OK, here goes nothing on the origin of spells and magic.

What if, spells evolved merely from taking advantage of 'loopholes' in physics? And to make a new spell, you'd have to know how to take advantage of the loopholes?

For example, time-turners. They could simply hold open a wormhole, previously thought to be impossible, and zoom! time-travel!

Same goes with apparation. No wonder it's so hard. You have to hold a friggin' wormhole open, no duh!

Then, there goes with the space-contorting charms. It's essentially something that messes around with space-time and warps it all up.

Then, for the 'create out of nothing' charms, you'd be extracting something from the 'magical commons' bia the space/time-contortion.

For Expelliarmus et cetera, you'd be creating some sort of radioactive thingy to create large amounts of energy (and radioactivity, which wizards might be resistant to...)

Of course, there would still be 'basic' magic, like the actual creating energy and whatnot.

(wizards say: AAAAAAARGH! You still don't get it!!! That's the Muggle way of looking at everything.)

I Sort of agree with you in a way, and disagree with you in another way. Yes, "magic/spells" as you call it have to be governed by the laws of physics. But then again magic is not necessarily something that has to be done with a wan. Science is magic, If someone from one of the ancient civilizations came to a modern city they would be amazed by our technological advancements and think we had achieved them through magic. So if such loopholes do exist we can also exploit them.




No man is an Island..

Yeah, I get what your saying DrPizza, most people say that magic defyes the laws of science. My guesse is that once the magic occurs, atoms and things are just rearagen very fast and then *poof* something apprears. It's aslo magic, so we will never realy know how it works, it probly protects itself so that it will be a mystery to everyone.

Hey there Helena,

Please have a read of the rules, one liners aren't allowed. Quotes don't count either.

Please elaborate a bit more in the future.

Thanks,
Mason

It is possible, but what would cause a person to be able to control loopholes in physics? I much prefer the world explained by JK. It is magic. I don't need a more elaborate explanation.

Have never actuallt given this much thought but I can only see what you mean when it comes to wormholes, to be able to control them while apparating sounds like a natural reaction to what they're doing, just that splinching would be an impossibility cause o wormhole can't close as long as there's something blocking it if remeber right from reading about them in physics...

Hmm... that makes a whole lot of sense, actually. I don't think that was what JK Rowling was thinking when she wrote the books, though. It doesn't seem to be loopholes in physics, but rather just "Hey guys! Let's break the rules of physics and see what happens!", sort of like that. Physics does not exist everywhere in the universe. Black holes, for example, are places where physics do not exist. But, what the, the wizards do not live in black holes (but that will be cool!)

I think that its just bending the law of physics and not creating wormholes. I believe that to conjour something for example then the object that has been conjoured has to have existed before and not just appear from out of nowhere.

Okay DrPizza, I understand what you are saying, but I think you are just making it harder on yourself by trying to find a way to explain it...

Just use the correct word: MAGIC!!! It doesn't need explaining, it just happens, no science, no physics, just magic...

But I think you are looking at it through a muggles point of veiw, but I do believe in magic...

Come on now, why do we have to have an explanation for everything! Magic is magic let's just leave it at that. It ruins the fun of the unexplainable when we try to explain it! Dr. Pizza, it seems like you just want to make a point and that seems admirable, but in the Wizarding world, no one explains the magic, they just do it.

I agree, magic is magic. . .

But nonetheless, the physics things are interesting. How would someone explain the killing curse in the laws of physics? Like, a shock of lightning hit you. . .and you died. . .I don't know. And the Imperius curse could just be a shockwave type of thing.

But, JKR is a childrens author, i don't think she would do anything like that, but it is quite interesting to read.

It is interesting how humans try to find an explanation to every thing. But isn't it a rule in physics that the simplest explanation is considered correct? So why can't we accept that magic is, well, just magic.



I can't see the killing curse as lightning, the curse doesn't leave any mark on you but lightning does.

If that was true then why culd wizards only use the time-space rift to get stuff? Why not muggles?
and also why do they have to use a wand?

I really like the idea of magic just being physics. What if wands are just an illusion, and not nessecary to do magic? What if muggles could do magic too, but only the wizards and witches were "chosen" to do it? So, a wand is just a symbol, but it creates the illusion that it holds power. If that were true, then if a muggle tried, they could do magic, just like a wizard could. Or, maybe the only reason that wizards can do magic is because the are thrained to do so. I know that Harry was capable of diong magic when he thought he was a muggle, and it is supposed that all wizards and witches do this. But the only two young wizards we've seen do those "random experiments" are Harry and Tom Riddle. Both are excepually strong wizards, so maybe the wizards potential power can control how the wizard can do magic without being trained, assuming you have to be trained to do magic. Oh, I forgot! Neville accidentally did magic when he bounced off his head. He doesn't seem very powerful, but maybe he is, as they say, a late bloomer. Maybe he has yet to show his true power. That would still make sense with what I said about Harry and LV, because i was only referring to their potential power. Obviously, neither if them were anywhere near as strong as kids as they are now. Maybe what we will find out about Petunia is more of seeing her do magic, or maybe finding out that she went to Hogwarts or something.

If you just read all that and aren't ready to chuch something very heavy at me, kudos to you! I am just speculating here, so even though it all makes sense to me, it probably doesn't to anyone else. Sorry if I confused anyone. I know that didn't really relate to magic being physics, but it just got me thinking.

On the topic of magic being physics, it actually works right along with my theory, because I don't think it would make sense if one person could bend the rules of physics and another couldn't. Look at me, talking about making sense

I totally agree with you on that. I mean, i don't really want to prove that magic is fake or anything like that, even though i know it is. I'd rather just read about it and not worry about formulas or loopholes in physics, or anything like that.

I actually think that it's fun to speculate about what magic really could be. I guess that I'm just one of those people who just question everything. Besides, if we could prove that magic really was just physics, than I guess that magic could be real. That would rock. And that was the understatment of the century.

But, padfootx3, you do have a good point. Maybe it is best to just read and not worry about what magic really is.

I agree with padfootx3. I think it would totally suck if all the spells were just bending laws of physics. Hello, this is a make-believe story, let's keep it that way. Do you really need an explination for everything. One thing I think with Harry Potter, is that, if you want to, you can bend it anyway you want to make it seem anyway you want. Personally, I just want it left as is, at face value, as a Children's story.

i just like the whole idea of defying physics...
i can distinctly remember having a debate in year 10 physics and i was on the against team...
and we won because i said' explain harry potter then!'
and everyone burst out laughing so they couldnt argue back win win yay

majic doesnot exsist is all trickery pity

I think discussing the physics that may be behind all these magical happenings is fun. Its obviosly not real so there is no harm in discussing it.
So here is my assumption, spells are light right so why can you see them flying through the air shouldnt they be travelling at the speed of light? Is the magic super cold causing it to slow down to a point where it is visible, and even then how could the wand create this sort of energy?
I am gonna throw a whole new spin on this apparation possibility. Whenever apparation occured within the book there was a loud crack right. Well what if they turned themselves into a sound wave? I mean it makes sense sound travels real fast, they feel squeezed together as they travel, and sometimes u get a little sick just like sum ppl get sick on the ocean. I thnk that seems reasonable. wut u guys think

Had anybody red anything about the super string theory?, well this copuld do the trick, look, as this is planted there are 16 dimensions united by strings, made by atoms, or something like that, tha fact is that those dimensions are there even if we don't feel them, and well maybe magic is about being able to feel this dimensions. what do you think. I wish I could explain this better, but it even is dificult in my own language, even more in english

Hmm, that is an interesting idea. I haven't studied physics at all, so I'm not very familiar with all the laws and theories of it, but I don't think that all the spells in HP could be explained by physics, even so. Like someone pointed out about the Killing Curse~how could you use physics to kill someone like that? Maybe the lightning, but wouldn't that involve somehow managing to harness the lightning and use it for your own devices? I don't think that's possible somehow. And how would you explain something like the Cheering Charm with physics? I don't know, it seems like an interesting idea, I just don't think it's completely plausible.

And besides, I'd rather believe in magic!

Even though it is a children's story JKR has so many things hidden in books that children definitely wouldn't notice. I think that probably makes it tempting to try and solve everything in the book, but I don't think the magic thing was really sending a message. I think what really requires deeper thought and explaining is beyond the magic. I think the spells and all are just there because it's a vital part of the story. I must admit though it would be really cool if there were chosen people who got to break the rules of physics to be wizards though. Hah. How I would love to attend Hogwarts. :)

Interesting theory original poster but it goes against the point of magic.



Magic is not simply loopholes and faults within physics. Magic is that which cannot be explained but that which occurs against what we know as science. SCientists find such explanations for such things because they cannot bear to not know the answer. But magic cannot be explained. Neither can the supernatural. Magic is just that - magic. It isn't something we can really describe or explain. We just know what it is.



Magic, to me, is a great force which can be found if the person searching has a real desire to find it. If you really believe thetn anything is possible. I believe therefore I found it. Sounds cheesy? That's exactly why some people can never break out of the laws of the muggle world.

I think that magic is more complicated than anything in science. it is a force, but also a gene I think. those who have the magic gene are able to control the magic force. and magic is a very dominant gene at that. even squibs have magic in them, they can see dementors and communicate with cats, because the magic is so powerful and dominant. It would seem even muggles have magic in them, mostly in the form of love, but cannot control it and it does not cause anything particularly unordinary.

I have a simple answer for you it has nothing to do with space or time it is just supposed to be magic