In a time when only electoral maps with varying voter demographics are making their way to our eyes, something far more important has emerged from Skyler Johnson on Public Tableau. Johnson has meticulously crafted a data set that presents to us not only how many times a specific spell was used in the Harry Potter series, but also the spell’s order of appearance. As I said, important stuff here. Arguably the most important data we’ll see this election season.
The fascinating chart shows that things started naturally in the wizarding world, only to gradually become deadly. If a scholar were to decipher this data two thousand years from now, when Potter is considered a deity, they will no doubt see a young boy learning to wield magic, only for the stakes to be raised to an alarming degree. Avada Kedavra, the deadly spell only the followers of Voldemort wield, becomes one of the most-used spells in England as time goes on. Clearly, a war broke out, and Harry Potter died, then was resurrected.
Oh for the carefree days when only a few spells were uttered, back when wingardium leviosa was as intense as things could ever get. Where did it go wrong? Why, for example, was Harry tasked with fighting Voldemort? This is beyond the “because they’re inexorably linked through dark magic,” I’m asking why Voldemort even had to go down this dark path? Why? Just because he could? It’s senseless violence, and we see it all here on these charts that you should absolutely toy with yourself.
So that’s the breakdown of every spell uttered in the books, now watch every spell performed in the movies, because we might as well go all-in here.
(Via Tor)
