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Featured Image Credit: Warner Bros
Topics: Harry Potter, TV and Film, Weird, History
Jess Battison
Look, I’m sure this can’t be news to you (and I really hope it isn’t) but the world of Harry Potter isn’t actually real.
And while there might be plenty of controversy surrounding its creator and a rocky relationship with the stars, plenty of people are still life-long Potterheads.
Even with the likes of Miriam Margolyes - who played Professor Sprout in the franchise - telling people to get over it, there’s no denying a dedication to the Wizarding World.
So, while many people may have a secret part of them wishing Harry Potter was real, it turns out there was one character that did actually exist.
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Hey, that’s better than none of it being real life, right?
Turns out when J.K. Rowling wrote the first book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, she named the creator of the Philosopher’s Stone after a real person. And he even appeared in Fantastic Beasts, played by Brontis Jodorowsky.
Sure, that person was long dead before the films landed but it’s still real-life.
Nicolas Flamel is the character credited with creating the stone.
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Way, way, back in the 14th century, Flamel was a French businessman and scribe.
And in the 17th century, accounts first appeared that he created and discovered the real philosopher’s stone.
With a reputation as an alchemist, it’s believed he learned alchemical secrets from a Jewish converso, while on the way to Santiago de Compostela.
Supposedly having discovered the mythic alchemical substance, the Frenchman is credited with achieving immortality.
The philosopher's stone is therefore also called the elixir for life, used also for rejuvenation as it can turn simple base metals into gold or silver.
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These popular efforts to discover this ‘mythical’ substance over the centuries were known as the Magnum Opus (that’s Great Work in our normal language).
As well as the Harry Potter films (and Fantastic Beasts), Flamel has also been portrayed in other fictional works like the Notre Dame de Paris novel, Fullmetal Alchemist, The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel and As Above, See Below. As any gamer will know, his works are also featured in Assassin’s Creed: Unity and Steelrising.
Although, it’s worth noting that many say there isn’t a true indication Flamel really was involved in alchemy and that it’s all a bit of an urban myth or legend that’s been built up over the centuries.
But still, in terms of a real name being a person in the films, it’s the closest Harry Potter seems to have.