Background (reference) info for bookish types
No matter how much information we put here, some readers given to chewing holes in every page like a bookworm, will never be satisfied. So here we have endeavoured to provide key sources of information on the wizarding community, as well as a comprehensive short glossary of wizarding newspapers and key reference texts that Muggle-borns may find useful if they feel brave enough to dip their toe back in the magical world.
Literature on witches and wizards in the Muggle world:
Witches... black hats, broomsticks and cats... cauldrons full of bubbling potions and slimy looking ingredients in glass jars. What Muggles reliably know about witches would fill one side of a 1 foot parchment, written in Hagrid's large scrawling handwriting.
Weird to think it, but though witches and wizards move among Muggles every day, Muggles know next to nothing about them. The best guide to real wizarding ways in Muggle culture remains the Harry Potter books, a seven book series presented by JK Rowling:
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Other reference sources and literature present in the Muggle world from wizarding sources:
1) Cultural stories - Celtic religious stories, the Iliad and other Greek and Roman stories as well as Arthur pendragon tales
2) Fairy tales created by wizards, such as Snow White and the seven dwarves, Cinderella and Hansel and Gretel. The 1001 Arabian Nights is an important source of information about wizarding history in the Islamic world.
3) Herbal (medicinal) lore created by wizards such as Hippocrates and Ibn Sina (Avicenna). The snake and staff (cadaceus) are still symbols of Muggle medicine.
4) Sports. Certain sports are derived from wizarding activities, such as tennis, badminton (played with a feathery ball or 'snitch') and hurling. Quidditch from the Harry Potter books is the latest example of a wizard to muggle transfer of a sport. A Muggle university league has sprung up, and though it is entirely ridiculous in our view to play Quidditch on the ground, it shows the enthusiasm of young Muggles for Harry Potter.
Good wizarding references for the budding Muggle-born wizard:
A History of Earaethia by Agaur Misulle - a voluminous 700 page account of the history of the first witches. Rather detailed and at times hard to read but it will familiarise one with the earliest background to witch history in Europe. An invaluable source of information on the migrations of witches into Europe (Greece, Italy, Spain) from ancient Egypt. A whole chapter is dedicated to Atlantis, the fabled home of the early sorcerers.
The Rebel of Ascart - named for the founder of one of the three original houses of Feiriesta School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, it recounts the dramatic rise of Carlos Pedromos, and his new brand of wizardry at court, which overtook the Pagan Druid period. A must have, if one wants to understand the difference between purely witch magic and later wizardry.
Compendium of Wizarding European Tales by the celebrated historian, Klaus Grimshott - fairy tales are mixed with real knight tales and dragon encounters, you have everything here for a History of Magic essay on Famous Quests and Wizard Duels.
Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them by Newt Scamander - your all colour, school approved, guide to the magical creatures of the world. No wizarding home is without one, if they have kids.
Scorbius and the Thousand Names by Ilios Cecarus - still the best guide to wizarding philology of spells. Finding the root of a spell word is often the easiest way to judge if a new spell will work.
The Ancient Wizarding Genealogies of Europe - lists all the pure-blood clans and their branches. We are all related to those huge tribes which once formed the nucleus of humanity, so maybe your family is listed there somewhere! Fear not, if it isn't, witches and wizards often changed their names! Famous clan trees like the Schmidts (Smiths) and the Fisgraves are shown in detail to the hundredth branch. Did you know that Schneider and Scott are both Schmidt branches? No? Neither did I before perusing this encyclopediac reference!
Top Ten Wizarding newspapers/magazines:
(based upon 2020 sales)
1. Die Post Wizardum - Germany
2. The Bilghor - Germany
3. Le Savant Revoir - France
4. The Shrimble (children's magazine) - Switzerland/ Germany
5. The Wizarding Chronicle of Paris
(La Chronique des Sorciers de Paris) - France
6. Ilvario Italiano (the country's top paper, which like the Daily Prophet is known for its savage editorials against both perceived and real Ministry cockups) - Italy
7. La Republicca Quiddissa - Italy
8. Il Wizard Uncomparador (The Incomparable Wizard, a newspaper but focuses on sport and social gossip) - Italy
9. Los Aguiladad (a very serious paper, focuses only on politics and business!) - Spain/ Portugal
10. Heidelberg Rapporteur (commodities, politics and sport) - Germany
The Daily Prophet and Witch Weekly are too small to feature on this list (indeed not until position 46!) but are the biggest and most reliable sources of information in Britain and Ireland.