3.8.1 Magical Ability

[dungrollin]

Having been confined to the house most of last week while government-
supporting youths displayed their love of Côte d'Ivoire by hurling 
Molotov cocktails at the UN, I have spent a higher-than-usual (and 
most profitable) amount of time on the internet. Under alarmingly 
surreal circumstances (read: influence of intoxicant[s]) I stumbled 
across http://www.beedogs.com, and had to go offline for a bit to 
recover.

But I did finish going through Magical Ability.

Now, the content of this category bears almost no relation to the 
definition. I've made some changes, but not all of them, because I 
want some advice on whether we need new categories, and whether some 
posts can be chucked into already-existing categories. This is how 
it currently stands:

Of 367 posts... 

138 shouldn't have been in this category for one reason or another 
(mostly because they should be in WW genetics or barely mentioned 
magical ability at all, e.g. the Philip Nel question on class), and 
have been (or rather, are being) uncoded.
   8 of these were assigned to no other category and will therefore 
rejected as `adds nothing new' (I checked they really did add 
nothing new). 

Leaving 229, of which:

106 refer to the magical ability of specific characters 
   Harry: 33 – all of which will be uncoded since they're already 
under Harry's protection/ training/ powers. (Those that aren't coded 
there I'll just uncode, since I assume Anne doesn't want me chucking 
posts back in that she's chucked out).
   Dumbledore: 5 – to be uncoded since they're already under DD's 
abilities.
   The DE's (Peter Pettigrew, Barty Crouch Jnr et al): 10
   Hagrid: 5
   Ron: 4
   Neville: 15
   Fleur: 1
   Sirius: 3
   Lockhart: 1
   Lupin: 1
   Snape: 1
   Fudge: 1
   Draco: 6
   The Weasley family: 2
   Voldemort/Tom Riddle: 15
   Multiple characters: 3

I reckon all discussions of a character's magical ability should 
stay with the character, (DD and Harry already have their own codes 
for that), and indeed dimly remember Miss saying something along 
those lines when I started the review an embarrassingly long time 
ago. And the same would go for house elves and centaurs. Since the 
multiple character comparisons of magical ability can't (or 
shouldn't) be coded to all characters, I'll leave them in here for 
now, unless anyone has a better suggestion.)

Continuing:
- 8 refer to the identity of the muggle/squib who will exhibit 
magical ability late in life (do we need a code for this? There 
aren't many posts yet, but it's a recurring topic.)
- 9 on how important Magical power is in casting/resisting 
unforgivables (should I put them under unforgivables?)
- 11 refer to house elves' magical ability (I'd keep them with house 
elves)
- 1 refers to Centaurs' magical ability (to stay with centaurs)
- 9 on the powers Voldy transferred to Harry at GH (is there a 
convenient code for this? I can't find one that isn't very general.)
- 32 on whether muggles/squibs can make potions, what are the 
differences between wizards and muggles, can muggles use magical 
objects (broomsticks etc).

The 32 posts on whether muggles/squibs can make potions, can muggles 
use magical objects (broomsticks etc), and what are the differences 
(genotype/phenotype) between wizards and muggles: I'd like to put 
them (some may already be coded there) into WW lifespans, genetics 
and population estimates. I don't think anyone's reviewed it yet – 
is that right? There really are an awful lot of posts resulting from 
JKR's foolish comment about the magical gene being dominant, since 
it gives the impression that she might know what she's talking 
about, so the lucky reviewer may decide to split the category 
further. Yes/no?

14 posts I've filed under `Misc', since they don't seem to fit in 
this category, but it's not immediately obvious where they should be.
I need to spend a bit longer musing over the much-changed category 
list, I think.

The remaining 53 posts, are actually about "what magical ability is, 
how it manifests itself, and how wizards use it to make things 
happen," which is the definition in the catalogue.

Dot
Ginger – your dreams are *priceless*.