Charmed Facts Only Huge Fans Will Know About The Show

For the Halliwell sisters, returning to their grandmother's manor yields a surprising revelation hidden in a dusty attic trunk. When Phoebe unearths the ancient, enchanted Book of Shadows, the siblings learn that they are the Charmed Ones — a trio of powerful witches charged with keeping the world safe from the things that go bump in the night. But what makes "Charmed" so special goes far beyond a few spells and incantations: It's how the sisters build their lives together, drawing on their love for each other while coming into their magical abilities through the Power of Three.

As they balance their jobs and dating lives with spellcasting and vanquishing demons, the empowered sisters always make time for each other inside the warm walls of Halliwell Manor. And, just like the Book of Shadows, the story of "Charmed" holds plenty of secrets that only the truly witchy are privy to. Because there's no power like the Power of Three, let's take a closer look at these "Charmed" facts only the biggest fans know.

For many bookish kids, the idea of getting swooped up to attend a secret school for magic users is the ultimate childhood fantasy, which is probably why this trope keeps popping up in works of fiction. Famous examples are Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from the "Harry Potter" franchise, Yennefer's school Aretuza in "The Witcher," and the many magical schools of "The Worst Witch." In this grand tradition, the magically-inclined kids of the "Charmed" world end up studying at Magic School, a training academy put together by the Elders to help magicians learn their craft and prevent another tragedy like the one that sank Atlantis thousands of years ago.

Hidden inside of a magical realm and accessible via potentially countless portals across Earth, Magic School can only be reached by those given permission to pass. And because magical training can be a dangerous business, no one can die there, which makes for a very strange turn of events when the conjured Headless Horseman starts decapitating its occupants. So much of the action takes place inside its walls that the series left out one of the school's most important features: It's actually a floating grand estate. This is outlined explicitly in the "Charmed" comic "No Rest for the Wicca."

While it's easy to take them for granted when you're watching a show at home, a lot of work goes into making props look convincing, whether that be realistic-looking food or Wilson the volleyball from "Castaway." And, when it comes to beautifully-crafted props, the Charmed Ones' Book of Shadows is a genuine work of art.

Although the Halliwell Sisters derive their power from the Power of Three, they need the Book of Shadows to tap into that power. A centuries-old compendium of potions, incantations, and spells first penned by their ancestor Melinda Warren, the enchanted Book of Shadows has an almost sentient presence. In a featurette about the book, executive producer Brad Kern said that each Halliwell in the family line adds to the "ancestral magic" of the book, making it stronger with each generation. In his words, it's "a living, breathing entity."

In the same featurette, Rose McGowan (Paige) praises the tome's incredible design, calling it "just stunning." The prop itself actually grew every week as artists were brought in to illustrate the latest storyline. Assistant prop master Scott Cockrell is also interviewed, and he goes into detail about the intricate, hand-drawn artwork. According to him, the artists would often base the demon characters that didn't have an actor attached on their own faces. "Sometimes they'll draw themselves," he said. "That's happened quite a few times."

One key element of the "Charmed" lore involves the past lives of the Haliwell sisters and their ancestors. As Leo explains in "Pardon My Past," souls learn and grow through each incarnation. The souls of those who knew each other in past lives will often reconnect, drawn to each other from one life to the next. Witches are more in tune with their past lives than other mortals, often experiencing echoes of things that happened a long time ago. To make things even more complicated, a witch can be contacted by the spirit of her past self.

In "Pardon My Past," Phoebe finds herself haunted by a past life from the 1920s. She is transported into this past life, and, in this incarnation, her sisters are not her sisters, but her cousins. Named P. Russell, P. Bowen, and P. Baxter, all are still witches in Melinda Warren's line, just as they are in the present. Like the present-day club owner she turns out to be, Piper's past life runs a speakeasy. She also happens to be the grandmother of the Charmed Ones' mother Patty Halliwell, thus making Piper her own direct ancestor and, more mind-blowingly, her own great-grandmother.

One of the most special relationships in "Charmed" is the enduring romance between Piper and her Whitelighter hubby Leo. He first shows up to watch over the Charmed Ones, but he and Piper fall madly in love and end up married with kids, despite the affair breaking more than a few of the Elders' rules. Their connection is a wholesome example of a stable and satisfying marriage — a rarity for television outside of the sitcom world — and Leo serves as a rock for the Halliwell sisters in general, supporting these three strong women without getting in their way.

This makes it all the more shocking when Leo gets the old Han Solo treatment as a last-ditch effort to save his life, with a heartbroken Piper telling him, "I have to lose you to save you." As it turns out, this was actually true for actor Brian Krause as well. Speaking to TV Line, producer Brad Kern lamented that since they couldn't afford to pay Krause for the whole season, they froze his character in the hopes that he would return for the "Charmed" finale. As Kern put it, "I was banking on the fact that he was truly a great guy, loyal to the audience, and he was."

After three seasons as a Charmed One, Shannen Doherty left the series amid rumors of trouble with her co-star Alyssa Milano. In a 2001 interview, Doherty told Entertainment Tonight, "There was too much drama on the set and not enough passion for the work." When the news first broke, the status of the series was up in the air. Fortunately for "Charmed" fans, the show got around losing Prue by introducing a long lost Halliwell sibling named Paige, who just happened to cross paths with Piper and Phoebe.

Casting a replacement for Doherty was no small order, and quite a few gifted young actors were considered to step in as Paige. Aaron Spelling told Entertainment Weekly that Tiffani Thiessen of "Saved by the Bell" fame was producers' "first choice" for Paige. When Thiessen told them she had her heart set on starring in a half-hour comedy, they turned to their next choice, Jennifer Love Hewitt, who was focusing on her film career at the time. After the first couple of names didn't pan out, producer Brad Kern decided to audition Rose McGowan, and she won the part on the spot. "Rose McGowan was the only person we saw for Paige," he told TV Line. "We didn't audition anyone else."

True fans of a TV series are in on all the small details that make a show special, subtle things repeated across seasons that serve as a kind of reward for viewers. For fans of "Psych," it's the pineapple hidden somewhere inside every episode. For the "Supernatural" fandom, it's the way that Sam and Dean always use the names of musicians as their aliases. Viewers who stick around long enough to finish a few seasons of "Charmed" will start to see a pattern at the end of every season. With one notable exception, every season ends with one of the Halliwells (or another entity) using magic to close the door to Halliwell manor.

For the first two seasons, the door is closed by Prue, who uses her power of telekinesis. After Prue's departure, the person closing the door seems to vary with each season. Shax shatters the manor door in Season 3, and the door is closed magically by the Angel of Destiny at the end of Season 4. Season 5 sees Chris using telekinesis to close the door, and Season 6 features Leo closing the doors in the hospital. For Season 7, the door closes on its own after Darryl's departure, which fans on Charmed Cafe take as evidence that Prue's spirit is still watching over her sisters. The series ends with Piper's granddaughter closing the door with her telekinesis, thus passing the torch to the next generation of Halliwells.