A-Hunting We Will Go [OWL HoM]

[Hamish Darrow]

Welcome back, students! What better way to ease back into term than with an essay? Of course, the books you will need to compose your paper—six of them, in fact—are likely scattered throughout the school, so to be kind I’ll give you two weeks to complete the assignment. The Witch Hunts—British, of course, not those carried out in Salem—will be our topic of interest. It will be your mission to provide a brief (50-100 word) summary of what transpired, as well as an analysis of the effectiveness of muggle methods upon actual witches and wizards (100-150 words). I will give you the remainder of today’s lesson to get started.

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Six different textbooks have been hidden in Hogwarts-related threads. Each one has a “code word” attached. Points breakdown is as follows:
— Complete an Essay: 10HP
— Complete an Essay USING ALL 6 CODE WORDS: 25HP
— PM links to 3 Textbooks: 5HP
— PM links to 6 Textbooks: 15HP
Maximum points available per student is 40, though you can only cash in the textbook links for one character. Do not bold, italicize, etc. the code words in your essay or you will lose ten house points and earn none for the assignment!
OOC DEADLINE: January 20th
Invitational Tag:
@'Edgar Rey II' @'Tansy Abberton' @'Vesta Bones' @'Cora Smith' @'Tripper Jameson' @'Fauna Halliday' @'Waffle Whitledge' @'Julian Dearborn' @'Ruby Urquart' @'Demelza McGonagall' @'Frida Lestrange' @'Darling Whitledge' @'Joanna Triggs' @'Mozelle Rios' @'Augusta Selwyn' @'Thomas Sanger' @'Citrine Weasley' @'Beatrix Borgin' @'Marguerite Gauthier' @'Hudson Pine' @'Flora Halliday' @'Germander Macnair' @'Acacia Ruskin' @'Maybelle Marriot' @'Gretchen Lestrange' @'Time Day' @'Sage Macnair' @'Archelaus Abney' @'Seneca Lestrange' @'Sweetie Whitledge' @'October Lynch' @'Tobin Cartwright' @'Ernie Nuffer'

  

[Frida Lestrange]

January 10, 1888

While the 1877 British witch hunts are a popular topic in society, the 17th century witch hunts remained one of the most talked about instances of witchcraft in both the muggle and magical world. The superfluous number of accusations of sorcery across the British Isles (especially in places where wizards were not known to reside) lead to muggles being the victims of unspeakable violence rather than actual members of the magical community.

Most witches and wizards were not harmed during these "witch hunts", as their magical abilities help them defend against fire. Many were able to escape being engulfed by the flames through using the flame-freezing charm, while others simply inching  while out of the sight of their persecutors.

Many who were through in the water used spells as flotation devices. However, there remains a debate whether witches and wizards could have been harmed if their wands were forcefully removed from their possession; magic tends to be erratic when a witch is in danger, and this may have protected them.

One long-standing effect of the witch hunts was the subsequent seclusion of the magical community. In an attempt to keep their families safe, many magical families moved away from muggle communities and into purely magical congregations. It is appalling to many, however, that the savagery of the muggles continues into this modern era.

Frida Lestrange,
Hufflepuff