Meet Laurentian's Hogwarts professor

Janice Liedl may be a longtime professor of history at Laurentian University, but it seems like she might just love to teach at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as well.

Maybe she could take over from Professor Binns, the ghost who taught the History of Magic at Hogwarts in JK Rowling's popular Harry Potter series, and in the equally popular movie series.

Along with David Leeson, who's the chair of Laurentian's history department, Liedl teaches a course on the history of the occult.

She's also a contributor to a number of history books delving into the history behind fantasy and science fiction books, movies and TV shows.

That includes "Twilight and History," "Harry Potter and History," "Star Wars and History" and "The Hobbit and History." She's currently working on her contribution to "Game of Thrones and History."

These books are available through online retailers like Amazon.

Many authors and movie and television-makers delve into the past in creating fictional worlds, Liedl said.

An example from the first book in the Harry Potter series is Nicholas Flamel, the 600-year-old maker of the Philosopher's Stone, and a close friend of Hogwarts headmaster, Albus Dumbledore.

“There's a real Nicholas Flamel who was a scribe working in (14th century) Paris, making copies of manuscripts,” Liedl said. “We don't know anything more about him other than he lived and worked and died at this time.”

After his death, the real Flamel somehow developed a reputation as an alchemist believed to have discovered the Philosopher's Stone and achieved immortality.

In "Twilight and History," Liedl looks at what life would have been like for the fictional character Carlisle Cullen, who was born in London, England in 1640, and was the founder of the Cullen clan.

In the 17th century, witch-hunting was still prevalent throughout Europe and even in the colonies in North America (ever heard of the Salem witch trials?).

“The jump from being a witch hunter to being a vampire hunter isn't that big, really, when you read Stephenie Meyer stories, and then you look at the historical cases,” she said.

In terms of Laurentian's history of the occult course, Liedl said these mystical elements are a great jumping-off point for students, as many of them have read or watched fantasy or science-fiction books, movies or TV shows.

“It's neat to learn that your history has so much more, if you thought it's just a story about politicians and laws and orderly changes,” she said.

“We're here to tell you that history goes in all sorts of interesting, surprising and sometimes pretty secretive directions. If you dig through far enough, you're going to find those cool people, those cool events.”