Reading, Writing, Rowling

Decode magical numbers on this month's episode! Katy and Emily talk with Dr. Lana Whited (Ferrum College) about one of the more mysterious of the magical subjects at Hogwarts: Arithmancy. We discuss where this subject fits in the Hogwarts core curriculum, its historical and etymological roots, and its meaning within the Harry Potter series. And, for that matter, how do you even pronounce it? Arithmancy is a type of divination using numbers used to predict events in the ancient world. Lana walks us through how to do these calculations and how to understand the numbers that result. Pointing out that we quite commonly assign significance to numbers (hello, lucky episode #13!), Lana explains the significance of important numbers in the Harry Potter books, like 3, 4, and 7. Much numerical significance comes from people’s observations of the heavenly bodies, and the number 7 specifically represented the divine across historical eras. Why does Hermione loathe Divination but not Arithmancy? We also talk about math