Re Power of Magic

[Tom Wall]

No: HPFGUIDX 56008

Mac wrote:
My initial reaction was that Hermione was a lot more adept at spell 
magic than Harry. Not only had she memorised a lot of spells, but I 
cannot recall an instance where she misused a spell or where a spell 
failed to work for her.

I reply:
Sorry about the gender confusion there, Mac. I have a buddy who goes 
by the nickname `Mack,' so I guess I just did the whole association 
thing. ;-)

One instance (which might not be all that fair to her) in which 
Hermione wasn't able to use a spell properly comes in PoA, Ch.20, 
383, when she couldn't use the Patronus Charm to help Harry. Granted, 
Hermione hadn't practiced the spell, so I'll give her the benefit of 
the doubt here. But still, she couldn't do it.


Mac wrote:
I agree that I feel that magic is a natural ability - or more 
precisely, a talent. Just as some people take to playing a musical 
instrument almost without effort, I am totally hopeless at it and 
could never get that natural co-ordination between the music, my 
brain and my fingers. It's a talent I lack. I could be taught to read 
music and to understand how it works, but actually making it work is 
something I can't do - because I have virtually no musical talent. If 
magic were music, I'd be a squib at best.

I reply:
I think you're working from different perspectives here. First off, 
everyone at Hogwarts has some magical talent, otherwise they wouldn't 
be there.


Mac wrote:
So if you equate Hogwarts to something like the Academy of Music, 
where 
musically talented children are sent for an education, then you have 
some children who are prodigies, some who are very skilled and the 
remaining majority who are just technically competent.

The music is the same for all. The notes are there to be read and 
played. I'm beginning to think that this is something like Rowling 
had in mind. Anyone can open a piece of sheet music and reel off what 
the notes are - but only the musically talented can take the sheet 
music and turn it into something like the composer intended. 
Dumbledore, for instance, could perhaps spin out Snape's Expeliamus 
and knock half the student body through a window. Ron might only 
manage to lift Hermione's cat. It may be a matter of degree + ability 
= strength.
END QUOTE.

I reply:
I'm not sure that I agree with your analogy, so let's return to the 
beginning. Normally, to get into a school like an Academy of Music, 
there's an audition and selection process, and this is something that 
the Hogwarts students don't have to go through. JKR says that 
McGonagall has a magical quill that records the names of babies born 
with magical abilities. At the appropriate time those kids are sent 
letters akin to the one Harry received. 

In other words, there's no auditioning for Hogwarts. You're magical? 
You're in.

So, in a School of Music, you'll get kids of differing levels of 
ability, naturally, as you have at Hogwarts. But outside the school 
are still people that can read and write and play music, but weren't 
good enough to get in. This isn't the case with Hogwarts and magic. 
In the WW, if you've got the propensity for magic, then you're in. 
Done deal. Once you're in though, it's not a matter of `say it and 
go.' 

As Percy said in PoA "Play to your strengths, Harry." (CoS, Ch.14, 
252)

Moody also says this in GoF: "I'm just going to give you some good, 
general advice. And the first bit is – play to your strengths." (GoF, 
Ch.20, 344)

This is what I was trying to indicate in my last post – it's not a 
matter of having talent, or even magical ability. It's a matter of 
having abilities in a *specific* kind of magic.

Music, like magic, is written in a language. Presumably, anyone can 
be taught to `read' the music. And I'd guess that, presumably, anyone 
can be taught to `read' magical spells.

Now, you go from `reading' to `playing.' Just because you can `read' 
music or a magical spell doesn't mean that you can `play' the music 
or `use' the magic. A third grader could `read' Rachmaninoff. Play? 
Only the simplest stuff. 

Again, I'll refer to the Patronus Charm here. Harry is repeatedly 
foiled by the difficulty of the Charm, and he knew the words `expecto 
patronum' before his first attempt. What Harry seems to get are 
moments where he is `in-the-zone' and able to use magic that's beyond 
his normal level – at other times, he's stumped by the simplest 
spells, like the Summoning Charm. 

Hermione is different – she studies chronically. And in her case, 
studying pays off, because I believe she's naturally gifted. In 
PS/SS, Hermione is the only one to get the levitation charm to work 
without massive difficulty. We see it again in GoF, when McGonagall 
says: "Miss Granger remains the only person in this class who has 
managed to turn a pincushion into a satisfactory hedgehog." (GoF, 
Ch.15, 233)


Mac wrote:
But I still have to wonder - could any 12 year-old twirl her/his wand 
and say the death curse and kill someone?

I reply:
No way. Crouch!Moody tells us this in GoF, Ch.14, 217:

"Avada Kedavra's a curse that needs a powerful bit of magic behind 
it – you could all get your wands out now and point them at me and 
say the words, and I doubt I'd get so much as a nosebleed."

IMHO, powerful, well-trained, well-studied students or not, Harry and 
Hermione could not perform Avada Kedavra on the first try.

And now, take your suggestion and apply it to the other cases we've 
seen. If Hermione's the only one who can transfigure a proper 
pincushion by the beginning of her fourth year, it's not because she 
knows any more than anyone else - presumably, McGonagall is teaching 
them all the same way. So, Dean Thomas knows the words, but his 
pincushion is still afraid of being stuck with a pin. In other words, 
it's not a matter of knowing what to say, or even how to say it. It's 
more of a matter of playing to your strengths and having confidence, 
which seems to make all the difference.

-Tom