[HPforGrownups] Re: Lighting...and lots of magic

[Amber]

No: HPFGUIDX 19893

--- Scott <insanus_scottus at yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
> Amber wrote:
> "Is all the lighting in Hogwarts by candlelight/firelight? That seems
> rather unhealthy for the eyes. And Hogwarts must go through tons of 
> candles (unless they're enchanted of course!)"
> 
> --I agree with Milz that the candles are probably enchanted to last 
> exceptionally long, and be especially bright. There certainly doesn't
> seem to be any form of "elecktricity" at Hogwarts, even in a 
> magically altered from (since there couldn't be real electricity in 
> the wizard world). 

I guess I reluctantly agree. And there's nothing to say that the
students don't make their own "light globes" if they need extra light.
(Hermione created that blue fire in the winter to warm her, Harry and
Ron up) I guess I just don't see firelight to be the best source of
light. You'd have to enchant the candles to burn extra bright, burn
extra long, and to not burn people or things when they tip over (or
enchant them not to tip over at all). That seems like a lot of
enchantments/spells when you could accomplish the same by using *one*
spell to make a rock glow or something like that. To somewhat break
into a Hermione moment, it just doesn't seem logical to me.

I've also been wondering more about how magic works in JKR's world (if
you couldn't tell, I'm a bit preoccupied with magic! <grin>) I wonder
if a spell continues to draw upon the caster's strength after cast. For
example, Hermione casts a spell to create a warm blue flame in a jar.
While the fire is burning, does it draw upon her magical
resources/strength? There doesn't seem to be any evidence of a wizard
getting tired from maintaining too many spells. That seems to mean that
magic is "free" and the only limitations are on the expertise and will
of the wizard to cast the spell correctly.

Could Hermione enchant the same jar to burn forever? There seems to be
evidence of "forever lasting" spells, or there wouldn't be a department
at the Ministry to recover enchanted objects from the hands of muggles.
But this isn't always; the cheering spells that Flitwick taught only
lasted an hour. But that might be because the students are learning and
don't have the magical "strength" to make the spells last longer. So a
really strong wizard could make themselves eternally happy? Maybe not,
maybe the long-lasting spells can only be held in inanimate objects.
Spells cast on people may be different. 

There seem to be two types of spells: immediate effects (Avada Kedavra,
Wingardium Leviosa, spell used by Lupin to shoot the gum out of the
keyhole) and long-lasting enchantments (sky in Great Hall, magical
teaset).

Does a forever-lasting enchantment/charm go kaput when the caster dies?
This doesn't seem to be the case, and that seems to suggest that
magical energy doesn't expressly come from the wizard/witch themselves.
Instead, perhaps there's a "net" of magical energy out there and a
wizard's talent is to be able to manipulate that net to feed into
things/people. That can make the spells forever-lasting.

So, if there is a net is the net uniformly strong all over the world?
Is it connected to nature/environment? Is there a way to manipulate it
to nullify magic in an area? I don't think JKR has answered these
questions yet...

Maybe there's *both* a net of magical energy and innate magical energy.
But then, how does a wizard control which source is used in spells?

How *does* Apparation work? It doesn't seem like one needs a wand to
Apparate. Does it take so little strength in magic that the wizard
doesn't need the amplification effects of the wand? That doesn't seem
right. Or is this a talent inherent in wizard/witches? Like with the
House Elves. But there are spells that can be cast to prevent
Apparation. So there are spells that are more powerful than inherent
talents? That seems rather odd.

I must confess, I desperately want to know how the spell to turn one
into an Animagi works. What does it involve, spells, incantations,
potions? What makes it so difficult? Perhaps JKR will enlighten us in
the future.

I bet I have tons more questions/speculations but I'll cut off
here...if anyone has any other ruminations please share. I know I'm
eagerly looking forward to Amy Z's essay on magic in the HP world. I'm
hoping it'll clarify things for me...

~Amber


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