Alchemy Proved!

This is big news (at least in my very strange world of thinking about Harry Potter):

John Granger has found a quote that should finally put to rest all the doubters about the alchemical framework of the Harry Potter series:

I’ve never wanted to be a witch, but an alchemist, now that’s a different matter. To invent this wizard world, I’ve learned a ridiculous amount about alchemy. Perhaps much of it I’ll never use in the books, but I have to know in detail what magic can and cannot do in order to set the parameters and establish the stories’ internal logic.

It’s not actually even news. The quote is from ‘98. But there you have it. I’m baffled that there ever was a debate to begin with, but now it’s over. Alchemy was one of the first topics I ever addressed here at SoG. I haven’t spent much more time on it, since John’s got it covered really well already, and I learned about it from him in the first place anyway.