10 Times Harry Potter Magic Made NO Sense

[@HarryPotterTheory]

MORE LONG VIDEOS: kzbin.info/aero/PLB5djWCQq2_e0UCOmVbhRP8HkxetpzXUV

[@Batnano]

"long videos" - biggest one is 20 minutes long

[@HarryPotterTheory]

Nope, look again@@Batnano

[@RRBBVamp]

10:33 That's not the actual explanation: the explanation is that it always happened. Everything they did when they went back in time had already happened, they didn't actually change anything because they were always traveling back in time. This is why they didn't do any of the other stuff, because if they did then they never would have had a reason to go, so then you would have a Paradox. As for the ageing, I think that's just from Cursed Child which is not cannon because of what it did to the time travel system.

[@adorhym12]

I imagine the trace would imagine the Magical book and quill from Hogwarts when learning their first signs of magical ability the Book of acceptance thing. 2. Veritaserum can be used and not work if the wizard's mind is powerful enough could potentially lie, if they know they are knowing they use it making it possible for actual criminals to escape. 3. As seen in the film Nicolas was still very old and feeble and he was still using it at that point. 4. The Time turner is said to only go hours back not decades 5. The charm cannot be done without death or serious injury if done by Dark Wizard/Witch's. 7. You didn't even use Krum's half shark trasfiguration accident during the 2nd task. 9. It is also very difficult to do as well as quite painful. I'm a theorist myself especially HP theories

[@eric45005]

This video is a failure. Only could be made it by some one who doesn't read and understand Harry Potter

[@Zelda_Thorn]

re: the elixer of life: he needed it to keep quirrell alive, the same reason he made quirrell drink unicorn blood. he could possess people, but possessing them burned through them and made them degrade and die quickly, as he ran through animals in the albanian forests. quirrell was dying. he wanted the elixer to keep him alive until he could regain a body of his own. and canonically the elixer does not permanently give immortality, it simply keeps away death; you have to keep drinking it to be immortal. so he's not worried about quirrell becoming immortal; he would make quirrell drink until he got what he wanted and then he would discard him.

[@MK-zm7de]

I love this, it makes a lot of sense to me

[@anderssanggaard6215]

Yes and no. He needed the unicorn blood to keep quirrel alive while he possesed him yes, but the elixir was for him to regain a body.

[@Zelda_Thorn]

@@anderssanggaard6215 that is what Dumbledore speculates was Voldemort's intent, yes. But I don't think there is any suggestion in canon that the stone or the elixir it produces can create a body from nothing, and I think Voldemort knew how to make a new body anyway - because he did so, with Wormtail's help. I think the stone was intended to make quirrell strong enough to perform whatever ritual was needed to create a body, but was not capable of creating a body itself.

[@Larka661]

Technically, Qurell turned to dust because Harry had the protection charm on him while Qurell had voldemort on him. The protection charm protected Harry from voldemort, but voldemort couldn't die. Since he was possessing Qurell, the protection charm activated.

[@Zelda_Thorn]

@@Larka661 yes but I don't understand what this has to do with the stone or the elixir

[@technetium]

I’ve seen a lot of fanfic suggest that the trace being useless for wizarding families and specifically to prevent muggleborns from casting is a feature and not a bug - they purposely prevent muggleborns from being able to practice magic over the summer, so they fall behind in class and it furthers wizarding prejudice against them

[@Caffeinated_Firefly]

are those the fanfiction in which Harry goes to gringotts, gets a blood test and learns that he is Lord potter, and the he's bestowed a ring, and gets family magic, and becomes weirdly powerful? 😂 I think the idea behind the Trace is that letting minors do unsupervised magic could be dangerous, they could botch a spell and not be able to repair it, and that could cause damage, injure people, expose wizards, etc. Kids with magic families will most likely having an adult witch or wizard minding the kids during summertime, so...

[@jullianbelmont8784]

​@@Caffeinated_FireflyThat seems sus. You appear to know a lot about those fanfics.

[@kenhyaferrier7924]

I read a couple of times in Fanfiction where the tracker is in the wand and when a child is under 17 or 18 and the tracker was been go from the wand

[@Catherine.Dorian.]

Yeah I’d agree with this, it’s a “fluke” but really a way to hamper the muggle borns. We can probably confirm it if we know who created the trace and designed it

[@saphiramystique2086]

If I remember correctly it's actually mentioned in one of the books, that the trace can only detect magic being used, not who did the magic, which is why Harry got blamed for the magic Dobby did in COS, and though it doesn't come out and say it, does show the wizarding world does still hold some prejudice against Muggle-borns, because, in a family full of wizards, any underage witch or wizards can perform magic at home, because the Minister doesn't know if it's them or an adult family member doing the magic. What I never understood was, that in GOF Mr. Wesaley uses magic when he comes to pick up Harry for the World Cup, and then again in OOF Tonks uses magic to help Harry pack his trunk, why wasn't any of that magic detected? You'd think Harry would have gotten blamed for that too.

[@DanteYewToob]

I have headcanon for a few of these in one. Magic seems to be less structured than you seem to think. I’m pretty sure the incantations are just words to train your mind to imagine the effect you want, and the reason they’re old sounding is tradition. But we know Magic exists in other languages and places. So when you want to invent a new spell, you need a very vivid inner mind, a clear imagination and strong willpower. You envision what you want the spell to do, train your mind see the effect you want, such as bubbles. I’d say “Bubbley Boo!” and in my minds eye I envision bubbles, while using a wand movement that does the same thing and feels unique to that effect. Lastly, I use my mastery of magic to “form” the magic into bubbles the way I might bend my hands in front of a lamp to get the shadow puppet I want. It’s about shaping your magic into the result you want, and having a movement and phrase that helps train mind and body to accomplish it. It’s essentially a Pavlovian response like a cat coming when it hears a can open… when my mind starts flicking my wrist in circles, and I say “Bubbley Boo” my mind, body, and magic all get on the same page and the result is magic bubbles flowing from my wand. Then, I can teach my new spell to others and it’s easier for them because I can show them what the result looks like, I can let them hear my awesome incantation see my epic wand skills. Then, when I become the bubble master and my body is used to the visual and the feel of the flow of magic I no longer need the words… I can just flick my wand and my muscle memory takes over and Bubbles! Eventually if I train enough I can cast it without a wand… I just shape the magic into bubbles on my own. That’s how I believe magic works in the Wizard World. I think anyone with enough dedication, imagination, skill, and most importantly a great understanding of their own body and the flow of magic through it, can create spells. I’m sure it probably could go catastrophically wrong, like people inventing new skateboard tricks or parkour moves.. one wrong move and snap.. This is how some powerful and skilled wizards can use magic without speaking, and some don’t even need wands for certain basic spells. It’s all about how well you can visualize the result, and shape the magic to match… the more stimuli you give your brain to assist, the easier and more reliable it is. So add in a wand, a movement and a verbal component and you have redundancy. You have a rock solid way to cast a spell, even in a stressful situation or when sleepy… because you have several different kinds of “muscle memory” focusing your mind and magic.

[@forestgrump4723]

This. Well formulated and thought out sir, I commend you. I also think the fact that Snape invented new spells while a student is meant to be remarkable. It doesn’t make inventing spells more accessible for one very good student to be able to do it. You’re meant to be like bloody hell Snape was incredible!

[@ossianback]

It's a good theory, but it makes me wonder: How can you then cast an unfamiliar spell and have it work? Harry had never used Sectumsempra before his duel with Malfoy, but when he cast it, it did exactly what Snape designed it to do years before. Despite Snape never teaching it to anyone, least of all Harry. This suggests that spells exist independently of wizards' minds. Almost as if there's a mysterious force of the universe that decides what incantations result in what actions. Spellmaking, then, would somehow have to tap into that force. Or maybe it works the way you described, but when a newly invented spell is used enough times, it leaves an imprint on the "fabric" of magic, and can then be cast by anyone who just knows the word?

[@Rabauterman]

Nice theory. But how do you explain the famous Wingardium Leviosa scene from the Philosophers stone. In that Ron needs to get the pronounciation excatly right to get the desired effect. Would the pronounciation matter that much, if it was just a tool to get yourself in the right mindset?

[@DanteYewToob]

@@ossianback My theory for that is that this is why they learn the older “magic/latin” language and spell terms so that when you learn new spells the words tell you what it does. You might not know exactly what the spell is intended to do, but a spell basically called To Cut Forever, or Cut Always you know it has something to do with cutting… but you’re probably onto something with the general fabric of magic. I like to think of magic itself as a sort of fundamental force of the universe that wizards and certain creatures can tap into, like spacetime. Gravity, electromagnetism, magic… etc. But also, we don’t know if that’s what the spell actually is meant to look like and function like, since we don’t see Snape use it.. that might be the version Harry made, if that makes sense. My theory isn’t air tight, I just like thinking about how it works and discussing it. Harry Potter is definitely a “soft magic” system and I usually prefer “hard magic”/“hard sci-fi” which is where things have rules and explanations. So I tend to try to cram explanations into stuff that probably falls apart when you do that… lol

[@DanteYewToob]

@@Rabauterman I mean, I could be wrong.. but my interpretation within my theory is that pronunciation and specific language is important at Hogwarts and (I’ll call it Hogwarts magic, since we know that other cultures have different languages and systems.) Hogwarts style magic relies on clear, specific pronunciation, wand movement and focus and they teach the students the Hogwarts “Magic Latin” so that the wizards/witches can visualize and understand properly. If you understand what the words themselves mean, you’ll have a better idea of what the spell is supposed to be. So in my mind in that scene Hermione is making sure he’s pronouncing the words properly because it’s good practice to do so, but that’s not why it wasn’t working… it wasn’t working because Ron was nervous, had a hand-me-down wand that canonically made it harder for him to learn and cast spells, and he was also losing patience and just flailing his wand around. It’s not going to work under those circumstances, yknow? And to clarify, the language is important because it connects the spells with the images in your mind, Wingardium Leviosa means to make light and make fly in Latin. Wigardrium leveosah is just nonsense… lol so if you learn “magic latin” and understand the words, they help you to cast the spells. So Hermione isn’t just correcting his spell pronunciation, but regular grammar pronunciation lol. Because if you understand Leviosa means to fly, Expeliarmus means to expel or cast away, accio means to call forth… etc. it’s no different than replacing expelliarmus with “yeet!” or something… lmao “Yo, Voldy! Yeet!” his wand goes flying, he’s like wtf?!

[@ginnyjollykidd]

JKR mentioned the dementors being a representation of clinical depression. If you know anything about clinical depression and the things people tell the depressed, you will know that doing those things: "snap out of it," "pull yourself up by your own bootstraps," "write affirmations," "call somebody," and others, though easy enough for some people, are almost impossible for the clinically depressed, including bringing up a happy memory. So indeed it is a hard spell to cast a patronus charm.

[@Mohenjo_Daro_]

And some people can just have a hard time thinking of their "happiest" thought. I'm not clinically depressed, but I have a poor memory and suck at open ended questions, and if you ask me to think of my "happiest" or even just a "very happy" memory, I'll draw a blank

[@sigrunludwig5995]

And some people also have problems to visualize their memories. If they try, they can't "see" anything in their minds eye, just darkness.

[@ninjalectualx]

The "just eat some chocolate" solution completely undermines this retcon though. So no, JKR is wrong

[@jakdekayen]

​@@ninjalectualx eating chocolate spurs serotonin creation in the brain, lack of serotonin makes you depressed. So no, she's not?

[@Tora-no-shi]

​@@jakdekayen as someone with clinical depression, chocolate doesn't help.

[@kaimagnus5760]

The Time Turner can be explained with a "Linear Time" system. Simply put, anything you went back in time to do already happened the first time without you knowing about it. So if someone died the first time that means even if you went back in time to save them then you failed to do so. Because Linear Time prevents time paradoxes from occuring.

[@PrecariousPorcupine]

Exactly! I think they explain this in the book/movie

[@JamesDavy2009]

Didn't Igor Novikov say something about this in his Self-Consistency Principle?

[@lambdafish291]

This was always my favourite part of the book/movie. The subtle clues that it had already happened. You can't go back and save someone because then they would already have been saved, and it was predetermined that you didn't and never will.

[@samanthacharlton4123]

​@@lambdafish291so could they save the bird creature? (I've never seen the movies or read the books, so this is a genuine question) There was a griffin, I think, that was killed, but they saved his life by going back in time... I thought.

[@arnolski1979]

@@samanthacharlton4123Buckbeak, the hippogriff, wasn’t killed. They saved him before he could be killed.

[@anderssanggaard6215]

Veritaserum is a potion that forces you to answer with not the truth, but the truth as you know it. That means if your memory had been edited, erased or otherwise tampered with, you would answer truthfully acording to those memories. Also, i believe it is mentioned that Horace Slughorn had carried an antidote to veritaserum with him ever since Dumbledore cornered him the first time. This means, that veritaserum is kind of like our polygraph exams, largely accurate but beatable and sometimes inaccurate.

[@andrewcullen2527]

Still, feel the point about Sirius holds true even with that logic. Even if he didn't know exactly who sold out the potters, he could have been able to give proper leads and clear his name IMHO

[@Shock_Treatment]

Well, at least then you know that they're telling the truth to the best of their abilities. With a polygraph, you may know the real truth but still be able to lie on it. At least with this, you can't make anything up, so even if what you said wasn't true, they'd at least know you're telling them the event as you recall it. That's still better than a normal trial.

[@aussiedude3121]

And also that If your expecting it you can fight it off just like Harry did with the imperious crude

[@huntercoleherr]

The polygraph is pseudoscience bullshit police use to bully confessions out of people. There's a reason polygraph results are not admissible in court. They are complete horseshit.

[@dinhovit]

Also good occlumens like Snape could resist the Veritaserum. There's also other ways to resist.

[@DanteYewToob]

I always assumed the trace worked backwards. It essentially detects magic, and then checks if there is a registered magic user of age in that location and if not, they assume it’s the under age child known to live there. That’s why they can’t tell the difference between Harry and Dobby or why they don’t bother with magical families. I just assumed the “trace” was a way to “scare” kids into behaving and not using magic in dangerous ways or exposing the wizard world.

[@matthewpatrick7263]

Dumbledore explained the Trace in HBP, when Harry asked how underage Tom Riddle was able to murder his family. The Trace is simply this: The Ministry monitors the homes and neighborhoods of underage magicals who do not live with of-age magicals. That's all. (Usually that's muggle-borns.) The Ministry wants all kids to believe that it's more precise than that, to discourage them from using spells, but it's not. I understand why most people believed in the Trace in DH, and I have no idea why Harry forgot that.

[@bjrnsrensen8456]

⁠@@matthewpatrick7263the implications of the Ministry having the ability monitor with a certain degree of accuracy any spell that was cast in an undetermined area are huge, though. Very Orwellian.

[@stephaniecarr6802]

@@matthewpatrick7263 Not true; the trace is on all underage wizards, even ones that live with of-age wizards. It's just that they cannot tell if it was the of-age wizard or the underage wizard who cast the spell, hence why they don't contact them. Ron previously said he couldn't wait for his trace to be removed so he could peel potatoes faster.

[@matthewpatrick7263]

@@stephaniecarr6802 Nope. That's just what the Ministry says. Reread Half-Blood Prince, when Harry and Dumbledore talk about when underage Tom Riddle murdered his family. They don't trace people, just locations.

[@Lawrence_Talbot]

@@matthewpatrick7263 yep this is spot on. More so the rumor or fear that the government is everywhere/knows everything so don’t try it. Easier to convince the people they are always being watched than going to the trouble of making sure they are always watched. And all it takes is a few well popularized examples of a trace working to cull the masses into thinking it is as effective as the Ministry claims. We see governments do this type of tactic a lot. The USSR in particular were very good at creating this fear, and sure many were spied on and taken by the KGB, but logistically it’s impossible for them to watch everyone everywhere all the time. A few notorious examples of a family being raided and taken is enough to scare people into never speaking of rebelling ever again (for the most part).

[@Max7345-i8m]

Another thing regarding The Trace that didn't make much sense to me: in "The Deathly Hallows" it's briefly theorized that Harry might still have the trace on him, but Hermione quickly dismisses this by saying that Ministry law dictates that the trace would be removed upon Harry's 17th birthday. Yet... the Death Eaters had taken over the ministry by that point. Depending on where or how or what controls The Trace spell... why or how would "Ministry law" stop or prevent Death Eaters who had taken over the Ministry from just extending or renewing it specifically for the one person they'd be looking to hunt down?

[@jadenthomson6785]

I am pretty sure she said Wizarding law. Which wouldn’t be related to the ministry. Like gamps law, it’s just how it works with no explanation.

[@haryjones6238]

there must be something bilogical that stops it working after a certain point like voldemorts boat in the horcrux cave its about maximum magical potential and clearly 17 is the age at which you finally reach that potential (and ie the boat begins to work once there and the trace works the opposite way and stops working once that potentials reached

[@Larka661]

I doubt it's that black and white. Remember children don't get in trouble for magic until they get to school. I would think the trace is unknowingly put on wizard children once they get to school, and expires once they turn 17. But children who live in Wizarding families can probably practic magic because they have wizard parents. The trace is mostly for muggle borns and kids like Harry. Because of the statute of secrecy.

[@Larka661]

I doubt the death eaters could've extended Harry's trace if they wanted to. That's why Voldemort made his name tabo. Plus they didn't have full control of the ministry until after Harry's birthday.

[@divyanshu.26]

​@@Larka661so you're saying the trace is manually put on every child upon birth? Actually never thought about how the trace is placed, now that I think about it 😆 and if it is by virtue of having the magical ability in you, then do we assume they know about young Harry's magic as well? That could be how they found Tom Riddle 🤔

[@rosevita8041]

Another thing that doesn’t make sense: Why don’t the kids wear helmets while riding on broomsticks? Not even during their first lesson or while playing quidditch. Before their first game in Philosophers Stone, Wood tells Harry that after two minutes in his first game he was hit in the head by a bludger and woke up a week later. A helmet would have helped.

[@alanG3806]

And why not have a magical safety net if they fall?

[@oBuLLzEyEo1013]

Dude said helmets, even. There's magic...

[@ratirllafwano2905]

hahaha who need helmet when Dumbledrore is watching and can do the speelll to stop dammage and stop time stop pain ..

[@ratirllafwano2905]

dumdbldore did a spell to harry when he fall but idont remember the speelll :D@@alanG3806

[@einflinkeswiesel2695]

Little children learn to ride a bike with little support wheels on the sides. Now I imagine a broom with 2 tiny support brooms left and right 😅

[@Zelda_Thorn]

re: inventing spells: all spells are invented, and the best magicians improvise. the idea that magic is always a scientific process of XYZ words + XYZ wand movements = XYZ results is nonsense. wizards from other schools use other incantations. magicians from ouagadou use wands much less altogether. the incantations are culturally specific, and I'd guess they have something to do with our subconscious. the magic you cast has to do with your mindset, your visualization. it's why dumbledore conjures a squashy armchair while mcgonagall conjures hardbacked wooden chairs - it's not that they're using specific, different incantations to create different chairs 🙄they have different ideas about the chair they want to conjure. it's why dumbledore says he knows tom riddle's style, because magic has a STYLE. it's an art form. the idea that you need specific, ministry approved incantations to perform specific ministry approved spells is a way for the ministry to exert control. why didn't voldemort create a more powerful version of the killing curse? which would be what, exactly? it does exactly what he needs it to do, there's no room for improvement. why didn't harry invent a spell to kill voldemort? because harry is not as good a wizard. it's consistently shown that MOST wizards are unimaginative and stick to what they were taught in school, and probably the fact that you can die if you mess up a spell keeps many of them from experimenting more. magic is elusive, mystical, powerful - magical people can alter reality at a whim. but most of them need the fairly tight focus of a specifically learned spell and a wand to do things. it always bugs me when people think magic in harry potter is this mechanical, brandon sanderson-style "magic system." it is not. it is poetic and wondrous, it is the physical manifestation of your imagination, and most people can't do much because most people have a limited imagination and a limited focus. it is bound only by the deepest mysteries - you cannot conjure love, you cannot evade death, you cannot stop time (and note that all three of these are ~attempted~, i.e. amortentia, horcruxes, time-turners, but all of them have extreme consequences and are not really the thing they are seeking).

[@westzed23]

I like your comment. You cover several points which make spells have more finesse to cast them well. This is why schooling is needed. Just saying words does not cast the spell. You need understanding of the spell and focus with a wand and your mind. It is very difficult to cast a spell without saying it aloud.

[@Zelda_Thorn]

@@westzed23 thank you and exactly! The incantation is merely another focus, along with the wand, to the wizard's natural ability to alter reality. I bet someone very focused and very sure of themselves could light a fire just by looking at the candle and thinking about it hard enough.

[@JamesDavy2009]

@@westzed23 That's why non-verbal magic is taught in the sixth year. Also, Prof Flitwick taught of the somatic component to the Levitation Charm: swish and flick.

[@Kairos_Akuma]

This. I see it more like a Chemist. You have different components, in this case the "wild magic" all around, and you can try ad stuff to make it do what you want. And if something works, it works. If you put different chemicals together you might end up with something new or improved. And for magic its about the Mind too. Theres a reason they talk alot of "You have to mean your spell"

[@Beregorn88]

except the philosopher stone was a succesful attempt at evading death, without any drawback that we know of, and the added bonus of creating gold...

[@BjornV1994]

My takes/"solutions" to those "issues": 1) The Trace - We know that the first time a witch or wizard showcases magical abilities, their name is written down by the Quill of Acceptance at Hogwarts. Seeing how this possible, a similar quill likely exists at the Ministry of Magic, which puts the name and age of these new magic users in a registry, marking them until they are 17 years old. Some places (like Quidditch fields and Hogwarts) are probably dead zones but in all other cases, every use of magic around a minor will cause an alarm. A system that off course only works properly on muggleborns and my guess would be that this is actually by design! There are several hints throughout the books that even outside the Death Eater community, a large part of the magical community is in fact still quite supremacist and xenophobic, don't look further than Hagrid for example. The Ministry has put this system into place, knowing they would overpolice muggleborns (magical parents are expected to deal with their offspring themselves) and they are perfectly fine with that. Like certain countries now also have laws in place, knowing it will affect minorities more than the general populance and this too is by design. Voldemorts ability to kill his parents undetected (the Ministry went to investigate because the coronor couldn't find a proper cause of death), indicates that the Trace is a recent law, possibly pushed by groups around the Malfoys for example. Why not use it on prisoners, probably a privacy law. When you are allowed to leave Azkaban, you are no longer considered a criminal, hence don't need follow up. If you were still considered a criminal and therefore dangerous to society, you'd remain in prison. 2) Veritaserum - Interesting thought but what is truth? Is the truth one tells when under the influence of Veritaserum the actual truth or only what they perceive to be the truth. Because if it is latter, Veritaserum would likely be as useless in court as a polygraph test. And we see hints of this in Crouch Jr. telling. He was dazed before giving the potion which made it impossible for him to resist answering but everything he told Dumbledore where the things he believed to be true. Voldemorts actions for him, he portrayed almost altruistically as his master coming to save him, while we know that if Voldemort had a better choice, he would have gone with that and not necessarily bothered with Crouch Jr. 3) Elixer of Life - It is specifically mentioned that the Elixer of Life would have been a viable way to bring back Voldemort in full and with some extra but once he had his body and power back, he would return to his Horcruxes as only security. And it is entirely possible that at some point, Nicolas Flamel, in his 600 years of life, was disembodied before and used the Elixer once to return that way. (He would have survived disembodiment due to lingering influence of said Elixer) and we know for a fact that Voldemort wasn't the first to be disembodied in history as his resurrection potion was specifically called an obscure and ancient form of dark magic. So, the Elixer can in fact do what Voldemort wanted it to do but the immortality buffs it granted, he would no longer need. 4) Time Turners - Everything with paradoxes are a difficult one but still, the reason why you wouldn't use time turners in the way many fans suggest, is the Butterfly Effect. You don't know what you will change if you go back (unless it is closed loop scenario) and alter time. And harsh as this sounds: saving Lily and James Potter would be a terrible idea as you would also bring back Voldemort who was at the height of his power. Their lives were a fine sacrifice in exchange for the lives that were saved with Voldemorts disappearance. 5) Patronus issues - I don't really see this as an issue. It is made clear that it has to be the exactly right happy memory to work and that's not easy under the best of circumstances, let alone when under the pressure. And there is also an interesting parallell with medical issues: a lot of medical issues worsen under stress. Guess what causes a lot of stress: suffering medical issues ... 6) Inventing spells - Well, they have to come from somewhere and it is highly likely that with a lot of things, there has been a lot trial and error to invent effective spells. I would compare it with math. There is a lot of complex mathematical equations invented through history by people with a mathematical inclination and likely something similar is at foot with magic. If you have a predisposition towards understanding the workings of magic and how spells can be created, you can your insight to create your own and build upon others. Spellcraft is probably a whole field of study in the magical community, similar like we have physcis, chemistry and again, math. For someone outside these fields, it will be all gibberish but for those in the field, it will be likely lot clearer. 7) Transfiguration ethics - Well, it is a bit like animal experimentation in our world. The ethics are at best loose and bare-bones, and the question is always what you want to prioritize: furthering knowledge or animal wellfare. Transfiguration on other humans will likely be very much frowned upon outside certain safe and controlled settings. 8) Homonculus Charm - Privacy is the keyword here, I believe that the magical community has a very strict policy on privacy. Especially seeing how magic can be used and abused in regards of privacy violations, it is highly likely that is very frowned upon for institutions to spy on others like that. Even in our world, there are countries with very strict privacy laws, so this is likely while official institutions don't use this charm. With the Marauders, it isn't like they were ever against some rule breaking, now were they? 9) Animagus registration - I would compare it to permits for guns or driver licenses. You have to register to avoid abuse because how easily it can be abused and with legitimancy (which might also have a register for it, we can't be certain), there is the fact that it can be both felt as well as countered. Animagus is a bit different (like, if you are falcon, you could spy on people from vast distances...) 10) Inconsisent spell-naming: I think this is more a case of: hey, this incantation works, why bother changing it with something else, even if it is easier. It is highly likely that reparo glasses works just as good as oculus reparo but the former stuck already, so people don't bother using the other. People are creatures of habit after all. I see it enough in my job, there might be easier ways to do something but often people are so used to doing it one way, they simply won't bother. (The example I think off, there is an applice at my work that has a built-in timer for tests but most colleagues with go and look for seperate timer, because they are more used to it.

[@ProAiming1337]

very good thoughts!

[@Mohenjo_Daro_]

Requiring animagous to register but not talents of magical beings is very governmental. Take weapons: some are banned, some require permits, and some aren't regulated at all

[@Reddotzebra]

If you own a pair of nunchucks, those are illegal in some places even if you keep them on your wall, but it's still perfectly legal to own a short piece of chain and two wrenches, even though you could make from them a flail that probably would cause a lot more damage. It is strange that Animagii are required to register but we never hear (Or at least I don't remember reading) about metamorphmagii like Nymphadora Tonks having to register their abilities, and they can just change their facial features and hair at will.

[@theaveragegamer5242]

The problem with your question of “creating new spells.” Is that ever spell had to be created and was new when it was created. I always thought of spells needing the correct verbiage, and possibly intent. It would be compared to potions. You have to have the ingredients and the method to get the correct outcome.

[@JamesDavy2009]

Snape did describe creating potions as an exact science.

[@leonardopizzini1443]

​@@JamesDavy2009his own book kinda disproves this.

[@Mohenjo_Daro_]

I honestly think the wording part of the spell is very easy, if it matters at all since the "Slugulus" part of "Slugulus Eructo" is likely English rooted, and other languages appear in spell entomology as well. But, I think wand movement might play a big role in spell casting, especially if getting the wand movements wrong could have dangerous if not deadly consequences. Like imagine casting "Aqua Eructo" on a puddle but using the wrong movements and vomiting water until you drown But, then you have non-verbal magic that doesn't care about words at all, and non-wand magic that doesn't care about wand movement. So who knows

[@matthewpatrick7263]

The only thing that makes sense to me is comparing magic to computer programming. Raw magic, such as accidental magic, would be machine code. The spell system using quasi-Latin and wand movements are a programming language like Java. Spells would be the actual programs (or apps). I also view potions and runes as other programming languages. (I think everything that can be done in one of those ways can be done in all 3 - each method has its pros and cons, making it more convenient to achieve the result one way over another). That also means there can be other magic systems, too. I picture some great wizard like Merlin doing some great, complicated spell in "machine language" that made the the quasi-Latin/wand movement system work. That was a great achievement in magic. Making a "Hello world" program isn't on the same level as inventing the programming language that makes it possible.

[@JamesDavy2009]

@@matthewpatrick7263 I can buy that logic, especially for transfiguration magic. To transmute something to something else requires precise wand movements while other types of magic are more tolerable with the movements.

[@ducky5945]

I like to imagine that, to create a new spell, you'd need the muggle equivalent of a PHD understanding in the subject. And even then, much like in our world, that in itself doesn't necessarily mean you'll be able to advance the field.

[@HunterBelkiran]

so snape had a phd in dark arts when he was at hogwarts??

[@ducky5945]

@@HunterBelkiran A verifiable genius, our Snape 😌 He's always been ahead of the curve.

[@Larka661]

Making a spell is probably a complicated process. Snape and Hermione were very intelligent, that's why they knew how to make spells. I'm sure making spells is no different than muggles making new technology. Remember we heard in the 3rd book we learned that the wolfsbane potion was a recent invention, so when Lupin was a child at Hogwarts, they had to take precautions. So that's when the womping willow was planted that lead to the shreaking shack. And lupin went there during the full moon to protect the other students. The wolfsbane potion was made later, it couldn't stop a werewolf from transforming, but it could help it keep its sanity. Hermione jinxed the DA contract that gave the person who gave them away a rash that said "Sneak" on it. And Snape practiced dark arts and ended up creating spells.

[@Gravedigger933]

I'd imagine you need to be able to shape the magic in a way you were never taught before. And with so many spell around, not many practice that aspect as much as they used to.

[@Lawrence_Talbot]

I treat it like designing an app for a phone. In theory anyone could learn how to do it, but so many people are just too lazy/content with the ones that exist to bother learning how to create their own. And then how do you create one that truly revolutionizes the field/stands out in the market? There are those who create their own apps yet they never hit the market, they certainly have their own private uses for the their creators. I’m sure there were other brilliant people like Snape who created their own personal spells yet never shared them with the masses

[@arinerm1331]

It always bothered me that the Ministry detected the Hover charm at all since it wasn't wizard magic at all. Since they did detect Hover, why did they miss Dobby's Apparating in and out of the house? I contend that a House Elf's magic shouldn't be detected for the same reason that a House Elf or an underage wizard could accompany an adult wizard in the boat to cross the lake in the cave. That boat canonically could not support two adult wizards.

[@westzed23]

Perhaps Dobby performed the hover spell in such a way as to look like an underage wizard cast it. Then Dobby aspirating would not register because it was elf magic.

[@jakdekayen]

Dobby was also trying his best to get Harry to stay home so i always took that as he performed a wizard spell, knowing harry would get in trouble because he lived with muggles

[@nhansen197]

In the case of the vomiting spell or the repair spell I can see it being necessary to identify the subject prior to using the spell's trigger word. Repair... repair what? The glasses. Ergo the subject before the action. In the case of the repair spell it may be possible to say it either way. The slug spell on the other hand needs to set up what's to be vomited first. Use the vomit spell without determining what's to be vomited could result in a fairly mundane vomit. When Harry uses the summoning charm it's entirely possible the spell simply won't activate until he names the object to be summoned. I might even go so far as to suggest that line of sight summoning may not even require naming the item.

[@JamesDavy2009]

Except that Molly Weasley simply uses "Accio" to summon up various things. My thoughts on it go towards with proficiency with the spell and the intended targets being a mental component of the spell.

[@bepstein111]

And the fact that Accio can take a subject implies that there's some mechanism by which spells can be delayed until the entire incantation is finished. "Accio" Accio what? "Chill dude I'm about to say it, Nimbus 2000 up in here" Like why would Accio be different from Reparo or whatever the vomiting one is? If those two require "setup," why doesn't Accio? That's the original question.

[@JamesDavy2009]

@@bepstein111 It can take from the caster's mind whose object they're trying to affect (usually theirs) and takes a high level of proficiency to cast non-verbally.

[@raymondben3646]

I always thought it was a partly mental thing. For example, I cast "accio" and in my mind, I'm thinking about my keys. The keys would then fly towards my location. Could you imagine how useless dueling ability would be if to cast a spell at someone, all you'll have to do is say the incantation and their name?

[@nhansen197]

@@raymondben3646 We do know that proficient spell casters can do wordless magic. I can certainly picture a person casting the spell without having to say anything given they'd already formed the incantation in their heads. As for summoning a person... I can see non duelling uses for that one. ;)

[@tclapson]

The super carlin brothers suggested that the trace is given to 1st students when they board the boats from the train the Hogwarts... i like this theory, since the following years the students always go from the train via carriages pulled by Thestrals.

[@andreykarbinovskiy430]

My theory is that it is done at Sorting ceremony, by the Hat itself...

[@lawrencewalston2272]

​@@andreykarbinovskiy430That makes perfect sense, now that you mention it!

[@JamesDavy2009]

@@andreykarbinovskiy430 I'd believe it. The Sorting Hat is a powerful telepath that graphs the traits its creators value for the four houses from the wearer (with at least one caveat). With every first year required to wear it to get Sorted, it could have been bewitched to apply The Trace.

[@glynn4216]

Maybe, but what about all the other magical children who go to other schools. The sorting hat is exclusive to Hogwarts

[@andreykarbinovskiy430]

@@glynn4216 But do we know whether the Trace exists in the other countries' magical societies. They may have another tradition/ritual. Also, the bigger question is whether the Trace works on the British magical children, who do not go to Hogwarts?

[@Lawrence_Talbot]

I don’t understand the confusion about the Patronus. It was pretty well explained by Lupin that you need a very happy thought/memory, and not just merely think about it but try and experience that feeling again, almost relive it and the positive emotions it brought. That is something we try and teach in positive psychology: how savor a positive memory and draw on it when you are feeling depressed to try and pull you out of a mood. For some it can be hard to just think about a truly good memory, something totally blissfully joyful that you can’t feel anything else but utterly happy. Now factor in you have to pull all those positive feelings back into you as if you were experiencing it right at this very moment. That is what it takes to cast a Patronus, and now factor in trying to draw on all that positive energy when the literal manifestation of depression and despair is trying to suck your soul away. Suddenly it’s not that hard to understand why it’s hard to cast a Patronus in the first place, let alone when facing a Dementor

[@Debatra.]

"Oculus" Reparo is an invention of the movies. It's just "Reparo" in the books. The incantation "Slugulus Eructo" came from one of the Lego HP games, whereas neither the book nor film gave one. If you want an example of an oddly specific incantation that was *actually* in the books, try on "Mobiliarbus", a spell that moves trees.

[@Lupinemancer87]

And despite all the trouble with the Timeturner, she still approved of the Cursed Child.

[@gregorwalton]

It made money

[@nirvanryan4078]

oh, but timeturners are then said to oly work 4 6 hrs

[@Mehwhatevr]

It's a shame because Timeturners in Prisoner of Azkaban are perfect. Why oh why the cursed child.

[@jennycaneen]

Always wondered why Lupin couldn’t magic himself better clothes / magically fix the ones he had, or get a decent job in the muggle world and use his abilities to cover up his monthly absences.

[@artman2oo3]

The solution to the problem with the time turner is adequately handled. As in, nothing could be changed that wasn't already changed. I thought it was set up quite cleverly, as everything Harry and Hermione did while time traveling already happened. Therefore, it was not possible to make something happen that didn't happen already.

[@elslappo4107]

re the trace: Its stated that magical parents are responsible for enforcing the rule of no under age magic outside of school. I can see the malfoys not caring and just letting their kid do whatever, whereas the Weasleys would likely be stricter about it. I also think the trace can be applied in a similar way to how people are selected to attend hogwarts. There's a book and quill that makes a note of each child born with enough magical ability to attend, the ministry could have a similar method. I think it's likely the trace was implemented to monitor the muggle born children or maybe something a bit more sinister

[@Caffeinated_Firefly]

first off, reparo is only "reparo" in the books, the occulus is a movie only thing. And I think the movie implies that it works just like accio, just saying a latin term instead of "reparo glasses". There's instances of a similar spell, like in PoA they use Mobilicorpus (to levitate snape iirc) and Mobiliarbus (Hermione moves a Christmas tree in the three broomsticks when they are listening in The Sirius Black exposition group)

[@Felix1993-n4e]

In the books it explains that wizarding parents are respobsible for enforcing the no underage magic rule in their own homes, so ministery officials dont respond to all the adult magic happenung around underage wizards at home.

[@helloshyann]

19:32 The law requiring Animagi to register with the Ministry or else be sentenced to Azkaban is its own loophole. It implies there was a period in time where at least 1 unregistered Animagus was caught and sentenced to Azkaban. However, we know Sirius Black was only able to escape by slipping into his dog form to break out undetected. Despite Sirius's status as an Animagus being unknown, one would expect the Ministry to have anticipated and prevented this exact situation if they had previously incarcerated other Animagi.

[@matthewpatrick7263]

Quirrel (or any other possessed host) was dying from sharing his body with Voldemort. That's why he was drinking unicorn blood. Elixir of Life would've been much better, giving Quirrel the health and strength required to be a truly good host for Voldemort to possess until he could get a body of his own.

[@hallbjornthefirebreather8376]

But Voldy wanted the stone before he was possessing Quirrell

[@krankarvolund7771]

Time turners are one very easy thing to correct: The timeloop is fixed. When Harry and Hermione go back in time to save Sirius and Buck, they've already been saved by them when they're returning in time. That's how Harry is able to see himself and save himself, for example. So of course you can't save your parents or save members of the Order of the Phenix, they're already dead, if you could have saved them, you would have ^^ That, plus a time limit on the time you can return back to the past and it would do the trick. But alas, Rowling chose to just ignore this in the Cursed Child and so now it's a big problem XD

[@nicoladc89]

JKR wrote a smart thing about Time Turners, so smart she didn't understand that.

[@krankarvolund7771]

@@nicoladc89 Yeah pretty much ^^ She wrote it, got criticized by people who didn't understood it, so decided to destroy them, and then the Cursed Child made complete hogwash with them XD

[@jacobjuliano741]

The trace could be tied to the wands. Because prior to children getting wands or learning that they are wizards, sometimes inexplicable things happen. For example, Harry making the glass vanish at the zoo. No trace was on him then.

[@kennyearthling7965]

In that case the Ministry of Magic would know it was not HP who did the spell that Dobby did, and Moody would not say it detects magic done "near to" underage wizards.

[@Nezumi99]

Because he was a child and wasn't a student yet. Magic is toleranted with kids before they enter Hogwarts

[@vikkran401]

And how or when are they wiretapping wands? Why only underage wizards? The problem with the trace itself as a fundemental thing, regardless how much you twist it or try to make sense of it is that it only creates more needlessly complicated questions.

[@theonionmike4151]

I don't mind some of these. The criticisms about logic of certain spells and inconsistencies of incantations for example. Magic, by its very nature doesn't have to make sense, that's why its magic, not science!

[@ILikeMyOwnComments26]

In regards to the Veritaserum, I think they don't use it in trials because you could just remove your memories of the crime. Or someone who did the crime could frame you by implanting false memories in your mind

[@nicoladc89]

They don't use it in trials because JKR needed they don't use it in trials. The author should explain that, but she didn't and HP fans always try to find a sense in the lot of nonsense written by JKR. JKR always take shortcuts in her writing. I need that, I write that, I don't care if it's an inconstintency. But the dumbest thing in Harry Potter is all the Kreacher/Voldemort situation. Is a gigantic nonsense.

[@kaloyan0]

About the phylosopher stone, you miss the fact that horcruxes only grant immortality to the soul ie. the separation of the soul into parts does not allow us to go "beyond" when our material body dies. So regardless of his Horcruxes, Voldemort's material body is still vulnerable and aging. He's around 70 years old in the seventh book, and while the typical lifespan for wizards is around 120, his body isn't young by any standards. That is, even if he wins the war, after 50 or 60 years, his current body will grow old and die, necessitating a new vessel for his soul, ie. he has to create a new body, again... The perfect combination would be a horcrux (immortality for the soul) and a philosopher's stone (immortality of the body). Voldy is so obsessed with splitting his soul into 7 parts that he never even addresed this problem (at least it's not mentioned in the text). In fact, it was the instability of his body that caused him to fall during the assassination attempt on Harry. And after that, when he reunied with Peter Pettigrew in Albania, he made another horcruxs from Nagini. Long story short: If you not possese phylosopher stone or have nobody to rely for resurection ritual, in case of death of material body, your soul will wandered as a ghost of wrath, despite you have a 7, 10 or 50 horcuxes.

[@Zelda_Thorn]

ok re: the trace. consider that canonically there is a book and quill in Hogwarts that automatically notes the names of any child that performs magic within the british isles. it's how muggleborns are detected. it's why squibs don't get hogwarts letters. also, yes, the trace can only detect the conjunction of an underage person and the performance of magic. it's why the trace couldn't tell that it was dobby and not harry who did the hover charm, and why most wizarding kids are able to get away with doing magic during the holidays, because they're doing it in a magical house where magic is normal.

[@JamesDavy2009]

Or a magical location like Diagon Alley.

[@nirvanryan4078]

yes, the quill of acceptance

[@stewartbugler]

Something to say about the patronus being a hard spell to pull off would simply be... if it's any happy memory will do which it won't it needs to be a strong one. It requires both focus and ignorance in a way which when in intense situations can be bloody hard to do. See the Big one Harry does to save Sirius... The memory that powered that patronus was from the beach he was looking at in a way. He say waiting for his Father to turn up n realised the only person standing there was him... He saved himself and Sirius the God Father he always wanted. That's a place where he could reach infinite levels of joy and hope and love n essentially no negative could phase him no doubt in his mind. It may have been partially cause he seen himself do it that he didn't doubt himself but that's how the potronus works unwavering merciful intent.

[@marshallwilensky7932]

If only Avada Kedavra was as hard to invoke.

[@Kristof-cl4df]

@@marshallwilensky7932 doesn't the wizard that wish to cast this spell really want to kill? I always understoud that phrasing to be that you had the will to kill that person with a knife while looking in his eyes to be able to cast that spell. Not something super easy to feel and want to do for most

[@solaris9426]

@@Kristof-cl4df You had to really want the person your casting at to die, just like for the Cruciatus Curse, you really wanted your target to hurt, and for the Imperius Curse, you had to really want to control your target. Righteous anger won't work. It's part of the reason they're unforgiveable.

[@Zelda_Thorn]

re: the patronus charm: come on. the person writing this has clearly never experienced depression or sadness or any other negative feeling, which are not solely the result of dementors. it requires you to genuinely feel happy. it's hard for anyone to genuinely find a sliver of happiness inside you at a moment's notice in a bad situation. and note that it doesn't have to be a "memory" - harry conjures one during his OWL by imagining umbridge sacked. any truly happy thought will do.

[@HeatherNickless-vt8zr]

It is more dangerous to invent new spells than to brew even the most advanced of potions, and it was mentioned in the fifth book and movie, that Luna Lovegood's mother died trying to experiment with developing new spells(Fulbert the Fearful died the same way; one day his spell went wrong and caused the roof of his house to fall in on top of him {This was explained in the Harry Potter Games}), that is why it has become more of a rarity to invent new spells than to invent new potions over the course of a few decades. Witches and Wizards more often died trying to invent new spells than surviving the success of having created one.

[@matthewpatrick7263]

Dumbledore explained the Trace in HBP, when Harry asked how underage Tom Riddle was able to murder his family. The Trace is simply this: The Ministry monitors the homes and neighborhoods of underage magicals who do not live with of-age magicals. That's all. (Usually that's muggle-borns.) The Ministry wants all kids to believe that it's more precise than that, to discourage them from using spells, but it's not. I understand why most people believed in the Trace in DH, and I have no idea why Harry forgot that.

[@gogulpathmanabhan7541]

There is also a hole in this. That means whenever people came to pick up Harry, they shouldn't perform magic either. Hagrid, Tonks, Moody, Dumbledore all perform magic in front of muggles. This is so inconsistent and too many liberties are taken in it's usage in the plot without proper explanation.

[@matthewpatrick7263]

@@gogulpathmanabhan7541 They let the Ministry know when they're visiting.

[@dac554]

15:55 “Evil cannot create anything new, they can only corrupt and ruin what good forces have invented or made.” Tolkien

[@FGGiskard]

I think this is very easily explained by the fact that people can create new charms for specific needs they have. Pretty much like phone apps, the first ones are very generic and then people create more niche ones

[@Wolklaw]

I like this a lot. Really answers the "why the F is there a spell to do THAT but not THIS?!"

[@DenDanskeKat.12]

22:21 How about when shamus finigan and hermione used ‘Acio’ to summon fish from a river, acio dosnt work on human only their clothes why should it be any different for fish? (If anyone has a answer please reply it)🐟

[@LyleFrancisDelp]

14:20. This just came to mind. When Harry cast full patronus at Draco and Co., the whole school saw it. Then why, at the first DA meeting in the Hog’s Head, were the others so surprised at learning Harry could produce one?

[@roepi]

He didn't produce a full body patronus at that point yet. It was just the shield version and at that range the other students probably didn't see very well what happened. He produced the first full body patronus when he saw his other self surrounded by dementors.

[@LyleFrancisDelp]

@@roepi OK, then why did Remus remark about the particular form of Harry’s patronus? He said, “that was some patronus you cast”….or something like that. No, Harry’s patronus had a particular form and on the quidditch pitch in front of everyone.

[@roepi]

@@LyleFrancisDelpYou are right. I stand corrected. Still, that playing field is quite big and most students probably wouldn't have had a good look at it. Well, maybe the ones who liked firebolt brooms but even then. Chances are they only got a glimpse of what happened between following the bigger balls on the field and other players.

[@Reddotzebra]

That's a very good point, I honestly never thought of that because the map is introduced when you still don't know just how powerful Harry's Invisibility Cloak actually is, but it is crazy that any kind of detection charm can pinpoint a wearer of the cloak to the degree that the map can.

[@HalfEye79]

There are two things which are weird to me. Both start in the "Prisoner of Azkaban". 1. Dementors are only named when Harry saw one. Before that, they were only called "Sentinels of Azkaban" (I only read the book in German, so it could be the wrong wording.) 2. Nobody, not even Dumbledore, was able to create a corporeal Patronus, before Harry did. They only created a silver mist. After that, it seemed rather simple. It even was used to send messages in later books.

[@natalieanimal4063]

I agree. I notice many instances, not only in HP but other fiction too, that things only start being everywhere after the main character learns of them. It's true that reflects the PoV of the author, it's true we start noticing things irl a lot after we hear of them, but I still feel it should be written better.

[@solaris9426]

Actually, iirc, Hermione (I think it's Hermione) explains that Remus shot some "silver thing" at the Dementor after saying that Sirius Black wasn't in their cabin, meaning he created a corporeal Patronus. And this was before Harry learned what the Patronus was.

[@natalieanimal4063]

@@solaris9426 It was shortly before it, in the same book, and it's exactly what prompted Harry to ask what it was. I could count this as him learning of it, only asking how to do it later. It wasn't an appearence unrelated to Harry's view simply as an existing thing, it's there because he needs to become aware of it. I also didn't think it was a corporeal Patronus, I understood it as a mist, and apparently the movie makers did as well.

[@Nezumi99]

Lmao that's not true. The reason they are named "guardians of Azkaban" to build tension with the readers, when Harry meet up with them for the first time u as a reader have their full image so therefore was right time to give them name and also its not true people couldn't create a patronus before Harry lol

[@natalieanimal4063]

The OP didn't mention a reason why dementors weren't named, just said it was weird to them, so I don't understand what isn't true. I think it is true creating a Patronus was portrayed as very difficult even for skilled adult wizards before Harry learned how to do it. Lupin couldn't, and Harry couldn't for a very long time either. Lupin stated few can even produce the mist. After Harry learned, people of his age or younger learned it much easier, and it was no longer that rare to be able to among adults.

[@alan62036]

With the time turners, the issue is that any change you make has already been made. So if someone is dead, you can't save them because even if you did travel back, it just means that future you failed to save them

[@ZyliceLiddell]

I’m sure it makes ‘more sense’ than anything in current Disney land…

[@aerotheepic]

Lmao did Mickey touch you as a kid? Why are you so mad 🤣

[@ZyliceLiddell]

@@aerotheepic There are literally so many p-philes working at Disney right now but no, they didn’t touch me.

[@matcygal]

@@aerotheepic new Star Wars, new Marvel? Disney act like they have no idea what they doing…

[@claudiadilorenzo3700]

About the Trace, I think it shouldn't be seen as a measure that works perfectly. Just like muggle measures adopted to prevent many kinds of wrong behaviour can be eluded, so can the Trace. Furthermore, it is reasonable that the Trace mainly works for muggleborn, because in a magic household even if a younger member of the family were to cast a spell, maybe doing some damages, there would be a senior member of the family that could act resolving any kinds of problem related to a wrong spell casted or a muggle who had seen a young witch or wizard casting a spell (eg. Informing the authorities in order to modify the muggle's memory)

[@richewilson6394]

Yeah when they put a jinx on voldemort's name they could have put a curse on the unforgivable spells and be able to track where they were. I agree with the super Carlin Brothers that it has to do with something like the ritual going across the lake. Once you answer those boats and get across the lake and onto the Hogwarts grounds that's when they receive the trace.

[@Zelda_Thorn]

I really do not think so. The magical world has the ability to detect magic in children before they get to Hogwarts - it's ~how~ they get their letter. All magical children do some amount of unconscious magic in moments of stress or high emotion, like Harry vanishing the glass in the snake's enclosure. This is how they detect muggleborns, and also why Squibs don't get Hogwarts letters.

[@spriken]

3:03 "Who put the spell on underage children" You know a potential answer popped in my head the second you said that. We know there is no trace before going to school, and children who don't go to school still get taught by their parents would suggest they use magic, so I don't think they have a trace. So that would suggest the trace is put on by something first years do, we have the train but everyone uses that, the boats that first years take rain or shine, but I think the most likely source is the sorting hat! Oh and technically they do use magic outside of school without setting it off. Hermione uses magic in Hogsmeade just feet away from Fudge and teachers

[@Hugo-z7t]

You missed the fact that felix felicis is way too overpowered. It says that if one drinks it, one will succeed in all one's endevours, so why doesn't Harry just drink some then go kill Voldemort?

[@marcyj937]

RIGHT

[@hallbjornthefirebreather8376]

I'm pretty sure Felix Felcis is just a placebo, not a real potion. That's why drinking too much is dangerous, because you're not actually lucky

[@Hugo-z7t]

@@hallbjornthefirebreather8376 yes but he won't have to drink much of it, just enough for a few hours

[@jakdekayen]

Because it was stated he had to let voldemort kill him, that piece inside of him had to be destroyed if he sacrifices himself to do so, thinking he would never come back, he protected all the others like his mother protected him

[@Hugo-z7t]

​@@jakdekayen Yes but he didn't know that he was a horcrux until very late in the series, and he could have done it before, without realising.

[@FuzzyFoot58]

About the trace. It definately is attatched to the person, not the household. So its weird that they couldnt identify that it was in fact Dobby who had performed the hover charm, not Harry, and also that it was a different kind of magic that operates differently than human magic (as proven in Malfoys dungeon when Dobby states that he can come and go as he pleases into that dungeon because he's an elf whereas none of the humans there can because of a spell, like the one put on Hogwarts, that prohibits apparition.). The evidence that it is attached to the person is in HBP when Dumbledore performs magic in Privet Drive with no letters from the ministry telling Harry he's expelled, as in COS. And the same thing in DH when the Order comes to pick Harry up. So that is strange. As for how muggleborns are tagged with the Trace, it might be as easy as responding to a magical disturbance large enough (manifested by the child having a temper tantrum as often is the case), and the ministry officials who go there to erase memories anyway, simply tag the child while also informing and educating the parents about their child being a witch/wizard and the true state of the existance of magic, the Statute of Secracy and what is now expected of these muggle parents in the future. Which I assume has to happen in order for the wizarding world to remain hidden. Otherwise people would obviously figure out that magic exists with all these muggleborn witches and wizards running around performing spontaneous magic. About the lack of logic behind tagging criminals with a new trace and the ministry not using Veritaserum for trials. It was stated by Hermione in PS, when figuring out Snapes potion obstacle, that logic is something that is hard to grasp by the common witch and wizard in the same way that muggles do it. Magic often times make no logical sense and obeys few laws of physical nature and so the need to understand things logically is never really a very well developed sense. To muggles it is something we have to learn in order to understand the physical world, but magic screws wuth those rules and thus makes the grasping of it much more difficult. That could be one of the reasons why things that appear perfectly logical to us muggles may have completely escaped a witch or wizard even when dangled right in front of them. As for the Homonculus spell. I cant remember any other object in the series that have this spell on it; its possible that the Marauders themselves created it. Another thing about it that proves that it is an insaneky powerful spell is the fact that it can still track people when they are using Harrys invisibility cloak. That is one of the Deathy Hallows and was described to be so powerful that nothing at all could detect it while it was in use. But the Map could. And so could Dumbledore, as he was able to look right at Harry, who was using it, in Hagrids cabin in COS as Hagrid was being arrested and sent to Azkaban. But this might be due to Dumbledore having the Elder wand. As for Reparo. It actually is a basic spell that you can add words onto. Oculus just means glasses and is the word that specifies what you intend to repair. If you just aim it at someones head and use the standard Reparo, what would happen to the head? Thats why no specific word is needed when repairing something that is wholly broken, but not attached to, or on more likely, a living being. Like a broken object, all on its own, would be repaired with the standard Reparo, but if you wanted to repair clothes, glasses or anything else being currently worn by a human you would need to specify what you are repairing. Otherwise the garments might get fused into the body of the human wearing it.

[@matthewpatrick7263]

I can't understand why Ministry officials who reach a certain rank (like department head, for example) aren't required to take an unbreakable vow against corruption. That would be treason, anyway (working against the law of the land in exchange for a bribe), so the punishment would be appropriate.

[@solaris9426]

The Unbreakable Vow requires three people. The two people involved in the vow, and a binder who actually casts the spell. The one initiating the vow asks the one being bound to the vow specific questions that the one accepting the vow has to answer truthfully, and then the one taking the vow has to stick to how they answered the binding questions, otherwise they will die for breaking the vow. I wouldn't be surprised if making Unbreakable Vows was restricted or illegal because of that.

[@Beregorn88]

9:13 first of all, in Voldemort mind you couldn't ever be "immortal enough", otherwise he would have stopped at one Horcrux, or wouldn't have hunted down Harry with just a fragment of a vague profecy; second, it was stated multiple times in the first book that Voldemort was seeking the Philosopher stone to regain his body and powers. Lastly, even if it wasn't already explicitly said, he regained his body using blood, bones and serpent's venom: I can see the Elixir of Long Life as a powerful ingredient to improve the end result: as using Harry's blood circumvented Lily's protection, the Elixir could have given him an unaging body.

[@tclapson]

The time travelling worked in Harry Potter because it was only a matter of munutes and hours. If you were to travel back to save Harry's parents, thwn would you be able to travel forwards again, or would you have to live out all your years alongside baby Harry while teenage Harry has travelled back to aave his parents, and thus having 2 Harry's?

[@MayJay1812]

I think in regards to creating spells, not just anyone can do it. I believe Snape here has been severely underestimated. Remember that he was Voldemort's death eater. This meant he was recognised by one of the world's most powerful wizards of his time as worthy to represent him. Snape was an exceptional wizard. His abilities at magic were astounding. His occlumency was so on point not even Voldemort could see he was being betrayed. His understanding of potions (as well as herbology related to potions, and dark magic on top of that shows he is a well versed wizard. He clearly has an innate, round, understanding of magic. So him creating spells doesn't seem that far fetched. Especially when you realise he can fly as a wizard which is a consider highly advanced magic. Only person I think who'd be a match would be Hermione. Now if Hermione had been bullied, and had no friends, spending time alone all the time not having to save the magical world... I can very much imagine she'd have created some spells too Like the patronus and the cruciatus, there has to be intent too. Maybe "saving the world" was too vague to create a spell to stop voldemort.. and wouldn't be applicable because Voldemort's soul was split. But I'm sure if Hermione put her mind and heart into it, she could create spells. But because she's an exceptional witch

[@karl7736]

Real question: If McGonagall can transform her desk into a pig and a pig can be cooked to make food, why can't transfiguration be used to create food?

[@VariaBug]

Transfiguration is considered a difficult branch of magic in the HP universe, and the fact that it seems even transfigured the object remembers its true form when the spell is broken. So first off transforming an inanimate dead object into a living creature would most likely be very difficult in comparison to transforming an living creature into an inanimate object (which first years can do). Also if you were to eat pork made from a pig transfigured as a rock, if a person did a counter spell it would transform into rocks/pebbles inside your digestive system. And because Wizards have the ability to teleport, enlarge, and multiply food, there really isn't any reason to do so in the first place.

[@nicoladc89]

Because JKR never sit down trying to create a consistent structure for magic and the magical world. She tried to do it retroactively but made the situation worse. The real great fantasy writers (Tolkien for example) define the world and then they use that world as the setting for a story. JKR didn't do that, she wanted to write a story and build the world around that story. The firsts adapt the story to the world, JKR adapted the world to the story. That's why all the inconsistencies, the nonsenses etc... That's why HP is a great saga for young people but not a literary masterpiece. That's why JKR wrote 7 books in 10 years, King 7 books in 21 years and Tolkien took decades to write one book (LOTR was written as a single book, the publisher splitted it in 3).

[@cl0msy]

i thought it was always weird that they could track anyone that said voldemort, in the movie i think they said they jinxed it, and in the book i think they said something about them making it taboo or it was taboo, like it already was, could one jinx a word like "the" is it only in a radius like only the uk, or is it worldwide, is it like wifi where the signal gets less and less as you get farther from where it was cast, or does the tendency of the words usage make it more difficult for one to cast a jinx on a WORD. all where confusing

[@iamawesome4026]

With the truth serum, it probably could be because with death eaters and other criminals, people just say what they think is the truth and could not be true at all. With the Trace, I have a feeling that J.K never really thought of it.

[@Terminator356]

It was talked about in book six The Half-Blood Prince. I am re-listening to all the books right now. I am on the last book. I don't remember where in book six it is talked about but I think it was a conversation between Harry and Dumbledore. Dumbledore tells Harry that the Ministry of Magic don't know who casted the magic and that parents are asked to enforce the law but the Ministry can't make the parents do so. It is also mentioned in book 5 during Harry's trail at the start of the book when the cat woman that Harry stayed with sometimes (I can't remember her name) "We have no record of another wizard living in Little Whinging." Also in book seven when Harry was about to leave Little Whinging for good, Mad-eye (not exact quote but it will get the point) "We don't want any spell casting happening around you while you still have the Trace on you. Don't want the Ministry getting a reason to arrest you because of us." The only thing that wasn't talked about was when or how the Trace was put on the kids. Edit: Something like a honor system. Edit 2: I thought about it for a bit and I think in book six it was talked about after the time Harry and Dumbledore viewed the memory where Tim met his uncle, and killed his father and grandparents.

[@Princess_Celestia_]

​@@Terminator356 The cat lady that would watch Harry from time to time's name is Arabella Figg, She's a squib who was a member of the Order and was there working under cover on Dumbledor's orders, her being a squib and her work being under cover is why the ministry had no record of her living there.

[@Terminator356]

@@Princess_Celestia_Yes that is true. The point i was making is that the Ministry has a record of where all witches and wizards are living. So the Ministry can be 100% sure that an underage muggle-born, wizard or witch that is living with a muggle family (like Harry) or in a muggle area (like Tim Riddle) was the person that used magic. As squibs can't use magic there is no point in having a record of where they are living. Seeing as Tim Riddle was knowingly and willing using magic area and on muggles at the orphanage and was never told to stop. It is a really good guess that the Trace is put on an underage witch or wizard at the time of them opening or touching the letter from Hogwarts. As they are now aware that they can use magic.

[@iras66]

Iirc occlumency can be used effectively against veritaserum. So it could works against students but probably not against criminals.

[@matthewpatrick7263]

@@Terminator356Dumbledore explained the Trace in HBP, when Harry asked how underage Tom Riddle was able to murder his family. The Trace is simply this: The Ministry monitors the homes and neighborhoods of underage magicals who do not live with of-age magicals. That's all. (Usually that's muggle-borns.) The Ministry wants all kids to believe that it's more precise than that, to discourage them from using spells, but it's not. I understand why most people believed in the Trace in DH, and I have no idea why Harry forgot that.

[@stacypalermo3506]

Cool video! ❤ I wish all of the HP fans could have had a live to all discuss these!! 4:13 This question was answered. I don’t remember which book or movie it was in but there was a mention that said children in magic homes are not likely to get in trouble because of the close proximity of other adult wizards/witches. 6:35 I agree that veritaserum would/should have been used for criminal or possible criminal activity. 16:06 Dumbledore made a comment in Deathly Hallows (I don’t remember if it was 1 or 2) “Words are, in my not so humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic, capable of both inflicting injury and remedying it.” I feel that it’s a matter of getting the right words, the right intentions, and the right wand movements to create a new spell; IMO. 17:18 I never thought of this. Deeper than it looked on the surface!

[@Zelda_Thorn]

what do i think? i think you've completely misunderstood the nature of magic in the HP world, and think it's much more mechanical than it really is.

[@KingsleyIII]

Inventing new spells is something I've wondered about, too. Like, what do you do: come up with an incantation, wave your wand, and hope it knows what you want it to do? If it's a spell that's never been done before, how does the wand know what to do? Are wands fluent in Latin, and produce an effect based on what the incantation means? I don't know; it's getting weirder the more I think about it!

[@Nezumi99]

No

[@meacadwell]

What bothered me the most with the Trace was something you already mentioned. Some young magical kids were homeschooled. How did the trace work for that? Did the parents of the homeschooled kids have to get a special license from the Ministry of Magic to allow their kids to do magic at home, perhaps only at certain times of the day, that wouldn't trigger the trace? And if that's the case, there would be some magical families that would bribe someone to get them a license even if their kids went to Hogwarts. There are those that say the trace only applies to muggle born to prevent them from doing magic in the non-mag world...perhaps that's the case? And as for Mad Eye Moody saying anyone doing magic to get Harry out of the house...if they planned it so Harry disapparated from inside the house just one second after he turned 17, then the trace wouldn't be on him and he could have gone anywhere...without being found or killing Hedwig. I dunno. But it's always bothered me.

[@matthewpatrick7263]

Dumbledore explained the Trace in HBP, when Harry asked how underage Tom Riddle was able to murder his family. The Trace is simply this: The Ministry monitors the homes and neighborhoods of underage magicals who do not live with of-age magicals. That's all. (Usually that's muggle-borns.) The Ministry wants all kids to believe that it's more precise than that, to discourage them from using spells, but it's not. I understand why most people believed in the Trace in DH, and I have no idea why Harry forgot that.

[@meacadwell]

@@matthewpatrick7263I completely missed this and have gotten through the books probably 20 times! /face palm Thank you for explaining it. Although it makes it sad for those in muggle homes because they can't do magic while those living in wizard homes can.

[@matthewpatrick7263]

@@meacadwellI think that the Trace is really about making an excuse to expel muggle-borns. Imagine if Draco found out that all he'd have to do to get Hermione expelled is perform magic near her house twice (once for the warning).

[@blueserenbippity7066]

I have thought about many of these, but in particular, the Patronus Charm. I think it’s hard to cast because it is actually hard to be happy. It’s only as hard as people make it. I heard on the radio once that in order to fall asleep quickly, all you have to do is think of a place in a memory where you were truly comfortable and happy and you’ll drift right off. I feel like that with most people who struggle with falling asleep(besides insomniacs) will tell you that that is a pretty hard thing to do. And for those with anxiety, can you imagine how hard it would be to “quantify” something like that? And I can easily imagine people being confident in what makes them happy, and then trying to cast the spell focused on that thing, only to find out that their Patronus is non-corporeal. I think finding a “happy thought” actually takes some intelligent emotional resilience or practice, which makes the spell difficult.

[@Zelda_Thorn]

re: the inconsistency of incantations: "shouldn't slugulus eructo just be eructo, a general vomiting spell, that you could then tack any number of other modifiers onto?" yes, that's exactly what it is. there is no specific slug vomiting spell. the incantation just helps people concentrate; a more specific incantation can help people concentrate better. it's why hermione says oculus reparo instead of just reparo; she's helping herself concentrate because she's a beginner. do i think all wizards know this? no. do i think this is a generally understood aspect of magical theory that people like dumbledore, mcgonagall, snape, voldemort would understand? yes of course.

[@JamesDavy2009]

Like I said in another comment: a lot of spells have a mental component of what it is you're targeting.

[@Martyn_Wolf]

I have a theory about the trace. It's in their blood. Specifically magical blood. Purebloods Halfbloods Muggle borns Squibs Are the 4 groups we have. First two are obvious to understand regarding trace being in blood. Muggle borns are an interesting difference, muggle borns are often magical people in a long line of a none magical family, meaning that at some point in their ancestory they had either a Pureblood or Halfblood Wizardkind in there mixed into the family bloodline, it happens to come out at a later generation for whatever reason that is. Squibs are the inverse they have no magic in their blood yet come from a magical family. If that's the case then do squibs have the trace... I'd say potentially not. In the Wizardring World magic is a part of someone as it's in their very blood. So the trace is in them from birth, as to why it breaks at 17 - that's something I've yet to fully understand in and of itself as we only get a mention of "in Wizardring law you become of age at 17" Maybe there was lots of indicators in the past that showed at 17 a young witch or wizard couldn't not be tracked by the trace so they developed a "common law" around such events in the past.

[@Chief-Remeldian-Olympus]

11. How come when Harry Potter used the Cruciatus Curse twice when was still under age on Bellatrix and Snape there no court hearing. However when he use the Patronus Charm to defend himself he almost gets expelled. 12. In the muggle world there are many easy way to kill someone without being trace but in wizarding world killing someone take way to much time and can be trace. Are there any easy way to kill someone with magic without being traced? 13. The Lily's Lover Charm makes no sense.

[@MmeCShadow]

11. He wasn't underage. That occurred after his 17th birthday. As to being tried in book 5, it was political; the ministry wanted to discredit him so he couldn't reveal that Voldemort had returned (or if he did, nobody would believe him). The whole trial was a shame. 12. There is no way to kill someone without a trace in the real world, it's just possible for forensics to miss the signs or the body be degraded/destroyed such that cause of death can no longer be determined. Not sure what else you're going on about in the comment but Avada Kadavra is literally untraceable. Just kills you dead. 13. What about it don't you understand?

[@substitute1758]

Wasn‘t it established in sorcerers stone that the elixir of life could give Voldemort a body, as opposed to the unicorn blood which couldn‘t? Arguably going after unicorn blood was useless for him since he was immortal but I guess it might‘ve lightened the burden on Quirrel‘s body supporting two people. Goblet of Fire makes sense either way though, since the stone was already destroyed for some time at that point.

[@FatRonaldo1]

In regards to the time turners, it’s made clear that you can’t change how things happen even with a time turner. Harry and Hermione had already done everything they did after using the time turner in POA such as producing the protronus and saving Buckbeak

[@blarfroer8066]

"Reparo" is an existing spell, though. As for the trace, it has more than issue. How did it not react to Tonks's magic when the order escorted Harry to London in OOTP? Especially since the ministry would've loved to have another reason to expel Harry at the time?

[@Longtallnikki61]

I'd think it would just be a matter of notification. The ministry didn't go bad until Scrimgeour's death. So the ministry may have been aware of what was going to happen?

[@StanimalKingdom]

Maybe the wand stores put the trace on the wands before selling them. 4:20

[@7esseanime]

On my drive home from work I always listen to your videos. I learn so much. And your voice is like a de- stressor. Thanks!

[@jaspervlogt3843]

I might have an explaination or a Theory: The trace is not a spell or incantation. Its more a bio-magical function of a magical persons body. We know souls exists, these souls indicate that there is a spiritual layer to life. In my opinion any magic user or magical being has a magical core and a magical reservoir, which begins to grow and fill with magic as the child ages, slow at the beginning, at a young age, but the flood gates open shortly before the kid would start puberty. And this growing magical core, radiating out so to speak IS the trace. Changes in that core are detectable at that age cause it isnt fully saturated yet, like it would be on an adult. Any spell cast is a spike in magic or a drain to the magic reservoirs. If a Teenager casts a spell that change is noticeable and detectable. The reservoirs are fully filled at about age 17, which is why they are considered an adult by the magical world. From now on their cores are so saturated with magic that the spikes become unnoticeable, basically fading. The ministry jsut observes these spikes, maybe via a large area enchantment, think of it liek a bubble shield around the whole country. Any spike within this field is detected and reported. These letters are not completely written by people, they are basically intertwined with the field. Thats why it has all the details of where, when and what. The ministry wizards just send it out after iut comes from the magical "printer" I would say it is plausible that the wizards arent fully aware of what teh trave truely is as most are morons. And i think it is plausible as it basically functions like surveillance. So lewts say you are a teenmager performing magic above the fiel, like on an airliner, it wouldnt register at all. (though i would hope that the field goes high enpough up.

[@PurpleMagicz]

Truth serum: You can not use truth potions on people because you can alter your own memory like Slughorn(and others) did. They will tell you what they think is the truth. Like in the case of the Elf who was tricked by Voldemort into thinking she was the one who put poison in her masters drink. Time turner: The 3th book explains it all. everything that happens when you travel back in time already happened the first time that that event happened because you would already have been there to change what happened. So this is not a thing you can do.

[@WilliamTurk]

My main issue with the time turners is that the rules changed for The Cursed Child. In Prisoner, they use the time turner to ensure events played out as they did the first time. They couldn't change the past. In the Cursed story, they go about changing everything.

[@okamireader5]

I agree the *Trace* was always rather iffy for my tastes. The only way I could make sense of it, was that the Trace is a magic that is constantly active and reacts to magic used by or around underage witches/wizards, with the exceptions of adult witches/wizards. In TCoS, Harry was sent a letter from the Ministry that they'd detected a Hover Charm used in his house and so they assumed it was him when in fact it had been Dobby, a House Elf. That leads me to suspect that since the "Hover Charm" was not used by an adult wizard in that area, the Ministry assumed it was done by Harry. the fact the Trace no longer works to sense magic used by a witch/wizard once they turn 17, it leads me to suspect it is constantly active but will no longer sense magic used by witches/wizards who have come of age. Of course there are further details to consider, such as underage magic used before one even knows whether or not they are a wizard/witch at all *Veritaserum* is certainly powerful in its effect of compelling one to tell the truth, but the problem with that is Truth can be skewed between what is true as a matter of fact or otherwise what is _believed_ to be true. Not to mention the usage of Veritaserum can be called into question as to whether it really is Veritaserum at all. Even if it's the real deal, one could argue that the person who was made to speak truthfully is deluded or fooled into thinking they are speaking truthfully. Like how Cornelius Fudge refused to believe Barty Crouch Jr was credible, believing he was a deluded lunatic who only _thought_ he was telling the truth. The *Philosopher's Stone,* in my opinion, is really not all that impressive. Sure, using it to have basically unlimited wealth would be cool, but JK Rowling later established money can't be magically created, whether actual currency or something of value like gems or precious metals, which kinda calls the Stone into question. As for it producing the Elixir of Life to make the drinker immortal, it still duzent make sense for Voldemort to want it becuz I don't see how he could have used it to create a new body for himself. Plus Dumbledore pointed out how Voldemort would become dependent on the elixir, which would have been something he would find intolerable. The fact one must continue to drink the elixir feels like a dbl edged sword: the fact one must continue to drink it to preserve their immortality is kind of a turn-off, but on the other hand it merits the idea of magic having limits so it duzent feel over-powered The introduction of *Time Travel* into any work of fiction is always gonna be a complicated mess to work with, and honestly the rules are always gonna change based on the writer's needs regardless of whether they established them, if at all. JK Rowling getting rid of the Ministry's supply of Time-Turners felt kinda pointless, all things considered. Sure, those particular Time-Turners are no longer usable since they're forever caught in an endlessly resetting time-loop, but that duzent necessarily mean new ones can't be created. The *Patronus Charm* is one of my all-time favorite spells in the Wizarding World, and I feel it works in its detail and its execution, if one duzent nitpick it all too much. In the film adaptation of TPoA, Dumbledore gave a speech on how Happiness can be found in even the darkest places if one only remembers to turn on the Light. I felt it was a beautiful and appropriate metaphor for not only the Patronus, but also for Hope and Joy in general. True, the spell requires a memory of real happiness in order to make it work, and that in and of itself is a positive thing, both literally and figuratively. Not just any happy memory will do; it must be of something profound and truly joyous, especially for the Patronus to reach its full potential. Harry was able to master the Patronus in that pivotal moment by realizing he'd already done it, meaning he could and he did, which honestly counts as joyful by the elation of realizing your potential is there and it can (and was) be achieved. *Spell Creation* is more questionable. How does it work? How is the incantation chosen? How is the effect executed? What requirements, if any, are determined? The fact that inventing spells is so vague yet warned by Luna Lovegood of how dangerous and unpredictable it can be makes me wonder how Severus Snape could have invented even one or two spells, let alone at least seven, when he was still a student! I'm not discounting the fact that even as a student Snape was a talented and capable wizard, but even so, it seems reckless and foolhardy for a student to even attempt inventing a spell when even a fully matured and talented witch such as Pandora Lovegood accidentally killed herself in the creative process *Transfiguration Ethics* should not be overlooked, in all honesty. Magic in general is a great power and demands both respect and responsibility. Transfiguration, or else any magic that would have a transformative effect such as turning a living creature into an inanimate object, could well and truly be dangerous in the wrong hands or if used by those who don't understand or respect its power. Many works of fantasy involve magic where a subject is transformed into something else, such as "The Frog Prince", but we don't really understand the full ramifications of such magicks in how they can be abused/misused and the damage they could do. The *Homonculous Charm* is a useful spell in how it detects human presence whether or not an individual is hiding or in disguise. I admit, I did not understand the spell when the Marauder's Map was introduced in the series, which is rather fair tbh since the greater intricacies of the Map were not explained at the time, only in how to make it work and deactivate it with the right commands. I recall Hermione using the charm when the Trio arrived at the Black Residence in TDHs to confirm they were alone and no one was lying in wait for them. I feel I should point out the charm did not react to Kreacher, who lived in the Black Residence, which implies the charm only worked to detect _human_ presences and therefore would not have detected a house elf. Let us not forget the Map was not foolproof, since it failed to discern people with identical names, showing Bartemius Crouch but not the Junior part, leading Harry to mistakenly think Barty Crouch _Senior_ was sneaking about Hogwarts when it was actually his son disguised as Alastor Moody The *Animagus Registry* always seemed, to me, a tad presumptuous. Sure, it is understandable to want to make sure magical powers are not abused/misused, but I think the Ministry underestimated the willingness some witches/wizards are willing to do in order to gain an edge. The Marauders (James Potter, Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew) became Animagi to prove their dedication to their friend Remus Lupin and provide him with comfort during his werewolf transformations, but they didn't register, likely so they wouldn't have to explain why they became Animagi to begin with, tho this unfortunately allowed Pettigrew to go into hiding after faking his death and framing Sirius for his crimes while Sirius finally found the strength of will to escape by using his animagus form. Furthermore, Rita Skeeter used her animgus form as a beetle to spy on others and use what she learned to write her articles with facts that were twisted, taken out of context, or even outright lies When Hermione looked up the registry, it said there were an exceedingly few animagi currently around, but the fact that there were four more (unregistered) animagi (six if you count Hogwarts Mystery, like the player character and Talbot Winger) could indicate there are a lot more unregistered animagi out there than one might expect. Plus, Uagadou, the African wizarding school, had many animagi, enough to put together a performance of sorts, so the potential for there being many animagi, registered or not, is rather high. *Incantations* are the words uttered to cast a spell and sometimes they're obvious or otherwise obscure until you look up the words and determine their meaning or else the words they are based off of. Many spells in HP are Latin or at least derived from Latin, so plenty sound obvious or understandable, like _Incendio_ being a fire spell pr _Glacius_ an ice/cold spell. The Unlocking charm _Alohomora_ is more obscure until you learn it is of African origin and means "Friendly to thieves" so some spells are in other languages besides Latin Even the Patronus Charm _Expecto Patronum_ is not immediately understandable despite it being Latin-based and can roughly translate as "I await a protector" Incantations are literally the magic words in spells, and so they must be involved in the Creation of Spells

[@thorthewolf8801]

Regarding your point about veritaserum: thats true sans veritaserum as well. People will testify what they believe to be true, not what is factually true. Veritaserum would just make sure that they are not intentionally lying.

[@okamireader5]

@@thorthewolf8801_Exactly_

[@gamer708886]

11:30 Plus there is the bootstrap paradox, in which anything you would of done travelling into the past would of already happened in the present; so if Harry travelled to the past to save his parents he would of failed somehow because they were already dead in the present. O-O

[@Princess_Celestia_]

That only works in a liner timeline where there are no parallel timelines. If Harry went back in time to save his parents, he would have created a split in the timeline resulting in two different timelines, one in which his parents died and one in which he saved them. Thus there wouldn't be any paradox as Harry came from the timeline where his parents died.

[@Dan-neil]

@@Princess_Celestia_ doesn't time travel in harry potter work on a linear timeline anyway? It's not like they created a parallel timeline when they saved sirius, they only created parallel versions of themselves which moved on the singular timeline until they reverted back to normal

[@benniinsuedafrika]

What makes no sense is, that you can't "make" food out of nothing but you can create objects out of nothing. And where do the disappeared objects go when wizards make things dissappear

[@nirvanryan4078]

in everything. read DH(Death hallows)

[@Dan261178]

One thing that always puzzled me was the "Dark Arts",they seemed to be condensed into the unforgivable curses because if you can cause a)blind obedience,b)pain and c)Instant death what more do you need?

[@JamesDavy2009]

A lot of spells (curses especially) can be considered dark arts if the intent behind their creation or use is evil. Take Sectumsempra for instance-how is lacerating the target's body to cause severe bleeding not a dark art? Legilimency can be another candidate for the dark arts category.

[@Dan261178]

@@JamesDavy2009 All true but kind of missing my point.With those three spells what more do you need?For example why lacerate someones body if you can use the Cruciatus curse which causes more pain but doesnt leave a mark? Why read someones mind when you can control them?.

[@JamesDavy2009]

@@Dan261178 Using the Unforgivables requires the user to REALLY mean to do harm whereas some other spells like the aforementioned can be easier to cast by comparison.

[@iamthenomad2k]

I always imagined that inventing a spell required a contract with whatever power in the universe allows magic. It's difficult. After the contract is formed then an easy, quick set of words are created to use it. Hence, few are able to do this

[@Rabijeel]

The Age-Thing is based in Numeromancy - Numbers-magic. The Prime Numbers mark the Ages when you enter a new "Cycle of Life", an new Development State growing up. 1(Baby)-3(Infant)-5(Child)-7("School-Age")-11(Puberty)-13(Apprenticeship)-17(Coming of Age)-23(Adulthood) and so on. It went through many Changes and thus had many "explanations" as mysticism always has as you fit the Explanation to the Effect instead have the Effect define the Explanation. But the "Prime Nuimbers are "magical"-Thingy" stayed throughout the Ages since we got the Arabic Arithmetics here and stopped to count in lines and Dots rather to do "Math" - which seems "magical" top many who did not understand and still does today.

[@Welshy]

6:41 this one actually does make sense if you look at how the legal system works, like in the case of when a murderer won’t reveal the location of a body, people can’t do anything (even though in those instances they should) so it’s more a real world doesn’t make sense

[@WilliamWizer]

it's also stated by hermione (on last book) that nobody can place the trace on adults so the death eaters can't be using the trace to find them. if the charm is attached to a wizard/witch then how did dobby made the ministry believe harry cast the hovering charm? if it's attached to the wand, what about children using their parent's wands or the wand of an older brother? if it's attached to the place, what about muggleborn twins casting magic at their home? how would the ministry know who cast the magic? what if an underage wizard uses wandless magic? is it detected? how does the ministry know if it's wandless magic or accidental magic? did somebody mention using veritaserum with the imperius defense? why would a perfect truth serum be used on trials when the worst criminals are the ones that make the laws? the worst thing about the time turner is that James himself could had planned to use it to save his family. if you know voldemort will try to kill your family because of a prophecy and you go into hidding, why not use a time turner and your invisibility cloak to make a loop that saves your family? because then, we wouldn't had a story. why the way... didn't cursed child uses an improved version of a time turner to go back to harry's fourth year and save cedric? I won't deny that the causality loop made by Rowling is well planned and executed but everything else about the mere existence of the time turners is a mess. also, the patronus seems to be a bit of all purpose, it can also be used to send messages and, sometimes, I wonder about James, Lily and Snape having related patroni. I understand Lily's patronus changing to match James when she felt in love with him but... why did Snape's change to match Lily's changed patronus? or, maybe, James and Lily got f*ckingly lucky and their patroni matched to begin with. it's interesting the fact that we meet quite a few of animagi but, as far as I remember, only McGonagall is registered. James, Sirius, Peter and Rita are unregistered. it's also interesting that Victor Krum used a partial transfiguration to be able to breathe underwater. couldn't we use this to mimic animagi? on a side note, why did snape bother to create sectumsempra if it does, more or less, the same as the diffindo? one could claim that cursed injuries can't be healed or some other BS but that's easy to solve. just use diffindo to cut the cursed part of the body and then heal the diffindo injury. legend says that Ignotus used the cloak to hide from death itself... yet, everybody and his mother can see were harry is even when he's under that same cloak. (albus can see him, Alastor can see it, the marauder's map can show it, ...)

[@benja_mint]

About "the trace" we do have more explanation. It is explicitly stated (I can't remember which book) that children in magical households do NOT have a trace because it's up to the magical parents to enforce good behaviour in their children. The trace is only to stop muggleborns from using magic before they're old enough to learn how to be discrete. And when is the trace applied? I would also ask the question how does Hogwarts know how to send a letter to muggleborns? Apparently they can detect the presence of a magical child somehow... We know that there aren't THAT many wizards... Maybe only a few underage muggleborns at any given time so it's not that onerous for somebody from the ministry to secretly visit the household and apply the trace

[@lauragarmon6969]

Regarding incantations- my thoughts were that it would depend on the situation. In wingardium leviosa, merely pointing the wand at the object would make it specific enough. When pointing at eye-glasses when repairing them, saying “occulous reparo” might need to be more specific when the lenses are on a face. Without the specification, reparo might fix a bad haircut or a blemish on the face. Perhaps general spells without the extra nomenclature of the specific spells are less consequential than those needing more specificity? I will have to reread passages to see if this theory is valid.

[@Squidbush8563]

The spells are likely so specific because they likely those started out with a more general version (such as "reparo") and were refined into a specific utility spell ("Oculus Reparo"). There's probably thousands of specific spells people use everyday that have been refined down. Hence why it takes so many years just to learn enough to get by in society but there are still specialists. You have to keep in mind that these stories are told not only from a child's perspective, but one that's never even had an inkling that magic exists for the first 10 years of life.

[@Ki6wbh]

Reparo works exactly like Acio, you can just make it more specific Oculus reparo 'repair glasses' refining the level of magic. Acio can basically be used to bring things to you within sight. But you can enhance the spell with some additional mental components. Accio firebolt your firebolt comes flying from where you had it because you were looking specifically for that particular object it doesn't have to be within sight.

[@silvenimoy3115]

For the homunculus charm, while the item imbued with it could be protected by a password or whatnot, I think perhaps they didn’t use it for the ministry or Azkaban because it works both ways? Think Lupin telling Harry if someone got ahold of the Maurader’s map it would be a map right to him…which then raises the question…why didn’t the death eaters or Voldemort use it then and make their own version? 🤔 Since the map only shows living people (and I think ghosts?), Voldemort could have just glanced at the map (or a map of his own making) after “killing” Harry in the Forbidden Forest and realized he wasn’t dead.

[@mlpfanboy1701]

Pride often clouds ones judgment.

[@hallbjornthefirebreather8376]

The trace - yeah, ive never understood the trace other than its use as a blockade for the plot. Veritaserum use in court - yeah, that or legilamency (spelling 😂) The stone - yeah I got no note. You covered it perfectly Time turner - if you do the math, Hermione would only be a few weeks older by the end of the year. Also, I do believe you can only go back 5 hours with a time turner but I might be wrong. Patronus - I think it's difficult for people, on any given day, not because they can't think happy thoughts, but because there is a lot of power / focus / and intent behind it. Like Buddhist monks who can generate their own heat. It's easy to sit an do nothing, but this skill takes great focus and will. Part 1 of 2

[@ezradanger]

The fact that you can't conjure food or transfigure other objects into food doesn't make any sense either, nor does it really make any sense how difficult it is to become an animagus when transfiguring another person into an animal isn't nearly as difficult.

[@Chrisreedbeats]

The power of the forget spell “obliveate” or something like that. Like isn’t that spell over powered? Shouldn’t it be one of the unforgivable curses?

[@ProminenceSmash9]

It is used to erase the memories of Muggles that learned of the Wizarding World. Why would the Ministry of Magic outlaw the spell to used to protect their secrets?

[@davidpumpkinsjr.5108]

I've often imagined that HP magic exists like a wavelength. Trolls and dragons and other creatures that are inherently magical but don't use it are at the low end. Centaurs, goblins and humans are near the middle, giving them a wide range of magical abilities. House elves are at the high end, allowing them to do things others can't, such as apparating with no restriction.

[@zimonzieclown1633]

Re: Time travel in the Wizarding World. Because we operate under "the closed loop" version of time travel, you can't go back to fix something you don't know is broken. For example, Dumbledore wouldn"t be able to go back in time to kill little Tom Riddle in the orphanage because his future self would have already made the decision to do that, thus eliminating the threat. By the point that Dumbledore would reach the point his future self decided to go back, he wouldn't know to do that, because Voldemort wouldn't exist.

[@riektherocker6837]

The way I read the books was that the trace was made to keep wizards secret. therefore they only care about children who live with or around muggles using magic. I always assumed the trace is not placed upon children personally but more likely the trace is a general spell that works in a certain area. I always thought of childrens magic to be different and more raw/ chaotic than a trained adult's so maybe the trace can tell the difference. almost like how we can tell someone's age by their voice, the trace "sees" that a person is underage when using magic.

[@thehemingwayproject1915]

Besides the Gaunt girl. What if the sorting hat applies the trace, thats when they develop magic, then when they are fully trained, they graduate school, and lose the trace? Because Harry put Duddly in the snake tank at the zoo, didn't get a howler. Used lumos maximus, and blew up his aunt fudge let him off the hook. Got a howler when he used the patronus charm. So maybe the trace is bullshit, idk, i just confused myself a great deal. Love the videos. Ive watched them all, twice.

[@stevencowan37]

10:00 - Another thing to keep in mind, it was confirmed later that Time Turners have a hard limit of how far back you can go in a given 24 hour period- I know that in a certain popular fanfic and in pottermore/wizarding world, one had it at 5 hours and one had it at 6, but I can't remember which is technically correct for canon.

[@nirvanryan4078]

6 in cursed child

[@vampocalpyse]

Bit late but the last one could be that certain incantations require a prefix vs a subfix for them. For instance Occio Repairo, the repairo part may be the spell itself and would work with say Mirro Repairo. It isn't uncommon in games and fantasy to have the same spell do different things depending on what prefixes and subfixes you use.

[@markdicristofaro904]

There is an old rule of magicians. Never reveal your secrets. This is the same with a lot of things. So, why would everything be explained in the Harry Potter movies? There is also the fact that people come up with literary ideas all of the time, and it's not explained. A lot of writers go by this rule. The best stories are the ones that keep readers guessing. The readers keep coming back to find the answers that are never provided, which makes the writers rich. This can also be found in drug dealing. Give the product away for no money or next to no money, and now you drug addicts who will do anything for the drugs. While stories don't really destroy lives, they use a modified version of the drug dealer's thinking. And, in the end, knowing the truth or facts about a story doesn't put any money into your pocket. But it does empty your pockets. It is just a distraction. Don't worry about it.

[@TheRosgath]

With regards to the Trace, the most likely case is that the Trace isn't a spell that is actively cast on people but rather is a spell that was cast on all of the UK sometime in the past that specifically tracks spellcasters below the age of 17. This explains why the age of majority in the Wizarding world around the UK continues to be 17, an age that would generally be perfectly fine for majority sometime in the 1800s, while the modern world had almost universally moved to age between 18 and 21 for majority. We only have the perspective of the UK here, so it's possible other countries have their own forms of tracking underage magic but a spell cast on the land itself similar in nature (but nowhere near in specificity) to the marauder's map make the most sense.

[@DanieldeKock-p3d]

Pretty much everything mentioned here is simply not knowing the background of something, because not every detail is explained. But they have no effect on the plot, so how is it a plot hole? Just because you don't know why someone doesn't create a new spell, how does that have any impact on the plot of the story? Even if I think the answer is obvious, it's still not a plot hole. Maybe the time issue, but the entire story behind Voldemort's daughter going back in time completely addresses it, it's the central plot everything else revolves around.

[@raenfox]

You're absolutely right about the inconsistency of spells. After all, there's "Feraverto" (or however it's spelled), which literally turns an animal into a water goblet. Why on Earth would you need such a specific spell? But it's apparently something you need, at least they're teaching it. And I can imagine some PETA variant demonstrating outside the classroom against the use of live animals for practicing spells.