Magic
From Teach And Discover Wiki
See also,
- Wands & Wandlore
- Mills Family Wand Company
- Spells
- Magical Creatures
- Magical Objects
- Beartooth School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
In humans, magic or the lack thereof is an inborn attribute. It is inherited, carried on "dominant resilient genes. Magic is the norm in the children of magical couples and less common in those of Muggles. Exceptions exist: those unable to do magic who are born to magical parents are known as Squibs, whereas a witch or wizard born to Muggle parents is known as a Muggle-born, or by the pejorative "Mudblood". While Muggle-borns are quite common, Squibs are extremely rare, which might be reflected by the contrasting sizes of Muggle and Wizarding populations.
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Using magic
For a person's ability to perform magic to be useful, a good deal of training is required. When 'wild,' typically with young and untrained children, it will still manifest itself subconsciously in moments of strong apprehension, fear, or anger. For example, Harry Potter once made his hair grow back after a bad haircut, and, in anger, made his Aunt Marge inflate enormously. Whilst this reaction is almost always uncontrollable, Tom Marvolo Riddle, later known as Lord Voldemort, was able to "make things move without touching them, ... Make animals do what he wanted without training them, ... make bad things happen to people who annoy him, ... or 'make them hurt if I [he] want[s] to'" when he was a young child, apparently intentionally. This may be due to the fact that magic occurs through anger or grief, and since Tom Riddle had quite the tormenting childhood he would have had a great amount of practice to hone this ability, but this is pure speculation. Almost all magic is done with the use of a supporting tool or focus, typically a wand. On the subject of magic without the use of a wand, Rowling says: "You can do unfocused and uncontrolled magic without a wand (for instance when Harry blows up Aunt Marge) but to do really good spells, yes, you need a wand."
A wizard or witch is only at their best when using their own wand. Throughout the series, it is evident that when using another's wand, one's spells are not as strong as they normally would be.
Within the books, technical details of magic are obscure. Of Harry's lessons only those involving magical creatures, potions or divination are given in any detail. Severus Snape once told Harry Potter that "Time and space matter in magic..." during Harry's first Occlumency class in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Albus Dumbledore told Harry after finding the magically concealed boat to reach the locket Horcrux that "Magic always leaves traces...sometimes distinctive traces..."
The limits of magic
Before publishing the first Harry Potter novel, Rowling spent five years establishing the limitations of magic; determining what it could and could not do. "The most important thing to decide when you're creating a fantasy world," she said in 2000, "is what the characters CAN'T do." For instance, while it is possible to conjure things out of thin air, it is far more tricky to create something that fits an exact specification rather than a general one; moreover, any objects so conjured tend not to last.
It is also impossible to resurrect the dead. Corpses can be transformed into obedient Inferi on a living wizard's command, though they are little more than zombies with no soul or will of their own. It is also possible via the rare Priori Incantatem effect to converse with ghost-like "shadows" of magically murdered people. The Resurrection Stone also allows one to talk to the dead, but those brought back by the Stone are not corporeal, nor do they wish to be disturbed from their peaceful rest.
Likewise, it is impossible to make oneself immortal unless one makes use of a mystical object of great power to sustain life (such as the Philosopher's Stone created by Nicolas Flamel or a Horcrux, the latter having been used by Voldemort). If one were to possess the three Deathly Hallows, it is fabled that they would possess the tools to become the "master of death". However, being a true "master of death" is to be willing to accept that death is inevitable.
A loop-hole (or more) exists to prevent the immediate murder of a wizard. Blood seems to be one of them; Harry Potter's blood was used in Voldemort's resurrection; however, since Lily Potter's magical protection was in Harry's blood and his blood flowed through Voldemort’s new body, Harry could not be killed while Voldemort was alive. He was, however, sent to limbo, with his blood running in Voldemort's veins Harry was given a lifeline back into the world of the living.
Principal Exceptions to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration
The Principal Exceptions to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration are five magical objects that are an exception to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration — objects that cannot be created by magic. Out of the five exceptions, only four are mentioned in the series: food, love, life, and information. The fifth and final exception is likely money, as Rowling once remarked in an interview money is something wizards cannot simply materialise out of thin air, for the economic system of the Wizarding World would then be gravely flawed and disrupted. However, the Philosopher's Stone does possess the ability to make any metal into gold, which is the same metal as the currency of the Wizarding World.
Love, the second of the five exceptions, is first mentioned in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by Horace Slughorn. Food, the first of the five exceptions, is first mentioned in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, by Hermione Granger and is later mentioned again by Ron Weasley; the food in the kitchens at Hogwarts is not conjured; rather, it is transported upwards through the floor from the basement. In other instances in the series it appears that food has also been magically created; this explanation is likely valid here as well.
Magic and emotion
A witch or wizard's emotional state can affect their inherent abilities. In Half-Blood Prince, Nymphadora Tonks temporarily lost her power as a Metamorphmagus after suffering severe emotional turmoil when Remus Lupin would not return her affections. In effect, the form of her Patronus changed to reflect her love for him. As related to Harry by Dumbledore, Merope Gaunt only demonstrated any magical ability when removed from her father's oppression, but then seemed to lose it again when her husband abandoned her. Many other examples of emotion-influenced magic appear throughout the series, with Ariana (Dumbledore's sister), and Harry's attack upon Aunt Marge in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, being prime examples.
Magic and death
Like love, death is studied in detail in a room (called the Death Chamber) of the Department of Mysteries containing an enigmatic veil (this suggests some sort of portal between the worlds of the dead and the living, but the exact significance of the veil is unclear). Sirius Black fell through this veil after he was killed by Bellatrix Lestrange.
Magical techniques have been used to prolong life. The Philosopher's Stone can be used to prepare a potion that postpones death indefinitely. Voldemort has availed himself of other methods, being one of the few wizards ever to use Horcruxes in his long sought attempt to "conquer death", and is believed to be the only one to use multiple Horcruxes. In addition, the drinking of Unicorn blood will keep a person alive even if death is imminent, but at the terrible price of being cursed forever.
Being magical can contribute to one's longevity, as there are several characters in the series who are quite long-lived.
It is revealed by Nearly Headless Nick in Book 5 that wizards have the option of becoming ghosts when they die. The alternative is "passing on". All Hogwarts headmasters appear in a portrait when they die, allowing consultation by future generations.
In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Dumbledore says that there is no spell that can reawaken the dead, however several instances of dead people becoming half-alive are known. In the Goblet of Fire, because of a connection between Harry and Voldemort's wands, images of Voldemort's recent victims (Cedric Diggory, Frank Bryce, Bertha Jorkins, and both of Harry's parents) appear and help Harry escape. According to Harry, they seemed too solid to be ghosts.
In Deathly Hallows, a magical item known as the Resurrection Stone is said to have the power to raise the dead. According to the legend of the Deathly Hallows, however, the people are not fully brought back and do not feel as if they belong in the human world.
Magic and love
Arguably the most powerful form of magic is also the most mysterious and elusive: love. Voldemort, having never experienced love himself, underestimates its influence—to his detriment. It is also significant that Voldemort's parents did not love each other, Merope, his mother, slipped his father some love potion as he rode by one day without his attractive companion, Cecilia. He became infatuated with Merope and they eloped. Within three months of the marriage, Merope became pregnant. Merope decided to stop giving Tom the love potion; she believed either that he had fallen in love with her on his own or he would at least stay for their unborn child. She was wrong, and Tom quickly left his pregnant wife and went home to his parents, claiming to have been "hoodwinked" and tricked into marrying Merope. It was through love that Lily Potter was able to save her son Harry from death by sacrificing her life so that he might live. Harry used very much the same mechanism to negate the power of Voldemort's spells against the students and teachers of Hogwarts and other companions. The exact nature of how "love-magic" works is unknown; it is studied in-depth at the Department of Mysteries. Another example of Magic having a strong influence on Love is when Snape's Patronus is revealed to be the same as Lily's, the only love of his life.
Spellcasting
- See the list of spells for those witnessed in books.
Spells are the every-purpose tools of a wizard or witch; short bursts of magic used to accomplish single specialised tasks such as opening locks or creating fire. Typically casting requires an incantation, most often in a modified form of Latin, and gesturing with a wand. However, these seem to be aids to the will only; wands are in most cases required, but there are indications that sufficiently advanced witches and wizards can perform spells without them. Spells can also be cast non-verbally, but with a wand. This technique is taught in the sixth year of study at Hogwarts and requires the caster to concentrate on the incantation. Some spells (e.g. Levicorpus) are apparently designed to be used non-verbally. While most magic shown in the books requires the caster to use their voice, some do not (and this may depend on the witch or wizard). Dumbledore has been known to do good-sized feats of magic without speaking, such as conjuring enough squashy purple sleeping bags to accommodate the entire student population. Also, during Voldemort and Dumbledore's duel towards the end of Order of the Phoenix, neither wizard speaks any of their spells aloud and the magic they perform is vastly more powerful than any performed by the Order of the Phoenix or the Death Eaters.
It is evidently also possible to use a wand without holding it. Harry himself performs Lumos to light his wand when it is lying on the ground somewhere near him. This should not be confused with wandless magic, as the wand was still the source of light. It is unknown where the light would originate if one were to use Lumos without a wand present; it is likely that simply nothing would happen. Additionally, Animagi and Metamorphmagi do not need wands to undergo their transformations.
Spells are divided into rough categories, such as "charms", "curses", "hexes", or "jinxes". Although offensive and potentially dangerous curses exist in number, three are considered usable only for great evil, which earns them the special classification of "Unforgivable Curses". The Unforgivable Curses are the Cruciatus Curse (torture curse), Imperius Curse (allows control over another) and Avada Kedavra (the killing curse). The use of these curses on another human or probably any sentient being earns a "one-way ticket to Azkaban" and a life sentence unless you have Ministry authorization to use these curses, such as Aurors, or teachers that demonstrate for instructional purposes. However, Harry himself used the Cruciatus Curse twice: on Bellatrix Lestrange after she killed his godfather in Order of the Phoenix and in Deathly Hallows against Amycus Carrow. He also used the Imperius Curse on a Death Eater and a Goblin in Deathly Hallows to break into Gringotts. Harry was not prosecuted.
