Harry Potter: A Journey Through Care of Magical Creatures

Harry Potter: A Journey Through #4

by Pottermore Publishing, J.K. Rowling

The history of magic is as long as time and as wide as the world. In every culture, in every age, in every place and, probably, in every heart, there is magic.

This non-fiction short-form eBook features content which is adapted from the audiobook Harry Potter: A History of Magic – inspired by the British Library exhibition of the same name.

Well-known folkloric creatures like giants, dragons and merpeople, and lesser-known beings such as Acromantula and Hippogriffs, all play a key role in Harry Potter’s journey. In the past, naturalists and explorers travelled the globe to encounter weird and wonderful creatures that enhanced our knowledge of the world and pushed forward the development of science. Nevertheless, it seems part of human nature to want to believe in the unbelievable: from the bestiaries and cabinets of curiosities of the medieval period onwards. We think that truth and myth are easily distinguished today, but magical creatures and the stories around them continue to fascinate us – and they are as central to the Harry Potter stories as Harry, Hermione and Ron.

This eBook short examines the colourful characters and curious incidents of the real history of magic, and how they relate to the Hogwarts lesson subjects of Care of Magical Creatures from the Harry Potter stories.

Genres: Harry Potter, Fantasy, Fiction, Young Adult, Short Stories, Magic, Childrens

100 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 22, 2019

Reviews

[Asta · Rating 3 out of 5]

After the first 3 (mini) books in the series, I was disappointed.
There could have been much more on giants and dragons, not just extracts from HP and explanations of how these 'fantastic beasts' were portrayed there.

"Who wouldn't want to read about miniature dragons that wound themselves around the legs of elephants, thrust their heads up their nostrils, put out their eyes, stung them and sucked out their blood?"

"Gessner asserted 'that men have been known to lose their strength, perspire violently, and even faint at the sight of a cat'."

"Some people nailed live toads to trees to cure warts".

"Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder not only believed a toad could silence a noisy crowd, but that a bone in its right side could cool boiling water, while a bone in its left side could repel the attack of a dog."

"Merian set off from Amsterdam to Surinam in 1699 and the expedition was probably the first scientific expedition led by a woman to observe natural phenomena in their native environment."

[Liz (Quirky Cat) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Harry Potter: A Journey Through Care of Magical Creatures is the fourth and final ebook in a series that Pottermore has released this summer. Like the first three, this novella focuses on real-life and historical elements behind the world of Harry Potter.
Before I start my review, I want to be a bit clear about this series. I know that there hasn’t been a lot of hype about the series, and I think that also resulted in some confusion for what these ebooks are. These ebooks were not written by J.K. Rowling (but they were inspired by her works, which is why she is included as an author). They were written by the staff at Pottermore and were inspired by the History of Magic novel that came out.
Each ebook in this series has taken one or two subjects known to be taught at Hogwarts, and put a direct focus on them. Harry Potter: A Journey Through Care of Magical Creatures is unique in that it’s the only one that focuses on a single subject. But given how many amazing creatures there are, and the increase in popularity thanks to the Fantastic Beasts franchise, this actually makes quite a lot of sense.
I will say that this novella doesn’t do a deep dive into any one creature or subject. But it is a fun starting point for many. Maybe it’ll inspire readers to do more research on their own.
This ebook is broken into six main sections, each with a different focus of creatures (real or magical). The magical creatures sections explore all of the lore and historical influence on the creatures that J.K. Rowling so charmingly brought to life. Everything from unicorns to trolls and giants. It was interesting to see her works put in different contexts like this.
The final segment of the ebook focused entirely on bestiaries; books that solely talk about beasts. Much like Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. It was fascinating to see the historical references here and let’s not forget the number of mythical creatures that made it into these real books. Newt would have been proud.
On the whole, Harry Potter: A Journey Through Care of Magical Creatures was a fun and fascinating read. I certainly wouldn’t have complained had it been a little longer – giving more attention and focus to each of the creatures mentioned. But it is a good starting point, if nothing else.
As mentioned above, this ebook is the last one in a series. I’m actually a bit sad to see the series end – and hope to see other renditions of it at some point in the future. In the meantime, feel free to go check out the other three ebooks: Harry Potter: A Journey Through Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts, Harry Potter: A Journey Through Potions and Herbology, and Harry Potter: A Journey Through Divination and Astronomy.

For more reviews check out Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book! If I were a student at Hogwarts, Care of Magical Creatures would definitely be one of my favorite classes, and Hagrid would be one of my favorite professors!

[Véronique Laplante Grenier · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the fourth an final book into the A Journey Through serie from the Harry Potter world.

Found this one more interesting than the other three. Taking care of magical creatures would probably be my fave class if I were a student at Hogwarts.

[Claudia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another in the A Journey Through series connecting the British Museum's History of Magic exhibition and the Harry Potter universe only this one focuses on creatures- hence the name.

Focusing on:
Unicorns
Owls, Cats or toads
Hippogriff and Spiders
Mermaids
Ghosts, Trolls, Giants and Dragons
Fantastic Beasts: Real and Imagined

Bringing these creatures into reality are references to published bestiaries from the 16th century, trophies from so-called explorer's clubs (unicorn or narwhal horn), Audubon collecting specimens for his famous paintings (owls). Virgil using the hippogriff as a metaphor for ill-fated love or an impossible situation. A short history of Maria Sibylla Merian's illustrated flora and fauna of Surinam in 1699 - she received a grant to travel to complete her work which was practically unheard of for a woman in that time.

Some of the earliest references to mermaids and sirens was in The Odyssey. Various counterfeit mermaids constructed over the years. The brilliantly colored paintings of fish by Fallours.

It is in the second from last section that the connection between Rowling's writing appears - more preliminary drawings, commentary regarding the narrator of the audio books imagining some voices as well as the artist of the illustrated books. The last section goes more into historic bestiaries, the phoenix and simugh.

There are more quotes from Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them than the previous parts of the series which only makes sense. As well as many by the character of Hagrid

A short read and very preliminary view if interested in the mythological beasts - or is it cryptozoology?

2019-132

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Magical creatures live

In the pages of this book at least. I loved this entry in this series the best. My favorite part of all these books is the tidbits that are given about the Harry Potter world. I especially love the illustrations that were done by J.K. Rowling.

[Rianna Seelig · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Helena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Same as all the previous ones

[sarah gould · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent I found this really interesting

[Kieran McAndrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short overview of beliefs in mystical creatures through history.

A well written and accessible look at the real world inspirations behind the 'Harry Potter' stories.

[Azbaqiyah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Plot - 4 ⭐
Character - 4 ⭐
Writing Style - 4 ⭐
World Building - 4 ⭐
Art - 4 ⭐
Cover - 4 ⭐

Overall - 4 ⭐

[Spartan Ranger ☢ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eine Reise durch die Welt der Pflege magischer Geschöpfe, Harry Potter: A Journey Through #4
J. K. Rowling, 2019
06/02/2021
⭐️⭐️⭐️

Wir leben in einer Zeit, in der wir jederzeit gebannt beeindruckende Tierfilme aus aller Welt anschauen können: Aufnahmen aus den Tiefen der Meere, von den Gipfeln der Berge, aus der sengenden Hitze der Wüste und der eisigen Kälte der Arktis, aus dem Dickicht der Regenwälder oder auch von einsamen Inseln.

So, damit wäre auch der letzte Teil geschafft. Den vorherigen fand ich tatsächlich am interessantesten. Dieser Teil hatte aber ein paar interessante und witzige Stellen, insbesondere, wenn es um die Katzen ging. Ja, ich frage mich auch manchmal, was eine Katze vor hat, wenn sie plötzlich vor mir stehen bleibt und mich anschaut, als wäre ich ihr nächstes Mittagessen.

Für einen wahren Fan der Reihe sind diese Büch schon ganz interessant. Sie sind halt recht kurz, aber wenn man mal ein paar Euro übrig hat, macht man nichts falsch. Man lernt auch hier und da noch etwas interessantes und ich meine sogar, ein paar Fakten zu einem anderen Buch bzw. einem Retelling erhalten zu haben.

[Kelsie Christensen · Rating 3 out of 5]

These books aren’t the best written, they definitely are a little dull like real textbooks. I enjoyed the JK Rowling drawings the most, as I never knew she was a good artist. Overall these were fun but I won’t read them again.

[Toniarw · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ich bin ein absoluter Harry Potter Fan und freue mich über jede Gelegenheit in die Welt eintauchen zu können. Es war sehr interessant, aber leider viel zu kurz

[Bookish · Rating 2 out of 5]

" when I saw the cover I was excited, i placed my pleasure in high hopes of reading this. But as I went over with the book in hope for something interesting. I find myself reading a lecture" it did not caught the interesting button.


My criteria : 2 stars ( 6 points) but let me first guide you why this book:

Content is : 1 point for content.
I like the stories about the unicorn and gnomes as well as dragon and ghost.
The book explained how the magical creatures came to life in the story and background stories in real life : but the author pointed out it is all fiction.
Plus how the creature were involved in the harry potter series and how thos magical creature have been created by other people creative minds before JK ROWLING conceived the idea and include the animals in the story.

I really had high hopes for this book but the writing style was lecture and investigative type. I hope it was more like a story or encounter a walk through. Could have been better if the style was choose your own adventure type of book where the readers are engaged. Then place the information and research on the selected adventure.

3 points for the cover : i love the cover it gives the book " it is an interesting read type of a book"

Style of writing and borders
2 points

The writing and thoughts of ideas are organized but there are information I feel that is not related which is far away from the subject ; they could have get more information near or researched items more similar to the subject.

^over all seriously a bit dissapointed.... i just managed to finish the book out of curiosity that I might get more interesting information. But i only got 2 or 3 interesting information

[María Eva · Rating 3 out of 5]

Juro que entré como ilusa pensando que iba a ser un libro sobre el universo mágico y sus criaturas...y no justamente un recorrido histórico (europeo) que sirvió de inspiración.
No está mal, pero me alegro no haber gastado un centavo por esto (y lo lamentaría mucho).
En un momento habla de Maria Sibylla Merian, y fue tan europea la visión que me asqueó: habla sobre la dificultad que pasó Maria para hacer sus trabajos debido a su género, y narra una excursión a Surinam, que en ese momento era una colonia en donde se explotaba azúcar. El texto dice que "solo vivían hombres haciendo dinero de este negocio y tenían a gente esclavizada para ayudarles"...ayudarles. En ningún momento nombra a qué corona europea "pertenecía". Y el párrafo siguiente es para enaltecer a Merian, que pobrecita europea y blanca sufría discriminación por parte de otros europeos....no como los esclavos, de ellos no comentan ni una sola palabra.
Entonces, no podemos hablar de feminismos si pasamos por arriba otras cuestiones más graves (EN ESTE CONTEXTO, europeos esclavizaron tanto hombres como mujeres).

[Ana · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good read but, in all honesty, I was expecting it to be a bit more like the Hogwarts Library book series. I expected it to delve a bit more into the Harry Potter world, which it barely does. This eBook is more like a collection of information from the British Library exhibition, "Harry Potter: A Journey Through a History of Magic", alongside with information (very little) on how J.K. Rowling created this world and some of its characters.

It is an interesting read for someone interested in animals (both real and fictional) that have been associated with magic throughout history (albeit very simplistic here), but if you are looking for more information on the Harry Potter world, this eBook is not for you.

[Jenn | bookdragonbrunette · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one is definitely the best in the mini-series.

You get all sorts of interesting facts about mythological creatures and the rumors that surrounded them.

I really liked the parts about the Unicorns that in turn explained about a Narwhal's horn. I didn't know that it isn't so much a horn, but an actual tooth growing out the top of their head.

Also, I forgot that Hedwig was portrayed by a male in the movies mainly because of how pure white the male was.

There was also a section on Audubon and his research into birds. He did eat a majority of the birds and it was intriguing that he said a woodpecker tasted like ants...which means he ate ants too.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I do wish this series was a bit more in-depth with the information presented, I also recognize that for some people these books give them the oportunity to sort of dip their toes into these particular knowledge pools. I've already read some books that have contained similiar information as this series or watched documentaries, ect., so for me that's probably why these feel so short. They are overviews, not thesises. Which is not a bad thing. There was new information in these that I didn't know, and they've further motivated me to learn more and read more and find out more about a plethera of subjects.

[Gabriel Pereira · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the fourth and final book in the History of Magic collection. One of my favourites as I love animals and magical beasts obviously have that added spice. I love that animals from the real world are also covered, owls and cats, 2 of my favourites. To quote this book, “Magical creatures are as central to the Harry Potter stories as Harry, Hermione and Ron”. I couldn’t agree more - without the inclusion of fantastic beasts, beings and even spirits, the magical world of Harry Potter would be very limited. Looking forward to learning about more magical beasts in the remaining fantastic beasts movies!

[Diogo Muller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Of the four books, this and the first are easily the weakest. However, while the first had problems in keeping with the subject, this one has problems balancing the real history and commenting on the books, in my opinion. Some things are explained in weird ways were it mixes the books and reality, and there's even an image that is talked about in the book - but it's not in the book at all.

That said, it's still a nice book with lots of trivia, interesting info and good analysis/explanations on the magical creatures shown in the books.

It's fine for fans, can be skipped otherwise.

[Eleonora Salviato · Rating 3 out of 5]

Questo dei 4 ebook è stato quello più interessante, mi è piaciuta tantissimo la prima parte sull'unicorno e le curiosità sul suo "amico" narvalo,di sicuro avranno avuto entrambi delle vite difficili anche la seconda parte "gufi, gatti e rospi" mi ha detto delle cose interessanti che non sapevo, la terza parte sulle sirene anche assai intrigante, anche se mi ha fatto venire strani dubbi...
Davvero molto interessante anche la parte finale su fantasmi, troll, giganti e draghi, da fare concorrenza a Newt, chissà se ha mai conosciuto Hagrid, sarebbero andati sicuramente d'accordo.

[Abi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lo largo de estas páginas conocemos (o recordamos) datos sobre varias criaturas mágicas de la saga. Lo curioso es que nos hace un repaso general de dónde se menciona info en los libros de Harry, o Newt, más otros extras y, a su vez, da algunos datos cómicos como si fuera que en la vida real hubo avistamientos(?

Es una lectura linda, acompañada de ilustraciones y la verdad que es muy entretenida para leer después de la saga principal. Me gubiera gustado más info desconocida, pero quedará para el futuro (?

[Book Monitor · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has interesting nuggets of information and background to the world-wide and multi-cultural belief in magical creatures from unicorns to mermaids (and men) and everything in between, as well as the scams that have long been associated with them. I attended the exhibition that the British Library a couple of years ago and there isn't anything new in this book, which skates along the surface of the topic, never delving in deep. It is however an engaging short read. 3.5/5 stars

[Par- · Rating 3 out of 5]

A trusty cat, toad or owl might accompany pupils to Hogwarts, and they would almost certainly encounter a troll and an array of ghosts while they were there. This book is the story of well-known folkloric creatures such as giants, dragons and merpeople. You'll read about lesser-known beings such as the Acromantula and Hippogriffs, they all play a key role in Harry fulfilling his destiny as the Boy Who Lived.

[Staceywh_17 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this the most fascinating of the four mini books released. Although to be fair it is all information that could be sourced elsewhere, this is just another way to cash in on the Potter name. Yes, the animals mentioned were in the original books, but apart from the odd sentence from a Potter book, there is nothing tying them to the original series.

[Francesca Strada · Rating 4 out of 5]

JK Rowling created not only a magical world when she created Howgarts and the community of wizards; she used old myths, stories, ancient beliefs of mythical creatures to create the complex systems of creatures and beasts that we encounter, together with Harty, Ron and Hermione and their adventures.

[Domini Phillips-Perkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun and quick read from the Pottermore Universe. Quickly touches on a few of the better know creatures seen in the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts series. Neat addition to your collection for the hard-core Potter fans or just for those wanting to learn at little more about the magical beasts we love so much from the books and movies. Appropriate for all ages.

[Nathan Ethridge · Rating 3 out of 5]

In spite of Rowling, I choose to continue enjoying the world of HP and will keep using it as a vessel for self exploration. I can’t seem to get out of her sandbox after all these years of playing in it, and I do have hope that one day she’ll come around and stop being an absolute dope. In the meantime, I will keep documenting my time here in Ravenclaw tower while watching the moonlit world below.

[Yasmine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ich bin hier echt zwiegespaltet. Die Texte an sich sind interessant gewesen, aber in dem vierten Teil sind mehr Zitate aus HP und Phant. Tierwesen, als in den drei anderen Teilen. Das war äußerst nervig. Das hatte man sich sparen können. Zwei Sterne, weil hier doch viel Bezug auf JK's Ideen und teilweise ihre Skizzen zu finden sind.