94
votes
Accepted
Why aren't Muggles extinct?
We don't need to argue about reproductive fitness to explain this.
Here in the real world, the fertility rate falls off as the standard of living increases. Until quite recently, the magical ...
- 17.6k
91
votes
Accepted
A cynical demon writing annotations into the book for puny human readers
You're looking for the Bartimaeus Sequence by Jonathan Stroud, the first book of which is "The Amulet of Samarkand"
A brief summary of the trilogy from the wiki (spoilered for those who haven't read ...
- 1,135
68
votes
Accepted
Terry Pratchett's Discworld: is there an inconsistency in the treatment of magic?
The best explanation is that the first two Discworld aren't really "Discworld" books as much as they are "Rincewind" books. They're much more aimed at being parody of a large number of fantasy genres ...
- 12.9k
53
votes
Accepted
How could Ron possibly believe that "Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow..." is a real spell?
First let me say that I don't believe it is a real spell.
The thing we need to realize is that Ron did not know enough spells to differentiate between fake and real spells. Mr and Mrs Weasley would ...
- 17.1k
53
votes
Accepted
Do the Kwikspell courses work?
Kwikspell courses are (probably) useful to some wizards, but not to squibs.
The Kwikspell course literature comes with two testimonials.
Madam Z. Nettles of Topsham writes:
‘I had no memory for ...
- 652k
51
votes
Why do wizards use such ineffective spells during serious situations in Harry Potter?
Crucio
From the Order of the Phoenix:
Hatred rose in Harry such as he had never known before; he flung himself out from behind the fountain and bellowed, 'Crucio!'
Bellatrix screamed: the spell had ...
- 741
50
votes
In Harry Potter, is it only children who can do 'instinctive magic'?
If you take this statement from Rowling at face value then anyone at any age would be able to use instinctive magic:
You can do unfocused and uncontrolled magic without a wand (for instance when ...
- 65.8k
50
votes
Did Hermione invent the Four-Point Spell herself?
The use of the word "discovery" is used in another instance in the Harry Potter books:
ALBUS DUMBLEDORE
CURRENTLY HEADMASTER OF HOGWARTS
Considered by many
the greatest wizard of ...
- 65.8k
50
votes
Accepted
Books about dragons and war from a cat-loving author
It sounds like Eragon by Christopher Paolini. Published in 2003 but it looks like the German translation wasn't published until 2009. The film was 2006.
Eragon finds a dragon egg and it hatches. ...
- 2,065
50
votes
Accepted
Can someone under an Imperius Curse know what is happening?
Barty Crouch Jr, who has a lot of experience in both ends of the Imperius curse, tells us that its victims can be aware of their situation, although normally they are not:
‘But your father escaped,’ ...
- 2,953
50
votes
Terry Pratchett's Discworld: is there an inconsistency in the treatment of magic?
Pratchett himself always claimed that all consistencies in his work were accidental so there almost certainly is an inconsistency. That's the first point.
Secondly Rincewind is a special case, he has ...
- 6,446
49
votes
Accepted
In The Battle of Hogwarts, why didn't the Mandrakes do more damage?
There are several things to keep in mind.
According to Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the cry of a mandrake is only fatal if the mandrake is fully grown. A juvenile mandrake would knock ...
- 4,263
48
votes
What is Voldemort's 'usual magic'?
Given the context of the line (Voldemort complaining that the Elder Wand isn't making him any stronger than before), I don't believe Voldemort was referring to a specific spell or set of spells, but ...
- 14.2k
48
votes
Accepted
Why didn't Umbridge use legilimency against Harry?
She had no reason to use Legilimency.
It's true that the Veritaserum she uses on Harry is fake.
"It was [Snape], too, who gave Professor Umbridge fake Veritaserum when she was attempting to force ...
- 61.5k
47
votes
Was it Gollum who untied Sam's Elf-rope?
In the novel the rope is noted to have been secured tightly
He took up the rope and made it fast over the stump nearest to the brink.
LOTR: The Two Towers
and it does indeed fall down when tugged, ...
- 652k
44
votes
Accepted
Why do wizards use such ineffective spells during serious situations in Harry Potter?
I'd like to challenge one of the assumptions in the question:
... we can see many wizards in many really important situations/fights using very ineffective spells ...
emphasis mine
Are they ...
- 1,572
43
votes
Accepted
A witch, a vampire and a pixie meet in a bar and talk about tomatoes eradicating humanity
The Hollows Series by Kim Harrison
The Tomato-part checks out on this, as well as the titles.
Relevant part from the above wiki:
The alternate history is built upon two premises: the recent open ...
- 1,273
41
votes
Accepted
Origin of genies (from lamps) having a three wish limit?
According to Wikipedia:
"The Fisherman and the Jinni" is the second top-level story told by Sheherazade in the One Thousand and One Nights.
According to the synopsis, in the third century that ...
- 39k
40
votes
Was Ron's failed Transfiguration actually his fault?
Good question - ultimately one for the movie though, since, in the book, Ron wasn't trying to transfigure Scabbers, but rather, beetles into buttons.
Here is what we do know about Transfiguration and ...
- 39.8k
39
votes
Why aren't Muggles extinct?
It's very possible that a lot of "muggles" just didn't know they were wizards.
The book that admits students to Hogwarts needs concrete evidence of a child using magic before it will write them down ...
- 15.2k
39
votes
Accepted
Book with a main character who uses bells to dispel the dead
I believe this is the "Old Kingdom" series by Garth Nix. I haven't read it myself, but my sister loved them growing up. Always told me about it, and how the bells can also be used for ...
- 4,766
37
votes
Accepted
Is the Magic School Bus actually magic?
Yes, almost certainly.
In the "Call the Producers" segment at the end of Episode 3, the Producer explicitly notes that Ms. Frizzle can't get sick because...
...she's magic
at which point we see ...
- 652k
37
votes
Accepted
Manga about a female worker who got dragged into another world together with this high school girl and she was just told she's not needed anymore
The Saint's Magic Ability is Omnipotent (聖女の魔力は万能です, Seijo no Maryoku wa Bannou desu) by TACHIBANA Yuka. Originally a web novel, it also got comicalized.
Cover page of the 1st volume of the manga
...
- 885
36
votes
Would a completely good Muggle be able to use a wand?
No, you've misunderstood the quote.
JKR isn't saying that the result would be violent because violence is what lies inside a Muggle (though it does sound like something the Malfoys might come up with)...
- 17.6k
34
votes
Did Harry Potter ever invent any spells?
Fred and George appear to have invented a toy that is enchanted to so that the user is a witness to a daydream.
Patented Daydream Charms
One simple incantation and you will enter a top-quality, ...
- 65.8k
34
votes
Did Hermione invent the Four-Point Spell herself?
I don't think so.
After Harry learns what the third task will consist of (getting
through a maze) and then runs into Barty Crouch Sr and all that jazz,
the trio get in training.
For the next few ...
- 28.6k
34
votes
Accepted
Can Polyjuice potion remove magic?
Transforming oneself into a muggle (using Polyjuice Potion) doesn't remove magic.
Harry pretends to be a red-haired Muggle boy at Fleur and Bill's wedding.
Harry was rather uncomfortable. The ...
- 652k
34
votes
Can someone under an Imperius Curse know what is happening?
No, when the Imperius Curse is working, the Imperiused person won’t remember anything.
Once the Imperius Curse works properly and the target was not able to resist it, they do not have any memory of ...
- 105k
34
votes
Accepted
How does the magic in "Liar Liar" work?
In the original script, we see that Fletcher's incapacity is that he can't say something that he knows to be untrue. This includes not being able to hand a (previously written) statement that he knows ...
- 652k
32
votes
Accepted
Books with mages exploding on death normally - but not when other mages siphoned their magic through their blood in their last moments
This is The Black Magician Trilogy by Trudi Canavan.
The female protagonist is Sonea, a slum-dweller and the teacher who knows about the other kind of magic is Akkarin, High Lord of the Guild of ...
- 1,897
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible