Disclaimer: I don't own Rowling's world!
Chapter 33: The First Plantations of Teer-Dreekt
We have already found out in previous chapters that huge changes came about in Wizard Europe (and Muggle Europe) during the 1500's. Huge discoveries were made by explorers of charms and spells, such as Christoff Right and Mildred Sinclair. Most of these advances were apparent in Britain as well as the rest of Europe. Many of these changes affected the lives of many beings in Wizard Britain, especially goblins, as the advances in wizard power had begun to oppress goblin rule. Now the rulers of Wizard Britain were looking to gain full control over the goblins.
Most Goblins at the time were living on a then unplottable space of land. Most of this land was underground, in caves and tunnels, interconnecting the cities of Muggle Britain. Due to this huge extent of land, the goblins had a lot of power. The Wizard desire of the time was to take the land from the goblins using a form of "planting" wizards where goblins lived, and by doing so force goblins out of their homes.This idea came when the Wizard Council (the old Wizard government) looked to powerful Muggle rulers and saw that their plantations had proven effective.
Plantation was the main means the Council used in conquering the lands of the goblins (among other creatures; unicorns, faeries, giants etc.). In this chapter we will look at how the first plantations came about.
Ideas For Plantation
As you have already read, the Council looked to Muggle rulers like Portugal and Spain for inspiration. The wizard rulers of these countries had also taken land in this way. In many parts of mainland Europe, habitats of goblins, unicorns and faeries had been conquered by wizards. There were many reasons for this.
The most obvious reason is that, during the 1500's, Muggles were growing ever-more hostile towards magic. Anyobservation of magical activity could lead to that wizard-nation's downfall. Thus, the councils of various countries in Europe decided to resettle any creatures believed to have the inability to "keep quiet" elsewhere. Many of these resettlements became the "unplottable areas" wizards know of today.
The settlement of educated wizards on plots of land thought previously by Muggles as "suspect" meant that suspicion went and Wizards could keep to themselves once more.It also meant that the respective councils of each Wizard-nation could trust that Wizards remain loyal to the well-kept secret of magical activity.
The Council's reasons, however, in establishing more wizard communities within Britain had its selfish side. The Council wished to gain more power, at the expenseof the non-wizard beings. By having underground communities they could slow down Muggle acitivity and development with mere spells. By having a network of magical communities theybelieved they could look to conquer the oppresive Muggle rule in Britain at the time.
The Council could not depend on the magical beings to remain loyal, as the beings had already made it clear that they did not consider themselves in the same community.
The first Council plantations took place in the goblin realms of Goondy Leesh and Goondy Ivfullee, in the year of 1556. The head of the Council at this time was Morgana Chude.
The Plantations of Goondy Leesh and Goondy Ivfullee
If you were to think of Diagon Alley, Central London, your first thoughts would not be that of Goblins. Sure, the goblin bank, Gringotts is there, but that is funded by the Ministry. In 1556, however, Diagon Alley, nor the streets around it (Nocturn Alley, Orisont Alley) even existed. Instead was a labyrinth of passageways and caves, going deep - over four miles below London.The upper part (closer to the surface) of these passageways was called Goondy Leesh. The deeper part was called, and still known as, Goondy Ivfullee. The word Goondy comes from the main goblin dialect, meaning region.
This place was home to a huge population of goblins. The two main ruling goblin families of Goondy Leesh and Goondy Ivfullee were the Morag Clan and the Concurag Clan.
When Morgana Chude became head of the Council in 1553 she decided to take these important areas from the Morags and the Concurags, and to hand the conquered landto her Wizard followers.
When the Council took over Goondy Leesh and Goondy Ivfullee in 1556, they drove all ofthe goblins out of their realm. The two leading goblin families, however, continued to attack the Council armies and the new Wizard residents of their realm. The landless goblins lay in wait planning their attacks and raids in surrounding Muggle buildings.
The Scheme of the Plantations
These were the set goals of the Council of Magic:
Two thirds of the "creatures'" land is to be taken and given to loyal wizards. The remaining third is to be given to the "creatures", only if they are loyal to the Council.
Loyal Wizard settlers must build strong stone homes underground, and to have armed guards with them in case of attack from the wretched creatures
No Wizard is to have contact with any of these creatures, no creature is to rent land from a wizard, no wizard is to have a creature in his/her services
A capital settlement in every new region where the minister for that region shall live. Morganasville (present-day Diagon Alley) is to be the capital settlement of Goondy Leesh and Flipstown (present-dayNocturn Alley) is to be the capital settlement of Goondy Ivfullee.
The First Plantation - A Victory or a Failure?
There were many problems to start with in the first plantation of Leesh and Ivfullee. There weren't enough Wizards settled for the plantation to prosper in any way. The Morags and the Concurags could not be defeated entirely. They were constantly attacking newcomers in the area and soon Wizards were afraid to live in these regions.
But the leaders of the Council learned a lot from this experience and the plantations carried out in other parts of the country proved far more effective. It was Morgana Chude who introduced this method to Britain and this was a huge factor in the following hundred years.