Planning this fanfiction really made it obvious that the Harry Potter system of magic is one with many flaws, at least in my opinion, pls don't flame me; it's been a while since I read them.
This is my own sort of tweaks and clarifications addressing whatever I found confusing when trying to plan. So if it's wrong, let me off, or just suggest a change.
i lowk had fun writing this
Starting off:
What defines magical talent, and where does magic come from? The role that vocal spells and wand movements played in magic, despite the fact that powerful wizards never really used them.
Or addressing the issue where saying a spell without knowing its meaning still produced the same outcome (Baruffio). Did that mean created spells are somehow logged into magic's collective consciousness?
So I tried to fix and patch plot holes all by myself -_-
Starting with: What defines Magical Talent? How is it cast?
Well i tried to first define how I imagine magic is cast. Magic is a type of energy, and because the magic they cast is not implied to be harnessed from the environment but from within themselves, that makes it a finite pool which takes time to replenish. So someone talented would have a larger pool with quicker recovery. therefore...
1. Magical capacity: Innate capacity provides the baseline, which can also increase with age or usage.
I imagine that for an abstract energy to be shaped/channelled, you would need to provide it with a structure or command; therefore,
2. Willpower/Visualisation: You must have vividness to your thoughts. If you're unable to think vividly about what you want, maybe your fire lacks heat. Or it doesn't spread. This could link to shadow slave in the sense of learning the true name of things, something Nephis learns eventually. also proof is in the book itself. The Patronus charm and unforgivables.
And just like all studies of science.
3. Intelligence: the ability to process and understand difficult concepts, focus on different variables at once and able to link your understanding.
Next: The role that vocal spells and wand movements play
Well, tying in with my Visualisation/willpower category, I think the wand movement is there to substitute for visualisation; younger kids normally have less willpower by default. Giving them incantations and wand movements provides sensory anchors to tie their understanding to
Well then, you must be thinking, but author, if that's true, then why do specific words correspond to specific spells across the entire wizarding world?
This links nicely to my next point: Magic spells.
In the book, Baruffio or something is said to mispronounce a spell, causing a bull to suddenly drop on him. This is literally a plot hole.
Does that mean you can cast any spell, even the ones where you have no clue what they do, and you didn't mean to? I'd disagree. And the idea that the words themselves held a magical sort of meaning doesn't make sense. Non-verbal casting literally disproves that. Although maybe an incantation holds the essence of another wizard's visualisation, a step towards the true name of things. But I'd still argue that you need at least some minor association with its effect.
Power Scaling (Rough) - open to change
###### -?
Merlin -?
The 4 founders of Hogwarts - Sovereign
Dumbledore - Low-tier Spirit
Voldemort - Low-tier Cursed Terror
Grindelwald - Peak Saint
The Hogwarts Professors - Peak Masters to Mid-tier saints
Aurors and Adult Wizards - Awakened to Master
Hogwarts students - Sleeper to Awakened
Aspect Progression Plan: vague btw
Progression/Aspect Legacy - internal Hogwarts library -
learning spell books need to be unlocked/learned using magic shards, which he gets from killing nightmare creatures, specifically from their soul.
And he can only access certain spells with vague descriptions from across the branches of magic, but some need him to be like awakened or ascended or 3 cores, etc.... and for like memories or rare spells or attributes, he has to fight creatures and/or people from the HP universe. e.g fighting Hagrid may give him a strength attribute, etc.... the rewards could be vaguely hinted at, etc
For the unforgivables.
From my understanding The unforgivables are soul-related attacks, or will-related. At least for Imperio and Avada Kedavra.
In HP, it's a one-hit kill because souls don't really get OP. But in shadow slave, as each one ascends, the soul grows stronger (soul cores... soul shards...) so those spells can only work on creatures or people of a lower rank/state of existence ygm.