Features section
Features section
Features section
We decided from the low interest in the Daily Prophet reports, that we might be starting at the deep end, even for Muggle-borns with a rudimentary knowledge of the magical world. So, we have created this new 'What is a witch?' feature section, independent of the Daily Prophet reports, which provides what we hope will be a gentler introduction to the world of witches and wizards...
What is a witch?
Let's start off with a few definitions and stuff...
Ask the question of a Muggle and you will get all sorts of answers, most mildly amusing. 𝘈 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘳. 𝘈 𝘩𝘢𝘨. 𝘈 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘢 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮. 𝘈 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘚𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘯. 𝘈 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘊𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘯. 𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘸𝘴 𝘶𝘱 𝘱𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘴...
How the general public view something is useful data, but it can be a cultural dead-end too. Ask the French what they think of Muslims, and you will most likely only learn about terms for black clothing like the hijab, the niqab and the jilboa. And, oh, the Middle East and Algeria. Not very useful if you want to know more about Muslims, rather than what kind of people scare the French most.
In some ways, the position of witches and wizards is like that. In fact The Guardian had an opinion piece recently, making just such a comparison. In her description of the alienation of Muslims, especially Iranians, in the West, Arianne Shahvisi admits she and her sisters often felt like witches, and treasured up the Harry Potter books, each time her family went home to Iran. According to her that is when their feelings of being separate from the Muggles of Britain were strongest.
'A mudblood in Tehran: my childhood between Iran and England'
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/sep/23/a-mudblood-in-tehran-my-childhood-between-iran-and-england
The point is that the French couldn't have told you about that identification, of Muslim culture, with witchcraft, even though they pass black robed women every day. To learn about witches, you have to ask them.
Why? Because the Statute of Secrecy forbids witches revealing themselves to Muggles (non-magic folk). And what Muggle-borns might not know is that the Statute isn't just a piece of parchment, a bit of wizarding law that every witch and wizard has to obey, lest they fall afoul of the Ministry's Improper Use of Magic Office. No, you see the Statute of Secrecy is much more than that. It is really like a wall that screens away the witches and wizards from the attention of Muggles.
So how does the Statute work, and why can't you appreciate what a witch is, until you develop the force of mind to push back against the Statute? In short, the Statute is a complex charm, one applied to the whole human population.
If you are a Muggle and notice something odd about a person (a real witch) in the street, you are just the slightest bit suspicious, the full force of the Statute's spells begin to work on you. You begin to think the suspected witch is weak and incapable, you might develop an odd lack of curiousity about them, and in extreme cases you may even show deteriorating behaviour if you or your government continues to focus attention on them (eg the population may start to drink more, gamble more, suffer cultural anxiety - none of which has occurred in the West of course, since it launched its diabolical War on Muslims twenty years ago).
So, if you want to understand what a witch is, then you have to broaden your mind! That's the trick in it. A witch is someone who is powerful, and brings a reaction from others. That's an essential part of being a witch. If you feel nothing but amusement at a girl playing at being a sensual coven witch, you can bet she's not a witch. And if you feel only disgust and pity for an old hag or gypsy, dressed in dirty rags and trying to sell you a few herbs or read your fortune, then you haven't found a real witch.
A real witch makes an impact. Not quite as much as a magician with flashing eyes, a warlock whose walk of power and grace turns heads and clears space, or a wizard whose sheer wizardishness can rob a Muggle of speech. Consider Vernon Dursley upon meeting Albus Dumbledore...
A wizard, at least a full one, has a presence. And a witch is not that different to a wizard, she lets you know in short order, where you stand, compared to her.
So, let's consider where a witch stands, in relation to others in magical ability. The graphic below shows a witch's power level (whether male or female).
As you can see from the graphic, a Muggle has near zero magical ability. Lower than a troll, which while often only capable of communicating with humans through grunts can still see special places on mountain sides and power sources like magical springs and patches of vegetation where rare herbs and groves of trees can be found.
Squibs (people born into wizard families but who have lost their magic) as well as hags are just above trolls. They can see some magical effects, and associate with magical creatures like cats, but they can't cast proper spells or make potions correctly. Neville in the Harry Potter books was almost a squib, and he struggled in Snape's potions classes.
Hags do exist. Yes, it's not a nice idea, is it. We all wish that bit of the magical world wasn't true, like vampires and werewolves. But they do exist, and they are all on the level of the Squib in magical ability - don't believe modern sexed up Muggle theories driven by Hollywood about vampires flying about the place. They do little magic, and can be killed by Muggles when their need for blood takes them from biting rabbits to humans. Same for werewolves who were not born wizards, but are Muggles bitten by a werewolf. Beyond taking on wolfish features, and scratching a lot, and throwing violent fits, they really don't do any magic.
A trocksie is mix of troll and goblin, and shows some ability to make magical pots out of clay. Minor magic, at its weakest level. A goblin can do more, make itself invisible and create magical artefacts. The goblin Griphook in Harry Potter claims that goblins forged the Sword of Gryffindor. But they can't use wands, or cast proper spells.
So, finally to witch in our graphic above. A witch is capable of using a wand, like a wizard, but often works without one, using 'nature magic.' Herblore, potion brewing, casting spells that use existing powers, weather effects, some minor healing effects (which is why hags and shamans, taken for real witches, were often called upon by Muggles for cures, and in some places in Africa they still are!).
Witches can 'embalm' powers, as in creating 'voodoo' like dolls that can relate or link to a real person, but this is typically a fake witch or shaman behaviour. That's because a real witch knows that such embalming draws in his/her own magic to fix the power of the victim in the doll, and would avoid this, whereas a hag or fake witch cares nothing for sacrificing her own strength and tries these kinds of diabolical spells. Such embalming knowledge started in the religious rites of the ancient Egyptians, who can be properly thought of as a mix of witches and magicians (rather than real wizards).
Squibs (people born into wizard families but who have lost their magic) as well as hags are just above trolls. They can see some magical effects, and associate with magical creatures like cats, but they can't cast proper spells or make potions correctly. Neville in the Harry Potter books was almost a squib, and he struggled in Snape's potions classes.
Hags do exist. Yes, it's not a nice idea, is it. We all wish that bit of the magical world wasn't true, like vampires and werewolves. But they do exist, and they are all on the level of the Squib in magical ability - don't believe modern sexed up Muggle theories driven by Hollywood about vampires flying about the place. They do little magic, and can be killed by Muggles when their need for blood takes them from biting rabbits to humans. Same for werewolves who were not born wizards, but are Muggles bitten by a werewolf. Beyond taking on wolfish features, and scratching a lot, and throwing violent fits, they really don't do any magic.
A trocksie is mix of troll and goblin, and shows some ability to make magical pots out of clay. Minor magic, at its weakest level. A goblin can do more, make itself invisible and create magical artefacts. The goblin Griphook in Harry Potter claims that goblins forged the Sword of Gryffindor. But they can't use wands, or cast proper spells.
So, finally to witch in our graphic above. A witch is capable of using a wand, like a wizard, but often works without one, using 'nature magic.' Herblore, potion brewing, casting spells that use existing powers, weather effects, some minor healing effects (which is why hags and shamans, taken for real witches, were often called upon by Muggles for cures, and in some places in Africa they still are!).
Witches can 'embalm' powers, as in creating 'voodoo' like dolls that can relate or link to a real person, but this is typically a fake witch or shaman behaviour. That's because a real witch knows that such embalming draws in his/her own magic to fix the power of the victim in the doll, and would avoid this, whereas a hag or fake witch cares nothing for sacrificing her own strength and tries these kinds of diabolical spells. Such embalming knowledge started in the religious rites of the ancient Egyptians, who can be properly thought of as a mix of witches and magicians (rather than real wizards).
Next time: the difference between witches and muggle-witches (fake witches)