The History of Magic 501: Wizarding Communities in Africa

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Wizarding Villages and Wizarding Communities

Before beginning our discussion on the different communities and magical cities in Africa, I think it is important to establish what exactly the difference is between a wizarding village and a wizarding (or magical) community. If you remember back to Second Year, we discussed quite a few British wizarding villages and how they were created. I'll leave you to review those details if you don't remember. However, you should remember because we have already started studying for the O.W.L. exam, yes?

Wizarding villages are places that have allowed witches and wizards to live in secret after the International Statute of Secrecy was put into place in 1689

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Wizarding villages are places that have allowed witches and wizards to live in secret after the International Statute of Secrecy was put into place in 1689. These villages were intended to be a place where witches and wizards could live in peace and not disturb the non-magical world surrounding them, but this was not always the case. Wizarding communities, on the other hand, are groups of multiple wizarding villages in a general region. There are a couple of ways this can occur. For example, you will have heard me talk about "the magical community" as a whole many times. By this, I mean all magical people around the world, but this can be further broken up into smaller communities that have things in common. Take the British wizarding community (which is made up of any wizarding villages across the British Isles), we share the same school, a similar government, and similar traditions. The same rules can be applied to all sorts of areas around the world. But there's a more specific example as well. This can also refer to a group of magical people that all live in close proximity to one another. For example, there may be a city that has two wizarding villages, one in the city and one on the outskirts, but they are a part of one wizarding community. It would be like if some of the various cities and areas within London were magical, such as if Greater London (in the center)was an official wizarding village and Havering (a borough on the eastern fringe) was also an official magical village. As they are both part of London as a whole, it would be natural to refer to them together as "the wizarding community of London." Thus, unlike with wizarding villages, there is no percentage or hard and fast rule as to how many individual wizarding villages must be present in an area for it to be deemed a "wizarding community." Though, I suppose, logically speaking there must at least be more than one!

Now, this does not mean that these communities are entirely magical! Obviously, neither the whole of London is magical, nor the entire British Isles! The same is true in Africa. Many wizarding communities were actually locations where Muggles and those from the wizarding world lived alongside one another. Keep in mind that I am giving you an overview of just a few wizarding communities in Africa since we do not have time to cover them all.

Bohicon

Bohicon, one of the 77 communes (large districts or areas) of the country Benin, is a wizarding community composed of both the Muggle and wizarding citizens. This particular community houses two wizarding villages, the least of any other community in Africa.

Aboikouma was the first wizarding village founded in Bohicon, Benin. Like many other wizarding villages in this region, Aboikouma came about during the split that occurred between the Muggle and wizarding worlds following the Kingdom of Benin's civil war. At this time, Benin was still under the rule of a monarch, but the people longed to be free. Despite the wishes of the Muggles, the witches and wizards of this country did not feel the same. They were not being persecuted at the moment and found it significantly easier to blend into a big country ruled by one individual than many provinces. However, their voices were not heard and many Muggles began to turn their backs on our kind, calling them traitors, and challengers to change. This violence took many forms including arson, beatings, and murders. Luckily for many witches and wizards, they had ways to protect themselves such as using the Flame Freezing Charm, which allowed the families to quickly put out flames without fearing harm. Other useful spells included the Knockback Jinx and Leg-Locker Curse, which allowed witches and wizards to remove themselves from situations without terribly injuring the Muggles.

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