The King Learns What Magic Cannot Do

The Tales of Beedle the Bard

This flow follows the King’s false confidence from attempted self-invention to recognition of magical limits and political responsibility.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

A Royal Ambition A Royal Ambition from "The Tales of Beedle the Bard". A Royal Ambition Magic claimed as privilege The King decides that he alone should have magical power.

A Royal Ambition from "The Tales of Beedle the Bard". A Royal Ambition Magic claimed as privilege The King decides that he alone should have magical power.

A Royal Ambition Magic claimed as privilege The King decides that he alone should have magical power. Persecution deployed He establishes a witch-hunting force and seeks an instructor. His desire to possess magic is paired with hostility toward those born able to use it.

Lessons with a Twig Lessons with a Twig from "The Tales of Beedle the Bard". Lessons with a Twig A counterfeit education The charlatan supplies a twig and has the King wave it while reciting nonsense.

Lessons with a Twig from "The Tales of Beedle the Bard". Lessons with a Twig A counterfeit education The charlatan supplies a twig and has the King wave it while reciting nonsense.

Lessons with a Twig A counterfeit education The charlatan supplies a twig and has the King wave it while reciting nonsense. Confidence manufactured Tricks persuade the King that he is progressing. He mistakes performance and equipment for an innate magical ability.

A Public Promise A Public Promise from "The Tales of Beedle the Bard". A Public Promise Impatience takes control The King announces that he will perform real magic before his subjects the next morning.

A Public Promise from "The Tales of Beedle the Bard". A Public Promise Impatience takes control The King announces that he will perform real magic before his subjects the next morning.

A Public Promise Impatience takes control The King announces that he will perform real magic before his subjects the next morning. The fraud cornered He threatens the charlatan with execution if the demonstration fails. The King’s vanity converts his own deception into a crisis.

The Dead Cannot Rise The Dead Cannot Rise from "The Tales of Beedle the Bard". The Dead Cannot Rise Borrowed success The King’s first feats work only because Babbitty casts the spells from hiding.

The Dead Cannot Rise from "The Tales of Beedle the Bard". The Dead Cannot Rise Borrowed success The King’s first feats work only because Babbitty casts the spells from hiding.

The Dead Cannot Rise Borrowed success The King’s first feats work only because Babbitty casts the spells from hiding. A limit made public The dead hound remains dead, and the crowd recognizes the earlier tricks. The King’s imagined mastery ends at a boundary magic cannot cross.

Power Turned to Protection Power Turned to Protection from "The Tales of Beedle the Bard". Power Turned to Protection Fear replaces arrogance The King accepts Babbitty’s warning that harm to witches and wizards will carry a terrible cost.

Power Turned to Protection from "The Tales of Beedle the Bard". Power Turned to Protection Fear replaces arrogance The King accepts Babbitty’s warning that harm to witches and wizards will carry a terrible cost.

Power Turned to Protection Fear replaces arrogance The King accepts Babbitty’s warning that harm to witches and wizards will carry a terrible cost. A public change He promises a proclamation protecting magical people and permitting them to practice in peace. His authority, once used for persecution, becomes a means of redress.

At the opening of Babbitty Rabbitty

During the King’s daily practice

The day before the court assembles

During the royal display

After Babbitty threatens the King from the stump