CHARMS | LESSON 03
MAGIC LESSON: MAGICAL POWERS
THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF MAGICAL POWERS.
There are two types of magical powers conferred to humans. The first and most powerful is called the internal powers. In some languages it is called Chi or Shakti or soul. All humans have this power. Many Muggles and Squibs do not understand their own internal magical powers and never develop them. Since it is the most powerful magic, it it important for every human to develop this part of themselves.
The second type of magical power, is external powers. These are powers that we normally think of as the only magic - the abilities to fly a broom, use a wand, etc. People who have developed their external powers are called witches and wizards. The magical world has formal definitions for four types of humans to denote their various external magical abilities, since they all have the same internal powers. These four categories are discussed here.
MUGGLES
Muggle are humans whose magical powers are always within them. It is one of the most important tasks of each human to discover their unique gifts and share them in the service of humanity. Muggles do not possess external magical powers, however. They are unable to brew potions, cast spells, or sense when magical things are nearby. The term “Mudblood” should never be used to describe Muggles. It is highly offensive. It is possible for two Muggles to have a child who is magical when both Muggles have an ancestor who was a witch or wizard. When this happens, the Muggle’s magical powers are the same as a Half-Blood and Pure-Blood.
SQUIBS
The term Squib is used to denote the child with no magical ability but whose parents are both magical. This is rare. The Squib often focuses on their internal magic to produce wonderful things.
HALF-BLOODS
People who have one Muggle parent, grandparent, etc. and one Witch or Wizard parent are known as "Halfblooded.” Their magical powers are the same as Pure-Bloods.
PURE-BLOODS
This is the word that describes the child of two magical parents. Their magical powers are the same as half-bloods and muggle-born with magical powers.
(Note: The four terms we have discussed all refer to humans. It is important to keep in mind that magical properties also exist in the animal kingdom, the world of plants, and in the earth and universe.)
2. SPELL: REPARO & LOCOMOTOR
In Lesson Three, you first will learn the Mending Charm. It allows you to repair most non-magical items with ease. It was developed in 1492 by Lucretius Delaware, a handyman for King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain. He repaired items from around the kingdom using this spell and is the most famous handyman ever. He actually sailed with Christopher Columbus on the Santa Maria and helped discover America. The State of Delaware might be named after him. The historical records are unclear.
There are four rules you should keep in mind when using this spell.
Magical properties in an item can not be mended. For example, if mend a broken witch’s broom, it will look as if it is repaired, but it will not fly.
If an item or part of an item is transformed, it can not be mended with this spell. For example, if a log is burnt to ashes, you can’t repair it to a log again. If the log is broken into pieces, you can repair it using this charm.
Wands can never be mended by this charm. It will look mended for a bit, then fall apart again.
After you have said the incantation, you need to continue making the wand movements until the restoration of the item is completed or you will have to start over again.
Incantation: Reparo (‘reh-PAH-roh’)
Wand Movement: Inward pointed spiral, continued until the object is fully repaired
Willpower: Minimal
Concentration: High; Visualization of the repaired object should be maintained until the object is repaired.
The second charm you will learn in this lesson is Locomotor. Like all spells, it is in a language called Latin. "Loco" means location. "Motor" means to move. So can you guess what the Locomotor spell does?
Latin was the language spoken in ancient times. Today it is the language of science, law, medicine, and magic. If you want to be a scientist, a lawyer, a doctor, a nurse practitioner, a wizard or a witch, you should learn Latin. If your mom says it is okay, you can click this button below and learn Latin in 5 minutes a day for free. Or you can wait and have a Latin Club with some friends and learn together.
The story about how the Locomotor Charm was created is top secret and too shocking for First Year Students. Be patient. All will be revealed in time.
The Locomotor Charm moves an object to a different location. It only works on objects, not anything that is alive. You will note this incantation is slightly different than the ones you have used so far. When you are beginning your magic training, you will need to say the name of the object after Locomotor (e.g, say “Locomotor toothbrush” or “Locomotor candy bar” as you point to the target object with your wand.
Incantation: Locomotor (‘LOH-koh-moh-tor’) plus (name of the object)
Wand Movement: Full circle with an upward flick at the end that points to the object you want to move - then pointing to where it should go.
Willpower: Depends on how heavy the object is and how far it has to move.
Concentration: Low concentration but focus until the movement is completed.
When your wand is loaded with its magical powers, you will find fun ways to practice Locomotor. Many students start with bowls of popcorn or corn flakes as shown above. Then they say, “Locomotor Cereal” and move it to their open mouth. Give some thought to how you will practice all your spells when your wand is magical. This will be a question on your exam.
3. LAB WORK
Although not revealed in any of the Harry Potter books or movies, there are some secret things you will learn now that you must only share with your most trusted confidantes. We are about to tell you the first secret.
THE FIRST SECRET
When you graduate from your magical training, instead of all the students wearing the same graduation robes and mortar boards (the classic hat of graduates), each student is allowed to design their own robe and hat. We ask this of First Year students because they are created by dwarves with magic, and with so many students, it takes quite a long time, especially if there are a lot of jewels, feathers, etc. The dwarves always build in three magical powers into your hat which you are allowed to specify.
THE SECOND SECRET
Your robe and hat will grow with you as you get older. Once a year, we host a giant party for all our graduates from every class. Over time, you will get to be good friends with them just like the people in your class at school. We call this party “Homecoming.” Each fall, we all gather in our robes and hats. We can’t tell you yet what happens at the party. That is a secret for another lesson. Be patient. All will be revealed.
The lab work for this lesson is for you to do the following:
Draw a design your hat. Be sure to add any notes to help the dwarf designers understand your idea.
Draw a design your robe. Make these as simple or fancy as you want.
Decide on three magical powers you would like built into your head covering.
The picture below is of Professor Anne Argon in her graduation robes which she designed when she was a First Year student.
• Don’t forget to practice both the movements and incantations for Reparo & Locomotor •
4. Leadership development
As you will hear your teachers say often, “Good magic comes from good people.” As you learned in your last two lessons, there are four cardinal virtues every good witch or wizard practices. In this lesson, your leadership development focuses on the third one: WISDOM.
The love of WISDOM is called “philosophy.” Uncle Dan has a college degree in philosophy and might be a good person to ask for assistance with your homework if you have difficulty.
If you are to become a noble practitioner of magic, you need to develop the virtue of wisdom. When you have wisdom, you are called “wise.”
Wisdom helps you understand what things are good and what things are evil and what things are neither good or evil. Wisdom also helps you understand what things you should choose, what things you should beware of, and what things don’t matter.
The reason we need wisdom is so we know what to do - which path is the best one to take. When we can answer those questions above, we can decide. Here is an example of some philosophical questions.
Should I choose to risk getting Covid-19 to play with my friends or beware of that? Why?
Is it good or evil to call someone bad names or yell at them? Why?
• LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT Assignment •
Talk to three people about one of the questions above to get their opinion. Tell your Muggle Helper what you learned and what your opinion is about the philosophical question you picked.
“HEAR NO EVIL. SEE NO EVIL. SPEAK NO EVIL.”
5. EXTRA CREDIT
There are three assignment options for which you will be rewarded Extra Credit Points. You can do one assignment, two assignments, all three assignments, or you can skip extra credit and do none. Sometimes you won’t like the assignment. Sometimes it will seem too hard or too boring. Most students find if they do them anyway, it is always a lot more interesting and fun than they thought - and they learn a lot. But extra credit is always optional and your decision. There is no penalty for skipping it. On the school’s home page, there is an Extra Credit section where you can read about the assignments.
LESSON THREE WRAP-UP
We will be giving your Muggle Helper a checklist and some questions to ask you at the end of the week to prepare the report on your progress. When the report is completed, she will send it to Professor Anne Argon and you will message her using The Virtual Owl portal. Type DONE, and tell her about how you liked the lesson.
In addition, we ask that you have someone take photos of you and your extra credit assignments, if you do some. And congratulate yourself on the great job. You are doing such great work. We hope it is fun for you too. - Anne