roman mages captured a young Barbarian sorcerer using the Full Body Bind, which had fallen into disuse in favour of more immediately deadly curses. With the aid of the Cruciatus Curse, they extracted from him the incantation for the Killing Curse. Secondly, the Barbarian mages got considerably worse. It wasn’t simply that the Romans also had access to their trick, but they became genuine liabilities, damaging their own side as often as the Romans. The tide of the war turned. It looked like Rome would stand. Then the Roman sorcerers underwent the same drop in abilities that the Barbarians had. They reported a wide range of symptoms: from exhaustion and vertigo, to complete loss of bodily control and terrific hallucinations. The symptoms slowly abated when they were placed in infirmaries, but returned rapidly if they attempted to resume battle.
This remained a mystery for many years, and was ultimately solved by the Welsh wizard, Merlin, who even today is widely regarded as one of the most powerful wizards of all time. Whilst Plato may have been the father of modern magic, Merlin’s contribution is just as widely felt today, as it was he who brought about the schism.