For some reason, I always got the impression that Hogwarts was already well-established pillar of British magical society by the time Merlin was there. Of course, I also got the impression that they were going with Merline/King Arthur happening in the 12-13 hundreds, rather than a millenium earlier.

The real problem however, is why would a society that is based out of London (Ministry of Magic, Diagon Alley, etc) be based there unless it had some ties to the Angs. Especially since there are other magical tradition in different parts of the British isles. In that case then, if Hogwarts was established for the "British magical society" it would probably have been under the crown of the Angs, which wouldn't have been able to do anything in Scotland until probably 1050-1100 at the earliest, and 1290-early 1300s at the latest when Edward 1 negotiated his little deal.

Of course, I'm just a colonial, so what the hell do I know?

 

Isn't there pretty good evidence situating the historical Arthur's life somewhere in the sixth or seventh centuries? That's what I learned the last time one of my Uni classes covered it. I know Arthurian legend was carried on and sometimes set in the 12-1300s, but these are just that: legend.

Where are these other dates coming from?

 

Yeah, it's legend. The other dates come from where you decided to put Arthur, whether it was he was a Roman conscript from someplace in Europe working his Roman army duty off in England, and then stayed, to the son or grandson or a Roman general/leader/etc. I've heard anything between the 3-600s, historically.

The problem however, is that JKR really doesn't concern herself with literal history, per se. I think she's working in the "Golden Age of England" motif whereby Arthur and Merlin were late 1300s.

 

Different topic: Hogwarts school bell.

In the first few books (all that I looked at), it seems the bell signals the start of the lunch hour, or the start of the afternoon classes, or the start of a class, etc.

In British education, is there a second bell to signal that class should have now started and that you are late if you aren't in your seat when that second bell rings?

 

Nope, the bell ending one class also signals the start of the next. Timetables do not factor in travel time. In practice, so long as you get to your next class in reasonable time no one kicks up a fuss. Especially as the teachers have to move too.

 

Generally, I don't think that's the case but I believe my last school had a system like that, though it might not have been for the entire time I was there. Bell would ring at the end of one class telling you to go to your next one, then another bell would ring five or so minutes later to signal that the next class should start and everyone should be there.

 

I saw Moody's eyes referred to as the Eye of Vance in some fics. Did a quick check and canon doesn't seem to support this, so is this fanon? Because the name is pretty cool.

Also, we know that the eye in question allows the user to see through Harry's Invisibility Cloak. I'm in the middle of writng a scene and I've hit a small bump - can Dumbledore see through it too or is he just awesome enough to sense people without seeing them?

 

It might only be that she thought of the Cloak as a Hallow near the end, and so Moody could see through it as though it were any other cloak.

Later on, I retconned this in my headcanon as Dumbledore having made the eye for him with the Elder Wand, which allows it to see through Harry's Hallow Cloak. And yes, Albus was just that badass. He was apparently using Hominem Revelio.

 

Thanks, afrojack. I wrote a scene before realizing that it was banking on Dumbledore not seeing through the cloak and I was worried I'd have to scrub it.

 

Depending on what kind of DD you're writing you can also justify it by having DD put tracking charms on the cloak.

 

We don't know that the eye can see through the cloak, just that it can detect that there is an invisible person. Mad-Eye then deduces it to be Harry.

My own headcanon is that one of the multitude of spells on the eye is a hominem revelio charm which can reveal the location of hidden people. But it works indirectly: Moody doesn't see Harry, he just is told that there's an invisible person there.

 

Depends on the school.

Some have one bell and teachers are expected to let everyone out of class slightly before time. Some have one bell and teachers are expected to allow for a 5 minute grace period to allow the kids to get to the room. Some schools have the teachers go to the pupils and others do a bit of both.

So, basically, choose the most illogical system and then apply it to Hogwarts. That seems to be how wizards do everything else.

 

*emphasis mine*

A canon-ish one, I guess, though there isn't much character development in this fic. It's mostly a bamf!Harry action rollercoaster.

 

Does the title MAster of Death has anything to do with little deaths(ie. orgasms)?

It would be funny if it was about it. All those people searching for power only to get something unrelated. hehehe

 

I don't think he could see through it, but he likely knew someone was there and that Harry was the only student with a cloak.

 

Actually, that's where it gets a bit more complicated. I'll just say Dumbledore knew Harry was there, but for a different reason than his human radar and then things happen very fast and then both the chapter and Dumbledore's screen time end (unless he writes himself back in later).

 

Wasn't Harry able to communicate with Moody when he was caught in the stairs though? He waved his arms and mouthed 'that's mine' and Moody understood.

 

I do believe he was.

 

I still don't fully understand the concept of the Master of Death. Like what exactly does it do?

Other than the obvious prevent someone from dying. Does it mean he can stop the effects of time on someone or something? or do you stay alive even as your body ages and withers away?

What does mastery of death actually entail?

 

Once there were three brothers who were each rather talented. Each of the three brothers, among their unrecorded magical achievements, made a magical object that has survived until the present day. These magical objects were not connected in any way other than that their creators were brothers and that they were all rather powerful.

In an unrelated incident, a guy who liked to tell stories and who had heard of these three objects wrote a mythical tale incorporating them and creating the idea of the "Master of Death" to complete the morality tale. In this morality tale, death is not something to be beaten but rather accepted, thus the Master of Death is one who accepts death.

The morality tale postdates the creation of the objects by the brothers and is just a story.

Dumbledore congratulates Harry on becoming the "master of death" of legend because it is a significant moral achievement, not a magical one.

Unrelated to being the "master of death" is being the master of the Elder Wand. Being the master of the Elder Wand involves no such acceptance of death, and involves only besting the previous owner in some form or another. While almost all wands will give their loyalty to a conqueror to some extent, the Elder Wand is the ultimately disloyal wand, changing masters completely at the first sign of superior strength.

It was Harry's mastery of the Elder Wand, not being Master of Death, which helped him survive Voldemort's killing curse in the forest. The other things which helped him survive were his blood running in Voldemort's veins, acting as a kind of horcrux, and the fact that Voldemort's soul piece was in him to "take the hit".

The fact that he did not fight back but rather went as a sacrifice was also important, but not to Harry's survival. That part was important to give protection to the people of Hogwarts against Voldemort.