Research Notes: Character Inspirations for Allies of Other Races (Author's Note, 22/05/21)

This mainly introduces the inspirations behind Bathory and Annis:

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(1) Elizabeth Bathory (Elizabeth Báthory de Ecsed) was a real historical figure. She was a Hungarian countess from the renowned Bathory Family, as well as the female serial killer with the highest number of victims in history, known as the "Bloody Countess."

Legend had it that, in search of a way to remain forever youthful and beautiful, she ordered the abduction of large numbers of young girls, had them killed and drained of blood, then bathed in that blood.

Later, Irish writer Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu used her as the inspiration for Carmilla, a vampire novel as famous as Dracula. It could be said that she was the first female vampire to appear as a protagonist in Muggle literature.

(2) Annis Black existed in the Harry Potter universe and appeared in the Daily Prophet. She lived in a cave in the Death Swamp region. The Daily Prophet published a letter she wrote to the newspaper, protesting its description of Hags as "monsters that eat human flesh."

Rowling based this character on Black Annis from British folklore (she actually just reversed the name). In folklore, Black Annis was a blue-faced cyclops with long white teeth and iron claws, living in a cave she had dug herself. There was an old oak tree in front of her cave, and she liked to sit in it in search of prey in the nearby outskirts. Whenever a child who looked especially tasty entered her sight, she would suddenly leap down from the tree, pounce on her prey, and make a meal of them.

Even now, old houses in Leicestershire retained the tradition of building small windows to keep her from climbing in at midnight. (Some legends held that she could create nightmares, while others claimed she came to snatch children.)