Chapter 269 - 269
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Regarding actual, current affairs, not much can be said. There are several different stakes in magical enterprises and manufacturers in England and France, various investments, savings here and there. No prenuptial agreements or the like, no obligations, every conceivable debt, and obligation paid, fulfilled, or renounced, not without compensation. Walburga's signature on these documents as the last member of the family. She probably did not want to leave debts behind the family name because, over the years, they tend to accumulate like a snowball. She did not know how many years the family would exist without a Head. Surely she would not want the Head to appear, pay off the debts so much that only the Head himself, the ring, and the wall with the portrait would remain of the family.
It would be interesting to read the chronology of the laws of those times and the transcripts of the meetings if they were preserved at all. It would be very interesting to know what the wizards of those times were thinking and what they were talking about when they came up with all this nonsense called the Legislation of Magical England. Why was the Ministry of Magic created in the first place? The original purpose was to be an oversight body for the Statute of Secrecy. What about now? Mordred knows what's going on there.
After three days of reading, I more or less understood where the various treaties and financial investments came from. I understood where more than eighty percent of the various artifacts and small relics in the house came from because it is pretty thoroughly documented. Although I still don't understand where many of them are stored.
The books Kreacher had picked up were more of the thoughts of several Heads of the House from the twelfth to the early twentieth centuries. There weren't any precepts or anything like that, no. There were thoughts on actions and situations. Sometimes in the form of a statement, sometimes in short phrases. A kind of Hagakure, but not from an old medieval samurai warrior, but from no less medieval wizards. There were quite a few lines in these texts about the concept of honor, both in relation to wizards and to ordinary people. No, there was no "equal treatment," not at all. Everyone should do what he is given from nature, gods, and spirits. Yes, the wizards managed to keep as their faith a wild mixture of the beliefs of the Celts and Druids, and ... I am not strong in this area.
In general, if a peasant's plow is broken, this is his problem. If there's a drought on the land, wizards will do a couple of rituals, for the peasant cannot cope with this problem, and the wizards do not feed on the holy spirit. If a neighboring feudal lord declares war, then the wizard will help the common people because he lives here. But he will not help openly because already in those days, it was not easy for wizards because of the different branches of Christianity.
Judging by the same personal notes and observations, the apogee of various fermentations among wizards very unsuccessfully coincided with various religious fermentations of Protestants, Lutherans, and other branches of Christianity. Simultaneously with the attempts of Rome to negotiate with the Celtic Church, and then the Age of Reformation ...
In short, the work of one wizard, whose profile specialty is unknown, began to go from hand to hand among wizards. Its essence is that all this belief in gods and so on is fierce crap. There is none of them. Judging by the records, this work provided a serious evidence base, which brought confusion to the minds of wizards. It was the end of the sixteenth century. As I understood it, the problem was undermining the dogmas of the wizards in which they really believed. They can be understood because the wizard can see and feel what is inaccessible to mere mortals.
While it was easy to brainwash ordinary people at the beginning of our era with all sorts of druids amidst fear and other things, then the wizards really saw the phenomena that the common people worshiped. The same salamander, or in the old way - the spirit of fire. This is a semi-material magical lizard, in fact, consisting of a fire. Modern magical science confirms that the salamander is primarily a living being. In those same distant times, it was the spirit of fire.
And there are other manifestations of "mysticism" associated with nature. Not to mention ghosts and other things. Until the early eighteenth century, it was believed that ghosts had a piece of the soul! But no, there is nothing! This is a cast of consciousness, mind, and the soul has long ago flown away into another world.
In general, the feeling of superiority and sense of participation in the mystery of the other world, the world of spirits and divine spheres, was ruthlessly destroyed. How could this be? Magic is not a gift of gods and spirits as a reward for worthy deeds of ancestors, but like a black spot on the side of a white cow - it may or may not be! Wizards are human too, and people just need to feel superior to others. While in this state, wizards receive another blow - the Statute of Secrecy. You can't do the usual things, you can't show off your abilities in front of ordinary people, you can't help, you can't profit, you can't kill, you can't cure. You can't do anything! You can study, stay at home, and make potions in cauldrons because most spells and rituals violate the Statute. Wonderful!