Magically powerful

[Peggy]

No: HPFGUIDX 121794


--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "potioncat" <willsonkmom at m...> 
wrote:
> 
> --- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "revealme4u" 
<revealme4u at y...> 
> wrote:
> > 
> > Vivek wrote:
> > I was wondering what being magically powerful means. I mean, 
> everyone 
> > (in WW) has magical powers, but still some people are referred to 
> as 
> > being magically powerful e.g. Dumbledore, LV, Bartius Crouch Sr. 
> etc, 
> > and some are said to be the reverse e.g. Fudge (I think Hagrid or 
> Sirius 
> > said that). 
> 
> Potioncat replied:
> We're told that some witches and wizards never master the ability 
to 
> Apparate.  Only a few can perfrom the Patronus or make Wolfsbane 
> Potion.  There seems to be a sort of norm for magical power and 
> those who fall above and below.  Consider Umbridge on one end and 
DD 
> on the other.

Peg:

I'd like to expand a little on what Potioncat says.  I think there 
are a several aspects to magical power, and it's very much like 
Muggle skills.

A person starts with aptitude, and then experience, temperament, and 
practice come into play.  Anyone can be born with an aptitude for, 
say, music, but if you are never given any instruction (education) in 
the subject, the aptitude never has a chance to develop.  Then, if 
you don't have the temperament for a subject, you'll have no interest 
in pursuing it.  Musicians need the ability to sit still to work out 
a problem.  They don't need to be deeply introverted, but an extreme 
extrovert won't be happy to sit down and do the work that it takes to 
be really good.

Finally, there's practice.  If you don't use it, you lose it.  This 
is why professional musicians often practice eight hours a day.  The 
skill has to be automatic.

Don't get me wrong--education, inclination, and hard work can make up 
for a lack of natural talent in some fields!  The process is just 
much easier if you have some aptitude to begin with.

What I'm getting at is that the same thing applies to magic in the 
Potterverse.  I'll pick on Harry and his flying ability.  He's got 
the aptitude--he just gets on the broom and flies.  It feels like 
second nature to him.  Then he gets education--mostly, it seems, from 
his teammates, since we never hear about any more formal flying 
lessons from Madam Hooch after the first one.  He reads books on 
Quidditch and broomsticks, so he's exposed to other people's thoughts 
on the subject.  He's got the temperament to go ahead and fly in all 
sorts of weather when "sensible" people would be inside with a cup of 
tea and a good book.  And he gets practice--flying all weather, on 
beasts as well as brooms.

Before I get any more pedantic, I'll let it go . . .

Peg