Magical Theory

> *"To say magic is a muscle is extremely oversimplified and cliché, but it does summarize the general idea. Your magic is linked to you as a human being, even though we have no magic within us. The more you cast a spell, the more you will gain an affinity towards that spell. Wizards like our Headmaster would need to think barely, if at all."*
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— Amelia Hurst to Harry Potter on magic, Harry Potter and the Forsaken's Ascension: Chapter 12: Developments & Destiny, November 29th 1991.

There are five foundational branches of magic: Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, Charms, Potions and Transfigurations. These five are deemed as such because either alone, or in combination with the others are enough to allow one to perform any task with the help of magic.

The bodies of witches and wizards absorb magic from all around them. Most of it is projected back, thus enabling one to cast spells. A tiny amount of it always gets stored. That stored extra magic helps the body with some things among which a slight increase in brain function. That slight increase is enough that magical children are able to pick up things faster then their non-magical counterparts — that does not make them necessarily smarter, just faster learners. Such a phenomenon manifests in things like more advanced speech patterns then it would be expected for a non-magical child of a similar age. The same is true for injury healing, with a magical healing much faster then their non-magical counterpart.

> *"Some say that magic is a living, breathing force. While that is debatable, its sentience is not."*
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— Albus Dumbledore, if magic is alive or not, Harry Potter and the Sacrificial Slytherin: Chapter 22: Bad Faith, December 21st, 1992.

Magic is a force that lives and breaths around all, it is not something that lives inside a magical or is produced by one. Witches and wizards are not containers for said magic, instead they are conductors for it. When casting a spell, one simply draws the magic into themselves before their intent shaped it and projects it outwards. The more complex the bit of magic performed the more magic one needs to draw in — with some people being better at being a conductor than others, hence more "powerful". Powerful magic is addictive as one needs to absorb more magic, and that act in itself is addictive as it's akin to sensory overload in a sense. Because "dark spell" have a tendency to require very large amounts of magic to make them work, there is a tendency to get them classified as addictive.

### The Four Pillars of Magic:

For a spell to work there are four things needed. These are (i) the power to cast the spell, (ii) the understanding of the spell, (iii) the necessary intent to cast it, and (iv) the creativity to envision the desired results.

The forth requirement represents the main hurdle when it comes to non-verbal casting. Visualization is something that many struggle because incanting a spell aloud greatly reduces the need for it. This is due to the association that ones makes between an incantation and a spell, that helps the brain pull up the visualized image and it's intent.

## Symbols of Power:

Symbols have power in magic (and so do numbers for that matter), some are more powerful then others. One can assume that the more powerful a symbol the greater its effect will be on its bearer.

The full moon is such a symbol, irrelevant if the its light reaches the place where the symbol is employed or not. A shed snake skin can also act as a symbol for the removing of old and the beginning on the new. Some symbols are more context specific while others are much more universal.

Murder a symbol, a very dark one in fact:

> *“Murder is a symbol for a lot of things, but none of them are good. To murder is to change oneself forever. Your soul… well, soul magic is a touchy thing, but it will never quite be the same. It won’t completely break apart, but there will be a sort of deep scarring that never goes away. It can mostly heal, but its effects will always be there. It’s not something I’m willing to let you experience. Not at your age, at the very least”*
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— Grace Weitts on the symbolism of murder, Harry Potter and the Sacrificial Slytherin: Chapter 36: The Shedding of Skin, June 5th, 1993.

## **Sacrificial Magic:**

> *“Magic centres around many things, Harry Potter.” the centaur told him. “One that some of your kind is fixated quite powerfully on is intent. Another is fate. Another still,” he said, his voice rising a touch in volume and significance still, “is balance. Magic does not just give infinitely. There are certain kinds of magics that require take, sacrifice.”*
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— The centaur Firenze explaining to Harry Potter some of his people's understandings in regards to magic, Harry Potter and the Forsaken's Ascension: Chapter 16: The Dragon’s Wrath Part II (It Gets Worse), May 26th 1992

It is some of the oldest magic in existence. Its applications are limitless whilst its principles are centered in balance. For a goal to be achieved something of equal value or of greater value must be sacrificed.