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Is the new Streeler-infused ink safe for you?
We can all remember the glee of every young student after learning the sticking charms in Professor Flitwick’s class when we realized that our favorite picture of the Weird Sisters could be stuck onto our skin. While none of us ever dared a permanent sticking charm, the small act of rebellion felt like an enormous victory!
Though tattoos are still mainly the domain of the young, they have progressed far beyond the simple charms of the Tatoo Artist hut in Diagon Alley. The former method of charming designs onto the skin retained the immobile design of muggle tattooing, but at least without the pain inherent in those techniques. Given the elasticity of magic and breadth of magical knowledge at St. Mungos, even these simple tattoos remained relatively non-permanent.
However, a new form of magical tattooing has sprung up—and with it ours and the rest of the wizarding world’s breath has been taken away. This new form mirrors the muggle techniques in that it injects a colourful potion into the skin to create the artwork onto the witch or wizard in question.
By imbuing the person with the potion, the design takes on similar qualities to magical photographs and artwork—allowing the design to move and take life on top of the witch or wizard wearing it. Boundaries are charmed into the skin to keep the artwork from wandering into unsavory areas at inopportune times.
While the draw from this astounding dermal design is taking hold across the nation, it is in the potion that many find concern. The colorful potion is brewed by drawing Streeler venom at each hour when the large snail native to Africa changes colours. By using a colour pigment imbued with magic, this allows the magical properties of the artwork to blossom on the skin of the witch or wizard that has chosen it. However, how safe is it to inject deadly Streeler venom into your skin?
So far there have been 7 deaths and over 32 injuries from incorrect brewing and use of the potion. Most of this has been from inexperienced and backdoor tattoo parlours incorrectly brewing the potion. One of the deaths resulted from a tattoo artist accidentally ingesting the venom directly during the brewing process.
We’ve yet to see how these new tattoos hold up in the long run, but at the moment, the results—though dangerous—are incredible. The wizarding pop star Zavander Smith brought this new trend to the forefront of the fashion scene in his appearance last Autumn at Glasgow stage for his first tour appearance for his new album. We’ve seen jaw-dropping works that ripple like watercolours and dragons that breathe raging fire (although unfortunately, Mr. Harry Potter’s Hungarian Horntail tattoo has yet to be confirmed).
Though tattoos saw a marked decline after the second wizarding war as many associated them with Death Eaters, the heart of art—to inspire love and beauty and to push the mind—has shown through with this fantastic new developing tattooing practice. If you’re interesting in getting tattoos of your own, Witch Weekly encourages you to always use a licensed artist. And please do send us pictures of your own body art!