Magic is what sets folks in the Wizarding World apart from their Muggle neighbors. Magic is the heart and soul of the Wizarding culture in the same way that science and technology are heart and soul of Muggle culture. Where a Muggle would pound a stake into the ground using a sledge hammer (a simple machine), a Wizard would use a wand. Both the Muggle and the Wizard view their choice of tool as completely and utterly logical and ordinary, although each would find the other's tools fascinating and even mysterious.
The basic concepts of magic are fairly
simple--even a two-year-old
Wizard can do some form of magic--but the inherent power and potential
for misuse are great indeed. It is for this reason that promising young
Witches and Wizards are sent off to Hogwarts and other schools of magic
to refine their craft and learn the art and responsibility
of their power. At Hogwarts, students learn a variety of magical specialties
as well as general theory and the history of magic in their world.
magical
theory
Rowling spent the
first five years of creating the Harry Potter books working on "the rules"
for her fictional universe. She doesn't spell out these rules in the books,
but she drops plenty of hints. In order for the ordinary "Muggle" reader
to better understand the way things work in the world she created, the
Lexicon presents a series of essays detailing these rules, as far as we
can descern them. None of these essays is written by Rowling herself, but
each one is based on careful analysis and interpretation of events in the
stories.
reference
history
of magic
magic
items
other
forms of magic
from the Wizard's
Atlas:
Atlas
of Wizarding Britain
Atlas
of the Wizarding World
Wand,
Word, and Will: How Magic Works
A
Magical Worldview
Ancient
Magic: Magic from Before the Dawn of Time?
Magical
Devices and their Muggle Counterparts
When
Magic Meets Muggle Technology essay
by PrefectMarcus
Magical
Ability and Magic Wands essay
by Lisa Inman
Spells
and Charms: The Nature of Magic essay
by Amy Z.
Limits
of Magic essay
by Caius Marcius
Harry
Potter's Magic essay
by Alan Jacobs
Thoughts
About Wands essay
by Amy Z.
Muggle
vs. Wizarding Technology essay by Joywitch M. Curmudgeon
Familiarity,
A Key to Understanding Spellwork essay
by Paul Dionne
magical
reference
Charms
Divination
Herbology
Potions
Transfiguration
The
Dark Arts
medical
magic
Arithmancy
history
of magic
some
notable events in the history of the Wizarding World
magical
items
books
of magic spells by topic
wands
other
magical items
potion
ingredients
magical
plants
Dark
Magic items
magical
creatures
other
forms of magic
House
Elf magic
broom
magic
fairy
magic
Kwikspell
ancient
magic
