#and if we go with the magical theory that muggleborns come from squibs BOY DO I ALSO HAVE NEWS FOR YOU

[littleliterarylesbian]

I feel like the big "gatcha" of jegulus antis of them having some members of each other's families on their family trees is kind of fucking weird because.... EVERY wizard that's a pureblood or halfblood has in common people on every other family tree in some way shape or form.... wolfstar,,,,, ginny x harry (idk the ship name 😦), drarry, ect. THE WIZARDING WORLD IS FILLED OF INCEST BECAUSE JOANNE WAS FUCKING STUPID WITH HER WORLD BUILDING. EVERY WIZARDING WORLD'S FAMILY TREE, IN THE GRAND SCHEME OF THINGS, IS ALL CONNECTED IN SOME WAY SHAPE OR FORM. I CANNOT STAND SOME OF Y'ALL WHO DON'T USE YOUR BRAIN AND THINK THAT JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE USING THIS TO ARGUE AGAINST A SHIP THAT'S NOT REALLY A BIG DEAL AND DOESN'T MEAN THAT THOSE SAME RULES ALSO DON'T APPLY TO YOU'RE FAV SHIPS 🫵

[azems-familiar]

What’s the world building for your hp au?

OKAY oh boy you don't know how excited i am for this

so this is going to have, roughly, everything @ipreferfiction and i have come up with on the magic systems and all that worldbuilding. bits and pieces of it have been taken from various franchises the two of us enjoy, some more mainstream some not, but very little is fanon and we didn't intentionally mine fanon for details, and some of this stuff is completely from our own brains. if you want more society focused stuff - higher education, culture, religion, sexuality and gender roles, politics, more politics, the nuance behind the blood issue, more politics, etc - you or anyone else is free to ask about more specific stuff. so, without further ado!

wild magic is magic in its purest, rawest form. it can be channeled (with difficulty) but cannot be controlled, with the exception of a few very very difficult and dangerous rituals that no one has ever survived using. the natural world is full of magic; the current working theory is that the world itself produces it, that plants and animals absorb it and give off some of their own, and that magical life-forms are both made by and sources of magic. due to the inherent instability of wild magic and how difficult it is to touch, study is limited and progress is slow.

wild magic is akin to a force of nature. it naturally forms ley lines, which sometimes (but not always) parallel things like fault lines, rivers, etc. the presence of ley lines can add a great deal of power to spells, if one skims the surface of them, though only the strongest or most controlled wixen are encouraged to try this, and it's believed that people born along ley lines or nodes - points where ley lines converge - are more likely to be born magical. nodes are usually small; the biggest one in the UK is the one Hogwarts is built on, and the four founders harnessed its magic in a display of spellwork never seen before or since and tied it directly into the wards. the room of requirement, or come and go room, is a direct result of this - it is pure wild magic at work.

all wixen, squibs and not, are born with magical cores. the strength of that core determines the amount of magic they can do without resting, the size and strength of the workings they can do, and how much longer than a non-magical human they'll live. magic is a dominant trait; squibs are rare, and will often produce magical children. magical ancestry is not a requirement, as many muggleborns have never had any kind of magic in their bloodline (though there are also many who do, who are children of long-dead squibs who integrated into the muggle world).

squibs are the children of magical parents who are born with a magical core that is too weak to sustain spellcasting, which leaves them with the ability to sense magic but not touch it. the magical world is dangerous to those who cannot do their own magic, so most squibs are given a choice between remaining in it and being educated on the muggle world so they can live in it. while quite a few do choose to leave, many also choose to stay; there are less career paths open to them than to wixen, but they can pursue potioneering, magical history, or the study and caretaking of certain magical creatures, and can even acquire a mastery in subjects that don't require active spellcasting.

magic is harnessed in a variety of ways. accidental magic, as it is often called, is done purely by intent and desire; spells and rituals are much more reliable and specific means of producing a result. all spells originally began as rituals, which took multiple wixen to cast at times, depending on their strength and control, but as advancements were made in spell design and especially with the invention of the wand, spells became more and more streamlined. a spell has three active parts: the arithmantic formula, which in a Latin-based magic system is a set of lines and symbols within a circle that channel and control the magic; the intent behind the spell, which fleshes out the formula and pushes it the desired direction; and the incantation and wand movements, which add further control to the spell and prevent it from developing unintended effects. spells can be done with only intent, but magic is a force of nature and can very easily go in an unwanted and potentially dangerous direction. magic done with pure intent is at the most risk for a deadly loss of control.

wandless casting is possible and is taught in NEWT curriculum, alongside nonverbal casting; most wixen struggle with it, preferring the increased control a wand gives them, and will only ever master a handful of spells. the rare wix is born who is too powerful to properly use a wand, and faces a uniquely inverted problem: most Latin spells are designed to be done with one and require adjustment to be efficiently performed wandlessly.

ritual circles are used for a variety of things. they enclose rituals, any kind of particularly difficult or finicky spell, blood magic, and experimental magic. they are also often used to prevent magical interference during potion brewing. a ritual circle can be drawn in the dirt with a finger, or made from any material really, as long as the intention is there; salt is a common material used to keep out interference, and blood makes the strongest binding circles. runic ritual circles are more specialized ritual circles and are the kinds usually used by researchers. they are formed by a pair of circles with another circle of runes on the inside and are usually permanently inlaid into floors. the runes determine what sort of protections the spell will have; a common one allows the crafter's magic to pass through it, but no other magic, and prevents any magic from leaving - useful for experimentation.

the wizarding UK has a total ban on blood magic. blood magic is magic that takes power from sacrifice, blood shed freely (though some black magic rituals use unwilling sacrifice and death, even), and the injuries left to heal naturally. though blood magic was banned with the help of a fearmongering campaign against its potential for deadly and disturbing offensive spells, its greatest strength is actually in protection; blood magic makes the strongest warding spells, as well as the most accurate tracking spells. blood magic's power is channeled through the use of a ritual knife, a hilt and blade made entirely of one material - obsidian and bone are common, granite is also used, some traditions have truly esoteric materials their knives are made from - crafted in a specific set of conditions and used only by the person it is made for. to let another use your ritual knife is one of the highest acts of trust that can be done. blood magic can be done without a knife, using injuries already inflicted, but it isn't recommended, as without the knife to act as a conduit for the power the injuries will be worsened, potentially fatally so.

bloodline magic differs from blood magic in that it is tied to a specific bloodline and will pass down through it for generations. depending on the strength of the spell - usually an oath or a protective ritual - it may or may not need to be renewed every certain number of generations. family magic is traditions and spells, often from other systems of magic, historical ones depending on where the families originated from, that are passed down from parents to children and taught in all pureblood families. the magic is kept very secret and only those who have been magically brought into the family - long term partners, spouses, adopted children - are allowed to learn it, outside of those of the bloodline.

the Hogwarts wards are sentient and have a will of their own. they are anchored by the four wardstones, each of which have a magical creature guardian, are tied to one of the four elements, and were made and hidden by one of the four founders. three of the wardstones form a pyramid and are hidden on the castle grounds: Slytherin's is under the lake, tied to the element of water, and protected by a basilisk; Gryffindor's is in the mountains, tied to fire, protected by a dragon; Hufflepuff's is in the forbidden forest, tied to earth, and protected by the centaur herd there. the fourth wardstone, Ravenclaw's, is tied to the element of air and is the central wardstone, the one that grants the castle its sentience. it is kept in the central tower at the heart of the castle, heavily guarded by other wards, its access restricted, and its guardian is the castle phoenix. the phoenix is traditionally bonded to the castle's headmaster as a sign that the wards accept the headmaster's tenure. the phoenix, however, has not been seen in many years, and many wonder if she has abandoned the school.

other magic systems work off different rules from the Latin-based system taught in the Isles and in much of the western world. Egyptian magic developed through the infusion of ancient egyptian hieroglyphs with magical intent, until the magic was so bound to the words and glyphs that they can no longer be separated. Egyptian spells are much less rigid than Latin ones, work much more off intent, and are done by combining intentions with a combination of words while visualizing the symbols. more skilled and controlled wixen require less words to achieve the effect they want. ancient Celtic magic has pyramidal spell structures, rather than circular, and is much more closely tied to the elements, to ley lines, and to wild magic and nature itself.

[fullmetalruby]

an open letter to ms joanne, in the form of every question i’ve asked myself in the process of my current wip:

(this is really long)

what was the purpose of making house elves slaves? 

if they’re based on brownies, as is the common theory, then what’s the narrative point of making them work for no pay? their situation as slaves was addressed, but never solved, and hermione was put down within the narrative for trying to solve it. 

was the purpose just to give hermione a cause to fight for? was it an effort to make her seem more empathetic? 

what are the hard limits on magic?

the only ones that are actually magical restrictions (as opposed to the one about gold, which was imposed by the ministry) are about immortality and resurrection.

we’re told that you can’t conjure food, but you can conjure plant (as shown by hermione in 7) and animals (as shown by hermione in 6) which can be turned into food, so what constitutes “food”?

HOW THE FUCK DO PREFECTS WORK

How are they chosen?

We know literally nothing. Are they nominated by their Heads of House and confirmed by the Headmaster? Do the Heads of House choose them outright, and if so, does the Headmaster have veto power? We know it isn’t an election, because Harry has no idea who the Prefects could be in 5th year, even though that would make the most sense.

Are there any pre- or co- requisites?

I would imagine that there’s at least a GPA/the wizarding equivalent requirement and, at the very least, an application, but we know that there isn’t one. Ron and Hermione are both surprised when they were chosen, though Ron moreso. 

In this case, is there supposed to be a prereq and they just made an exception for Ron? 

What exactly is their role within the school? What are their powers?

We’re told explicitly that they can’t take way points or give detentions, but we see them do exactly that. Do they actually have the power to do these things, or are their “orders” just referrals to the staff, who we know do have those powers?

Head Girl and Head Boy.

We know that the Head Girl and Head Boy can be chosen from the Prefects of the previous year, but they don’t have to be (see James Potter) and also that if they’re chosen from the Prefects of the previous year then they don’t necessarily have to be replaced as Prefects by another person in their year and House.

Are you allowed to say no?

Since there’s clearly no application process, no election, and no visible prerequisites that I can find, are you allowed to say no if you’re chosen as a Prefect? Are you allowed to quit partway through the year, and if so would you be replaced? 

HOW THE FUCK DOES THE SORTING WORK

Harry says it’s based on where you want to go, but we saw it put Neville in Gryffindor even though he wanted to be in Hufflepuff, which would imply that it puts you were it thinks you would fit best, but we see Harry being told he belongs in Slytherin and being able to ask for Gryffindor. 

How does magic itself work?

Can you get magical exhaustion? Is it like mana in video games, where you have a set amount you can use at any given time, or are you constantly drawing magic from the environment? or is it just an energy conversion from the energy your body contains? How do you recharge?

We know that items can have spells placed on them, but then what’s powering those spells (see above)? Does the item have to have magic of it’s own (like a battery) or does the spell draw from the caster? Can objects hold magic like batteries?

Where does magic come from? How can Muggles birth magic kids at all?

The fact that magic can be passed down through blood implies some genetic component, but the fact that we know people can go completely undetected as magical means they’re close enough that Muggle testing doesn’t detect it. The fact that Muggles can have viable children with wizard who themselves can then reproduce tells us that wizards and Muggles are close enough genetically.

So is the magic gene an extra chromosome? Are we supposed to infer that wizards are just the next stage of human evolution?

Following that, at what point will wizards and Muggles not be able to reproduce with each other/ start creating sterile children? When do we get the metaphorical mule?

ALSO squibs are supposedly rare but Muggleborns are very common. Is magic the dominant trait? If that’s the case then why are squibs so rare? Wouldn’t they be just as common as, say, redheads?

What, exactly, is the role of the Ministry at Hogwarts?

Ghosts

What’s their legal status? They’re clearly still sentient and retain the identities they had in life, so can they also retain any property they had in life? If you come back as a ghost is your spouse widowed, or are they technically still married?

How do you become a ghost? Can you stop being one? Do you have a choice in being a ghost?

At what point does the above indicated intelligence and sentience qualify/ stop qualifying someone as a “Being”?

HOW THE FUCK DOES LYCANTHROPE WORK

Specifically, what triggers the transformation?

Is it specifically exposure to the light of the full moon? Does it have to be a 100% full moon for this to work, or can it be a range e.g. of 97-100%?

Assuming this to be true, could a lycanthrope just stay inside and not transform?

Is it a psychological transformation? Does just knowing that the moon is full trigger the transformation?

Assuming this to be true, could keeping a lycanthrope unaware of the moon’s phase keep them from transforming?

From the above question, can lycanthropes sense when the moon is full?

If we assume so, then is it a yes/no type deal or can lycanthropes always tell how full the moon is? Can they tell you the exact percentage? 

Can they sense the moon further? Can they tell you the time of day based on how long it will be until the moon rises?

What triggers the transformation back?

Is it exposure to the light of the sun, or is it specifically the absence of exposure to the moonlight? Or is it a set duration, e.g. once exposed to moonlight the transformation lasts for the next 12 hours?

Could you stick a lycanthrope in a basement and keep them transformed indefinitely?

What’s the extent of a lycanthrope’s power set outside of the full moon? Are they normal humans again, or do they retain any of the wolfishness?

Do they have heightened senses? Sharper teeth? Thicker hair? We know they retain a taste for rare meat (and that’s not even a full lycanthrope, it’s Bill) but how much further does it go?

This is in no way an exhaustive list, it’s just what I had off the top of my head. Please feel free to add on.