It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining and there was a hint of Spring in the air. Winter wasn’t quite done with Hogwarts yet, but days like this made Montgomery “Gummy” Vance feel recharged. If the ground hadn’t been quite so damp, he would have liked to hold class outside. “Still, we can let some of the outside in on a day like today.” Professor Vance began opening the classroom windows and soon enough the light breeze made the room feel lighter and fresher. The students’ faces lit up with smiles when they entered the classroom and yet again, the Professor wished the ground was dry enough for them all to sit beside the lake.
“Let me begin by apologizing. It is far too beautiful a day to be learning about a rather dark topic, but today is Lesson 13, and there’s no way around it. Today we will be discussing what Muggles call the Dancing Plague or Dancing Mania.” Professor Vance swished his wand and the wall beside the classroom door was suddenly covered with a picture. It was an old black-and-cream colored woodcut depicting a mob of people dancing wildly through the streets of a medieval city while others looked on with concern and fear.
Montgomery Vance stood next to the picture and solemnly spoke:
” Amidst our people here is come
The madness of the dance.
In every town there now are some
Who fall upon a trance.
It drives them ever night and day,
They scarcely stop for breath,
Till some have dropped along the way
And some are met by death.”
After giving the students a moment to consider the poem and the picture, Gummy continued, “That poem was written by Muggles and published in the Straussburgh Chronicle of Kleinkawel in 1625. But this scourge wasn’t limited to a single occurrence in Germany. No, it occurred numerous times all over Europe and over a span of perhaps as long as a thousand years.” The Professor almost laughed when more than a few of the students exchanged dubious glances with each other. He held up his hands as if to quell their unvoiced arguments of disbelief. ”I know. I know. It’s difficult to believe, but the first well-documented account of the Dancing Plague was in 1374. Some historians believe there is evidence of similar events as early as the seventh century. The last documented occurrence of this primarily medieval phenomena was as recent as the seventeenth century, so do the math yourselves.”
Professor Vance pointed his wand toward the board.”Grafete!” The spell would make notes appear on the board as he spoke.”I thought I’d take it easy on you today by putting notes on the board as we go along.” Gummy glanced at the board where the first bullet point in the notes was about him taking it easy on the students. ”Ignore that first one… and the second one about ignoring the first.” He rolled his eyes as notes about ignoring notes scrawled across the board.
”On June 24, 1374 the Dancing Plague hit Achen, Germany. From all accounts, it ran its normal course. At first a few people began dancing feverishly in the streets. Soon they were joined by more and more people until the mob numbered over a thousand. Their dancing was a sort of freestyle, manic, violent behavior. It included rolling on the ground, foaming at the mouth, and begging to be thrown high in the air or have their feet beaten. There were even reports of dancers having sex in the middle of this uncontrollable riot. When the Dancing Plague occurred, it normally lasted for weeks or even a month.” Gummy turned to look at the picture of the wild dancers in the old woodcut. ” Soon enough people became exhausted. Heart attacks and physical injuries were common. Eventually, those who survived returned to their normal lives, but many perished. They literally danced themselves to death.”
”Wow. Muggles are weird.”
Gummy turned quickly back toward the class, trying to determine who had spoken. “Not weird, murdered.” he responded coldly. Then, after a moment of consideration he continued, ”But yes, in general Muggles can be a bit odd. In this instance, however, we have a case of wizards acting badly – very badly.” He walked over to his desk and leaned against it. ”So, I’ve told you wizards were the cause of the Dancing Plague. Can anyone guess what combination of spells was used?”
A handsome boy with smooth dark skin and intelligent eyes raised his hand and then said in a thoughtful voice, ”The Dancing Feet Spell, you know, Tarantallegra, sound as if it’s the most likely responsible for the dancing. But it doesn’t cause the confusion and mania. I would think a strong Confundus Charm could do that.”
“Well done, Carlos! 10 point for Hufflepuff. In hard times, unscrupulous wizards would sometimes begin casting the Dancing Feet Spell and Confundus Charm on innocent Muggles. The wizards would then present themselves to city leaders and claim to have a cure. The cure or the wizard’s services could be obtained for a price. After getting paid, sometimes the wizard would pretend to exorcise the entire mob. Occasionally a wizarding band or orchestra could be hired to soothe the crowd. In the end, it was nothing less than extortion and murder. The International Confederation of Wizards began cracking down on this during the 1600s. These days any attempt to abuse Muggles and extort governments in this manner is ended almost as soon as it’s begun. The Muggle press normally reports these minor incidents as raves that have gotten out of hand.”
Gummy looked out the window. It really was a beautiful day. “There are tons of details I could tell you about the various occurrences of the Dancing Plague over the course of the thousand or so years bad wizards have been harassing Muggles with it. But I, for one, would much rather take a walk in the sunshine. I suggest you finish copying the notes and then grab a homework scroll on your way out. Owl me if you have any questions. I’ll be down by the lake, soaking in the sun until the weather turns cold again.”
Poem and attribution courtesy of http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/lod/vol3/dancing_mania.html.
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