Viridian Dreams Forum

I couldn't find anywhere to put this aside from here, so if it's in the wrong place, please forgive me.



That said, we've seen in NOFP that Evil Authorlord DOES subscribe to the idea of magical cores. I, however, am one of those who are of the belief that magical cores are at best fanon and not part of canon and at worst a retarded idea. But I wanted your ideas. Let's talk about the possibility of magical cores as a plausible idea.

Glad you're joining the forum!

So when you mean discuss, are you saying that someone should sight canon evidence that supports it? If not, what is there to discuss?

Well, canon does make it clear that some wizards are more powerful than others. Their wands (and possibly intelligence) may have something to do with this, but it seems that some are legitimately stronger or weaker than average. This implies either that different wizards have different amounts of magic to draw on (the magic gas tank theory) or that they have differing capacities for channeling magic from an external source (the magic power line theory). Since canon doesn't specify one way or the other, I see nothing wrong with an author supplying their own answer if it is a necessary part of the story.

You are of course entitled to your own opinion on the matter. You should inject manners and courtesy into any post you put on this board.

QED:

I, however, am one of those who are of the belief that magical cores are at best fanon and not part of canon and at worst a retarded idea.

This sentence was written with the obvious desire of insulting everyone who ascribes to the the theory of Magical cores. That includes the Evil Author Lord.

But I wanted your ideas.

Why did you open a discussion for an idea you abhor. No matter what any of us say you'll still think it's "retarded" and by extension that anyone who argues that Magical Cores are cannon is "retarded" as well.

Well, Rowling didn't really go too deep into mechanics of her worlds magic. It has some rules and consistencies like: emotions can enhance and fuel certain spells, no magic can reverse death and magic can be crafted onto a stationary item. But the actual physical limits of magic have never been clearly stated. I don't remember any point in canon where someone mentioned being tired after casting a spell. So the Magical Core theorem is more than likely a completely fanon concept. But it's a fanon concept I can get behind. Most of us are anime nerds, so we all automatically measure power by the gas-tank theory. Although I do like that higher channeling threshold thing. It's different.

Well, Rowling didn't really go too deep into mechanics of her worlds magic. It has some rules and consistencies like: emotions can enhance and fuel certain spells, no magic can reverse death and magic can be crafted onto a stationary item. But the actual physical limits of magic have never been clearly stated. I don't remember any point in canon where someone mentioned being tired after casting a spell. So the Magical Core theorem is more than likely a completely fanon concept. But it's a fanon concept I can get behind. Most of us are anime nerds, so we all automatically measure power by the gas-tank theory. Although I do like that higher channeling threshold thing. It's different.

At the end of canon book 1, wasn't Harry in the infirmary for some sort of magical exhaustion that made him sleep for days?

*grabs copy of book and starts flipping pages*
Ah, here it is. The book never specifies why exactly Harry is in the hospital wing, just that he was asleep for three days. Some sort of magical exhaustion is as reasonable an explanation as any other, though personally I hold that what Harry was suffering from was excessive Voldemort proximity - it mentions his scar hurting just before he blacks out, which seems to indicate that attacking or being close to Voldemort was doing him harm. At least to me.

I personally prefer the idea of wizards/witches tapping into an outside source of magic from the earth, but canon is so vague on the subject that the 'magical cores' theory is just as valid. Although I think 'magical exhaustion' could be a side-effect with either of these. For the former, channelling too much magic in too short a time, and for the latter, just using up your own sources.

Really, it's probably a rare fanfic that needs to bring it up. XP

Cause so many prefer to focus on the Twu wuv between Harry and Insert-name-here that actual plot and world building don't come into play?

Well there is that, but I was thinking more that if canon managed without it, by all rights most fanfics probably could as well.

I'm forced to disagree with you on that one. Knowing how magic affects the body and how it works also gives it limits. Working within those limits is what makes most stories interesting and much more impressive when the characters do something complicated or awe-inspiring. Well, the more action-heavy stories where you have a Smart!Harry (or whatever character happens to be the team genius) doing his thing. It also establishes a much clearer pecking order in the story and why some antagonists need to be taken more seriously than others.

Of course, if it's just a humor or character piece, you obviously wouldn't need to know the mechanics of the worlds magic.

Oh, I certainly agree with you on that, I just think that there are other limits which are easier to include because they don't really need extensive explaining/worldbuilding - like in canon, I think the limit is usually knowledge, or lack thereof. Don't get me wrong, worldbuilding is awesome, and if someone wanted to use this kinda thing to create limits, that'd be great; I just don't think it's necessary.

One of the reasons why HP fanfic invites so much fanon worldbuilding is because there is so little "under-the-hood" explanation in canon. You pretty much never see how magic works - it just does. Which I think may be part of why people wonder about the Wizarding World being fundamentally damaged in some way - they are just so incurious about nearly everything, or so it seems. As we come from a fundamentally scientific mindset ("hmm, how does this work, and how can I exploit it?"), there is so much to investigate, and we see no evidence of such investigation, so then there is the question of why not.

... maybe that's just the gamer in me speaking.

... Is this the wrong place to ask what would happen with the whole magical core thing and magic overall if someone made a GREAT KAMINA!Harry?

One of the ways I've started to see it, and this only came to me about a week ago, was:

Perhaps, using a wand draws on magic from the atmosphere. Yet using wandless magic draws from a magical core. It would make sense since they have to "relearn" magic when doing wandless magic. That's the theory I'm incorporating into my fics, anyway.

... Is this the wrong place to ask what would happen with the whole magical core thing and magic overall if someone made a GREAT KAMINA!Harry?

I'd read a fic like that.

Magical cores, in so far as they are discussed in NoFP and a few other fics, are a total Fanon concept.

But the concept of the source/font/internal reserve of the character's magic is a pretty firm canon thing, just maybe not explicitly referred to as "core"

Overall, though, I prefer the concept of Cores. By conception of them are that they more akin to a water spigot, that the wizard's core controls the flow of magic and how much they are able to push at any one time.

I also prefer that magical power is something that a wizard can "exercise" and make stronger and have more endurance. That they are able to grow their magical strength/power with effort on their own part, it only comes down to their own will to improve more than anything.

This framework also very easily permits the Dumbledore/Grindelwald/Tom Riddle's of the world; that is wizards that are just head and shoulders above their peers in power and control over magic. They just happen to start life off with a much larger pipe for their magic to flow through them and also happen to be mental geniuses to begin with which leads to how and why these particular wizards are so much more than their fellow wizards in general.

Which comes to the issue of Harry in NoFP. I personnaly think that magic/magical cores are not a purel additive concept (i.e. one standard wizard magical core added to another standard wizard's core does not necessarily produce a magical core that is strictly the sum of the two, that one core added to another core could lead to a wizard that is ten times more powerful than before. Which is what I think is happening to Harry.)

I don't think that Harry, Hermione, or Ron are exceptionally talented (magically) while they are in Hogwarts/Hogwarts age; though I do acknowledge Hermione is the much smarter of the three intellectually. But none of them is a slouch in the brains department. I think all three of them are highly above average wizards: Hermione is the classic Straight A+ student, and Harry & Ron are A-/B+ students who get by through cramming. I'm firmly believe Harry and Ron (in canon) are pretty equal mentally and in magical power, though I feel that Ron is a lazier student (though Harry isn't too ahead of Ron on the academic laziness front) and Harry is a more talented dueler (however, I consider a physical quality not a magical one, this would be the direct equivalent of Harry being a better close combat firearms marksman.)

I personally feel that the Marauders (James, Remus, and Sirius) were much more talented wizards than Harry and Ron, and that Hermione intellectually is more talented, but due to the Marauders being all pure-bloods have a much better intuitive grasp of what magic can do and this leads to them being more talented magically than Hermione, at least while they were at Hogwarts. I feel that any muggle-born would catch up if they chose to, they just need to gain a few years of knowledge and experience to gain this holistic understanding of what they are capable of achieving through magic.

TB

Personally it doesn't matter either way. Any theory works for me, as long as it's well written and doesn't explicitly violate cannon.