Magic: Foc/unFoc; Ctrl/unCtrl; Wand/NoWand; Spont/Intent

[bboy_mn]

No: HPFGUIDX 43088

The subject of Focused vs. Unfocused magic has been recently debated
at length.

But I submit that most people are looking at it through a very tiny
window. We have several factors that come into play, and with any
given act of magic, they must ALL be taken into account.

Magical Implimentation Factors:

Focused vs Unfocused 
which is related to but not necessarily the sames as
Wand vs Wandless

Controlled vs Uncontrolled 
which is related to but not the same as
Spontaneous vs Intentional


You could have Wand magic that is Unfocused and Spontaneous but
controllable/containable/or bounded by some restrained limits.

I would say most examples of Harry's 'unfocused' magic are really-
wandless, unfocused, spontaneous, and uncontrolled/uncontrollable.

He is not using a wand.

The magic, to some extent, is unfocused, because of the lack of a
focusing device like a wand. Unfocused to the extent that it has no
clear purpose or intent. He could just as easily have blown up the
refirgerator as blown up Aunt Marge. Although, without a doubt, the
focus of his anger was Marge, that was not necessarily the intended
focus of his magic.

Spontaneous in the sense that it was self-initiating. It was initiated
by the force of his emotions, and not by concious desire or intent.

It was uncontrollable in the sense that he had no control and in the
sense, that it was without limits.  Again, this relates to intent.
Neville, as an illustration, could initiate some spontaneous magic
trigger by events or emotion, but at the same time conciously not
intend to harm anyone. That would make it spontaneous, but to some
extent controlled; bounded by intended limits.


Now, in general-

There a lots of examples of simple straight forward magic that is
initiated or implimented without a wand. That's a given.

Unfocused without a wand- If a wizard doesn't have a wand, or if he
does, and he's not using it. It is unfocus in the sense that he is not
concetrated on a specific act, or a specific destination. It's the
difference between a random curse that sweeps over an entire crowd and
attacks all indiscriminantly, and a specific intended curse that is
focused on a single person in a crowd. And it is unfocused, in the
sense that he is using no device, wand or other, as a device to
concentrate and direct the magic. Unfocused internally and externally.

Spontaneous, again, is magic that self-initiates with no concoius
intent or desire on the part of the magician/wizard/sorcerer.

Uncontrolled or unbounded or unlimited by the wizard. Harry action
against Aunt Marge was uncontrolled in that it had no known or
controllable limits. Aunt Marge could have continued to inflate until
she litterally exploded. I suspect when people physically explode into
a thousand pieces, it's next to impossible for that magic to be
undone.  It is only my shear random chance that Aunt Marge stopped
inflating; that, or the early arrivable of the Accidental Magic Squad.

First, all of these overlap, in any given instance of magic any
combination and degree of these things can occur.

Second, what is the one word that is peppered through everything
above; it's 'intent'. 

Someone asked why Harry didn't do something while Big_V had him tied
up in the graveyard. It's because this is not magic that Harry
controls. It self-initiates; it's spontaneous and out of his control.
It's dictated by circumstances, and is not predictable to any given
circumstances. 

Is it powerful? OH YES! It has the full force of all of Harry's
untapped magical potential. In a sense, it acts at a primal,
instinctual, survival level. When it is unleases, it is uncontrollable
and unpredictable, and has no concious barriers between that massive
force of magic and where it is being directed. 

Is it powerful, more powerful than Harry himself? OH YES! YES, INDEED!
It is like Hoover Dam suddenly disintigrateing and unleashing it's
massive wall of previously restrained water, or in Harry's case,
previously restrained wall of magic.

Let's try to view the world through a picture window, and not a peep hole.

Just some thoughts. 

bboy_mn