The Limits on Magic (kinda long)

[Caius Marcius]

No: HPFGUIDX 6376

We all know the amazing things that magic is capable of in JKR's 
narrative: I'd like to look at some of the things that magic is 
apparently unable to do in the JKR universe (as opposed to say, the 
Unforgivable Curses, things that wizards can do in defiance of legal 
and societal norms): 

(1) Magic can forestall death, but it cannot resurrect the dead. 
Wizards are able to extend the normal human lifespan; the Elixir of 
Life, a byproduct of the Philosopher's Stone, can make its 
drinker "immortal". .  But even Nicholas Flemel can't live forever: 
when the Philosopher's Stone is destroyed, Flamel surrenders to his 
mortality.   We know that the dead  can materialize as ghosts – e.g., 
Voldemort's victims at the climax of GoF –, but "No spell can 
reawaken the dead" Dumbledore tells Harry (in GoF, Ch. 36).  How much 
of Voldemort's evil sprung from his hubristic  desire to transcend 
death?   "You know my goal – to conquer death" Voldemort tells his 
Death Eaters (in GoF , Ch. 33)   Though Voldemort was "less than 
spirit, less than the meanest ghost," he did not actually die. Could 
he have physically returned to his body had he actually died? 

(2)	As we all know from our frequent visits to Madame Pomfrey's 
infirmary, magic can treat a variety of ailments and injuries in a 
manner far beyond our medical technology.    Perhaps her most amazing 
intervention was to regenerate the bones of Harry's arm after 
Lockhart inadvertently made them vanish.   But there are limits on 
what medical magic can effect:  The case of Mad-Eye Moody is perhaps 
the best example: he is hideously scarred from his many battles with 
Dark Wizards, and has lost (though the details of his encounters 
remain frustratingly vague) a leg, an eye, and part of his nose.  For 
some reason, his injuries could not be repaired.  This may be due to 
the design of the Dark Wizards' hexes, which we may assume are 
intended to be irreversible.  

(3)	Skills and knowledge cannot be obtained by magical  methods. 
There is no spell than professors can perform upon their students to 
fill their noggins with the requisite magical knowledge: still less 
can students perform such spells upon themselves when finals are 
approaching (or George and Fred would have surely already done so).   
We've heard little about cheating on exams at Hogwarts, but I would 
suppose that a would-be cheater would be compelled to resort to 
pretty much the same methods that his Muggle counterparts might 
employ.   Otherwise, the honest Hogwarts student must laboriously 
assimilate knowledge the same way we mere Muggles acquired our 
degrees: through intensive study, rote memorization and practice, 
practice, practice. Hermione, the scholar par excellence, stands out  
in the same way that she would  stand out had she remained in the 
Muggle world – through her diligent and painstaking study, or as one 
law school student once described it, the chronic and habitual 
application of butt upon chair.  

(4)	Most poignantly of all, material possessions cannot be 
magically acquired, and stigma of poverty cannot be covered up 
through magical means. Harry can summon his Firebolt when he battles 
the Hungarian Horntail, but he can't transfigure a rock into a flying 
broom (as Cedric transfigured a rock into a dog).   And this isn't 
merely due to his youth and inexperience: Sirius Black, a skilled and 
experienced Wizard, must purchase the Firebolt for Harry much as we 
might purchase our gifts off the Toys-R-Us or the Lands Ends website. 
Similarly, Remus Lupin knows how to deal with Boggarts and 
Grindylows,  but he can't conceal his shabby looking robes "that had 
been darned in several places," or his battered luggage which must be 
held together with string rather than magic. Arthur Weasley can erase 
the memory of Muggles and can charm a car to fly, but he can't make 
the Burrow look like anything more than the cozy but dilapidated 
hovel that it is, or provide a new wardrobe for his children. Ron 
must wear hand-me-downs and clothing too small for him, and complain 
of his poverty.  The wealthy families, such as the Malfoys, acquire 
their pelf in much the same manner as Muggles families.  

The restrictions on economics may reflect the fact that the Wizards 
live in a capitalistic society  (which I am not, from my militant 
right-wing perspective, going to trash).   A great portion of the 
Wizarding world's populace make their living through commerce, and it 
would be destructive of their livelihood if other wizards could 
magically create the good that they offer. Why go to Diagon Alley if 
you could magically create your own robes,  wands,  textbooks, and 
Bernie Bott's Every Flavor Beans?  Now, perhaps the laws should be 
altered so that every wizard could magically create what they needed? 
But a society where every person is totally self-sufficient would be 
ungovernable, just as a person who could satisfy his every desire 
would become quickly bored and satiated.  As Dumbledore tells Harry 
at the end of SS/PS, "As much money and life as you could want! The 
two things most humans would chose above all – the trouble is, humans 
do have a knack of choosing precisely those things that are worst for 
them." (see also Juvenal's 10th satire)

I'm certain there are other limitations that I'm overlooking.

 - CMC