travel

The Best Wizarding Summer Destinations

by Calleva_Rocks

Hello, all! As the summer grows nearer and the days grow longer, I felt as though it was time to talk about one of my favorite topics: premier summer destinations! As witches and wizards, we can have fun in places that, to the Muggle eye, appear to be deserted. With that being said, here are four of my all-time favorite summer destinations for wizards.

1. The Quidditch World Cup… With or

Without the Weasleys

For all of you Quidditch fans out there, this is definitely a premiere wizarding destination. Whether you worship a team like the Chudley Cannons, or a team that is actually good (such as the Holyhead Harpies) the Quidditch World Cup makes for a vacation that will provide you with happy memories to last a lifetime.

While some seats are more expensive than others, 95 percent of witches and wizards agree that their money was well spent after attending a world cup event. So gather your friends and get ready to meet new people from all over the Wizarding world! Maybe, you’ll be lucky enough to make a new friend for life!

2. The Fake Hogwarts in Poland

If you want to see a Muggle-infused replica of

Hogwarts, book yourself and some friends tickets to visit the College of Wizardry at Czocha Castle in Poland. Inside, you will find Muggles running around and pretending to be witches and wizards (how’s that for a self-esteem boost?). While tickets are pricey, it’s worthwhile to get the chance to compare this castle to Hogwarts… and bring back some souvenirs for all of your friends!

3. Diagon Alley… For Fun, Not School

Supplies

I know this seems basic, but how many of you have recently taken a stroll in Diagon Alley just for fun? I know that I’d like to go to pick up some new color changing quills, eat some Lavender ice cream, and admire the new brooms that are in stock.

4. The Harry Potter World Park in Orlando, Florida

If you couldn’t already tell from the fake Hogwarts in Poland, Muggles are pretty obsessed with magic folk. If you want to go overseas, consider taking a trip to Florida, specifically Orlando, Florida.

There, you can purchase tickets to get into Universal Studios, where, among other things, there is a whole Harry Potter theme park for Muggles to enjoy. Drink some butterbeer and enjoy some roller coasters while feeling just a little bit creeped out by how this park resembles some favorite spots in wizarding London.

Of course, this is not an exhaustive list, but I hope it gives you a good starting point to plan a fun, relaxing, wizardry vacation this summer. Happy travels!

For a thousand years, the Rod of Asklepios was thought a myth by the ancient Greeks. Indeed, depictions of it inside temples, tablets, and vases were simply regarded as representations of the fabled staff. As a student of No-Maj history myself, and an avid reader, I had gone to the isle of Crete (Kriti) following reports by a friend regarding a dig site dating about the 3rd Century CE.

Arriving at the small island was no trouble whatsoever as I landed near Heraklion (Iraklion), in the outskirts of the village of Dafnes. I remember how much I missed the smell of the Aegean as it mixes with the Mediterranean. I pulled out my rustic Greek and went for a small meal and phoned my friend, Paolo from Portugal, who had been staying in the mainland going on almost twenty years. He and his partner Alessandro were firmly settled in and so happened to have been passing through Crete when they overheard possible findings which could be of interest to such an illustrious institution. Fortunately for me, they knew the researcher at the archaeology department of the Hellenic Mediterranean University, which granted us entrance into the site. The site itself was roughly ten miles from Dafnes, near Gorgolainis. It was indeed well cordoned off with a gate and everything. We arrived in our small vehicle and made our way into the main tent. Already they had dug up artefacts dating to around the assumed period, roughly around the collapse of the city of Knossos.

One of the strangest things was that I had started to see the remnants of magical inscriptions, which appeared to be alchemical formulæ of sorts. We were introduced to the director and given a tour of the site. They seemed to have found a temple of sorts, as evidenced by the structure and the frescoes all around. At that point, it was already 5 in the afternoon, and many of the volunteers were vacating the site. However, I had begun to piece together clues for what seemed to be a central object inside the temple: the same rod of the god Asklepios himself, fabled to have healing properties. It was claimed to be a cure for any illness. Furthermore, it can even bring those who had died back to the world of the living. Whilst Paolo and Alessandro dug elsewhere, I took my tools and began to do the same. Slowly, the sunset before I even came to the realisation. In the tent, I could hear people talking and drinking when under the light of my wand I found what appeared to be a trapdoor that I pulled under the lightmazement there were stone steps which led deeper down. With a wand in hand, I descended and found myself inside a rather large structure. There were columns, though bare. Just as bare were the walls at first until I began to walk. As if projected onto the white marble, various mythological figures started to

appear, and these were familiar to me. I could identify the Titanes, Gigantes and the Olympians themselves. I was simply too engrossed in it all that I simply continued to walk along the length of what was now clear as part of the structure above ground. I went in farther and farther and came across inscriptions on the wall, indicating that the temple was dedicated to Hermes himself. Little by little, I noticed ritual tools here and there, as well as sites where devotees of the god had previously burned candles. I began to notice that the light of my wand was no longer needed, for there was a golden hue coming from ahead, and it being night, it seemed odd to me that there should be sunlight pouring in through some opening in the ceiling.

A feeling crept up my spine as I heard what I thought to be music; The sound of a lyre and perhaps even an aulos. Nearer and nearer I got when there was no denying it any longer. I entered a chamber with even taller walls which simply left me breathless. On every wall were bas reliefs of Hermes in all of his divine glory. The scent of myrrh and the sweetest ambrosia hung in the air like a most intoxicating fog. Before me, I saw what seemed to be apparitions the director and made our way to the mainland the following day. I will not deny that this experience has challenged everything I thought I knew to be true in the cosmos. It could’ve been the god himself or more plausibly powerful priests and even magic users. I have attached copies of the tablets found at the site explaining more on the subject, though they detail mundane tasks performed by the clergy. I hope this finds you well.

of individuals in tunics dancing around a central structure, some obelisk. They turned towards me and addressed me in ancient Greece; Even weirder was that I found myself replying. “Are you worthy of the gift?” They inquired. “I am not certain,” I replied. They laughed and came closer to me. I felt their heat as though they were mortal beings. “You are. You are.” They laughed louder, and before I could say another word, they had vanished. I approached the obelisk, and upon closer inspection, I saw a gold orb that I knew instinctively to press. “Your soul has been weighed, mortal!” a voice emerged from all around me. “To receive my gift means never to use it for your benefit. Swear it!” The voice said. “I swear it,” I replied. The obelisk turned into a long staff with a single serpent entwined around it through what appeared to be transfiguration. A bright flash of light filled the whole room, and in the blink of an eye, I was outside the excavation site, only a few minutes after I had left. The rod itself turned translucent in my hand, so I could carry it once my friends were ready to go. We thanked

- By veganjarl

Illustration and layout by 7ustine