WARNING. THIS BOOK HAS BEEN BANNED BY THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC POSSESSION OF THIS BOOK IS PUNISHABLE BY AN IMMEDIATE AZKABAN SENTENCE THE WARNING CREATED BY THIS MAGICAL SPELL WILL APPEAR ON ALL COPIES OF THIS BOOK WHEN IT IS CAST

SEALED BY

Albus Dumbledore, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot

Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic

Dolores Umbridge, Senior Undersecretary of the Ministry of Magic

16/6/1984

THE WORLD BETWEEN

From the memoirs of Ignatia Wildsmith

Floo is such a wonderful substance that I have discovered, allowing magic to pass through fire into the real world. In all my years, travel between two points has always been difficult for Wizards; requiring to know the exact place they wish to go with Apparition. When I first began my studies, I wanted to find a way for more people to move together, instead of one or two with Side-Along Apparition.

It took me years of methodical, careful research, often working alongside those many would deem Dark. Vampires, Werewolves, Goblins, all of them assisted me with different things.

The Vampires showed me how magical blood is potent enough to cause changes to magic itself. When used in a potion, the effects are what is known to many as Blood Magic. It was through this that I had the idea of somehow distilling magic using a special blood filter.

The Werewolf packs are much more difficult to be around, with them craving the taste of magical blood. However, thanks to my time with a pack that swore off the consumption of flesh, I was able to learn much of their disease, and how it affected their magic. Using the knowledge, I was able to create a spell that would make magical blood crystallize.

Finally, the Goblins were the key. It took me years to finally get into their good graces and allow them to trust me; they always were butting heads with wizardkind due to the many greedy people on each side. But after returning a goblin steel dagger that my family had kept as an heirloom, I managed to successfully earn their good graces enough for them to advise me, and teach me how to work the blood crystal into a fine mesh.

Using the blood crystal mesh, I managed to create something incredible. When pushing one's magic through the mesh, the magic turned into a fine, green dust. This green dust, when put into fire, connects to something I had never seen before.

The world that this green flame connects to is indescribable. I have always been blessed with the rare skill of Mage Sight, and due to this I was able to poke my head into the fire. The fire is the portal, the key to this world. A dimension of magic and beauty that I have never seen before.

However, when I created a second connection to this world, I found something incredible, which resulted in my discovery. When someone enters that green flame and attempts to go into the magical dimension, the world rejects them utterly and pushes them to another place where the green flame has burned before. It took me weeks of experimenting, but I found a spell to create a magical key that can be cast upon a fireplace. Once it is cast, the fireplace can be connected to by shouting its name.

I had discovered it; the beauty of transportation. because of the feeling of weightlessness when in the fire, I decided on a name: Flew, which would eventually be written as Floo. This green powder had done it; I had managed to solve the transportation problem, and brought the world closer together.

However, I wasn't done yet. I sought to truly revolutionize this method, so I got back to work. Years of experimenting with Floo powder allowed me to truly see its beauty. It was pure magic in a powdered form, and I was able to create smaller and smaller "fireplaces" for use. Of course, these smaller braziers were never widely accepted, as they were too clumsy for a home and too expensive to be left out anywhere. Only Hogwarts allowed installation in their surrounding lands, for ease of access for students.

But even as I made the fireplaces smaller, I knew I could do better. Something nagged at me, encouraged me to continue. I kept working, and one day, fate would intervene. My wand fell from my grip thanks to a sneeze from inhaling the floo, and the tip touched a small pile of floo powder that was on a plate. I suppose I was thinking of my childhood home when I had sneezed, and fate had handled the rest.

The plate had glowed green, consuming the floo powder and seemingly causing some sort of effect thanks to my wand. When I sneezed, I had gasped out the word "Iter", which studies showed me was the Latin word for "Journey". This was the key, as my plate had suddenly become a magical object, flowing with the same magic as the floo powder and the magical dimension I had seen.

Stupidly, I was enraptured enough to immediately grab the plate and my wand, and suddenly I found myself back at that strange magical dimension. But this time, something was different. My Mage Sight could see everything clearer, but I could hear whispers. Inaudible twitters of words just out of my hearing range. It was like someone was calling my name, and just like that I appeared in my childhood home!

I felt woozy from the travel and the fire flowing through my veins. It was incredible what I had discovered, and I repeated the process with the plate to return myself home. I found myself doing it again and again, attempting to see, attempting to hear more of the dimension.

I had discovered what I would call a Teleport Key spell, which would quickly be shortened to Portkey. This would further change the world, and allow teleportation over distances that are impossible to apparate over. It was truly the culmination of all my research.

But what was that dimension! Even as my body slowly decays and my magic becomes harder to control, I could never discover more on that magical place. The place I named the World Between. I want to know more, no matter what.

As my bones grow weary and my body grows old, I have decided that I will not waste away from age. I will experiment, I will learn, and I will find more on this world even if I die trying.

Tomorrow, I will create a Portkey to the World Between.

A footnote is written on the bottom of the page.

"Ignatia Wildsmith's memoirs were found next to a pile of floo powder and a large amount of magical theory notes. Her home was empty, and spells revealed it had been empty for weeks. No one was able to discover the fate of Miss Wildsmith, but after a year of searching, it was declared that she was dead.

So ended the life of one of the greatest magical inventors of the magical world. Her memory lives on today.

Book 2 begins next Monday, March 3rd 2025! See you then!