TEACHERS
- Bathsheda Babbling † (1980-1998)
- Lenny James † (1998-2013)
- Octavia Scholding (March, 2014-present)
- Clodagh Dromgoole
- Elspeth MacGillony
|required textbooks=*Ancient Runes Made Easy by Laurenzoo[1]
- Rune Dictionary[2]
- Magical Hieroglyphs and Logograms[3]
- Spellman's Syllabary[3] by Spellman (possibly)
- Advanced Rune Translation by Yuri Blishen[4]
|required equipment=*Books
- Parchment
- Quill
|classroom=*Classroom 6A
- "I mistranslated ehwaz... It means partnership, not defence; I mixed it up with eihwaz."
- —Hermione Granger after her Ancient Runes O.W.L.[src]
The Study of Ancient Runes (commonly shortened to Ancient Runes) was an elective subject at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and presumably Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, that could be taken by students third year and above.[1][5]
It was taught by Professor Bathsheda Babbling during the 1990s at least[6] and Professor Clodagh Dromgoole in the early 21st century, with Professor Elspeth MacGillony being a substitute teacher during the 2010–2011 school year.[7] It was the study of ancient runes. Ancient Runes was a mostly theoretical subject that studied the ancient runic scripts of magic.
Class information[]
The textbook Ancient Runes Made Easy
Ancient runes were a form of writing which witches and wizards used hundreds of years ago.
Classwork and homework involved plenty of practice translating runes, and the O.W.L. involved translating something written in runes into English.[8] Hermione Granger used Spellman's Syllabary to translate her homework.[3]
Class materials[]
Words learned in this class[]
Only two words and their English translations are known. Hermione mixed these two words up on her Study of Ancient Runes O.W.L. exam: ehwaz meant "partnership" and eihwaz meant "defence".[8]
Numbers[]
| Animal | Notes |
|---|---|
| The creature's invisibility abilities represented "0".[6] | |
| The creature's single horn represented "1".[6] | |
| The creature's dual horns represented "2".[6] | |
| The triple-headed creature represented "3".[6] | |
| The creature's four possible colour varieties represented "4".[6] | |
| The five legs of the creature represented "5".[6] | |
| The maximum hours of the creature's ability to survive out of fire and the amount of legs most said creatures had represented "6".[6] | |
| Due to the magically powerful number still being shrouded in mysteries, the unknown symbol represented "7".[6] | |
| The eight-eyed creature represented "8".[6] | |
| The nine-headed creature represented "9".[6] |
Required textbooks[]
Grades[]
Passing grades[]
|
Fail grades[]
|
Known O.W.L.s[]
Behind the scenes[]
- Throughout all of the Harry Potter books and film adaptations, not a single class of this subject was seen taking place.
- In reality, the words mentioned by Hermione in Template:OOTP are Proto-Germanic runes. Ehwaz literally means "horse", while eihwaz literally means "yew-tree".
- A variety of Elder Futhark runes are depicted on Lucius's Azkaban placard in the film. The easily identified ones are: Othila, which means "estate, heritage, possession" and corresponds to the Latin letter "o"; Ansuz (albeit rotated slightly), meaning "Odhinn (leader of the Æesir)" and corresponds to the Latin letter "a"; Uruz, meaning "wild ox" or "drizzle" and corresponds to the Latin letter "u"; and Mannaz, meaning "man" and corresponds to the Latin letter "m".[12] This (along with the presence of the aforementioned two other Elder Futhark runes in the novel) suggests that the Elder Futhark runic alphabet at least (if not others too) is very much in use in the wizarding world and most likely learnt in Study of Ancient Runes, albeit with some additions from wizardkind, such as the numbers.
- In Template:LEGO and Template:LEGO, one of the items is a rune dictionary, for which certain characters: Hermione Granger, Albus Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall, Irma Pince and Gellert Grindelwald, are capable of using to translate and unlock rune bookshelves.[13][14]
- Luna and Xenophilius Lovegood may have both taken this subject as the latter published some runic texts in an issue of his magazine (the Quibbler) whilst the former explained the information contained in those runic texts.[15]
- In Template:POA, Hermione compares Ancient Runes to Divination, thinking the first a fascinating subject and the second very woolly, however in the novel she did the same, but with Arithmancy and Divination.
- In Hogwarts Legacy, Natsai Onai indicates that her mother made her choose Study of Ancient Runes as an elective. It is unknown whether Natsai got an O.W.L. in this discipline (although it is likely as Natsai is described as a serious and talented student).
Appearances[]
- Template:PS Template:Mention (Console versions)
- Template:COS Template:1st Mention
- Template:COS Template:Mention (Console versions)
- Template:POA Template:Mention
- Template:POA Template:Mention
- Template:POA Template:Mention (Console versions)
- Template:OOTP Template:Mention
- Template:OOTP Template:Mention
- Template:HBP Template:Mention
- Template:DH Template:Mention
- Template:JKRS Template:Mention
- Template:PM Template:Mention
- Template:WW Template:Mention
- Template:WU Template:Mention
- Template:MA Template:1st
- Template:HL Template:Mention
- The Art of Harry Potter Mini Book of Graphic Design
Notes and references[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Template:COS
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Template:POA
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Template:OOTP
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Template:HBP
- ↑ Template:POA
- ↑ 6.00 6.01 6.02 6.03 6.04 6.05 6.06 6.07 6.08 6.09 6.10 Template:JKRS
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedMA - ↑ 8.0 8.1 Template:OOTP
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Template:COS - It is said that both Percy and Bill Weasley earned twelve Ordinary Wizarding Levels, meaning they must have earned an O.W.L. in this subject.
- ↑ Template:HBP
- ↑ As professors of this subject, they likely had O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. qualifications in this subject in order to teach it.
- ↑ Template:Wikilink
- ↑ Template:LEGO
- ↑ Template:LEGO
- ↑ Template:OOTP
Template:Hogwarts subjects Template:Ilvermorny Template:Runes es:Estudio de Runas Antiguas de:Alte Runen fr:Étude des anciennes Runes it:Antiche Rune nl:Leer der Oude Runen ru:Изучение Древних рун pt-br:Estudo de Runas Antigas pl:Runy