Magic and magical theory

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About • 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 • 19 • 20 • 21 • 22 • 23 • 24 • 25 • 26 • 27 • 28 • 29 • 30 • 31 • 32 • 33 • 34 • 35 • 36 • Epilogue

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them • Quidditch Through the Ages • The Tales of Beedle the Bard

About

About • 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • Epilogue

About • The Wizard and the Hopping Pot • The Fountain of Fair Fortune • The Warlock's Hairy Heart • Babbity Rabbity and her Cackling Stump • The Tale of the Three Brothers

Daily Prophet Newsletters • Rowling's original website • Pottermore • more

About • 1 • 2 • 3 • 4

1997-1999: PS, CS, and PA • Page Books one and two were both published in Britain before book one came out in the US. British fans got an eighteen month head start on American fans. When book three came out, the US edition came out “only” two months after the UK edition. This was the last time that… Read More

A Magical Worldview • Essay

Posted August 19, 2001 by Steve VanderArk in Essays

The way that witches and wizards think about everything, including spells, is completely different from the way we Muggles think about it. When we consider the mechanics of, say, aiming a spell at something, we ask “Muggle” questions like “Do you have to have line of sight?” that they would… Read More

A View of the Map: Understanding How the Marauder's Map Works • Essay

Posted November 3, 2003 by Steve Beers in Essays

Let us take a look at the mysterious, amazing Marauder’s Map. But first, let’s look at the castle. If you research castles on the Internet, you will see that Hogwarts is a castle of unprecedented (mammoth, huge, gigantic) size. You might find some castles that have towers that are 7 commercial stories high,… Read More

Acacia • Plants • Wandmaking Acacia is a type of wand wood known for creating “tricky wands,” described by Ollivander in his essays on wandlore (Pm). Read More

Achievements in Charming • Books and Literature Achievements in Charming is a charms spell book, useful for studying for the Theory of Charms O.W.L. Read More

Adalbert Waffling • Character Adalbert Waffling was a famous magical theoretician and the author of Magical Theory (PS5, FW). Read More

Age Line • Magical effects An Age Line is a thin golden line drawn on a floor which affects anyone too young to cross it. Read More

Albus Dumbledore sits his N.E.W.T.s • Event He is examined in Transfiguration and Charms by Griselda Marchbanks, who later says that he did things with a wand she’d never seen before. Read More

Alchemy • Areas of knowledge Alchemy is the ancient study of transforming base metals into gold and eventually creating a Philospher’s Stone which would give the owner eternal life. Because metals must be melted and mixed before they are transformed into gold, alchemy is a cross between Potions and Transfiguration. The most famous alchemist in… Read More

Alchemy, Ancient Art and Science • Books and Literature Alchemy, Ancient Art and Science is a book written by a servant of Lord Voldemort, Argus Pyrites (JKR). Read More

Alder • Plants • Wandmaking Alder is a type of wand wood (Pm). Read More

Ancient Egyptian Magic • Event Egyptian wizards put curses on tombs which nowadays are broken by curse-breakers for Gringotts Bank who try to regain the treasure locked in those tombs. When the Weasley family visited Egypt, Ron saw mutant skeletons of Muggles who had broken into a pyramid and “grown extra heads and stuff” as… Read More

Ancient Magic • Magical discipline Ancient Magic is extremely old and mysterious, and a wand is not necessary for it to work. It is part of the “magical-ness” of the universe. Read More

Ancient Magic: Magic from Before the Dawn of Time? • Essay

Posted March 28, 2002 by Steve VanderArk in Canon discussion / Essays

A comparison is inevitable between the Old Magic of the Harry Potter universe and the Magic From Before the Dawn of Time from C. S. Lewis’s Narnia books. Clearly there are similarities between the two, although they are not identical. Both the Harry Potter and the Narnia versions serve as a stronger, more intrinsic form… Read More

Ancient Runes Made Easy • Books and Literature Ancient Runes Made Easy is an introductory textbook for the study of Ancient Runes. Read More

And another essay . . . the physics of magic • Article

Posted January 1, 2007 by Paula Hall and Corinne Demyanovich in Website news / What's New

I’m just trying to make up for lost time over my busy holiday season! Here’s another great essay, this one by Dr. Immo Garrn, adapted from a presentation he made at the Patronus conference in Copenhagen during the Summer of 2006 about the physics of magic. Read More

Animagus • Magical identities An Animagus is a wizard or witch who is capable of transforming him- or herself into the form of an animal. Ordinary Transfiguration of a human into an animal’s shape results in the human having an animal’s brain, and thus being unable to remember what he or she was supposed… Read More

Animagus Transfiguration • Magical effects Animagus Transfiguration is the magical process of taking on the form of an animal, or afterward, reverting back again to human form. The animal form is sometimes referred to as the witch or wizard’s Animagus form. See the Animagi entry for further details about wizarding folk who can perform this… Read More

Another View of Magic, Genes, and Pure Blood • Essay

Posted April 30, 2006 by Professor Koniphorus Swamp in Essays

I read with interest the essay “Magic, Genes, and Pure Blood,” by glamourousgeek, being myself involved in research into the complex inheritance of magic, but I must take exception to the science expressed within it.[*] Even if the magic trait is inherited through Mendelian genetics (which does not quite… Read More

Anti-Disapparation Jinx • Spells The Anti-Disapparation Jink prevents someone from Disapparating, or disappearing to magically travel somewhere else. Read More

Anti-Gravity Mist • Magical effects Anti-Gravity Mist is a Charm which creates an innocent-looking golden mist that hovers above the ground. A person stepping into this mist immediately finds that up and down have reversed and they are hanging from the ground over the endless sky. Read More

Apparition • Magical discipline Apparition is an advanced spell used by fully trained witches and wizards to disappear from one place and appear almost instantly somewhere else. A person who uses this spell is referred to as an Apparator. Apparition is typically cast non-verbally. Read More

Apparition lessons • Hogwarts academics Wizards who have come of age can take lessons in Apparition at Hogwarts (HBP17). Read More

Apple • Wandmaking A wand wood (Pm). Read More

Arithmancer • Magical identities Someone who practices Arithmancy, the magical study of numbers, is called an Arithmancer. Read More

Arithmancy • Areas of knowledge • Hogwarts academics Arithmancy is a branch of magic that is concerned with the magical properties of numbers; someone who practices Arithmancy is called an Arithmancer. Read More

Arithmancy class • Hogwarts academics Arithmancy class is taught at Hogwarts by Professor Vector. Read More

Ash • Wandmaking A wand wood also used to make other magical objects. Read More

Aspen • Wandmaking A wand wood (Pm). Read More

Astrology • Areas of knowledge A type of Divination which relies on star charts and the time and date of a person’s birth. Read More