The Wizard and the Hopping Pot

The Wizard with The Hopping Pot

The Wizard and the Hopping Pot is one of the stories in The Tales of Beedle the Bard.

History

Beedle the Bard wrote the original story of The Wizard and the Hopping Pot sometime in the 15th century. His original story portrayed Muggles in a positive light and they have friendly relations with wizards. The wizard in the story is encouraged to help his Muggle neighbours by the Hopping Pot. This was out of step with the times because witches and wizards were facing increasing persecution and felt that they'd be inviting death if they helped their Muggle neighbour. However, even after the International Statute of Secrecy was enacted, children still remembered the story of the Hopping Pot.

In the 16th century, the story was revised to get rid of the pro-Muggle moral and instead tells the story of the Hopping Pot protecting an innocent wizard from his dangerous, witch-hunting neighbours. Even centuries later, there are wizarding children who grow up only hearing this version and are surprised to hear the original.

Plot

Beedle's version

The pot with the father's note to his son

A kind, elderly wizard uses his magic to help his Muggle neighbours. His potions and antidotes are brewed in a pot that he calls his "lucky cooking pot". When he dies, he leaves everything to his son who does not possess his father's generosity and considers those who can't use magic worthless. He discovers a package in his father's lucky cooking pot with his name written on it. Inside is a slipper with a note: "In the fond hope, my son, that you will never need it".

The wizard refuses to help his neighbour

The son is upset with his father's gift and throws it into the cauldron while cursing. When a grandmother knocks on the door to ask for help with curing her granddaughter's crop of warts, he shuts the door on her. To his surprise, he then finds the pot hopping in the kitchen and growing warts over its body. He tries to clean it with varnish and magic but has no success before he tries to force the pot to leave the house. He finally gives up and goes to bed, and the Hopping Pot follows him upstairs and then to the kitchen in the morning.

In the morning, an elderly man asks for help after his donkey, which he needs for work, is stolen and he is unable to put food on the table for his starving family. The son also shuts the door in his face only for the hopping pot to start groaning with hunger. That evening, a woman asks for help with her sick baby but he is also uninterested in helping her. The Hopping Pot filled with water, brayed, groaned and sprouted more warts.

The neighbours stop asking the son for help but the Hopping Pot continues to get sick with their illnesses. It couldn't be stopped with magic and continues to go wherever the son does. In the end, the son can bear it no more and decides to cure the neighbours' ills. Overnight, he uses magic and the lucky cooking pot to heal everyone in the village. By sunrise, the Hopping Pot is also cured and burps out the slipper. The Hopping Pot puts it on and they walk back to their house together. The son then continues to help his neighbours like his father did out of concern that the Pot would get sick if he didn't.

Revised versions

The first revision appeared in the 16th century in response to the increasing persecution of witches and wizards. In the story, the wizard is guarded by the Hopping Pot who chases away the witch-hunting, pitchfork-wielding Muggles when they try to get to the wizard's cottage, and then swallows them whole when it catches them. The story ends with the Pot having eaten most of the neighbours and those that remain promise to leave the wizard in peace. In return, the wizard tells the Pot to give its victims back and it burps them out, slightly mangled.

The second revision was written by Beatrix Bloxam for The Toadstool Tales because she felt the stories in The Tales of Beedle the Bard were damaging to children. In her precious reworking of The Wizard and the Hopping Pot, the "little golden pot" dances with delight when the wizard, now called "Wee Willykins" cures the "dollies" of their "poorly tum-tums". The pot rewards the wizard with "sweeties" and tells him to brush his "teethy-pegs". The story ends with Wee Willykins kissing the pot and promising to stop being an old "grumpy-wumpkins". Children loathed her versions of Beedle's stories and were induced with nausea and vomiting in response.