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thebestofoneshots · 8 months

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timeless morning bIiss | S.B x reader

Pairing: Sirius Black x reader (can be read as male and female / no use of they/them pronouns, only you) Word Count: 0.6 k Warnings: None, So fluffy you may get cavities. Prompt: Morning cuddles with Sirius, because I really needed some morning cuddles and Sirius deserves all the cuddles in the entire world.

The alarm blared again, you pulled your wand from the bedside table and shut the clock for like the third time that morning, turning around to see Sirius, still sleeping snugly next to you.

“Hey Puppy, it’s time to wake up,” you said, nudging him a little with your hand.

Sirius groaned and grabbed your hand to pull you closer to him, placing you in between his arm and his chest, he was so warm you almost melted into him “5 more minutes luv, please.”

You snuggled closer to the boy, leaning up just a little to place a soft kiss on his cheek “It’s not me who has to go baby.”

He groaned again “5 more minutes… they can wait 5 more minutes for me.” You laughed at his stubbornness and just pressed yourself closer to him, which had him shrug “Maybe 10 if you keep cuddling me like that.”

You giggled at his words and leaned over again to press another kiss to his cheek but Sirius, being Sirius, turned his head to steal a kiss from your lips. He lazily opened his eyes, smiling when the first thing he saw was your beautiful blushed face “Hello beautiful,” he whispered, voice still a little bit raspy from the morning.

You leaned over and kissed him again, which had him swiftly moving you closer, almost completely on top of him. You pressed kisses all over his face, first a soft one to his lips, then over his eyes, then on his temple and cheeks, one on his eyebrows, and one on his nose, all the while cradling his head in between your hands.

Sirius smiled like the dumb in-love man he was and pulled you back to his lips, kissing you again. When the kiss was done you laid your head next to his, and he smiled dumbly, pretty much mirroring your own smile as you played with his long curls.

“I thought you wanted me to go to work…”

You shook your head “I never want you to go to work Puppy,” you said as you tightened your arms around him, it didn’t pull him closer, you were as close as it could get, but you often squeezed each other when you found yourself in that situation, it was your own little way of sending a silent “I love you” to the other one. Either soft hand squeezes, back hugs so tight you could feel your stomach turn, or a soft squeeze around his torso when hugging him from the front.

“I love you too, Starshine,” he said with a smile, giving you a soft kiss on the forehead before he started to turn over, you held him tighter between your arms.

“Do you really have to go?” you asked, looking up at him. And boy if it wasn’t the prettiest sight he’d had. Your cheeks were rosy pink from the kisses, lips a little red and you were peering at him through your lashes, making THE puppy eyes at him.

He sighed “Don’t make it harder for me luv.”

“‘M not,” replied with a little shrug, snuggling into him closer before finally loosening your grip, he started to sit up on the bed “You should get a job where you don’t clock in so early.”

He hummed in response, “Should I? What would we do with so much free time in the mornings?” he asked, biting his lip as he looked at you hungrily. You just laughed and shoved him off with one of your hands.

“Don’t try turning me on Sirius, it’s 5 a.m.,” you reproached.

“I’m not trying anything luv,” he replied feigning innocence, “But think about it, what would we do?”

“Cuddle,” you replied, just to mess with him “lots and lots of cuddles.”

Sirius smiled, leaning down again to press a soft lingering kiss over your cheek, moving to your ear before getting back up just to whisper “That actually sounds delightful…”

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xeyesofstardust · 2 months

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I think the main reason Ominis sasses MC so much is because right from day one Sebastian Sallow talked about them all day ever day.

#hogwarts legacy #ominis gaunt #sebastian sallow #hl mc #wizarding world #wizarding world of harry potter

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hollowed-theory-hall · 6 days

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Magic and Genetics

So, this is not like 100% finished and will be more musings than a full theory. The main reason is that we, as humanity, just don't really know that much about genetics. Like, we get the gist of it, but we can mostly only say: "it's complicated" about it.

Which is true. Like, the idea of dominant and recessive traits the way most people are familiar with (like the eye color chart for blue eyes and brown eyes) is super oversimplified and inaccurate. Like, there are 2 major genes that affect eye color and then there are 8 more genes that affect eye color, hair color, and skin color, but we aren't really sure in what way. We just think they do from observation. Usually, genes behave in a way that is in line with the dominant and recessive traits charts, but there are exceptions to it. Again, we just don't know much about this field.

Because of this, I can't really come to conclusive conclusions regarding exactly how many and which genes affect a person's magic in the world of Harry Potter. What I can do is use the book evidence to try and create a pattern of how magic behaves genetically.

Disclaimer: I'm not a doctor, nor did I study genetics in any professional capacity, this is from online reading and self-study. And most importantly for fun 😊

Why do I think magic is influenced by multiple genes?

So, JKR stated in an interview she thinks of magic as a single dominant gene. This is impossible, since if that were true squibs and muggleborns wouldn't exist and the chart for the likelihood of a child being born with magic would look like this:

And that's just not what we see in the books...

This is all without mentioning how squibs like Arabella Figg can see dementors while muggles can't:

“A Squib, eh?” said Fudge, eyeing her suspiciously. “We’ll be checking that. You’ll leave details of your parentage with my assistant, Weasley. Incidentally, can Squibs see dementors?” he added, looking left and right along the bench where he sat. “Yes, we can!” said Mrs. Figg indignantly.

(OotP, page 143)

This means that squids do have some magical genes that muggles don't.

Additionally, from what we know about wizards as a species they have other differences from muggles that would effect their genetics in less obvious ways, for example:

Wizards heal faster, so cell regeneration is different than muggles.

Wizards have a completely different set of illnesses than muggles, so their white blood cells are also different.

Their brain cells likely live longer since they have an overall longer life expectancy.

Since they can see magic, like dementors and the Leakey Cauldron, we know the sight receptors are different.

Their nerves likely also function differently since they can sense magic in a way muggles can't.

To name a few.

And this is all without going into the fact wizards can reproduce with other species (goblins, veela, and giants to name a few) which actually implies a common ancestor to all of these races, but I'm not going into that can of worms.

What I am going into is how magic works genetically and how predictable it is. As in, if I know the magical status (pure-blood wizard, half-blood wizard, muggleborn wizard, squib, or muggle) of two human parents, can I tell how likely their child is to be a wizard, a squib, or a muggle?

What are squibs?

We don't know of many squibs in the books, these are the list of the known squibs:

Argus Filch

Arabella Figg

Marius Black

Dolores Umbridge's brother

Molly Weasley's second cousin

Squibs aren't a subject wizards like talking about, even not wizards who don't mind muggles like the Weasleys:

"Er — yes, I think so. I think Mum's got a second cousin who's an accountant, but we never talk about him."

(PS, page 73)

The definition of a squib is a child without magic born of a magical parent. If we look at the list of squibs above, all of them except Umbridge's brother are pure-bloods. This is kind of important because of the limited genetic pool of pure-bloods.

I tried calculating the inbreeding coefficient (basically how likely it is that a specific genetic trait is identical in both parents. The number ranges between 0 and 1) of the pure-bloods in the Wizarding World. We don't have much information on most families, but even looking at the Black family tree, they aren't really inbred (except the Gaunts). The closest relation there is the marriage between second cousins Walburga and Orion. So the inbreeding coefficient of pure-bloods would be above zero, but not high enough to cause serious health detriments for the most part. But, this doesn't mean wizards don't have a problem with a limited genetic pool even without close inbreeding.

Looking at that same Black family tree, we see a lot of familiar names: Flint, Crabbe, Burke, Potter, Crouch, Longbottom, Weasley, Prewett, Malfoy, McMillian... Basically, all pure-blood wizards are related. Some more closely than others, but they are all related. It means that among pure-bloods there is less genetic diversity which tends to cause illnesses and weakness in children over the course of multiple generations.

Such illness can, for example, come in the form of a squib. If the child just isn't capable of having full access to magic, due to their limited genetic pool, they will be born a squib.

But what about Umbridge's brother?

Well, here's the interesting thing. When looking at accounts of children of a pure-blood and a muggleborn, they are all always magical (and usually quite powerful, but more on that later). Umbridge's mother though is muggle. I believe a muggle parent would also have a higher chance of a squib offspring since they don't have magic. Essentially, Umbride's brother received some of the magical genes from their father, and some muggle genes from their mother, leaving him somewhat capable of interacting with magic, but not casting it — a squib.

Essentially squibs have a higher chance to be born from two pure-bloods (due to lack of genetic diversity) or from a wizard and a muggle. If we look at the books, we actually never see a squib being born from a pair of two wizards where one of the parents is half-blood or muggleborn (since they bring new genetic diversity and make the offsprings much likelier to be magical).

What are muggleborns?

So, we covered that squibs are rare and are caused by the lack of genetic diversity in the pure-blood families or by receiving non-magical genes from a muggle parent. But what about muggleborns? How could they genetically exist?

Well, I discussed here the actual percentages of different blood statuses across the Wizarding World. And the percentages looked like this:

57.5% Pure-Blood and Most Likely Pure Blood

22.5% Half-Blood

15% At Least One Magical Parent

5% Muggleborn

And as I covered here and here, I believe magical Britain is approximately 0.01% of the muggle population. This means that muggleborns are incredibly rare in the muggle population and have an overall very low chance of being born. But under what circumstances would muggleborns be more likely?

We know, for example, that the brothers Colin and Dennis Creevey were both born magical. It means, that their parents had genes that make them more likely to have magical children. This means Petunia had a higher chance of being born magical than, say, Vernon, it was still a low chance, but it was more likely.

Now, I'm not the first to raise this theory, but I believe these muggles that have a slightly higher chance for magical children like Mr. and Mrs. Creevey are descendants of squibs. We know that:

"Squibs were usually shipped off to Muggle schools and encouraged to integrate into the Muggle community. . . much kinder than trying to find them a place in the Wizarding world, where they must always be second class..."

(DH, page 136)

So, squibs have been sent for generations to live among muggles. It means that there are multiple "muggles" running around that are actually squibs. They might be able to see dementors or notice something odd around the Leakey Cauldron, but not enough to produce magic. But they still have magic in their genes. And when they have kids, sometimes, through a fluke of luck and genetics a muggleborn can be born.

This means all muggleborns are distantly related to wizards in some way, but still the muggle blood adds some much-needed genetic diversity that makes them less likely to have squib children.

What would magical genes look like?

So, we talked so far about how to predict the likelihood of a child having magic or not. But we also know not all wizards and witches are magically equal. You have crazy powerful individuals like Voldemort, Harry, and Dumbledore. Hermione is an incredibly skilled and talented witch, often the first in class to get spells right. And then you have wizards like Crabbe, Goyle, or Merope who are barely more magical than squibs. Then you have unique magical gifts like being a parselmouth, metamorphmagus, or seer are all inherited, and therefore genetic.

So, let's start with the power/talent difference between wizards that we see. I think this, like squibs, is correlating to the lack of genetic diversity. Sure, you have pure-bloods that are magically powerful or average, but if we look at the most magically powerful wizards in the books — Harry, Voldemort, and Dumbledore — they are all half-bloods. They all have a higher genetic diversity.

Hermione and Lily, are also examples of this added genetic diversity raising the likelihood of magical talent. Both muggleborns, both referenced as talented and bright multiple times. Snape, another half-blood is also referenced often as an incredibly talented wizard.

Actually, Nymphadora Tonks is one of the best pieces of evidence for magic weakening over pure-blood generations and becoming stronger with the new blood from muggles or muggleborns.

The Black family had the hereditary magical gift of being metamorphmagi. This gift has been lost for multiple generations, the first Black to be born with this gift in recent history is Tonks. And it makes perfect sense, Andromeda, a pure-blood with the genes for being a metamorphmagus, marries a muggleborn, Ted, who has the much-needed genetic diversity, so their daughter is finally durable enough for the metamorphmagi magic to kick in.

The Gaunts are another example of just how much the lack of genetic diversity affects a wizard's magic. All three, but especially Mereope, are portrayed as barely skilled with magic, almost squibs. But then we have Tom Marvolo Riddle, magically gifted so much beyond most wizards because he had the added genetic diversity from his muggle father.

Parseltongue seems to be a more dominant trait than the metamorphmagus ability. As even an almost squib in the Gaunt family can speak it. That being said, the Gaunts are implied to be incredibly incestuous, so perhaps it's just a matter of both parents speaking Parseltongue that causes this gene's apparent dominance.

We also know these genetic traits are only passed to wizards. So a squib from the Gaunt family, would not be able to speak Parseltongue. So, while it is a separate gene, it is connected to the other genes that affect magic. That's why a muggleborn born from a Gaunt family squib line, could potentially be a Parselmouth. They won't necessarily be a Parselmouth, but they have a chance to get the gene.

Conclusions

So, let's put all of it together into a series of rules* to how magic seems to work genetically.

*Rules is not exactly the correct word. It's more like, how it would usually behave, but there are flukes to genetics and everything is possible.

Two magical parents would almost always have a magical child. Pure-bloods are more likely to have squib children than half-bloods or muggleborns due to lack of genetic diversity.

A child of a muggle and a wizard has a higher chance of being born a squib than two magical parents. (The chance is still pretty low though and the child is more likely to be magical)

Muggleborns are the result of at least one parent who is a muggle that descended from squibs and has magical genes.

If both parents are squib-descendant muggles, all their kids might even end up magical. (Like the Creevey brothers)

Being a parselmouth, metamorphmagus, or seer are all unique genetic traits that are passed in a separate gene but dependent on other magical genes. Each one of them behaves differently as a gene.

Genetic diversity promises a higher chance of naturally magically gifted children. (It doesn't promise they will be more gifted, just makes their chances better)

Blood purity and a limited genetic pool cause magical children born to these lines to be overall weaker. (Again, there are exceptions, this is just about chances)

#harry potter #harry potter thoughts #harry potter theory #hp theory #hp #wizarding world #hp thoughts #hollowedtheory #wizarding world of harry potter #wizarding population #wizarding society

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theglassofmiddleearth · 1 year

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Imagine being on the train with the Golden Trio and Remus Lupin

Y/N: "Ah, a creepy man sitting alone, there he is perfect!"

Y/N walks in and sits across from Remus.

The Trio walks in

Hermione: "Come on, everywhere else is full. Oh, I don't believe I've seen you before? "

Y/N: "Hello! I'm Y/N, I've been quite sick until now so I didn't get to go to school for the first two years! It's nice to meet you! Hullo Harry!"

Ron: "You know her?"

Harry: "Y/N? Aren't you the girl who-"

Y/N: "Ah come and sit! Where are my manners!"

All enter.

Ron: "Who do you think that is?"

Hermione: "Professor R.J Lupin."

Ron: "Do you know everything? How is it she knows everything?"

Y/N: "It's on his suitcase Ron."

Ron: "Oh, how do you know my name?"

Y/N: "Hermione introduced us!" *Winks at Hermione*

Harry: "Do you think he's actually asleep?"

Hermione: "Seems to be. Why?"

Harry: "I've got to tell you guys something."

They all look at Y/N

Y/N: "Don't mind me, I don't know anyone so I won't say anything."

Harry explains the situation about Sirius Black

Ron: "So you're telling me he broke out of Azkaban to come after you?"

Harry: "Yeah"

Hermione: "They'll catch him won't they? Everyone's looking for him."

Y/N: "Noone's ever broken out before."

Ron: "And he's a murderous raving lunatic."

Y/N frowns

Harry: "Thanks Ron"

Train slows to a stop

Hermione: "Why are we stopping"

Y/N: *quietly* "Shit I forgot about this."

Y/N grips her wand.

Hermione: "We can't be there yet."

Harry: "Dunno, maybe we've broken down."

Y/N: "The Hogwarts Express doesn't break down."

Lights go out.

Hermione: "Ouch Ron that was my foot"

Ron: "There's something moving out there. I think someone's coming aboard."

Train shakes

Y/N: "Stay behind me."

Dementor slides open the door

Y/N: *Quietly* "Come on Remus wake up."

Dementor approaches the Trio and Remus wakes up.

Remus and Y/N: "Expecto patronum."

The Trio collapses.

Remus: "A student who knows the patronus charm? Quite incredible miss?"

Y/N turns around.

Y/N: *whispers* "Hello Moony"

Remus: *in shock* "Y/N, you-"

Y/N: "I'll explain later, Dumbledore knows as well. The three will wake up soon."

Remus: I can't believe- We thought you died.

Y/N: *laughs* "Remus my dear, time does not simply die. It diverges and creates new paths when stopped. You know this."

Remus: "You haven't aged a day and yet you are just as wise if not more."

Y/N: "It's good to see you again my friend."

Remus: "Do you know what happened to Padfoot?"

Y/N: *grits her teeth* "He's innocent. It wasn't him, he was framed."

Remus: "Do you know by who?"

Y/N: *bitterly* "By one we trusted. One of our own. I cannot say but you can guess."

Remus: *nods mutely*

Y/N: "We will talk later. They should wake up right about now."

The trio wakes up

Remus: "Here eat this, it'll help."

Y/N: "Take it, it's chocolate. The dementor, a guard of Azkaban passed by. I'm not quite sure why."

Remus: "If you'll excuse me, I need to have a little word with the driver. Eat, you'll feel better."

Remus leaves.

Hermione: "How did you know the charm"

Ron: "Yeah, we don't learn it. It's not even in the OWLS"

Y/N: *grins* "Let's just say being away from school allows me to practise spells without the boring bits."

-----

HI IM KINDA BACK, this one's been sitting in my drafts for a while but I love the idea of the narrator being in Harry Potter! Please give me a comment if you like this so I know to continue or not 🤣 HAPPY DECEMBER AND I HOPE TO BE MORE ACTIVE SOON! Till then my lovelies.

#harry potter x reader #harry potter imagines #wizarding world x reader #hogwarts #hogwarts x reader #remus lupin #sirius orion black #sirius x reader #remus x reader #draco x you #james potter #harry potter #ron x reader #hermione x reader #the maruaders #wizarding world of harry potter #the wizarding world

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thatslytherinqueen · 29 days

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Albus and Scorpius 🐍💚🐍💚🐍💚

#harry potter #harry potter and the cursed child #harry potter and the cursed child fanart #harry potter fanart #harry potter plushies #slytherin #scorbus #albus and scorpius #wizarding world of harry potter #albus potter plushie #albus potter fanart #albus potter #scorpius malfoy #Scorpius malfoy fanart #scorpius malfoy plushie #albus severus x scorpius #time turner

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severussimp · 3 months

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Omfg, I can't stop lmao! I was watching these dudes' reaction to Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, and what struck me the most is that they refer to Snape as the guy with the black bob. My humor is freakin dead 😭

#severus snape #professor snape #harry potter #snape fandom #professor severus snape #wizarding world of harry potter

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sam-at-hogwarts · 2 months

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With all the fanfiction being deleted cause book binders

Name some I should download ASAP

#hogwarts #wizarding world #wizarding world of harry potter #harry potter #pottermore #hogwarts express #hogwarts mystery mc #ilvermorny #hogwarts legacy #a03 #a03 fanfic #archive of our own #fanfiction

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domhnallgleesonhaven · 6 months

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“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2” celebrations at Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando, FL, 2011

#domhnall gleeson #harry potter and the deathly hallows #hp #harry potter and the deathly hallows part 2 #harry potter #wizarding world of harry potter #universal studios #orlando #florida #bill weasley

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trixeclipse · 7 months

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Tormented 💔

#hogwarts #hogwarts legacy #hogwarts legacy sebastian #hogwarts legacy fanart #hogwarts legacy fandom #hogwarts legacy Sebastian sallow #hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry #hogwarts houses #sebastian sallow #sebastian sallow fanart #slytherin #wizarding world of harry potter #harry potter hogwarts game #harry potter #wizarding world #digital art #digital illustration

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the-colourful-witch · 1 month

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🎵🎶 Professor Flitwick 🎶🎵

This was a fun illustration! I liked getting to put my own spin on this teacher. The only description in the books was: he’s a tiny wizard. So, I thought about the role he plays in the books. He’s a kind, good teacher who cares about his job and his students. I imagine he chaperones all kinds of student clubs, because he wants students to explore their interests, like a true Ravenclaw :) He conducts the choir and spruces up the castle during holidays. I bet he plays games in the classroom and does thematic spells for holidays, like hollowing pumpkins for Halloween.

For his design I took some inspiration from old English universities and their professors’ attire. With the long robes and tweed suits. I put my own spin on it and made it more formal and magical, with colour and prints. I subconsciously made him a little bit queer-looking, but I really really like that vibe for him. I hope you like it too! I wouldn’t be opposed to a gay professor Flitwick :)

Until the next one! ✨

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dannylharle · 2 months

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diagon alley at night on 35mm film

#universal #orlando #universal orlando #wwohp #wizarding world of harry potter #harry potter #35mm film #film #35mm

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xeyesofstardust · 6 months

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This is what I think the uniform for the Slytherin witches would’ve looked like if they were going for the historically accurate

I found it while scrolling on Etsy if anybody’s wondering.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/1526624361/

#hogwarts legacy #hogwarts #slytherin #slytherin house #slytherin pride #slytherclaw #historically accurate #hogwarts houses #hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry #wizarding world of harry potter #etsy #etsy finds #edwardian dress

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hollowed-theory-hall · 2 months

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How Magic Works in Harry Potter? And More Specifically What is Dark Magic?

So, Dark Magic in Harry Potter's Wizarding World is really vague. Like, it's loosely defined as:

“The Dark Arts, also known as Dark Magic, or Dark Side was a term that referred to any type of magic that was mainly used to cause harm to, exert control over, or even kill people and creatures.”

(From Harry Potter Wiki)

Yet, Spells like Obliviate, are not considered dark, even though they compromise free will and exert control. Diffendo, incendio, decendo, and the like are not dark, even if they can be used to cause harm. The resurrection potion from Voldemort's resurrection is considered Dark Magic even though it itself only heals.

So, what actually is the definition of Dark Magic and what is it? How does it differ from other spells?

Well, I think I have a possible answer.

I started trying to figure out what dark magic is, by collecting what we know about it from the books:

What We're Told

“The Dark Arts are many, varied, ever-changing, and eternal. Fighting them is like fighting a many-headed monster, which, each time a neck is severed, sprouts a head even fiercer and cleverer than before. You are fighting that which is unfixed, mutating, indestructible.”

(Severus Snape, Half-Blood Prince, page 177)

We actually don't have a legal definition for the Dark Arts in the books. Just the words of Dumbledore and Hagrid of how corrupting they are and how Dark Wizards don't feel love. Even though the Malfoys clearly love each other, Snape loved Lily, and Harry is capable of both love and two out of three Unforgivable Curses. So clearly, that isn't the case.

I've seen the fandom try to define the magic by its intention, like in the quote from the wiki above. But, if we look at what spells are defined as dark and those that are not, solely based on their goal and intention — the water gets pretty murky.

As I mentioned before, Diffendo and Incendio can cause harm, and Oblivate always takes away someone's free will. Hurcruxs are considered Dark Magic, but they don't harm anyone in themselves. The creation of them does, but they themselves don't (at least, that's not their intention or main use). Feindfyre, a spell considered Advanced Dark Magic, while can be used to harm beings, is mostly depicted as harming property, hence deviating from the definition as well.

Many jinxes, hexes, and curses are for some reason are not treated as Dark and are treated as legal (reducto, jelly leg jinx, dancing jinx, etc) even though they are only used to cause harm and aren't versatile in their use cases like incendio, for example, that can be used for light or cooking as well.

Most illegal Dark Magic (including the three Unforgivables) are only illegal against unwilling beings, therefore, using Avada Kedavra on a mouse or spider is perfectly legal. Same as using the Imperious Curse on a person who gave you permission to use it. As we see with Moody (Barty) in Goblet of Fire.

So, clearly, the difference between Dark Arts and any other magic isn't in its intended use, since this is far too inconsistent. Besides, casting a Jelly-Leg Jinx is the same as casting an Expelliarmus Spell, you need the same things — wand movement, incantation, and magic.

"Ah, but what about the Unforgivables, you need to mean them, don't you?"

Yes, you do, I'm getting to that:

How Magic Works in Harry Potter's Wizarding World?

So, if it isn't the use of the spells that defines them as dark, maybe it's how they are cast.

After all, it makes more sense to define spells and magic by the how of it and not the what. Especially when new spells keep getting created.

So let's look at the average not dark spell, for our example, we'll take Harry's favored Expelliarmus (even though he casts many other spells and we only see him cast Expelliarmos 12 times in the books).

Like all spells we see, the Disarming Charm requires 3 components to cast:

Intent - What - The intention and will of the caster to disarm their opponent.

Form - How - The way the spell should do it, make the wand fly from the openent's hand.

Energy - Magic - the power to fuel the spell.

Intent is what always exists, it's wishing for your magic to extend your will into the world. This is the main component of childhood accidental magic. It's what makes accidental magic so unpredictable. Like in Prisoner of Azkaban — Harry wished for Aunt Marge to shut up and a glass blew up in her hand (later she blew up too). He didn't consciously choose to do it, since there was no form, just intent and energy:

Outside in the hall, he [Harry] leaned against the wall, breathing deeply. It had been a long time since he’d lost control and made something explode.

(Prisoner of Azkaban, page 26)

The form is defined by the wand movement and the incantation for the spell but can be accomplished by enough focus without (silent and wandless casting). Hence, why silent/wandless casting is harder, without a wand you need to focus on directing your magic to the right task, and without an incantation you need to rely on your mental focus to tell your magic how to accomplish the task.

And magic is just that — the wizard's magic.

Actually, potions in the wizarding world work like this too, except the incantation and wand movement are replaced with ingredients and the brewing process. (The ingredients for potions take a bit after some theories from irl Alchemy that I might delve into at some point)

Most spells, including jinxes and transfiguration spells, work the same way. They have intention, form, and energy and that is all they need to be cast.

But, as we mentioned before, the Unforgivables are different, they aren't just any spell:

“Never used an Unforgivable Curse before, have you, boy? You need to mean them, Potter! You need to really want to cause pain — to enjoy it — righteous anger won't hurt me for long — I'll show you how it is done, shall I?”

(Order of the Pheonix, page 810)

Emotion as a Component of Spellcasting

That extra oomph missing from Harry's Crotiatus Curse is emotion. I mentioned how emotion is a component of certain magic and effects certain spells in this post. I'll expand on this here.

Accidental magic is affected by emotions, we saw it with Aunt Marge and with Dudley, Harry noticed it himself:

every odd thing that had ever made his aunt and uncle furious with him had happened when he, Harry, had been upset or angry

(Philosopher's Stone, page 44)

Harry's magic reacts to his emotions. It acts up when he is angry or upset and he noticed it even before he knew about the Wizarding World and magic.

“What does a Patronus look like?” said Harry curiously. “Each one is unique to the wizard who conjures it.” “And how do you conjure it?” “With an incantation, which will work only if you are concentrating, with all your might, on a single, very happy memory.”

(Prisoner of Azkaban, page 237)

The Patronus Charm requires happiness as the emotion. The memory is to get the emotion, but when we see Harry casting the charm later, he rarely focuses on a memory. No, he just focuses on feeling happy.

And we see emotion effecting other spells. Remeber Expelliarmos, a spell that doesn't require emotion? Well, the books actually answer on what happens if you cast a spell that doesn't require an emotional component with emotion:

Harry reached his wand just in time. Lockhart had barely raised his, when Harry bellowed, “Expelliarmus!” Lockhart was blasted backward, falling over his trunk; his wand flew high into the air; Ron caught it, and flung it out of the open window. “Shouldn’t have let Professor Snape teach us that one,” said Harry furiously, kicking Lockhart’s trunk aside. Lockhart was looking up at him, feeble once more. Harry was still pointing his wand at him.

(Chamber of Secrets, pages 275-276)

Harry casts Expelliarmos at Lockhart when he's furious, that anger, that's what causes Lockhart to stumble back. A regular Expelliarmos disarms, and an angry one also pushes the opponent back.

Harry made up his mind in a split second. Before Snape could take even one step toward him, he had raised his wand. “Expelliarmus!” he yelled — except that his wasn’t the only voice that shouted. There was a blast that made the door rattle on its hinges; Snape was lifted off his feet and slammed into the wall, then slid down it to the floor, a trickle of blood oozing from under his hair. He had been knocked out.

(Prisoner of Azkaban, page 361)

An emotional Expelliarmos can even knock someone out completely. Snape's wand wasn't even disarmed.

And of course, the unforgivables require emotion, they require the true desire to harm — anger:

“I see what Bellatrix meant,” said Harry, the blood thundering through his brain, “you need to really mean it.”

(Deathly Hollows, page 502)

So, we can see very clearly that emotion affects magic. Some spells require it (like the Patronus Cham and the Unforgivable Curses) and even spells that don't require it, change when casting them with emotion.

A Clear Mind as a Component of Spellcasting

But, when I started thinking about emotion as a component of spellcasting, I realized there was another one — A clear mind.

“Only Muggles talk of ‘mind reading.’ The mind is not a book, to be opened at will and examined at leisure. Thoughts are not etched on the inside of skulls, to be perused by any invader. The mind is a complex and many-layered thing, Potter . . . or at least, most minds are. . . .” He smirked. “It is true, however, that those who have mastered Legilimency are able, under certain conditions, to delve into the minds of their victims and to interpret their findings correctly. The Dark Lord, for instance, almost always knows when somebody is lying to him. Only those skilled at Occlumency are able to shut down those feelings and memories that contradict the lie, and so utter falsehoods in his presence without detection.”

(Order of the Pheonix, pages 530-531)

Occupancy requires the opposite of the Crutiuatus Curse. It requires shutting down your emotions and clearing your mind alongside the three basic components I mentioned above.

“Clear your mind, Potter,” said Snape’s cold voice. “Let go of all emotion. . . .” But Harry’s anger at Snape continued to pound through his veins like venom. Let go of his anger? He could as easily detach his legs. . . . “You’re not doing it, Potter. . . . You will need more discipline than this. . . . Focus, now. . . .”

(Order of the Phoenix, page 535)

It requires focus and letting go of emotion. This is exactly why Harry struggled so much with Occlumancy because he is a very emotional character (mostly angry).

I'd argue magic like Legilemancy and Divination also require a clear and focused mind. Along with Fiendfyre:

“Fiendfyre-cursed fire—it’s one of the substances that destroy Horcruxes, but I would never, ever have dared use it, it’s so dangerous—how did Crabbe know how to—?”

(Deathly Hollows, page 537)

Hermione calls this dark curse incredibly dangerous, and for good reason, it's incredibly hard to control. So fickle and hard to control it killed Crabbe who cast it in that scene. It makes Fiendfyre seem closer to Occlumancy than to the Unforgivables in how it is cast, since it requires a focused mind to control it, and not to become emotional.

So what does all this have to do with the Dark Arts?

Well, simple, clearly magic in the Harry Potter universe can be divided into three categories:

Regular - spells that require only intent, form, and energy, like Expelliarmos, Alohamora and Diffendo. Almost all spells fall into this category.

Emotional - spells that require a strong emotion to power them besides the three components of regular magic. Like the Patronus Charm and the Unforgivable Curses.

Focused - spells that require a clear and focused mind besides the three components of regular magic. Like Occlumancy and Fiednfyre.

Great, so we have some spell categories, but Dark Magic doesn't really fit in any of them, as all three categories include spells considered legally dark. Well, like with anything in Harry Potter, I decided to go into the linguistics of the word "dark" in the English language.

Well, if we go back enough, the word "dark" comes from the Proto-Indo-European word "dʰerǵʰ" meaning (among other things): "firm", "strong", or "robust". This can definitely reference the strong emotion required for certain spells.

But what really sold me on this, is the linguistic origin of the word "light", which came from the Proto-Indo-European word "lewk", meaning: bright, to shine, and to see. It was used interchangeably with the word "beh" that is used to mean: "bright" or "to glow" and in literature used as the word "focus" or "clear".

Conclusions

So, my headcanon/theory was that dark magic, once upon a time just referred to the magic that required a strong emotion. Over the years with language evolving and words changing their meaning, and political agenda it became the dark magic we are familiar with from the books. A lot of how dark magic is treated seems to be political though and has very little to do with the actual components of the magic or magical theory.

The fact the Unforgivables were only defined as such and outlawed in 1717 suggests that the views the characters in the books have on dark magic are fairly recent. It means that Dark Magic, at least, by the time the books take place is more of a legal definition than a magical definition. It's basically an umbrella term to define harmful magic the ministry outlaws or regulates.

Honestly though, if I lived in their world I'd be more concerned with love potions than with supposedly dark petty jinxes, but, what can one do.

#harry potter #harry potter theory #harry potter thoughts #hollowedtheory #hp theory #overthinking #wizarding world #wizarding world of harry potter #dark magic #hp #hp thoughts

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