Harry Potter in the United States
- John Brewster
- Oct 18, 2019
- 4 min read
Updated: Nov 29, 2019
Let's think about that title for a second. ...
I am not talking about How 'Harry Potter' affects people in the United States, even thou it does like everywhere else. It is actually indicating that Harry Potter visited the United States. What does that mean? Harry Potter is a series of books taking place in Europe, all of it is in London. True. But for a series taking place in Europe, for a series borrowing elements of European lore, there are a lot of American reflections in British Wizarding World. J.K Rowling took a lot of inspiration for the United States history to build the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
I am going to throw some key-words or phrases:
Basketball
Freemasons
Vigilance
-Basketball is mentioned in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone:
"The Chasers throw the Quaffle and put it through the hoops to score," Harry recited. "So – that's sort of like basketball on broomsticks with six hoops, isn't it?" "What's basketball?" said Wood curiously.
-Freemasons and Vigilance are one and the same. Vigilance is used in the phrase "Constant Vigilance" which is said by Mad-Eye Moody. The word not only is connected to the British Ministry of Magic but plays a role in the Magical Congress's identity.
On the left side is a merchandise of a pendant relating to MACUSA for the first 'Fantastic Beasts' film. "Always stay Vigilant". Course, this could be an example of the wizarding government in America acting the role of a better government in competition. However, you can notice that the image is quite similar to the Eye on the dollar bill. By American standards, it's unmistakable. Yet, it is not the first time that the eye is seen.
The early eye is seen in the film and book of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows". Hermione is certain it looks like an eye. This created a meme that 'Harry Potter' fans would see the truth from a Muggle(non-fan). The symbol is striking compared to the Eye image on the dollar bill. (Mind, freemasons itself is a worldly group and not exclusive to the United States).
The Dollar Bill has a lot of symbols like a Pagan Owl (seen on the Woolworth building and that the founders were Pagans...). While the eye is seen around, the eagle is also seen. Even thou MACUSA uses the Phoenix, the eagle is still seen. The American National Quidditch team has a black eagle.
The Pheonix is not on the Dragots but instead there are seahorses face to face creating an image of a cauldron on one side/a letter D with flames circled around on the other (https://crossroads.fandom.com/fr/wiki/Dragot). The Dragots are most likely akin to the early American currencies by Benjamin Franklin, but coins were the mold worldwide.
Dragots (to me and another I talked to thinks that it is probably nicknamed Dragons) is a merger of Ingot and.. something else. Actually, if you look at British Wizarding currency from Wizarding America, the British are more like American currencies from the American wizarding world.
The American Coins changed look over the years. From a Sundial/Circles design to presidents/symbol of association. I would say that the "Dragons" are largely based on the old designs; The Sundial and Cauldron.
If you see the Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts, they all have a head one side and a dragon on the other. Except for the Knut being a stag (I'll get to). That's clearly an American link. Dragons itself would be the eagle on the dollar bills. The Dragon that, in possibility, is the American currency's name from the image.
The Magical Congress has a Pheonix despite that the founder of the land was an eagle Animagi (my view from another article). Imagine that the Dragots, today, having the Pheonix. No doubt, the coins would evolve over time. Despite the opposite that American wizards have, the currency in Harry Potter is from American Currencies today. In America, seen in Fantastic Beasts in 1926, it is molded after the 1777 coin. The Continentals were created after the Revolutionary War and America is connected to the colonial era so it makes sense that wizards would still use a design that was made at that time. It is not known who manufactures the coins but if Gringotts is the bank of the whole world, it also manufactures Dragots and Bezants (french) and more (previously mentioned in another article).
JK Rowling was inspired by Basketball, Soccer, and probably Lacrosse for Quidditch. Lacrosse itself is a sport created by Native Americans. Even thou Basketball influenced Quidditch, the American Quodpot is Basketball that has 11members a team.
The Deathly Hallows image was not inspired by the Eye thou. As a young girl, she saw a film with her mother and remembered an icon. The film was called The Man who Would be King, released in 1975, starring Sean Connery and Michael Cane. The image is seen on Sean himself, etched onto his costume. That image is the freemasonry icon of the ruler, compass, and eye (a G usually in place).
Yet, she said that it was not inspired, it is a merger.
Other additional stuff is Azkaban based on Alcatraz.
This is now part 1 of 3. The next part will look into it more by research
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