[HPforGrownups] Magical Genes and Wands

[Kavitha Kannan]

No: HPFGUIDX 24172

Hmmm...OK...I saw it as dominant, but I'm seeing the arguments for 
recessive. lets see if I can draw squares on a computer.  D is 
dominant and the mage-gene and R is recessive and the non-mage-gene.  
M is magic, and X is...well, non-magic.
                     
           R R      D R      D R      D D      D D  
        R  X X   R  M X   D  M M   D  M M   D  M M   
        R  X X   R  M X   R  M X   R  M M   D  M M
                             The x from DR and DR is a squib.    
If the mage-gene is recessive
       
          R R       D R       D R      D D      D D
       R  M M    R  X M    D  X X   D  X X   D  X X
       R  M M    R  X M    R  X M   R  X X   D  X X
Yeah, that makes more sense.  
And as was pointed out in another post, Squib-ness could be brought 
about by a diesese.  But I think Squibness (yah! I've invented a 
word! Ahem.) may just be a very latent magical ability.  Or why would 
Filch want the Kwikspell course?  Is he just grasping at straws?  Is 
it not intended for Squibs, but rather for people like Neville?  Or 
is it a way to charm (if you will) magical powers out of someone?  If 
so...could I possibly take a Kwikspell course, since I may well be 
the equivalent of a Squib?  
And they do have math at Hogwarts, they have arithmancy with Prof. 
Vector.  If that isn't magic, I don't know what is.
Next, I'm wondering, are giants magical by nature-we know they 
are "magical creatures" in a sense, but if giants and humans can have 
brats, then aren't they just impossibly (except it is possible) big 
humans?  Then, could a giant have magical power?  If so, why did 
Hagrid think he might not have been invited to Hogwarts due to his 
mother?  And then: what if a witch marries a giant?  Wouldn't she die 
in childbirth?  Or are babies normally sized?  
And the werewolf bite: does it only work on wizards, or also on 
Muggles?  Why don't magical werewolves lose their magical powers?  Or 
are all werewolves naturally magical-that is, capable of magic?  Is 
werewolfism (more new words) genetic?  Is veelahood?  And vamprism?  
And haghood?  And all the other weird powers?  What exactly defines a 
magical non-human creature?  A lot of them don't actually do anything 
magical.  Like dwarves.  And..giants and, possibly, hags.  They don't 
seem magical, just *different.*  So what's with that?  Centaurs are 
big on Astrology, House Elves have magic of their own, basilisks have 
a magical stare.  Either that or their eyes are so ugly they scare 
people to death. But I doubt that. Goblins...well, they seem pretty 
normal too.  How about gnomes?  Their only claim to magical fame is 
being dead annoying.
  

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., cimorene21 at h... wrote:
> 
> (Actually, according to my psych professor at any rate, humans use 
ALL 
> of their brains, but we've only figured out about 10% of which 
areas 
> correspond to which function).   
> 
> On the genetic thing-- it would make sense that the ability to 
perform 
> magic is genetic, but-- there's something about it that just 
doesn't 
> work.  I've spent a lot of time puzzling it out-- and what with the 
> information Rowling gives us, magic doesn't fit into Mendelian 
> genetics:  let's say there IS a gene for magic.  Is it recessive or 
> dominant?  Given the phenomenon of "mudbloods"-- children with a 
trait 
> that neither of their parents have-- it would HAVE to be a 
recessive 
> gene, or it would have expressed itself in one or both parents.   
> Assuming that it's a recessive gene, though, squibs shouldn't exist-
- 
>  if it's recessive, then in order for the trait to manifest isself 
in 
> the person't phenotype, they'd have to be homozygous-- which means 
> that they wouldn't be able to transfer the dominant (nonmagical) 
gene 
> to their kids.  Oh the other hand, it might not be so simple as 
> straight genetics:  I think being a squib might be analogous to 
being 
> a hermaphrodite.  Hermaphroditity doesn't result from too few or 
many 
> X/Y chromosomes:  hermaphrodites are genetically male or female, 
but 
> something went wrong during development that didn't allow the genes 
to 
> manifest properly.  This would be in perfect accord with the idea 
of 
> witches/wizards having different brain chemistry.... yeah.  Heh.