On the morning of Tuesday, September 13th, 1994, fourth year students had a History of Magic lesson with one of their new professors this semester, the average sized, average heighted albino woman with short hair named Linda Legacy.

In the first classes they'd had with Professor Legacy, they had been impressed with both her knowledge of magical history and, in sharp contrast to Professor Binns, her ability to keep their attention.

Because History of Magic was strictly a lecture, question, and answer class with no physical activity and not much need for individual student attention, History of Magic was shared by students from all four houses in a year.

"Good morning, fourth years, " said Professor Legacy warmly as she entered the classroom and took her seat at her desk, "Today, you're going to learning about how and why wands became the tools witches and wizards use to channel their magic."

"Cool, " cooed Susan.

"Now, " asked Professor Legacy, "How many of you performed accidental magic in your pre Hogwarts years?"

Everyone put his or her hand into the air, Harry the most uncomfortably so. Harry started thinking about how intolerant Vernon and Petunia had been of his accidental magic and how they acted like everything was his fault.

"Exactly, " said Professor Legacy seriously, "Magical children, will, without exception, perform accidental magic in their formative years. Magical education is about learning how to use magic, but also how to control it. Accidental magic from single digit aged children is pretty harmless. But, if an adult witch or wizard loses control of his or her magic, the results can be fatal."

"How does this tie into wands becoming our magical tools though?" piped up Parvati.

"Over a millennium ago, just before the founding of Hogwarts, the magical population was declining. A major reason for this was in the two hundred or so years before Hogwarts opened, there was a massive increase in deaths from accidental magic. It had become quite common for adult witches and wizards to be killed by each other's accidental magic as well as intentional magic being performed at a higher power level than intended as witches and wizards got carried away with their spells. Tragically, children sometimes died in the crossfire of these incidents. Adding to the crisis for the magical community were the cases of innocent muggles being killed by magic. "

"You are wise and knowledgeable, Professor Legacy, " said Lily briskly, "Were witches and wizards ever an endangered species?"

"It never got to the point where witches and wizards were in real danger of extinction, " said Professor Legacy seriously, "However, it was obvious that magical population was declining rapidly. One wise woman of that era realized that if witches and wizards were going to survive long term, they needed to develop a way of controlling their magic. That wise woman was Rowena Ravenclaw."

"WOW!" shouted Padma excitedly, "The founder of Ravenclaw is the reason the magical community still exists?"

"To a large degree, yes, " confirmed Professor Legacy.

"I wonder if Luna knows about that, " said Susan curiously.

"If you mean Luna Lovegood, " replied Professor Legacy, "She is a third year, and I will be giving this lecture to third years tomorrow."

"Awesome!" chroused Harry and Susan, "Luna will be so excited to learn about Rowena's role here!"

"Rowena, " explained Professor Legacy, "Asked her three BFFs, Godric Gryffindor, Salazar Slytherin, and Helga Hufflepuff, to come up with some ideas of tools for witches and wizards to channel their magic through."

"Was Salazar really friends with the other three?" asked Hannah doubtfully.

"Have you ever read Hogwarts, A History?" Ernie asked Hannah in an exasperated voice.

"Obvious not, " interjected Hermione, "Or else she'd know that in the beginning, the four founders of Hogwarts existed quite harmoniously."

" Indeed, " added Ernie, "It wasn't until after Hogwarts opened that Salazar fell out with the others. His close mindedness on muggleborns and even half-bloods was something that Godric, Helga, and Rowena just couldn't reconcile with."

"So," continued Professor Legacy, "Helga suggested gum wrappers."

"But, " said Hermione, shaking her head, "Gum wrappers can easily rip and tear. "

"Rowena agreed that something sturdier was in order, " said Professor Legacy matter of factly, "Salazar suggested snakes."

"THAT'S ANIMNAL ABUSE!" yelled several voices at once.

"Godric, Helga, and Rowena all vetoed the idea for that very reason," said Professor Legacy respectfully, "Godric himself said using any animal for this purpose was indisputably cruelty to animals. Then Godric suggested small strips of wood. Rowena approved that idea that nanosecond Godric presented it to her, and Helga and Salazar were on board with it was well."

"So," said Harry with wonder in voice, "It was Godric's idea for witches and wizards to channel their magic through what became known as wands?!"

"Yes," said Professor Legacy in a businesslike voice, "But, you have to remember that a wand gets its magic from its magical core. Without its magical core, a wand would just be a strip of wood. Godric, Salazar, Helga, and Rowena came to an agreement between the four of them that dragon heartstring, unicorn hair, and phoenix feather would be the magical substances to be used as wand cores and these remain the three most common wand cores to this day."

"So?" asked Harry, suddenly curious, "Were Godric, Salazar, Helga, and Rowena the original wandmakers then?'

"Indeed, they were, " answered Professor Legacy admiringly, "Interestingly, when Godric, Salazar, Helga, and Rowena each made their first wand, they could all tell that the others were in much better control of their magic by channeling it through wands."

"OOH!" said Justin suddenly, "Once Godric, Salazar, Helga, and Rowena knew that wands were the right tools to channel magic through, they decided to open a school of magic and that school became Hogwarts."

"Right you are, " smiled Professor Legacy, "With wands now discovered as the proper tools of magic, Godric, Salazar, Helga, and Rowena knew how important it was for young witches and wizards to learn how to control their magic and channel it through their wands."

For the next few minutes, everyone was speechless.

The students all went over what they'd just learned with amazement. Godric, Salazar, Helga, and Rowena had not only founded Hogwarts, but were the first Wandmakers, the inventors of wands, and the people who ultimately saved the magical community.

After giving her students some time to take it in, Professor Legacy said, "You will learn more about how wands have developed over time in a future class. Today, I just wanted you to learn the story of wands came to be in our world. There are a few minutes of classtime left. You may chat amongst yourselves for those few minutes."

They did, but the tone and volume of their voices was unnaturally quiet.

The history of how wands came into the Wizarding World was a subject that felt as though it was a sacred subject that needed to be treated with quiet respect.

One thing they all were now 100% sure of as they left the classroom was that Professor Legacy was the right teacher for the job. She knew the material well, but, just as importantly, she kept them interested and engaged.

The improvement over Binns's classes was the difference between night and day and they were all now looking forward to their next History of Magic class with Professor Legacy.

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