Magical Cartographer
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Overview
Magical cartographers are an ancient group of witches and wizards that specialise in plotting and creating maps within the magical world. Much like their Unmagical counterparts, magical cartographers are incredibly skilled individuals with precise mathematical and artistic abilities. Most people in the world learn the art of Magical Cartography through their families; however, in magical Britain, there are three main families of cartographers whose roots in the trade date back to the eighth century.
Magical Cartography can be divided into three key elements: scoping, drawing and symbolising. In magical Britain, each of the three cartographical families specialises in an element. The Lennox family are orienteers. They scope the land with a specialised spell called Terana Mensura. This spell traces the land and tracks topography, natural features such as forests and rivers, and can measure and trace coastlines. The information traced through the spell is then placed onto blank pieces of parchment, known as astutals. The Winton family are mathematical geniuses. They invented a spell, still unknown to the public, that transfers the information from astutals and scales it to the map size they require. They are then able to go in and draw the main body of the map. The final element, symbolising, is honed by the Farrick family. The Farricks have two main jobs. The first is to add colour, labels and symbols to the map; this includes features such as lakes, parks and urban areas. Their second, and arguably most important job, is to enchant the maps with a renewal spell. This spell pulls magic from the original astutal alongside magic from the original area that was traced to ensure the map remains up to date. This is especially useful for the ever-changing coastlines of lands and for when new towns are built or discovered. This ensures that maps are always accurate, and it means that it is never required to trace the same area more than once. These three families are the foundation of Magical Cartography in Britain and are under contract with the Ministry of Magicians to create all official maps for the magical territories of Britain and Northern Ireland.
Guilds
The three families of magical cartographers formed a guild in 756 AD, just after they broke away from the main guild of Unmagical cartographers to pursue a magical solution to the challenges faced in their line of work. This guild is known as the Guild for Magical Cartographical Institutes. There are three tiers to the guild: apprentice, journeyman and mastery (obtained only by the three main families.) The guild allowed the families to work seamlessly together. Though Magical Cartography remained a closed practice for several hundred years, in 1837 the families opened the first and only institution dedicated to Magical Cartography in magical Britain. This opened up the guild to people who graduated from the institution.
This expansion of the craft beyond the three original families allowed for the mainstream wizarding community to acquire maps of their own. Although it should be mentioned that all enchantments are only performed by the guild masters.
Trivia
- You can learn about a magical cartographer and other careers in Magical Career Exploration classes taught by the Academics team.
- You can view Potterworld's own magical map by using the /map command in-game.
