Author J.K. Rowling’s use of magic in the ‘Harry Potter‘ series creates a pattern. In the first 4 books, firm magic creates conflict and soft magic resolves it. In last 3 books, soft magic both creates and solves conflict.

Rowling’s magical artifacts and spells that create and solve conflict fall on the same magic spectrum as her magic users – firm, flexible, and soft.

Learned, Foreshadowed, & ‘After the Fact’ Magic

When Rowling has Harry use soft magic to resolve conflict in the first half of the series it’s usually either a piece of magic that the readers have watched him learn (e.g. patronus), or a new piece of magic that was strongly foreshadowed (e.g. priori incantatem). This keeps the soft magic solution from feeling like an obvious cheat.

The connection between Harry and Voldemort’s brother wands is foreshadowed in the first book when Harry buys his wand from Ollivander. Rowling reminds us of this connection when Ollivander inspects each champion’s wand before the start of the Triwizard Tournament in ‘Goblet of Fire’, before showing the effects of the connection – priori incantatem – during the climax in the graveyard.

But sometimes Harry isn’t aware of a soft magic solution until Dumbledore explains it after the fact. (e.g. Lily’s protection that destroys Quirrel in ‘Philosopher’s Stone’, and the mind connection between Harry and Voldemort in ‘Order of the Phoenix’). ‘After the fact’ magic is usually less satisfying than learned and foreshadowed magic, but still effective as a plot device because readers can seldom can anticipate it.

Soft Magic is Unpredictable But Risky

Rowling must sustain conflict between Harry and Voldemort across 7 mammoth books, so she needs to keep injecting freshness and surprise into her magic system along the way to keep readers engaged. Using soft magic that is foreshadowed but not explained sustains the sense of wonder and mystery that Rowling needs to keep her plot twisty and unpredictable.

Soft magic can be more interesting, but comes with the inherent risk of internal inconsistency. Its unpredictability can create plot holes within the story and illogical effects within the magic system (e.g. patronus and imperius curse). Rowling’s heavier use of soft magic in second half of the series creates more frequent plot holes in the last 3 books and wildly inconsistent magic between the earlier and later novels.

Magic Serves the Story

In ‘Avatar: the Last Airbender’, magic drives the plot. But in the Harry Potter series, magic serves the story.

Rowling bounces back and forth along the spectrum of her hybrid magic system throughout the series, depending on what she needs to accomplish in the plot. She uses firmer magic to create a sense of world building, immersion, stakes, and a strong emotional connection to Harry who is struggling to learn magic to fight enemies like the dementors, Death Eaters, and finally Voldemort himself. She uses softer dubiously explained magic to bail Harry out of impossible situations, keep her story fresh and unpredictable, and maintain narrative momentum.

Soft magic constrains plot less than hard magic but at a price. Hard magic systems like ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender‘ usually resolve conflict with the characters’ creative use of the established, rule-bound magic system. (e.g. Aang uses his spirit-bending powers to remove Ozai’s firebending ability.) But the harder the magic system the more likely readers can anticipate plot twists and see the ending coming a mile off.

Rowling tackles the predictability problem with a hybrid magic system of both firm and soft elements. She chooses firm or soft magic based on what what she needs to do to keep the plot progressing, develop her characters, and set up twist endings. As the series progresses, Rowling increasingly relies on soft magic solutions which she may foreshadow. But she doesn’t show Harry learning most of them, and many are only partially justified after the fact.

Books 1 – 3: Firm Problems & Soft Solutions

In the first 3 books, Rowling uses firm magic to create conflict and soft magic to resolve it.

Philosopher’s Stone

The problems created by firm magic are the Philosopher’s Stone and Quirrell’s attacks.

The Philosopher’s Stone is firm magic because its powers are predictable: it transforms lead into gold and produces the Elixir of Life. The stone’s magic remains the consistent no matter who possesses it, which creates the problem of Voldemort trying to steal it to regain strength.

Rowling gives a very young Harry a leg-up to obtain the stone with the soft magic of the Mirror of Erised. She doesn’t explain the mechanics of how Dumbledore’s enchantment results in the stone teleporting into Harry’s pocket. But she does foreshadow the mirror’s capabilities and connect it to Harry’s character arc (more on this in a separate post).

Quirrell is a problem because he’s an adult wizard attacking an 11 year old with fire and ropes conjured out of thin air. Harry is a child and a first year wizard, so he doesn’t know enough magic to defend himself. (Ron gets the pleasure of using the hover charm to knock out the mountain troll.) Rowling bails Harry out using the soft magic of Lily’s protection – wandless magic that neither he nor the reader knew he possessed, and which Dumbledore only vaguely explains after the fact.

Chamber of Secrets

The basilisk’s deadly stare is a firm magic problem, although Rowling softens the effect into petrification via mirrors, cameras, reflections, and ghosts. The soft magic that rescues Harry is Fawkes and the Sword of Gryffindor.

Dumbledore’s phoenix finds his way inside the chamber at the exactly the right time via means Rowling doesn’t even attempt to explain, a bit of very soft magic. She also has Fawkes conveniently blind the basilisk, solving the deadly stare problem for Harry. Although the healing property of phoenix tears is foreshadowed by Dumbledore, how and why they actually work to heal Harry’s basilisk bite remains a mystery. Fawkes also brings Harry the sorting hat, out of which he miraculously pulls the sword of Gryffindor. Both of these elements are so implausible that they qualify as the first of two deus ex machina endings in the series.

In contrast to the unexplained miracle of Fawkes timely entrance, Rowling deftly foreshadows Tom Riddle’s diary as a Horcrux and the basilisk’s venom as a method to destroy them, one of series’ best plot twists. She accomplishes this by engrossing readers with the separate reveal of Voldemort as the young handsome Tom Riddle in ‘Chamber of Secrets’ which distracts them from the foreshadowing she layers into the diary and the basilisk, to be revealed several novels later.

Prisoner of Azkaban

In ‘Azkaban’ Rowling begins to depart the strong pattern established in the first 2 novels. The firm magic problems of werewolves and dementors are resolved by a combination of the firm magic of the time turner and the soft magic of the patronus.

During the first of two climaxes in ‘Azkaban’, Lupin is a rampaging werewolf bent on attacking Harry and Hermione. This is firm magic because the rules of werewolf transformation are consistent and predictable. Unless he takes the wolfsbane potion, Lupin turns into a werewolf every month at the full moon.

Hermione’s time turner gives her and Harry a second shot at saving Buckbeak from the executioner and Sirius from the dementor’s kiss. In the second climax, Harry fights off the dementors with his stag patronus.

The Too-Powerful Time Turner

Hermione’s time turner is firm magic in that its effects are logical, consistent, and predictable. Rowling does a good job of disguising it as a plot device. She justifies Hermione’s possession of such a powerful magical object so her rule-following, over-acheiving star pupil can attend multiple classes at the same time.

At the same time, Rowling recognized the ability of the time turner to unravel the rest of her story. She addressed the problem by having McGonagall mention that the Ministry had destroyed its stock of time turners. This potential massive plot hole was later exploited by Jack Thorne in the stage play ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child‘ which uses the time turner as its central plot device.

Books 4 – 7: Soft Problems and Softer Solutions

By the middle of the series, Rowling begins using soft magic to create more complex, unpredictable conflict.

Goblet of Fire

The Triwizard cup being a portkey is a firm magical problem because portkeys are predictable and only transport wizards to a single predetermined location.

The problems are Voldemort returning to full power and overcoming Lily’s protection, and the imperius and cruciatus curses. These are both soft magical problems since Rowling doesn’t explain how Voldemort regenerates his body in the cauldron or how he uses Harry’s blood to overcome Lily’s protection which readers saw Harry successfully use against Quirrell in the first novel.

Imperius & Cruciatus Curses

The cruciatus curse is soft magic because, like the patronus, it is emotion-based. Although an imposter, the fake Professor Mad Eye Moody rightly says the young and innocent fourth years couldn’t even give him a nose-bleed. But through glimpses into Neville Longbottom’s tragic backstory, Harry and readers learn that the vicious Bellatrix LeStrange effectively used the curse to torture Neville’s parents into insanity.

The imperius curse is very soft magic and suffers from consistency problems similar to the patronus. In ‘Goblet of Fire’, Harry, a 14 year old, is somehow able to throw off the imperius curse after only two lessons with the fake Moody, who offers no real instruction on how to do it other than ‘it takes real strength of character.’ In the same lesson, Moody tells the class that scores of adult witches and wizards fell prey to the imperius curse during Voldemort’s rise to power, creating difficulty for the Ministry of Magic when trying to sort out the liars. Unlike his struggle to learn the complex and advanced patronus charm throughout ‘Azkaban’, Harry is able to throw off the imperius curse cast by Voldemort, one of the most powerful magic users in the series, after a few vaguely described practice rounds in Moody’s classroom.

I suspect Rowling consciously made the choice not to have Moody train Harry more throughly in resisting the imperius curse for 3 good reasons. First, she had already used this plot device in ‘Azakaban’ and didn’t want to repeat herself. Second, she risked revealing too much of fake Moody’s real identity if Harry had more lessons with him. Third, Rowling simply didn’t have space to cram more training sequences into an already dense story. Instead she wisely focused on more interesting elements such as who put Harry’s name into the goblet, the budding romantic tensions between the fourth years and the visiting students from Beaubatons and Durmstrang, and the ongoing tension of the Triwizard Tournament.

The film adaption of ‘Goblet’ side-steps these issues by not showing Harry throwing off the imperius curse in Moody’s classroom, and having Harry believably succumb to Voldemort’s unspoken imperius curse in the graveyard.

Priori Incantatem

Rowling assists Harry again with the soft magic of priori incantatem. Harry and Voldemort’s wands are brothers and produce priori incantatem – the reverse spell effect – instead of effectively dueling against one another. Rowling doesn’t explain how any of this works but she needs readers to believe it in order to sustain narrative tension. Having anticipated this problem, Rowling props up this bit of soft magic by having the wands share a core which she smoothly foreshadows in ‘Philosopher’s Stone’.

Similarly, Rowling doesn’t explain how the ghost versions of Lily and James which are expelled from Voldemort’s wand are able to speak to Harry and distract Voldemort long enough for Harry to reach the portkey cup. This is another example of Rowling using ever increasing soft magic as the series progresses.

Order of the Phoenix

Legilimency and occlumency are both soft magic problems since Rowling doesn’t allow Snape to give Harry any firm, logical rules about how either actually works. Having Harry’s scar be the point of connection between him and Voldemort adds a bit more structure, but occlumency remains a largely unexplained problem. Unlike Harry’s instant success at repelling the imperius curse with minimal instruction, Rowling purposefully keeps Harry failing at occlumency despite multiple tortuous private lessons with Snape. She dumbs Harry down in this instance because needs him to remain bad at occlumency until the end of the novel in order to keep her mind-connection plot device in place long enough for Voldemort to lure Harry to the ministry.

During the climax of ‘Phoenix’ at the Ministry, Voldemort possesses Harry in a vain attempt to lure Dumbledore into killing Harry. In an uncharacteristic slip, Rowling has Harry somehow expel Voldemort from his body with only a vague mention about his ability to love. Although Rowling introduced the theme of love magically protecting Harry via the plot device of Lily’s invisible protection in ‘Philosopher’s Stone’, the ending of ‘Phoenix’ doesn’t qualify as a solution narratively. Rowling is aware of this and consequently doesn’t even attempt to dress it up as magic.

Saddled with such vague climax mechanics, ‘Phoenix’ effectively becomes Rowling’s second deus ex machina ending. Along with Fawkes and the Sword of Gryffindor appearing from the Sorting Hat in ‘Chamber of Secrets’, Harry ‘loving’ Voldemort out of his body becomes simplistic plot armor which Rowling uses to prevent Harry from dying too soon. I would have liked to have seen Rowling further develop and consequently foreshadow the solution that Harry ultimately uses to save himself from Voldemort in ‘Phoenix’. But she seems to have spent her creative energy in this novel on the development of the occlumency problem which she needs to conclude her series.

Half-Blood Prince

Rowling breaks the pattern in the sixth novel since ‘Half-Blood’ is essentially elaborate set-up for ‘Deathly Hallows’. She arranges the game board for her finale by introducing the problem of the Horcruxes, removing Dumbledore as a source of protection and information, and foreshadowing the Elder Wand loop-hole solution.

Deathly Hallows

Horcruxes are a firm magical problem because Harry learns how they are created, their purpose, and the limited ways they can be destroyed.

Rowling’s not-so-creative but thematically brilliant solution to the complex Harry-as-a-Horcrux problem is the softest magic in the series which relies on total suspension of disbelief. Rowling asks readers to believe that Lily cast a complex, never-before-seen spell without a wand in the space of a split-second under life and death pressure. At the same time, she has Voldemort accidentally and unintentionally creating a Horcrux out of Harry in the same moment. Finally, Rowling resurrects Harry using the same Horcrux magic once he’s no longer a Horcrux. This is a lot of very complex interconnected magic for readers to track over the course of 7 novels, and Rowling uses that ‘confusion factor’ to her advantage.

In order for her entire series to work, Rowling is counting on readers not noticing that this massive ball of extreme soft magic is cast two by two different people in the space of an instant. And thanks to 2 compelling factors… most readers don’t.

First, Rowling’s magic system has become sweeping, detailed, and hopelessly complex by the end of the series. None but the most alert and logical of readers will have noticed this crucial piece of magic that happened before the first book even began is highly unlikely, even by Rowling’s flexible standards. Secondly, Rowling has done such a good job of emotionally investing us in Harry’s journey that we don’t care if the story logic slips… a little as with the patronus, or even a lot, at it does here.

Unfortunately, the most glaring plot hole of the entire series remains. Presuming Lily and James Potter’s house did not have spells to prevent inhabitants from aparating out in the even of an emergency, which seems reasonable if the house was protected by the fiddly Fidelius Charm, why Lily did not disaparate with baby Harry out of the house when Voldemort arrives on his murderous mission.

Although these cobbled together pieces of magic are clearly created for author convenience, they are brilliantly conceived from a thematic standpoint. Considering how illogical these plot devices are upon closer inspection, Rowling pulls them off rather well by leaning heavily on theme and symbolism.

Theme Trumps Logic

In addition to the logical problem of Harry-as-a-Horcrux, Rowling also confronts an ethical problem in the final novel. Rowling has cast Voldemort as the villain because he kills for pleasure and gain using the avada kedavra or instant death curse. Rowling’s challenge is how to have Harry defeat Voldemort without using the avada kedavra curse which would make Harry a killer too. (Aang faces a similar dilemma in ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’.)

Rowling’s first solution to the ethical problem is complex bit of wandlore that enables Harry to use Draco’s wand to disarm Voldemort of the Elder Wand. Having foreseen the problem, she creates this loophole in ‘Half-Blood Prince’ in order to short-circuit the all powerful Elder Wand. But the loophole also creates a small plot hole which she effectively kicks dirt over. Although Harry learns from Ollivander that vanquished wands will yield to the wand which dominated them in ‘Deathly Hallows’, Rowling delays Harry from connecting the dots until the moment of maximum dramatic impact – the series climax.

Rowling’s second solution – retrofitting Harry’s use of the expelliarmus charm to cause Voldemort’s killing curse rebound upon him – is not as convincing. This approach allows Voldemort to essentially self-destruct while keeping Harry’s hands clean. This works thematically but not logically. A shield charm would be the logical choice, but Rowling prioritizes the thematic weight of the disarming spell Harry learns from Snape.

Conclusion: Story Is More Important Than Magic

Rowling’s emotionally-powered soft magic may fall apart logically, but the enduring popularity of the Harry Potter series demonstrate that delivering a satisfying story experience is more important than dutifully following the rules of an airtight, logic-based magic system. Rowling cast a powerful spell over us with her compelling characters and entertaining plot, and that’s the real magic of fantasy.

More Posts In This Series:

Part 1 – ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ – Hard Magic Systems

Part 2 – ‘Harry Potter’ – Firm Magic Systems

Part 3 – ‘Patronus & Dementors’ – Emotion Based Magic Systems

Part 5 – ‘Lord of the Rings’ – Soft Magic Systems

What is your favorite magical conflict in ‘Harry Potter’? Which one of Rowling’s solutions feels the most satisfying? Which is the least satisfying? Tell me in the comments!

The dementors and the patronus charm are examples of firm and soft elements working in combination to create the hybrid magic system of J.K. Rowling’s ‘Harry Potter‘ series.

Dementors & The Patronus Charm

Rowling’s use of magic throughout the first half of the Harry Potter series creates a pattern: firm magic creates conflict and soft magic resolves it. An example of Rowling’s firm and soft magic working in combination to create and solve problems are the dementors and the patronus charm in ‘Prisoner of Azkaban’.

The Firm Magic of Dementors

Dementors are firm rather than hard magic because their effects are emotion-based, consistent, and predictable – cold, lack of happiness, despair, risk of the ‘kiss’. Rowling keeps the consequences of a dementor attack and their attraction to enjoyment steady throughout the series and applies them equally to all characters. At the beginning of ‘Order of the Phoenix’ dementor attacks are effective against both wizards like Harry and Muggles like his cousin Dudley. In ‘Deathly Hallows’, Umbridge uses dementors to intimidate Muggle-borns but shields herself from the effects by casting her cat patronus.

Rowling raises the stakes and creates more narrative tension by making Harry more vulnerable than anyone else to the dementors. Harry is the only person on the Hogwarts Express to lose consciousness when dementors search the train for Sirius Black. Harry’s unique sensitivity to dementors gives Rowling more room for develop his character arc in ‘Azkaban’, and she justifies it using a neat and clever bit of narrative logic. in As Professor Lupin explains in the film version of ‘Azkaban’, Harry is more vulnerable to dementor attacks because there are ‘real horrors in his past’. Unlike the other students, Harry experiences debilitating flashbacks in the presence of dementors – he hears his mother pleading for his life then screaming moments before Voldemort kills her when he was a baby.

Rowling’s connection between trauma and being susceptible to dementor attacks is a clever way to use the magic system to place Harry’s character arc front and center (more on this in a separate post).

The Soft Magic of the Patronus

Rowling’s counterbalance to the depression and despair of the dementors is the patronus charm – a spell that creates silvery light that repels dementors. The patronus charm is softer magic than the dementors because although it is also emotion-based magic, the results of the charm are not as consistent or reliable like the dementors. As Harry struggles to learn it, his patronus develops in shape – first a whisp, then a shield version, and finally the corporeal form of a stag.

More Than a Plot Device

This visual yet emotionally-anchored example of Harry’s slowly growing confidence and magical skill gives deep meaning to the patronus as part of Harry’s character arc. The beautiful visual design and powerful meaning, steeped in Harry’s backstory, elevate the patronus beyond a mere plot device and into an iconic element of Rowling’s character-driven magic system.

Rowling achieves the deep meaning of patronus in terms of character development by linking it’s strength and form to the magic user’s willpower and emotional state. Although this works brilliantly in terms of Harry’s character arc, it creates problems in the magic system. If he manages to pronounce the entire incantation without passing out, sometimes Harry’s thoughts are happy enough to create a patronus and sometimes they aren’t. This allows Rowling to effectively control Harry’s patronus and time its strength to conform with her story beats.

In ‘Azkaban’ Harry doesn’t produce a corporeal stag patronus until the climax. Rowling saves this achievement to underscore the climax of Harry’s character arc when he singlehandedly protects himself, Sirius, and Hermione from a hoard of dementors after both Sirius and Hermione have been overcome. It’s perfect heroic timing in terms of plot and Harry’s character arc, but there is a whiff of plot convenience.

In keeping with the firmer magic of the dementors, Rowling applies the dementors’ attraction to happiness and the varying results of the patronus to her villains. Powered by her self-righteous delight, Umbridge’s cat patronus glows brightly to protect her from the dementors she uses to intimidate Muggle-borns in ‘Deathly Hallows’.

Hermione Shortchanged

By linking the patronus to the magic user’s emotional state, Rowling externalizes Harry’s character arc with a strong visual element that is narratively effective. But the softness of patronus magic also allows Rowling to shortchange Hermione.

If Rowing treated the patronus as firmer magic, consistently corresponding with the magic user’s willpower, positive thinking, and an incantation (there is no specific wand movement), then it would be Hermione – not Harry – who would have the strongest, most reliable patronus in the series. Throughout the series Rowling consistently demonstrates that Hermione is the best in her year at spellwork, and doesn’t lack willpower, determination, or focus in stressful circumstances.

But Rowling artificially handicaps Hermione in order to preserve the patronus as Harry’s signature hero move. Hermione doesn’t have any trouble with the patronus charm once she learns it from Harry in ‘Order of the Phoenix’, but Rowling saddles her with a weak patronus during the ministry break-in in ‘Deathly Hallows’. Harry even mentions that ‘…it’s the only spell she [Hermione] ever has trouble with’.

The film adaptations sidestep this problem and allow Harry to occupy the patronus spotlight by simply not showing Hermione attempting to cast a patronus at any point in the series except during DA classes in ‘Order of the Phoenix.’

The Firm Magic of the Locket

In keeping with her pattern of using firm magic to create obstacles, Rowling applies the anxiety-ridden effects of the Horcrux locket to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Similar to the effect of the dementors, this steady application to all characters keeps the Horcrux magic consistent and predictable, making it firmer magic than the patronus.

Rowling makes a smart choice in ‘Deathly Hallows’ by having the Horcrux locket and the isolation of the trio’s aimless wanderings affect Ron more strongly than Harry or Hermione. Ron is ill-tempered and emotionally volatile while wearing the Horcrux locket, and this is consistent and believable with his established character. Unlike Harry who was regularly ignored by the Dursleys and grew up without any friends, and Hermione who is an only-child, Ron was raised in a large, supportive family and already has confidence issues.

Rowling took clever advantage of these pre-existing character traits to justify why the Horcrux locket triggered the most anxiety and self-doubt in Ron. Rowling uses the Horcrux locket and Ron’s logical aversion to it to power his character arc, which concludes with Ron destroying the locket after it taunts him about his insecurities.

The Patronus Hole in the Magic System

Because Rowling is juggling so many complex soft and firm magical elements to drive a very complex plot, logic holes and inconsistencies in her hybrid magic system begin to surface in the later novels. In ‘Deathly Hallows’ the softness of patronus magic creates an outright plot hole – Harry is unable to produce any sort of patronus due to anxiety while he’s wearing the Horcrux locket. While the concept is believable, the magnitude is not. Harry can’t produce any form of patronus – not even a whisp – ostensibly because he’s anxious due to the Horcrux locket, hungry, and faced with a handful of dementors. This doesn’t square with Harry’s impressive stag patronus for the first time when battling a hundred dementors and fighting for his life in ‘Prisoner of Azkaban’.

Hermione’s artificial handicap and Harry not being able to produce any patronus at all due to anxiety are two examples of how Rowling prioritizes the dramatic impact of her story above consistency within her magic system. This tradeoff is less noticeable when applied to soft, emotion-based magic rather than hard, logic-based magic as in ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender‘.

Conclusion: So Effective I Don’t Mind the Glitches

I’ve picked apart Rowling’s use of soft patronus magic and spotted some inconsistencies, but in the end I’m not terribly bothered by foibles in her magic system. The concept of the dementors and the patronus, and Rowling’s effective use of them in ‘Azkaban’ – both in the plot and in Harry’s character arc – are so inventive and meaningful that the snags don’t pull me out of the story or lessen the emotional impact. I argue that Rowling rightly prioritizes character development and telling a satisfying story above creating an airtight magic system without any holes.

Additional Posts in This Series

Part 1 – ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ – Hard Magic Systems

Part 2 – ‘Harry Potter’ – Firm Magic Systems

Part 4 – ‘Harry Potter’ – Hybrid Magic Systems

Part 5 – ‘Lord of the Rings’ – Soft Magic Systems

What do you think of the magic in Harry Potter? Tell me in the comments!

The magic system in the J.K. Rowling’s ‘Harry Potter‘ series is firm, which places it in the middle of the magic system spectrum in fantasy fiction. The magic in ‘Harry Potter’ has more structure than the soft magic of ‘Lord of the Rings‘, but is not as organized as the hard magic in ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender‘.

The Misleading Promise of a Hard Magic System

Because Rowling presents rules that govern the use of magic in ‘Harry Potter’ within the text of the novels, she creates an expectation for a hard magic system with logical extensions similar to ‘Avatar’. But the magic ‘Harry Potter’ is firm rather than hard because it is more unpredictable. Readers who expect the reliable predictable magic featured in the earlier books may become understandably frustrated when Rowling tosses her own rules – and even logic sometimes – out the window later in the series.

Rowling’s Hybrid Magic System

Despite Rowling’s misleading expectation for hard magic, the magic of ‘Harry Potter’ is a hybrid system – it contains firm and soft elements working in combination. And this ratio changes as the series progresses. The earlier books contain harder magic while the later books contain more soft magic.

The hardest aspect of Rowling’s magic system are the following 3 rules which are implied throughout the text of earlier books rather than set out in a tutorial prologue like ‘Avatar’. In order to use the soft elements of her magic system to her advantage, Rowling’s rules function more like guidelines, which she modifies and sometimes disregards in the later novels.

Harry Potter’s Magic Guidelines

1. Genetics – the ability to perform magic is an inborn attribute (you are either born a wizard with innate magical powers, or a Muggle or a squib without magical powers).
2. Wands – magic performed with a wand is stronger and more focused than magic without a wand.
3. Limitations – controlling magic requires years of experience and formal training which includes learning a formal incantation and proper wand movement.

‘Harry Potter’ Magic Spectrum

Rowling doesn’t apply her magic guidelines equally to all characters, and the soft aspects of her magic transcend the Wand and Limitation guidelines above. This creates a spectrum of firm to soft magic loosely based on magical skill.

Firm Magic Users

Firm magic users subject to limitations regarding the type and strength of magic they can perform, require a wand, and are often aided by the use of spoken incantations. On the firm end of the spectrum, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the other Hogwarts students follow Rowling’s guidelines the most closely in the early novels since they are students and novice magic users. Firm magic performed by inexperienced beginners requires a ward, proper wand movement, and a learned incantation. (e.g. Wingardium Leviosa, the levitation charm)

Limitations are essential to Rowling’s firmer magic because they prevent Harry from becoming too powerful too quickly. Uncontrolled power escalation would rob the story of narrative tension and drive it to a conclusion too soon, so Rowling carefully controls and builds Harry’s magical ability from novel to novel throughout the series. Part of what makes the ‘Harry Potter’ series so satisfying is that the learning curve is gentle. As readers we get to learn magic, explore Hogwarts Castle, and discover the wizarding world right alongside Harry, starting from square one.

Adult wizards like Mr. and Mrs. Weasley perform more advanced magic, but their magic is still fairly consistent with the guidelines. (e.g. Mrs. Weasley produces creamy white sauce from the tip of her wand, and she and Fleur enchant kitchen utensils to help them prepare food)

Young wizards who have just come of age like Fred and George Weasley are less adept than experienced adults like Mrs. Weasley. In ‘Order of the Phoenix’ the twins enchant a breadboard and knife to fly across the kitchen of Grimmauld Place but with less than perfect control, sending the knife quivering into kitchen tabletop close to Sirius’s hand.

Flexible Magic Users

Flexible magic users are subject to less limitations regarding the type and strength of magic they can perform than firm magic users, still require a wand, but can perform non-verbal magic. Hogwarts professors such as Professors McGonagall, Flitwick, and Slughorn are more highly trained and experienced magic users, so their magic falls in the middle of the spectrum. Capable of non-verbal magic, these professors are skilled at advanced spellwork beyond the ability of the students. For example, although Hermione manages to brew Polyjuice Potion in her second year, only potion masters like Slughorn and Snape can create the tricky Felix Felicis potion. But even skilled firm magic users still require a wand and are subject to limitations. Professor McGonagall is an animagus – an advanced magical ability – and undoubtedly powerful. But being a rule-follower, readers don’t see her performing the wildly inventive, wandless, or unique magic like headmaster Albus Dumbledore.

Severus Snape

Like McGonagall, Severus Snape is an advanced magic user and falls on the spectrum above the other Hogwarts professors but below expert users like Dumbledore. Snape can invent spells, is an even more accomplished potions master than the author of the potions textbook, and an expert dueller who teaches Harry the disarming spell. In ‘Deathly Hallows’, Snape is able to find Harry in the middle of a remote forest despite Hermione’s protective charms, a feat Ron can only accomplish with Dumbledore’s deluminator. To guide Harry towards the Sword of Gryffindor in the forest pool, Snape casts his doe patronus without betraying his presence or leaving footprints in the snow. The limitations of Snape’s magic (including legilimency) aren’t clear, so his magic is softer and less defined than that of the other professors.

Soft Magic Users

Soft magic users can invent spells, perform non-verbal magic without a wand, and are subject to few known limitations. Dumbledore, Voldemort, Harry on occasion, and Lily Potter in a one-off circumstance, all perform magic that break the guidelines completely, which qualifies them as the most powerful users on soft end of the spectrum.

As the most powerful magic user in the series, Dumbledore performs impossible magic without a wand and the limits of his abilities are unknown. He disapparates from inside Hogwarts, despite protective spells that prevent other lesser magic users from doing the same, by clasping onto Fawkes’s tail feathers in ‘Order of the Phoenix’. He can sense traces left behind by magic using only his hands, and can even recognize Voldemort’s signature magical style in the cave by the sea in ‘Half Blood Prince’.

Other soft magic users are Voldemort and other powerful Death Eaters who are capable of flight without broom or thestral. Both Voldemort and Dumbledore cast powerful improvised magic when dueling in the Ministry of Magic in ‘Order of the Phoenix’.

Although he doesn’t understand it, Harry also uses soft magic at the end of the first novel, foreshadowing more powerful abilities seen in later novels. As Dumbledore explains after the fact, the invisible protection of love – given to Harry by his mother – saves Harry from Quirrell/Voldemort. Although he isn’t in control or even aware of this bit of soft magic, Harry burns Quirrell with his bare hands without using a wand, spell, or spoken incantation.

Harry – Simultaneous Novice & Expert

Since Harry has a lot of heavy lifting to do narratively and thematically as the protagonist, Rowling places him on both ends of the spectrum simultaneously. Harry starts the story learning firm magic at Hogwarts with all the other students, but unknowingly has a lot of soft magic bestowed upon him by his mother (the protection in his blood and skin), and courtesy of Voldemort (mind connection via his scar and being an unintended Horcrux).

Harry isn’t aware of his soft magical abilities until Dumbledore explains them afterwards and only partially. This enables Rowling to keep readers engaged novel after novel. By having Dumbledore only provide Harry and readers with piecemeal explanations about how and why Harry’s mysterious soft magic works, she leaves herself room to reveal more and more unexpected aspects of her magic system as the series progresses.

Rowling’s fresh reveals about the magic system combined with character revelations are the secret elements that power her plot twists. For example, the fact that Horcruxes can be made ‘accidentally’ provide the shocking revelation that Harry himself is a Horcrux and thus destined to die.

Sustaining Narrative Tension

In general, Rowling uses firm magic to create narrative tension in the form of problems and conflict for Harry to establish stakes. The dementors, the basilisk, Horcruxes, and the unbeatable Elder Wand are all real dangers that threaten Harry’s survival. Rowling then deploys soft, more imaginative and unpredictable magic to resolve those problems at the climax of each novel.

This approach gives Rowling an edge plot-wise because it increases her ability to delight readers with mystery and surprise. Most of us can predict that Aang will use some version of spirit bending magic during the climax of ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ because the magic system is quite hard and consequently fairly predictable. We know that Aang isn’t going to develop a brand new, never-seen-before magical skill right before he confronts the firelord Ozai.

But we start reading ‘Deathly Hollows’ with no idea of how Harry is going to find or overcome Voldemort’s Horcruxes. Horcruxes are a firm aspect of Rowling’s magic – Harry learns how they are made, their function, and that they can’t be destroyed with ordinary magic. Rowling teaches us firm rules about Horcruxes to emphasize the impossible odds Harry is up against. For added suspense, Harry must face Voldemort – armed with the unbeatable Elder Wand – alone. As befitting Harry’s coming-of-age character arc, Rowling wisely dispenses with Dumbledore – Harry’s wisest and most powerful mentor and protector – in the preceding novel, placing the full weight of victory or defeat on her young protagonist’s shoulders. These high stakes increase narrative tension because readers can’t predict how Harry will triumph over such a powerful adversary.

Conclusion: Not All Magic Users are Created Equal

Rowling wisely grants only her most narratively important characters – Voldemort, Dumbledore and Harry – with soft magical powers. Having powers that are more mysterious, powerful, and not subject to any known limitation distinguishes her protagonist (Harry), mentor (Dumbledore) and antagonist (Voldemort) character archetypes from the rest of the cast as uniquely powerful, interesting, and unpredictable. It also allows Rowling to gradually reveal Harry’s, Dumbledore’s, and Voldemort’s backstories which are rich in mysterious soft magic to create and sustain reader intrigue.

More Posts In This Series

Part 1 – ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ – Hard Magic Systems

Part 3 – ‘Patronus & Dementor’ – Emotion Based Magic Systems

Part 4 – ‘Harry Potter’- Hybrid Magic Systems

Part 5 – ‘Lord of the Rings’ – Soft Magic Systems

What do you think of how Rowling uses magic? Tell me in the comments!