Snapes task (Harry, Moody, Dementors) - Wands

[yumeno at mindspring.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 15989

Amy Z wrote:

<There are some ways of doing magic that don't seem to involve a 
wand:  divination, potions, Animagus transfigurations (Sirius didn't 
need his wand to transform back and forth in Azkaban).  Some, like 
these, are full-fledged wandless magic, while others, like Harry's 
breaking Marge's wineglass and inflating Marge herself, are the kind 
of uncontrolled magic that JKR recently referred to in the Comic 
Relief chat, I believe it was; she was asked whether you can do magic 
without a wand, and she said yes, but it generally takes a wand to 
focus and control it. 

<These cases, plus the background knowledge that there is some kind of 
qualitative difference between wizards and Muggles/Squibs (as seen in 
the case of young wizards who do magic without knowing how, or even 
that it exists, e.g. Harry and Colin), show that it's not all the 
wandit's partly the witch or wizard.  How much of each?  I wouldn't 
venture to guess, but the magic definitely isn't all in the wand.

<Some magical objects do their thing even in the hands of Muggles, 
e.g. the dangerous spouting teapot that caused Arthur's office 
trouble on one occasion (CoS).  It seems likely that not all of them 
do, however.  A Muggle might pick up a wand or a broomstick and have 
nothing whatsoever happen.  A broomstick is different from a wand; 
it's basically just wood that's been charmed.  It might be possible 
to charm it in such a way that it takes magical ability on the user's 
part to activate it; if this is possible, I would think that if the 
Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office would insist on it so that an 
innocent Muggle doesn't pick up a Firebolt and find herself going 150 
mph within 10 seconds . . .

*giggles*

Mmmm, I can see your point. Though, I should have been a little more clear about why these questions suddenly popped into my head, and I also forgot to ask another one I was curious about.

Most of this came about because I had an idea about a True Seer fic-that they're supposed to be very rare, etc, etc. However, can you be a Seer and not have any other wizard powers? Would such a person be considered a wizard just for being a true Seer? Or not? That made me wonder about the broomsticks, et al, about whether someone like that would be able to use them. Wands I'm guessing wouldn't do so much, although I still believe that the wands are doing a good bit of the work in magic. There really haven't been any wizards doing wand-free spells, which makes me think that to them it isn't worth the effort. And without a wand they're barred from really doing any effective attacks. This was something I wanted to specifically cover in my story. Potions, et al, aren't something you can just whip out in a fight...
Arrghhh, I'm getting too deep into this, I really am. Fics rot your brain.. at .@

Tavichan
np: through the night /outlaw star opening