Magic in Harry Potter

In the fictional universe of Harry Potter, magic is depicted as a supernatural force that overrides the laws of nature. In humans, magical ability is inborn and is usually inherited. Most children of magical parents are magical themselves. Some children of "Muggle" (non-magical) parents also display magical ability. Children who are born to wizard parents but are unable to perform magic are known as Squibs.

J. K. Rowling, the creator of Harry Potter, based many magical elements in her fictional universe on real-world mythology and folklore. She has described this derivation as "a way of giving texture to the world". The magic of Harry Potter was the subject of a 2017 British Library exhibition and an accompanying documentary. The exhibition, entitled Harry Potter: A History of Magic, was the first at the British Library to be based on a single series by a living author.

Using magic

Wizards must learn how to control their magic. In young and untrained children, magical effects will occur spontaneously during moments of strong emotion. For example, Harry Potter liberates a boa constrictor at the London Zoo and inflates his Aunt Marge to an enormous size. Although young children usually cannot control their magic, the young Voldemort could intentionally cause magical things to happen. In the novels, almost all intentional magic is performed with a wand.

Spells are the every-purpose tools of a wizard. They are generally short bursts of magic used to accomplish a specialised task, such as creating fire or unlocking a door. Casting a spell usually requires the movement of a wand and the uttering of an incantation. The language of the incantations in the Harry Potter novels has been described as modified Latin. Although wizards in the novels almost always use a wand for casting spells, Rowling has used the Wizarding World website to describe certain wizarding cultures that practise magic without a wand. While most spells depicted in the books require the caster to use their voice, some do not. For example, Albus Dumbledore has been known to do impressive feats of magic without speaking. In Order of the Phoenix, Harry performs lumos to light his wand when he is not holding it.

The limits of magic

Before publishing the first Harry Potter novel, Rowling spent five years establishing the limitations of magic – determining what it can and cannot 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." In the novels, the character Hermione Granger explains that food cannot be conjured out of thin air. Wizards can prepare it using magic and even multiply it, but they cannot create it. According to Rowling, money also cannot be conjured from nothing.

Death

In Goblet of Fire, Albus Dumbledore tells Harry that magic cannot truly and permanently bring dead individuals back to life. However, there are methods of communicating with the dead in a limited way. For example, all Hogwarts headmasters appear in a magical portrait when they die, which allows future generations to consult with them. However, the portrait is a reflection of who the wizard was, and is not a link to their spirit. The Resurrection Stone allows the bearer to speak with the dead, but it cannot bring the dead back into the living world.

Likewise, it is not possible to make oneself immortal unless one uses an object of great power to sustain life, such as the Philosopher's Stone or a Horcrux. If one were to possess the three Deathly Hallows, it is fabled that they would possess the tools to become the "master of death". Other methods of extending life include drinking unicorn blood, which will keep a person alive even if death is imminent, but at the price of being cursed forever. Being magical can contribute to one's longevity, as there are several characters in the series who are unusually long-lived. It is revealed by Nearly Headless Nick in the fifth novel that all wizards have the choice of becoming ghosts upon dying; however, it is described as "a pale imitation of life". Rowling has stated that death is the most important theme in the novels.

Emotion

As explained earlier, young untrained wizards can trigger uncontrolled magic when they are in a state of intense emotion. But emotions also affect trained witches and wizards and their magical abilities. For instance, in Half-Blood Prince, a heartbroken Nymphadora Tonks temporarily loses her power as a Metamorphmagus when Remus Lupin starts distancing himself from her; the form of her Patronus changes to reflect her depression. Another example is Merope Gaunt, who only demonstrated any magical ability when removed from her father's oppression, but then lost it again when her husband abandoned her.

Several magical spells require the use of certain emotions when casting them. The Patronus charm, for example, requires the caster to concentrate on a happy memory.

Love is depicted as a particularly powerful form of magic. Lily Potter's voluntary sacrifice on Harry's behalf grants him a magical protection that saves him from Voldemort as a baby, and Harry makes a similar sacrifice to save his friends at the end of Deathly Hallows. A certain key prophecy in the series describes Harry as having "power the Dark Lord knows not", referencing his capacity for love.

True love is impossible to create magically, although love potions can create intense infatuation.

Magical abilities

Animagus

An animagus is a wizard who can turn into a particular animal at will. This ability is acquired by magical means. By law, all British animagi must register with the Ministry of Magic. During the course of the series, several unregistered animagi are depicted, including James Potter, Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew, and Rita Skeeter. Minerva McGonagall is a registered animagus who takes the form of a domestic cat. A wizard's animagus form is determined by their personality.

Apparition

Apparition is a magical form of teleportation, by which a wizard can disappear ("Disapparate") from one location and reappear ("Apparate") in another. According to Harry, Apparition feels like being squeezed through a tight rubber tube. A wizard must be at least 17 years old to Apparate, and students at Hogwarts may take Apparition lessons during their sixth year. Wizards without an Apparition license can use "side-along apparition" to travel with someone who does.

Learning to Apparate is difficult, and students run the risk of splinching—being physically split between the origin and destination. Splinching is quite common during lessons, and can be uncomfortable or very painful, but is ultimately harmless if properly reversed. To remedy a splinch requires the assistance of the Ministry's Accidental Magic Reversal Squad or essence of dittany.

Apparition is considered unreliable over long distances, and even experienced practitioners sometimes prefer other means of transport. Rowling has stated that cross-continental Apparition "would almost certainly result in severe injury or death." For reasons of security, Hogwarts is protected by anti-Apparition spells, which prevent most humans from Apparating on the school grounds.

Magical devices such as the Floo Network, Portkeys and Vanishing Cabinets also provide forms of teleportation.

Gubraithian fire

Gubraithian Fire is an everlasting magical fire that can only be created by extremely skilled wizards. Hagrid and Madame Maxime gave a bundle of Gubraithian fire, conjured by Dumbledore, to the leader of the giants. The gift was part of an attempt to sway the giants to Dumbledore's side in the struggle against Voldemort.

Legilimency and Occlumency

Legilimency is the practice of extracting feelings and memories from another person's mind – a form of magical telepathy. It also allows the practitioner to convey visions or memories to another person. A wizard possessing this skill is called a Legilimens, and can, for example, detect deceit in another person, witness their memories, or plant visions in their mind. The counter-skill to Legilimency is Occlumency, which is practised by an Occlumens. It can be used to prevent a Legilimens from discovering the practitioner's thoughts or memories. Voldemort, Severus Snape, and Albus Dumbledore are all skilled in Legilimency and Occlumency.

Metamorphmagus

A metamorphmagus is a wizard who can change their appearance at will. Nymphadora Tonks and her son, Teddy Lupin, are the only living metamorphmagi mentioned in the novels. At various points, Tonks changes her hair colour and style according to her mood. She is a relatively young woman, but she occasionally chooses to appear elderly.

Parselmouth

Parseltongue is the language of snakes. Those who can speak parseltongue are called parselmouths. The ability is rare, and the only parselmouths mentioned in the novels are Harry, Voldemort, Salazar Slytherin and Slytherin's descendants. Rowling said she derived the term "parselmouth" from "an old word for someone who has a problem with the mouth, like a hare lip".

Seer

A seer is a wizard with the clairvoyant ability to foresee future events. The predictions given through this ability can sometimes be self-fulfilling prophecies, and Dumbledore states in Order of the Phoenix that not all of them come true, depending on the choices made by those involved. According to Minerva McGonagall, true seers are extremely rare. Sybill Trelawney is the only seer portrayed in the novel. She has twice made true prophecies – both significant to Harry Potter – but had no recollection of either prediction afterward.

Spell-like effects

Unbreakable vow

The unbreakable vow is a voluntary agreement made between two wizards. It must be performed with the assistance of a witness, known as a "bonder". The vow is not literally unbreakable, but breaking it will cause death.

Priori incantatem

Priori incantatem is a spell-like effect used to reveal the spells cast by a wand. The spells emerge from the wand as ghost-like replicas in reverse order, with the latest spell cast emerging first. Forcing two wands that share the source of their cores to battle can unintentionally cause a potent form of priori incantatem. The loser's wand will regurgitate shadows of spells that it has cast, in time reverse order. This side-effect occurs during the duel between Harry and Voldemort at the end of Goblet of Fire. Their simultaneous, contrary spells trigger the threads, and as Voldemort loses the battle of wills, his wand regurgitates, in reverse order, echoes of the people his wand had most recently murdered.

Dark Arts

The Dark Arts are magical spells and practices that are usually used for malicious purposes. Practitioners of the Dark Arts are referred to as Dark wizards. The most prominent Dark wizard is Voldemort, who has followers called Death Eaters. The type of spells characteristic of Dark Arts are known as curses, which usually cause harm to the target.

Use of Dark Magic can corrupt the soul and body; Voldemort has used such magic in his quest to prolong his life and obtain great power. The Dark Arts also cause Voldemort to look deformed and inhuman, a side effect of splitting his soul into Horcruxes.

In the wizarding world, use of the Dark Arts is strongly stigmatised and certain spells are illegal. Hogwarts and other schools instruct students in Defence Against the Dark Arts. Some schools, such as Durmstrang, teach Dark magic. A Dark Arts class is also taught at Hogwarts while it is under Death Eater control.

Unforgivable curses

The Unforgivable Curses are the three worst known spells of the Dark Arts. They are so-named because their use is legally forbidden and unpardonable in wizarding law, and is punishable by a life sentence in Azkaban.

• Avada Kedavra, also known as "the killing curse" causes immediate death. It has no cure, and cannot be blocked by most magical means. Harry Potter is the only person known to have survived this curse. The incantation for this curse is avada kedavra.

• The Cruciatus Curse causes the victim intense pain and is used for torture. The strength of the curse is determined by the motivations of the caster. For example, a sadistic desire to inflict pain will produce a more effective curse than righteous anger. The curse has been used to torture victims to the point of death or insanity. The incantation for the Cruciatus Curse is crucio, which is Latin for "I torture".
• The Imperius Curse is used for mind control or hypnosis, and can force the victim to do things they would normally be unwilling or unable to. The incantation for the Imperius Curse is imperio.

Dark Mark

The Dark Mark is the symbol of Voldemort and the Death Eaters. It appears as a skull with a snake for a tongue, and is cast into the sky whenever Death Eaters commit a murder. Every Death Eater has the Dark Mark branded on their forearm. This brand allows the Death Eaters and Voldemort to summon each other.

Inferius

An inferius (plural: inferi) is a corpse that is animated and manipulated by a dark wizard. An inferius is not alive, but has been bewitched to perform a specific duty. An inferius carries out its assigned task mindlessly and cannot think for itself. In the novels, the Ministry of Magic fears that Voldemort is killing enough people to make an army of inferi.

Horcrux

See also: Magical objects in Harry Potter § Horcruxes

A Horcrux is an object created using dark magic to attain a type of immortality. The concept is first introduced in the sixth novel, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, although Horcruxes are present in earlier novels without being explained or identified as such.

To create a Horcrux, a witch or wizard must first prepare the chosen object in a ritual which Rowling described only as "too horrible to go into detail about". Following the preparation of the object, the witch or wizard must then take a life, an act which splits the soul. Following that, further dark rituals are required in order to remove the soul shard from the maker and place it into the prepared object. Once this is done, the Horcrux becomes magically protected from almost all forms of destruction, requiring extremely powerful magic or especially destructive substances to do so.

Ordinarily, when one's body is killed, the soul departs for the next world. If, however, the body of a Horcrux maker is killed, that portion of his soul which was still in his body will not pass on to the next world, but will rather exist in a non-corporeal form capable of being resurrected by another wizard. If all of someone's Horcruxes are destroyed, then his soul's only anchor in the material world would be his body, the destruction of which would then cause his final death. To destroy the Horcrux, the destroyer must destroy it in such a way that it is put beyond magical repair.

Magic at Hogwarts

Main article: Hogwarts § Subjects

At Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, students must study certain core subjects for the first two years. These compulsory subjects are Astronomy, Charms, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, History of Magic, Potions and Transfiguration. Flying lessons are also required during the first year. At the start of their third year, students are required to add at least two elective subjects. The five choices are Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, Care of Magical Creatures, Divination and Muggle Studies.

Portraits

In the Harry Potter series, characters depicted in painted portraits can move, interact with living observers, speak and demonstrate emotion and personality. Some can travel to other portraits. The headmaster's office at Hogwarts contains portraits of past headmasters, which advise the current headmaster. Individuals depicted in wizarding photographs cannot speak, but they can move around and leave the frame if they choose.

See also

• Magical creatures in Harry Potter
• Magical objects in Harry Potter

Further reading

• Black, Sharon (2003). "The Magic of Harry Potter: Symbols and Heroes of Fantasy". Children's Literature in Education. 34 (3): 237–247. doi:10.1023/A:1025314919836. ISSN 0045-6713. S2CID 162551714.
• Highfield, Roger (2002). The Science of Harry Potter: How magic really works. New York: Viking. ISBN 978-0-670-03153-5.
• Rowling, J. K. (July 2007). "J.K. Rowling Interview – The Deathly Hallows Web Chat". MuggleNet. Archived from the original on 8 July 2012.
• Teare, Elizabeth (2002). "Harry Potter and the technology of magic". In Whited, Lana A. (ed.). The Ivory Tower and Harry Potter: Perspectives on a literary phenomenon. Columbia, Missouri: University of Missouri Press. p. 342. ISBN 978-0-8262-1549-9.