The deathly hallows and self-inquiry with Prof. Wanderson

The Four Founders of Frazden

Aaranya Susipetonen questions Newt Scamander about misdirecting her research on Occamies and Thestrals. An explanation ensues about Copernicus’ prediction related to the chief healer and the four founders of the Frazden School of Boundless Joy. Aaranya learns about Prof. Wanderson, the founder of the MeriMies house, and his immense contribution to the muggle and magical world.

To learn about the four houses of the Frazden School of Boundless Joy, see Frazden Turns 106.

The Founders

• Allan. W. Anderson (1922 to 2013) | MeriMies
• William. J. Long (1867 to 1952) | MeriPelle
• Alan. W. Watts (1915 to 1973) | MeriMetso
• David. J. Bohm (1917 to 1992) | MeriKotka

An Excerpt

Aaranya Susipetonen: Prof Scamander, before we start the first chapter of my second textbook, I wanted to get something out of the way. I don’t quite understand why you were meddling with my research on Occamies and Thestrals. After our trip back in time to Sveitsi, I kind of understand why Occamies but why Thestrals? Has your interference got to do something with the deathly hallows at Old Crow?

Prof. Scamander: What gave it away, Aaranya?

Susipetonen: Your letters to Ogilvie and Prof. Wanderson. And I still don’t understand how Ouroboros, your pet occamy, got into the muggle brain?

Scamander: I need to find Timothy first to answer that question. I’ve not had a tracking spell left open this long. Nifflers are natural at this, so I’m guessing that the clue Dougal found is misdirection. But let me tell you about the letters that you found.

You see, Prof Tahtiavain summoned me to Korkea Torni (Hightower) on December 07, 1941, the night of the attack. I did not know Prof Wanderson at the time. He was an interesting young man who was trying to understand the Oracular tradition, and he was learning so many languages. He knew French, German, Hebrew, Sanskrit, Greek, Latin, and who knows what else. I always doubted that he might be a parseltongue and was sought after by the Ministry of Magic for his rare skillset and uncanny demeanor.

He had bravery in spades but was so humble – something MeriMies could definitely learn!

Susipetonen: But you always thought that there were no strange creatures but only blinkered people. How can you speak about these people with such admiration? It’s shocking to see this side of you.

Scamander: I softened my stance after I met my salamander and after this 1941 conversation at Korkea Torni. Prof. Tahtiavain shared the letters that she had exchanged with Ogilvie over the years about…and yes, you are right – the deathly hallows.

100 points to MeriPelle!

Prof Wanderson and I were asked to relocate the deathly hallows from somewhere near Mount Schaeffer in Old Crow because the muggles would soon be building the Alaska highway. Although our site wasn’t anywhere near the highway, Prof. Tahtiavain didn’t want a third relocation in western Canada.

The growing attention around the oil seeps from the bluffs overlooking the Mackenzie river alarmed her. And she was worried that the muggles might investigate the bluffs overlooking the Porcupine river in Old Crow. That could jeopardize our mission. She was grateful to Ogilvie for helping her locate these unexplored sites in western Canada, but it was time to find another site.

Susipetonen: I need to interrupt again, Prof. Scamander. My research was near the Bluefish River, it was near the Rampart House, and even some odd trails surrounding the porcupine caribou and wolves in that area. I wasn’t planning on going north or east. If anything, I was heading south to Partridge Creek to collect core samples of discontinuous permafrost and to catalog the Thestral wings found at a site by my colleague.

Scamander: I know your research was years later, Aaranya, but you were quite close. And given the times, Prof. Tahtiavain didn’t want to risk exposure. She and Ogilvie had already relocated the deathly hallows in 1896 from Northern Alberta, right after the chief healer’s birth.

I cannot reveal the exact location, but you might want to investigate the geological history of the Peace River embayment. And from our little trip back in time to 1965, you probably got one part of the puzzle: The one about the chief healer’s birth every 500 years when the Surun joki floods.

I believe that was the conversation you had with Prof. Abbott.

Susipetonen: I remember that clearly. It definitely helped me understand one piece of the puzzle, but there are so many questions.

Scamander: I am sorry that all of this sounds more mysterious than it is, but let’s go back to the chief healer’s birth. It was Copernicus who discovered the couplet and made that birth prediction. He met Paracelsus during the epidemic of 1519. As both were physicians and held quite controversial views about the canon of that time, they became good friends. They collaborated and encrypted the couplet such that you need expertise in astronomy and alchemy to crack the code.

Susipetonen: Prof. Tahtiavain belongs to MeriKotka, the house that loves to outsmart others and tries to transcend thought. She cracked their code, didn’t she?

Who is Prof. Tahtiavain, and why is she not a co-founder of the Frazden School of Boundless Joy? Listen to the rest of the episode.

Podcast Note

This is a non-commercial project and a work of fiction, so everything herein is imaginary with some dangling facts. As this episode introduces the founder of the MeriMies house, you will hear a few seconds of the house song (Mä en pelkää by Lauri Tähkä).

Cover Image

Taken by Letty when she and her brother visited Bhutan.

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