1740s

The following events happened in the 1740s:

Events

• 1741: Dilys Derwent becomes Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
• 1743: Gideon Flatworthy leads the extremist anti-Muggle group, the Accionites. After being pursued by Goblin goldsmiths from whom they had stolen, the group hide in a remote cave in Pembrokeshire. Disillusioned with Flatworthy's leadership, the Accionites abandon him in the cave where, perhaps driven mad by hunger, on 18 September, he would Summon an entire farm, crushing him to death beneath cattle and haystacks.
• 1743: The forty-ninth Wizarding Schools Potions Championship is held.
• 1743: The Daily Prophet begins publication.
• 1747: Albert Boot is elected Minister for Magic to replace the recently deceased Eldritch Diggory.
• 1749: A breach in the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy involving Vampires is contained, and safety concerns are met with new laws.

Quidditch

• 1740 to 1744: The Slytherin Quidditch team was captained by Russell Lucky for four consecutive school years.
• 1744 to 1748: The Slytherin Quidditch team was captained by Dan Darker.
• 1748: The Slytherin team was captained by Jess Lafington for four consecutive school years, starting from 1748.

Births

• 1742: Glover Hipworth.
• 1742: Beaumont Majoribanks.

Deaths

• 1743: Honoria Nutcombe.
• 18 September, 1743: Gideon Flatworthy.
• 1747: Eldritch Diggory.

Behind the scenes

• The breach in the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy in 1749 involving vampires may be inspired by the real-world work of Benedictine monk Antoine Augustin Calmet, who is famous for being among the first to record stories about vampires in Western Europe. In 1746, Calmet suggested that vampires may actually exist, and in 1749, Calmet published a treatise that describes how to track them down in their lairs and destroy them. If so, Calmet (or his source) may be a wizard in the Harry Potter universe, since only wizards and witches could possibly commit such a breach.