Witchcraft, fantastic animals, precious objects preserved in ancient English castles: traces of the fabulous stories of Harry Potter, the most famous wizard in the world, can also be found here in Todi, among places, characters and legends to discover.

"There won't be a child in our world who won't know his name" says Professor McGranitt in The Philosopher's Stone, and that's just how it is: even in the real world, that of the "Muggles", everyone has heard of Harry Potter at least once and even in Todi you can discover a bit of its history.

Do you remember the terrible basilisk, legendary monster hidden for decades in the Chamber of Secrets? Well it is said that in the countryside tuderti the most feared legendary animal was the ruler or "little king" of snakes. Tradition has it that the ruler was born from a seven or fourteen-year-old rooster egg hatched by a toad or frog and once born it could take the form of a rooster with the tail of a snake or a winged snake. The deadly creature could kill by skinning its victims or simply by looking at them. It is said that some of the inhabitants of the area walked around with a mirror to look around corners, just like Hermione Granger.

Certainly no basilisk wanders through the underground tunnels of Todi, so you can fearlessly explore over 3 km of passages, cisterns and wells hidden under the houses and streets of the city, hoping not to meet the odious Professor Piton hidden in the shadows of his potion rooms. To be safe, it is better to have some friends escort you in case of unfortunate sightings of mountain trolls.

Walking through the narrow streets of the city, on the surface, you can meet some really characteristic alleys: to someone it might seem to have made a wrong chimney after a nice trip with the subway and found himself in Nocturn Alley. Don't panic, don't get lost, on the contrary enjoy the wonders of these views and the beautiful doors carved by local craftsmen that can be seen on the facades of historic buildings.

One of these skilled craftsmen was Domenico Cucci, a famous cabinetmaker, foundryman and engraver who also worked at the court of King Louis XIV, the Sun King. For the sovereign he made several furnishings and decorations in Versailles, in particular two lockers of Florentine semi-precious stones, now kept in the castle of Alnwick in England, famous for being the set of the Harry Potter movies.

The scenes in which Harry learns to climb on a flying broom and play quidditch, the magicians' favourite sport, are shot in Alnwick. Not many people know that one of the 15 Italian quidditch teams, the first in Umbria, is in Perugia. The Perugia Gryphons Quidditch trainings take place in a sports facility just 30 minutes from Todi.

Todi also had its witch, Matteuccia di Francesco, whose sad story is told by the minutes of her trial preserved in the Municipal Historical Archives. Matteuccia was a witch particularly gifted in herbology: with her remedies she could heal the sick, remove bills and evil eyes, revive love in tired or disappointed lovers. In fact, the garden of aromatic and medicinal herbs of the Agricultural Institute of Todi is dedicated to her.

One of the men for whom it is said that the witch formulated her spells was Braccio da Montone, Lord of Perugia, also known as Fortebraccio. It will not have escaped the most enthusiastic readers of the fantasy saga, that this name also appears among the characters of Harry Potter. Florian Fortebraccio is, in fact, the owner of an ice-cream shop in Diagon Alley and, when he helps the young magician to write his theme on medieval witchcraft, he turns out to be an expert connoisseur of the wizards and witches of that period, who knows perhaps why he lived with them in the Umbria of that century.