Voldemort and wandless magic

[Hana]

No: HPFGUIDX 38185

Marina said:

>> I think that wandless magic (useful and controlled wandless magic, I mean, not the chaos random stuff Harry has done by accident) may be a matter of not just power, but also mental focus and self-control<< 

Barb said: 

>>I believe the body is the first way in which magical humans express their magic, and wands just help focus it even more.<<

IMO magic in general can be done without a wand but it's a lot harder to control (eg. the random stuff Harry does) I think that the difference between wandless magic and using a wand is like writing with sidewalk chalk vs. a mechanical pencil.  Sure you can write with the sidewalk chalk, but if you want to do anything that is detailed or complicated you want the mechanical pencil.  

Conjuring ropes, or a light source might be considered easy forms of magic which could be done with the chalk so to speak, while the Unforgivable Curses, or magic that might be used in a duel needs more focus and therefore the equivilent of the pencil.  

A wand, I believe works like that -- it allows the caster greater precision and focus.  Voldemort could have tried wandless magic against Harry in the duel in GoF but perhaps he would have been unable to do the more sophisticated spells that would be needed to win.  It could also be that he was just startled by the reaction between the two wands and couldn't focus at the time on anything ~but~ the wand.

Another thought on this issue -- some spells need specific wand movements.  Are these movements simply a way of focusing the spell or are they an intergral part of it?  If they're necessary then a wand (or at least something like a finger) would be essential to the spell.

I don't think that anyone's mentioned it yet, but the nature of different wands needs to be taken into consideration when discussing wandless magic.  Wands are made of different substances and some are better at certain things (Harry's mother's wand was good for charms while his father's was good for transfiguration PS 33), and since the wand chooses the user it must somehow compliment or extend the power of the weilder otherwise it wouldn't matter what you used as a wand.  So, while it may be possible to operate without a wand at times, it's simply more efficient and practical, not to mention safer and accurate to use one.

Hmm I think I'll stop now.

---
--Hana




See Dave Matthews Band live or win a signed guitar
http://r.lycos.com/r/bmgfly_mail_dmb/http://win.ipromotions.com/lycos_020201/splash.asp