I had been given the address to the Kittelson (their name is translated into english as “son of a kettle”, a suitable name for a family famous for their potions.) by my friend Popotkin in Russia. The family are descendants of one of the victims of the witch trials, an innocent muggle woman who was burned to death in 1669. Her great-grandchild married a norwegian wizard Olav Kittelsen and they had two children, Stieg and Karin.

I approached their home with great anticipation, as I had not been in direct contact with them myself. All communication had been through Popotkin. And the minute I arrived outside their house with my broom I was greeted by a small witch, Karin, dressed in a brown dress with perfectly starched apron and cap. Her brother, Stieg, was tall and dressed in a dark suit. They embraced me as a long lost relative, united by our mutual friendship with “Popo”.

They let me into their simple home where they had multiple fired burning. Many kettles with different potions were brewing, but on one fire a pot of coffee was boiling. So we sat down by the large table and started talking. They asked me many questions about my life and the research I was doing about the witch trials. But then, suddenly, a brown bear walked across the floor and I reached for my wand, but Karin calmed me down. “It’s only uncle Bo, he got stuck in his animagus form twenty years ago. But he is completely harmless. The only problem is that we have to keep him indoors during the muggle hunting season. And he seems happier now that he’s a bear.”

I asked about how they came into contact with Popotkin in Russia. “You see, we own many valuable and rare books on magic inherited from our father and forty years ago we had a break-in. It was terrible! Such a mess they made and they took so many of our books. Three years later we had an owl from a museum in Russia that had bought some rare Norweigan books. But the librarian suspected that something was not right about the books. Our fathers name was written inside the cover and Popotkin, who was the librarian, was able to track us down. The following summer he returned our books and since then comes visiting us during the fall.”

Stieg and Karin (and uncle Bo) have seen a great many changes in their lifetime. The siblings are approaching their mid 100’s (they do not know how old uncle Bo is) but are still as healthy as can be, neither has married. A hundred years ago the surrounding area was populated by farmers, who in the summer walked their cows to graze in the forests. The relationship with the farmers was friendly, and the Kittelsen was able to help them with their knowledge of potions and herbs. Many lives were spared by the witch and wizard and in return they received food, very rarely muggle money. Surrounded by friends and being a vital part of their community made life good. But agricultural changes in the middle of the 20th century made one farmer after another leave the area to start a new life, in most cases down south.

The cows used to have bells tied around their necks when they walked in the forest, grazing happily on fresh moss. But the woods are quiet now and it saddens Stieg, even if he understand why the muggles left. “What choice did they have? They were poor as it was and as the times changes, it was no longer possible to survive on just a few acres of land and three cows.” Stieg is actually very interested in municipal affairs and gladly walks the fifteen miles to the nearest library to read the newspaper now and again. Why not use a broom, I ask. “There is no need to use a broom or apparate such a short distance! My belief is that modern witches and wizards have become lazy and I think there is a general ignorance in the wizarding community about the merits of exercise. It’s like muggles and those smelly cars!”