Kaliope

Kaliope
Biographical information
Born	Before September 1992
Blood status	Pure-blood
Nationality	British or Irish
Also known as	Kal
Physical information
Species	Human
Gender	Male
Hair colour	Dark pink
Eye colour	Green
Skin colour	White
Relationship information
Family members	Petra (grandmother)
Magical characteristics
Wand	11", willow, phoenix feather
Affiliation
Occupation	Street musician
House	Hufflepuff
Loyalty	Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry Hufflepuff Frog Choir Kaliope's one-man band Hogsmeade

Daniel Page: "So...these are just enchanted instruments, yeah?"

Kaliope: "That's right, but I'm still playing each instrument, just not touching them with my fingers. It's more difficult than it looks."

— Kaliope and Daniel Page

Kaliope, sometimes known as Kal, was a pure-blood wizard and a former Hogwarts student who lived in the 20th and 21st century. Upon graduating, he started his career as a travelling street musician.

Biography

Early life

Kaliope's first use of magic was related to music: while playing a piano at the age of five he used magic to twinkle the keys he couldn't reach.

Hogwarts years

Kaliope's musical talent being recognised by the Selkies

At the age of eleven, Kaliope attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where he was Sorted into Hufflepuff House. During his school years, he played a few socials and sang in the Frog Choir. Furthermore, he and his music were favoured by Professor Filius Flitwick but disliked by Argus Filch, the Hogwarts caretaker. Flitwick also revealed that Kal once convinced him to sing, which was something he usually never did.

While at Hogwarts he delighted his fellow students by playing impromptu concerts on the shore of the Great Lake, often attracting the attention of the Great Lake Selkies who seemed to like his music. At one point, he put an angry troll to sleep with just his music.

Adult life

After his graduation, Kaliope considered a professional career in the Muggle music business, however, a story from his grandmother Petra changed his thought. Kaliope travelled to so many villages that he could not remember how many, performing music magically on their streets. Sometime around or after the 2010–2011 school year, he visited the only-wizarding village Hogsmeade, where he played his one-man band as usual. During his stay, some (including Ivy Warrington and Daniel Page) admired his gift while others (including Madam Rosmerta) found him annoying. Kal also met a Muggle-born student who offered to ask a Hogwarts professor if he could perform at Hogwarts. As a result, Professor Flitwick was pleased to request permission from Headmistress Minerva McGonagall for Kaliope to perform.

Kaliope performing on the Great Lake shores

Eventually, Kal was allowed to enter the Hogwarts grounds. Soon after, Flitwick invited him to join the Frog Choir for a special performance, and a social club asked him to play a few songs. He was also popular with several students, including Ivy Warrington, who liked Kal so much that she watched his performance until she arrived late to the Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson. Even Daniel Page admitted that he enjoyed Kal's music.

Around the same time, the Muggle-born student whom he met in Hogsmeade earlier found a wand lying in the depths of the Great Lake and tried to search for its owner, who they presumed was still in the lake. However, each time they got close, a few Selkies would appear and prevent them from going further. After telling the story to Kaliope, the musician decided to help. That night, Kal brought his instruments to the lake shore and started performing, luring the merfolk to the surface and creating an opportunity for the student to jump in.

Upon reaching the bottom of the lake, the student discovered the owner of the lost wand, who was imprisoned in a cage by the merpeople. It was Qui LeBlanc, the poacher who had once tried to burn the student along with the Forbidden Forest during the baby Chinese Fireball heist between Kellen Carrion and Long Shouren. After freeing Qui, she and the student returned to the shore to meet Kaliope. There, the three had a conversation which revealed the truth about the connection between the street musician and the former poacher.

Kaliope discussing with Qui LeBlanc and the student

In actuality, Kal had hired Qui to search for something in the lake. However, before the truth could be fully revealed, Qui seized Kal's wand while he was distracted and threatened the student to return her wand. She then Disapparated away. Later, the musician and the students met in the Hogwarts kitchens, where the former shared most of the truth with the latter: Qui was paid to find his and his grandmother's family's lost heirloom. The backstory involved the phials containing several memories of Kal's family's lullabies. One of these memories, very old and significant, had been brought to Hogwarts by Kal's grandmother when she was young in order to fulfil her desire to view that memory, as she didn't have a Pensieve at home and there was one in the Headmaster's office. Unfortunately, according to her, her school rival stole it and threw it into the lake. Kal, however, believed that the lullaby memory was still somewhere in the lake. For this reason, he spent years searching for it as a street musician, travelling and performing everywhere in the hope that he would one day hear his family's song, but he never did. Then he met Qui, travelled back to the Scottish Highlands, and hired her to search for the memory.

Kaliope revealing his backstory in the Hogwarts kitchens

Kaliope, now betrayed by Qui, was still determined to find the lullaby. With generosity, the student offered to help, by attempting to learn Mermish in hope that the merfolks may knew something about the lost memory. The musician, although unsure if the merpeople would help as they might be jealous of the music, accepted the offer.

Afterwards, the student visited the Hogwarts Library for a book on Mermish (they found Merpeople: A Comprehensive Guide to Their Language and Customs by Dylan Marwood). There, they also met Daniel, who had been cursed by Fischer and Colby Frey with a Singing Spell earlier, forcing him to sing uncontrollably. After relieving Daniel of the spell, the student complimented him for his voice and jokingly suggested that he should give it a try if Kal asked him to sing.

Kaliope and the student practising Mermish

One night a few days later, after the student had practised Mermish with Kal at the Three Broomsticks Inn, the pair dived into the depths of the lake, armed with a decent proficiency in the merfolk's language. There, they encountered three merpeople: Murcus, Hydriades, and another unidentified merperson. They first spoke with Murcus, who was the Merchieftainess, about Kal's lost song. Hydriades, who overheard the conversation and joined it, then mentioned that he had heard a song decades ago and had surfaced to investigate the beautiful melody, which turned out to be Kaliope's family lullaby. The merperson explained that the song was from a phial of memory that was in the possession of a schoolgirl in a boat, Petra, Kal's grandmother, who had thrown the phial containing the memory of the lullaby into the Great Lake herself. Hydriades confirmed that he had tried to return the memory phial to Petra, but she had refused.

Kaliope trying to extract Hydriades' memory

As soon as Kal finished listening to the story, he did something the student never expected: he attacked Hydriades and Apparated the merperson to the lake's shore, causing the student to swim back to the surface. There, Kal revealed his true nature and intentions. The musician magically brought out numerous phials containing memories and began to disclose the truth: after years of searching for the lost lullaby, Kal had started collecting memories of the song from willing people to advance his search. Kal then prepared to forcibly extract the memory from Hydriades, whom Kal had thrown onto the shore, away from the water.

Fortunately, the student managed to stop Kaliope just in time and convinced him that he was worth more than a lullaby. This made Kal realise his mistake and release Hydriades. After apologising, Kal saw Hydriades, who had returned to the water, swim back with a phial in hand. He had kept Petra's memory safe all along. Kal then borrowed the Hogwarts Pensieve to view the memory.

A few days later, Kal performed the lullaby in a concert for Hogwarts students. He also told the student that his grandmother, whom he had informed about the found memory phial, revealed she had thrown it into the lake due to her insecurity about her singing talent. He vowed to sing the lullaby to audiences everywhere so that it would never be lost again and gained a valuable life lesson in the process.

When Lottie Turner was preparing for her Frog Choir audition, she felt anxious about singing in front of people. Her fellow student then took her to meet Kaliope, who was performing in Hogsmeade at that moment, for advice on overcoming her fear. Kal asked if she was afraid of performing in front of people or embarrassing herself by not being perfect, to which Lottie admitted it was the latter that she was afraid of. Kal suggested she practise embarrassing herself by hopping and croaking on Hogsmeade's High Street. As a result, Lottie felt more comfortable and less fearful during her audition in the Great Hall.

Physical description

Kaliope with his wand in his hand and his satchel on his shoulder

Kaliope had green eyes, white skin, a narrow face, and dark pink hair. He was usually seen wearing stylish white clothes and surrounded by musical instruments, playing and levitating midair with magic.

Personality and traits

Kal was a little-nosy wizard, known for his inquisitiveness and friendliness. He loved playing music for someone, meeting new people, and listening to music. Meanwhile, he disliked silence, failure, and out of tune musical instruments.

Magical abilities and skills

• Charms: Kaliope was great at using spells related to music, such as enchanting musical instruments, since a very young age.
• Music: He was so extraordinarily good at performing music that his talent was recognised by the merpeople, who were known for their love for music, themselves. Moreover, he once made an angry troll sleep with his music alone (not magically, he simply calmed the beast down until it nodded off).
• Apparition: He was able to Apparate at will.

Possessions

• Wand: Kal owned a wand, which was was 11" long, made of willow with a phoenix feather core.
• Musical instruments: Kaliope was also in possession of a lot of musical instruments, which he used for his one-man band. These included a cello, a piano, a pair of drums, a clarinet, and a trumpet.
• Satchel: He occasionally carried a satchel over his shoulder.

Etymology

In Greek mythology, Calliope was the muse of epic poetry and eloquence. She is represented as a maiden wearing a golden crown, which, according to Hesiod, indicated her superiority over the other muses. In ancient Greek, calliope means 'beautiful voice'.

Behind the scenes

"There's a new character in the Black Lake season name Kaliope (Kal). He changed A LOT from his beginnings to where he is now."

— Rob DeBorde

• Kaliope was first mentioned by the lead writer Rob DeBorde in an interview regarding the seventh season of Harry Potter: Magic Awakened: Black Lake Lullaby.
• Kaliope was voiced by Christian Wirtz in the English version and by Kenji Yamamoto in the Japanese version.
• On 29 June 2024, the game's Twitter account in Japanese posted illustrated art depicting Kal and an owl along with the caption "誰かのために音楽を演奏することが好きなミュージシャン♪ その優しい笑顔でちびフクロウと過ごす、 ほのぼのとした日常は、目も心も癒してくれる" (A musician who likes to play music for someone♪ Spend time with that gentle smile with the little owl. A heartwarming daily life heals your eyes and mind).
• It is possible that Kal was the unidentified student played by Phil Cross in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, as they share a few similarities: both were male Hufflepuff students and members of the Frog Choir during Flitwick's tenure at Hogwarts.

Appearances

• Harry Potter: Magic Awakened (First appearance)

External links

• Kaliope at the Harry Potter: Magic Awakened Wiki