You ever wonder why Hermione Granger does so well at Hogwart’s School of Witchcraft and Wizardry? Mebbe it’s because the actress who plays her in the movies, Emma Watson, is descended from a “real” witch. According to People magazine, it has been determined that Emma‘s family has an ancestor who was tried as a “real” witch back in the days of yore … which is terribly interesting only because, as we all know, Emma gained fame and fortune from playing a witch in the Harry Potter films:

You think Emma Watson won the coveted role of Harry Potter’s pal Hermione Granger just because of her talent and beauty? Actually, it turns out magic was always in her blood – the British actress can trace her roots back to a real-life woman accused of witchcraft in the 16th century. According to genealogist Anastasia Tyler of Ancestry.com, the 19-year-old actress is a distant relative of Joan Playle of Essex County, England, who was convicted of witchcraft in 1592 and excommunicated from the Church of England. So that’s why the public finds Watson so enchanting … “It’s not every day we’re able to trace the branches of a family tree back to 16th-century witch trials,” Tyler says. “Combine that with a celebrity connection to Emma Watson and the fact that she plays a witch in Harry Potter: You couldn’t script it any better.” Most of Watson’s cast mates don’t have as storied a lineage – Daniel Radcliffe is descended from bakers, grocers and plumbers, and Rupert Grint includes a gunsmith among his forebears. Helena Bonham Carter, who plays villainous Bellatrix Lestrange, however, is of noble birth, and her great-grandfather, Herbert Henry Asquith, Earl of Oxford and Asquith, served as prime minister of the U.K. from 1908 to 1916.

This is a cute story only because of the coincidental nature of these two long-lost relatives. BUT, to clarify … “real” witches who were tried, convicted and oftentimes executed for witchcraft (during a dark period in human history referred to as the Burning Times) were usually no more than wise women who threatened the male patriarchy and were exterminated to get them out of the way. For example, midwives who took business away from male doctors were often accused of heresy and witchcraft so that they could be executed and done away with. While witchcraft or Wicca is a genuine and very old pagan religion (that predates Christianity and is still practiced today) that focuses on the worship of nature and the concept of a male/female deity duality, it is not really the same thing as using magic wands and flying brooms like we see in the movies. I think many people would be very surprised to learn that they prolly have witches in their family ancestry as well … which isn’t a bad thing at all. Pagan nature religions are the oldest forms of worship in human existence and will surely exist for all time. As they say, Life’s a Witch … and then you Fly! ;)

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