THE WORLD

[Kieran]

NOTE!
The info here is not purely canon, but fan visions I made up or adapted
for this RPG's universe.
Please don't copy or use anything without my permission.
Thank you!


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TO GET STARTED

Essential lore in order to get started is titled in green.
Everything else can be read after joining whenever needed.

GENERAL - MINISTRY & CRIMES - MAGIC
WIZARDKIND VS. MUGGLE CUSTOMS/INVENTIONS


MORE FOR LATER

TIME TRAVEL - OWL POST

MODERN BRITAIN  - MAGICAL CREATURES

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GENERAL


1. THE TRACE

It's put on the moment a child is sorted into a House at Hogwarts, and breaks the day the child turns seventeen. It traces magic used nearby the child but only spells cast, not the use of any other magical object. It knows only what the spell was and where and when, it does not know who cast it or even if it was cast by a human or not.

As it is unnecessarily so dysfunctional and vague, it exists mainly to bully muggle-borns.

For the most part, the Ministry requires and trusts that parents discipline their children if they misuse magic. The Ministry officials react to the alarms only if the spell was:

1. Dark Arts
2. Cast in the presence of a muggle – in order for the alarm to say that, the muggle must have been within 50 ft./15 meters of the caster. It doesn't necessarily mean they have seen it, though.
3. Likely cast by a child who has been expelled from Hogwarts for dangerous abuse of magic and had their wand been destroyed - as in by a person who is not allowed to practice magic anymore.

In the first and third type of case they will arrive to investigate. In the second type of case they'll just send the child a warning letter – except not for alarms near the homes of pure-blood and half-blood children because of the higher possibility that it was an adult living with the child, or a house-elf. Thus if the first or third reason isn't involved they are unlikely to do anything about it.
Muggle-borns and children living with muggles will automatically get the blame and the warning letter no matter what spell they used. So, half-blood and pure-blood children get away with using magic on school breaks whereas muggle-borns and those living with muggles do not.

2. HOGWARTS SUBJECTS

In this RPG, in addition to the magical subjects and astronomy students at Hogwarts also study the extremely important muggle core subjects; english, maths and science. (Science including biology, physics, chemistry and geology.) The school days won't be any longer than in canon, some magic subjects just have lesser number of lessons per week.

--> Here is everything essential and useful about Hogwarts; How Hogwarts is kept secret from muggles, information on the Hogwarts Choir and other social events, and also basic stuff and details.
You don't need to read that extensive Hogwarts info before joining.
But do read it before you start writing IC posts about your character in Hogwarts.

Spell/Potion List has loads of charms, curses and potions you can use, and info on how you can create your own.

3. MUGGLES, CHILDREN AND POTIONS

Muggles, squibs and very young witches/wizards can't brew working magical potions, as it always requires spell-casting power and proper control of magic. It does not require use of a wand but incantations and intent nontheless.

4. PSYCHOLOGY & CHILD PROTECTION

~ PSYCHOLOGY & PSYCHIATRY

In the tiny wizarding society, children in need of downright hospitalisation due to psychiatric problems are very rare. In St. Mungo's hospital children are placed at the same ward as adults but they have their own wing there which is kept secure as in the adult patients can't access it without authorisation nor the children leave it unsupervised.

In the 1980s/90s the vast muggle society had way too few child psychiatrists and child psychologists seeing to how many would have been needed, and in the tiny wizarding society it's the same situation. There is no difference between a wizarding and muggle child's psychology and its needs, but because the wizarding community is so tiny there just isn't enough individuals studying to become a psychologist or psychiatrist much less specialising on children for the matter. This is why wizarding kind and especially their children suffering from psychological issues caused by magical events have difficulties finding professional help, especially near home or long-term.

There were school psychologists and special class groups in some muggle state schools, but not in all of them. Hogwarts doesn't have any of those, although it tries to provide for special needs students in general. Hogwarts won't take in children who are so psychologically troubled that they pose a danger to other people.

Understanding of psychology back then was far less than it is today whilst child psychology is very different from that of an adult, and the wizarding government is behind the muggles' development in those terms too. But basic understanding of psychology did exist – that it is very different from and far more complex than treatment of physical conditions. And therefore wizarding psychologists and psychiatrists are not allowed to use magical methods or magical medicine to treat their patients in any case. It is prohibited by a wizarding law.

In order to become a psychologist – be it for muggles or wizardkind - a person must drop out of Hogwarts (if attending at all) after the fifth year at the latest and go on studying in a muggles' secondary school and then further in a muggles' university (3 or 4 years) majoring in psychology. Four years if wanting to specialise in child psychology. A person under the age of 22 can't be a child psychologist and even then they're only starting out.

To become a (child) psychiatrist, in addition to the four university years a person must complete seven years of a muggles' medical school with high enough marks. After that they can start working but only under an employee in some sort of organisation. After two years of this they may receive a license to practice psychiatry and start a private practice.

A person under the age of 29 can't be a child psychiatrist and a person under the age of 31 can't be in private practice.

~ CHILD PROTECTION SERVICES

If a wizard or a witch reports a wizarding family case to child protection services they should do so directly to the Ministry of Magic's social services department.

Because muggles report them too, there are also wizardkind child protection social workers inside the muggles' system and social work offices, taking care of both muggle family cases and suspected wizarding family cases. With muggle cases the director does his/her best to give them all cases where it's probable that magic is involved (or if the office doesn't have wizardkind employees they send it to the Ministry.) Muggle-born children are rare while most have proper home lives, so muggle families' child protection cases involving magic are rare.

No matter by who and to where a case was first reported, if it requires law enforcement to get involved at any point for any reason also the muggle police force is always involved – because the wizardkind are registered as muggles their authorities can't be ignored in situations where they are supposed to be called upon. In these cases the wizardkind social workers arrange police officers who are either wizardkind or muggles who are known to be aware and accepting of them already.

There are also a few all-wizarding orphanages and Family Houses in all four of Great-Britain's nations, one in the capital city and others in other towns. The Family Houses are official locations run by the wizardkind social services, where children are temporarily placed after taken into custody if they don't have a safe relative to live with instead of their parents.

The wizarding orphanages and Family Houses are known to the muggle government, too, but protected with charms that prevent muggles from trying to place their children in them. They are known to the muggle government so that possible adoption processes can go smoothly, though a wizardkind child needing new parents is never placed with a muggle family unless they are the child's only living relatives and genuinely want the child.

In the wizarding society these services are funded by the Ministry of Magic and partially by charity. All orphanages and Family Houses have room for approximately 200 children at a time but are almost never full. They usually have enough staff members and if under-staffed, students aiming at a career in working with children are used to temporarily fill in.

The wizarding society's child protection services while blending into the muggle social services to some degree, are also partnered with: St. Mungo's, all wizarding orphanages and Family Houses, the Department of Magical Law Enforcement at the Ministry, and with the rare wizardkind individuals employeed by muggles' health care and other emergency services.

In order to get a job as a social worker of any field or in an orphanage or in a Family House, a person must drop out of Hogwarts (if attending it at all) after the fifth year at the latest, and go on studying in muggle secondary school and then further in a muggle university (3 or 4 years) studying proper subjects towards the desired occupation and especially majoring in one of them. A person under the age of 22 can't be a social worker and even then they're only starting out.

[Kieran]

MINISTRY OF MAGIC AND CRIMES

In the muggle society there's a lot of crimes and accidents involving a magical person or a magical creature. The Ministry of Magic butts in immediately after gaining knowledge of such incident, and they do that from within the muggle society.
The Minister of Magic is in direct contact with the muggle Prime Minister, and the Ministry has links in the muggle society's most influential services on all levels;
in the politics, the press, the television, other media, the police forces, the fire services, health care etc.

Naturally these have witches and wizards employed out of their own choice and interest and it's their responsibility to help in guarding the secrecy of magic as best they can, in the least by immediately reporting to the Ministry of Magic, but some of the employees are specifically recruited by the Ministry of Magic. At one station or office and so on is unlikely to be more than one magical person at a time and the magical folk doesn't reach anywhere near all places. Because in the four countries that form Great-Britain there are numerous inner countries, large cities and inner towns, and well over 50 million residents – out of which only about 500,000 are witches and wizards.

The Department of Magical Law Enforcement is located on the second floor of the Ministry of Magic, including many sub-divisions.

Hit Wizards do not exist in this RPG's universe as the job description of aurors is basically the same and much more, thus seeing to the size of the wizarding society these additional officers are pointless.

[Kieran]

WIZARDKIND VS. MUGGLE CUSTOMS/INVENTIONS

In our board-canon the wizardkind are hiding in plain sight, integrated into the muggle society. A wizard/witch can live like the Weasleys or Malfoys do in the books--in a very magical style tugged away in a rural area and minimise their muggle contacts, but they can't be clueless and dumb about muggle things nor completely avoid muggles. Some may struggle with or be in awe of muggle customs and inventions to a degree but nowhere near as much as they are in the books. Remember to also ignore anything that originates from Pottermore, unless I have literally confirmed it on this board.

Here's how this aspect works in this RPG's universe.

International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy

This is a wizarding law that took effect in 1692 when the wizardkind went into hiding due to the Witch Trials. It requires every witch, wizard and squib to blend in with muggles, to pretend that they are muggles whenever in the presence of a muggle. Those living on all-wizarding areas are required to have a second home that is located at a muggle address and appears in muggless' registries. (So this applies to anyone who has a primary home in Hogsmeade, Hogwarts, or Diagon Alley.)

The law requires everyone to register their children's births with the muggle government and educate their children according to the muggle education system. Of course, they can choose to home school their children and that is what they should do at least until the child has learned enough control over accidental magic in order for state/private school attending to be safe.

All in all, the law requires them to live by the general customs of muggle society when living among muggles, and to obey their laws as well as the wizarding laws. They are allowed to participate in muggle affairs, sports and whatever as long as they don't use magic while doing so.

Witches and wizards have every possible reason to interract with muggles. In example: shopping for food which can't be conjured up from thin air, and shopping for current day clothing, and furniture and school equipment as nothing conjured up from thin air lasts more than a few hours at a time. And providing their children's education achievements to the proper officials if home schooled or managing their children's attendance in a state or private school. And they're surrounded 99% by muggle neighbours unless living in an all-wizarding area. It would be impossible to completely isolate one's children from muggle peers and completely avoid interraction with the loads of neighbours.

Also as "muggle" citizens the police services, social services, health care services, and pretty much any authority/service we come into contact and deal with in our lives in several ways is unavoidably also what the wizards and witches have to do every bit as much as we, as they exist officially as "muggles" at the same time as they do as magical people.

Then there's also the military service matters. Most of the time the British Army has relied on voluntary recruits but conscription has existed twice and applied to the wizardkind just as much as to muggles. Although, for the wizardkind from their own government there was an emergency legislation forbidding them to get involved. Thousands defied that law and participated anyway. Some most accomplished and trusted individuals were granted special permission, such as the Auror Theseus Scamander, but most got involved illegally. There were mass breaches of the secrecy during both wars but no one was severely punished for it.

All wizardkind have the right to carry a wand at all times except not when imprisoned or if expelled from a wizarding school, or if too young to control their powers (mainly meaning you shouldn't give a wand to a child who is many years younger than Hogwarts age.)

And then more specifically about...

~ TECHNOLOGY ~

Any witch or a wizard born during or after the industrial revolution of the late 1800's, can't be deeply/utterly ignorant of the oldest and most mundane muggle inventions. Generation gap does only so much. Would affect understanding of and feelings towards computers and video games and such but not of relatively simple old inventions such as a phone, car, letters/stamps, or a rubber duck. Even if one chose to live without downright owning those muggle inventions, it is unlikely anyone would remain completely alienated from them.

The law requires everyone to get at least basically familiar with the purpose and function of muggle inventions of great magnitude and world impact. (Such as the phone, letters/stamps, and television.) Especially if been born in or after the era when the invention was permanently and essentially established in the muggle society, as in when one truly should see it as mundane and know how to use it if they were really a muggle. Thus, being out of touch with those type of inventions and customs is a severe offence seeing to the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy - far worse than old-fashioned or strange clothing. And as said, unless you were born before the late 1800's or live like a total hermit it would be extremely difficult to even get that out-of-touch with them.

The Weasley family would be in deep trouble with the wizarding law enforcement if they were as ignorant as they're portrayed in the books. So, as they are a crucial part of the canon storyline, in order for it to happen, in this RPG they are not ignorant and out-of-touch like that.

~ MUGGLE MONEY ~

Everyone must learn the value of their own country's muggle currency and how to use it – even if they mostly did their shopping in the wizarding community. Because no one could completely avoid payments and transactions in the muggle society.

~ CLOTHES ~

If a witch or a wizard wears robes, they're still most likely wearing normal clothing under it. In essence there is no such thing as ”muggle clothes” - the only difference between clothes sold in muggle shops and those sold in wizarding shops is that in the latter they tend to be stuck in the past centuries' fashion. That is they are muggle clothes, just terribly out-dated.

The law on International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy includes a dress code/guidelines for the wizardkind when they walk among and/or socialise with muggles. They are required to dress in the style/fashions of the current day. But in this day and age this part of the law isn't enforced unless someone constantly wears ancient clothing styles from past centuries or utterly absurd attires. Just a retro style froma few decades ago isn't an offense. Most witches and wizards do know how to dress accordingly. Any absurd, downright strange choice must be deliberate, for whatever reason.

Anyone deliberately and constantly breaking the clothing code is subject to fines and warnings. Increasingly if repeated offence, and if the person just won't stop the punishment will be harsh. As is if people pull a larger group offence. Wizardkind are legally allowed to wear robes and witch hats and such in public among muggles around Halloween, and on rare occasions outside the season too as costume parties do happen around the year.

[Kieran]

MAGIC

WHERE MAGIC COMES FROM?

Genes aren't the source of magic, but it links to them. The very first magical person in the world was probably born at the dawn of humanity by a gene mutation, gaining a gene that receives magic. This was the world's first muggle-born witch or a wizard. Muggle-borns are rare. As magic is rare in humans. By the end of 20th century there were over 50 million people in Great-Britain, but only half a million of them were wizardkind. The same relative figures applies to the rest of the world. No one knows where magic comes from. It's a mystic combination of supernatural and science.

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HOW MAGIC WORKS

One can cast spells without a wand or anything else, ie. by just waving one's hand or only focusing and intending hard enough. But that way--except for potion brewing--it's usually not nearly as successful as when channeled though something physical. Wands are by far the best to do so as they have magical properties themselves too. A wand does not do anything in the hands of a muggle, in their use it's just a regular stick.

Possible success in spell-casting requires:

- Intent. You can't cast a spell if you don't know what it does.
- Pronouncing clearly and with the correct emphasis, incantations derived from a foreign language. (Anyone can potentially cast spells non-verbally but doing so on purpose rather than accidentally, is rather difficult so only the most powerful in magic usually succeed.)
- Concentration on the matter and visualising the intended spell in your mind.
- Channel your magic towards casting it.
- Wave or flick your wand lightly or heavily, depending on the complexity of the spell. There's NO need for complex wrist-movements or patterns, as long as you wave/flick the wand a bit while holding it towards the target.

Emotions, will-power and spiritual strength are essential as well.

- Someone who's depressed or has low self-esteem cannot manifest their magic very strongly and successfully.

- Someone whose mind is for some reason broken or damaged may never be able to control their accidental magic as it requires a strong mind and faith that the magic is not needed.

- Someone who is especially intelligent, determined and self-confident in addition to hard work and practice of course, may succeed in spells and potions better than the average person of their age.

- A very young child or even a teen can't succeed in producing a perfect and solid Patronus. (Harry was capable of casting a perfect Patronus at age 13 only because he was far away from the Dementors and he realized he'd done it before in that situation. That was Harry number 2 who had arrived into the situation by Time Travel.)

- In addition to magical power and skills, succeeding and advancing in potion brewing you'd need to have accuracy, patience and excellent ability to concentrate. Wands are not needed.

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MAGIC IS UNSTABLE

In canon, as well as in this rpg, there already exists a downside to the magical methods of travelling – all of them have tons of remarkable dangers to them. And that nothing conjured up out of thin air can last for more than a few hours. But there needs to be a downside to using magic in general, so I visioned something.

Magic is magic because it can, to some degree, bend the rules of nature. Spells with natural results are stable and lasting, that is spells that technically just speed up a natural process. But any other spell's effects wears off eventually, or can suddenly break if not cast strongly enough. Ie. repairing a broken object, it will break again someday back to what it was before the magical repair because objects don't naturally repair themselves. Glueing or sewing the thing back together like muggles have to do may in some cases be a longer lasting solution but of course won't make it a seemless fix.

Nobody's unnatural spells and curses hold up forever, anybody's spell can unexpectedly break (though the more powerful and skilled the caster the less likely it is), and anybody can fail in the casting to begin with.

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MAGIC CAN'T DO THESE THINGS

- Bring back the dead. Even the Resurrection Stone brings back just sort of a ghost.

- Create life/soul.

- Create love. Any potions really cause just obsession.

- Gain knowledge. Everything has to be learned from somewhere, just likes muggles have to.

- Make a cold object hot and the other way around.

- Create energy.

- Turn an animal into a human.

- Although there are spells to cause minor local weather changes, such as to snow on a very small area, magic can't: end non-magic rain or snowing, control the wind, boil or cool water nor raise or decrease air temperature. (This means also that to dry anything you need to do it muggle way.)

- Almost any inanimate object can be multiplied, but the copies are of lesser quality and don't last time as well as the authentic object. But wands, other complex magical objects, motor vehicles or buildings can't be copied. Also food and any kind of organic matter can't be copied.

- Re-attaching severed body parts is not possible if the injury was caused by dark magic, and in any other case it's possible only in a limited time from the incident just like with muggle medicine.

- Destroyed body parts can't be grown back if the injury was caused by dark magic, and in any other case only the kind that would grow naturally such as bones, skin and hair. You can't get back an eye if it's destroyed. Also, you can't improve your senses with a spell forever, such spell's effects last only for a couple of hours at most.

- Erase a bad smell caused by a spell, it can only fade away or be removed with muggle methods.

- Give natural diseases (ie. flu, cancer, diabetes ect.)

- Cure or prevent natural diseases. (Such as flu, diabetes, cancer, and so on.) The wizardkind are not immune to natural diseases, and there are no spells or potions to cure anything that muggles don't have a cure for.

- Shrink, enlarge or transfigure anything larger and/or heavier than furniture. That is, those spells don't work on buildings, trains, cars, or such objects. Also, food or anything else organic can't be enlarged or shrunk.

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RARE ABILITIES

Both Legilimency and Occlumency have been around since at least the 11th century, and since the Ministry of Magic's foundation both skills have been taught there to all aurors in training. Learning those skills at least on their basic levels has always been a mandatory part of Auror training. Basic level of Legilimency being ability to intrude a person's mind enough to know if they're lying to you, and basic level of Occlumency being the ability to empty your mind of all emotions and thoughts as in to make it appear blank. But an auror trainee can choose to continue further, to whatever extent the current auror trainers are able to and/or the trainee wishes to learn them. It is mandatory part of the training as those skills are extremely useful for the job.

The Ministry does not offer Legilimency or Occlumency courses to anyone else. Originally both skills were passed down from parent to child and from friend to friend, and it still does. So, you can learn both or either skill if you get selected for auror training or happen to know someone who has learned the skill from somewhere and trust him or her to teach you.

Practising Legilimency in itself is not illegal, nor does the Ministry attempt to regulate it in any way as there really is no efficient way it would be possible, But a person using this skill for a crime or in some other way seriously misusing it, if caught they can be prosecuted and sentenced to a punishment ranging from a fine to time in Azkaaban, depending on the case.

These skills are not part of Hogwarts' curriculum for Charms, as in they have never been taught at Hogwarts. By the decision of Hogwarts' Board of Governors, possibly because of the privacy issues it would create to everyone. Harry was an exception because of his unique situation with the Voldemort mind connection that threatened Harry's safety and the outcome of the war. Harry was asked to keep a low profile about it, so him studying Occlumency wasn't common knowledge at the school.

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ACCIDENTAL MAGIC

A child begins to show magical abilities, in the form of accidental magic, usually on his/her third year that is after his/her second birthday. Magical powers show by the age 7, after which it's more likely that the child is a squib. It's still possible for the magic to activate at later age - even at late adults years - but it's extremely rare. A person can't attend Hogwarts before showing magical abilities, and of course no longer as an adult. 

Accidental magic can happen when a witch or a wizard is deeply angry, or extremely scared or confused. This is why it's common and unavoidable in children, as they're often not able to control their intense emotions well enough. It happens without a wand and is self-defensive or offensive in nature, depending on the emotion and situation. The spell itself also depends on the situation, ie. as Harry was escaping from Dudley's gang who were about to beat him up, Harry accidentally apparated on a roof top way out of their reach.

Accidental magic happens, because defending or attacking with magic is instinctive and primal need for a magical person. If angry, scared or confused you must restrain that need by thinking really hard that you can survive the situation without magic, and trying to come up with other methods as if you were a muggle. It's possible only if you know what's going on with you and recognise it as a primal need - as in, a muggle-born child can't learn to control their magic until someone tells them what they are and how to do it.

As years pass you'll get so used to it you don't have to think of it anymore, you don't need to think - the magic simply doesn't manifest so easily anymore.

How difficult and strong the accidental spell is depends on how powerful the person is in magic, not on age. Although usually children's power-levels are relatively low. All children, regardless of how powerful, may accidentally apparate to a safe® place if they're scared enough. Unless there's an anti-apparation spell cast on the area the child is at the moment.

Someone with a broken mind can never fully control the accidental manifestation because they're much less in control of their anger, fear and confusion. In example, Ariana Dumbledore was brutally beaten up by a group of muggle boys when she was only six years old, because they saw her doing accidental magic. This event traumatized her which means she re-lived the moment often, triggered by things normally a person wouldn't interpret as a threat, and she was more easily prone to intense anger and deep fear - never feeling like she'd be safe without attacking with magic. And therefore her magic accidentally exploded out often and she could never be taken out to the public again.

Accidental magic never happens randomly or just for any emotion, but only during one of the three previously mentioned emotions while they also have to be deep/intense enough. If one doesn't learn to control their accidental magic manifestation, it doesn't get worse in time – it simply won't stop and keeps risking their safety and the secrecy of magic's existence. The Ministry of Magic will help such people/families to relocate and arrange them a home and means to live in a village or town where the vast majority of residents are wizardkind.

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MAGIC VS. ELECTRICITY


Electric equipment react to magic in the air by disfunctioning or completely shutting down, it happens ie. nearby the Hogwarts Castle in Scottish Highlands. But inside the Hogwarts castle and grounds any electric equipment (ie. camera) work just fine. They function by the magical atmosphere.

So, when there's enough magic in the air it substitutes the electric source. Any electric equipment works fine on an area where there's some 99,9% more magic than electricity in the atmosphere.

In example the Hogwarts Castle has been enchanted in many ways, inhabits hundreds of spell-casting kids and adults, magical objects, and in addition there are magical creatures nearby. Diagon Alley has more than 100 magical shops and services, magical objects and countless spell-casting people. Saint Mungo's Hospital inhabits a lot of magical diseases and accident being treated with magic. The Leaky Cauldron may also have enough spell-casting and magic going ton to replace electricity. In the Weasley family's house as well, as it's pretty much held up by magic and has that grandfather clock.

But if you're only nearby those kind of places the electric source get distracted and may stop working. In the Central London, near the Leaky Cauldron, the Ministry and St. Mungo's the problems probably are non-existent as there's tons of electricity in the air.

In a wizarding home living like muggles the electric equipment run on electricity, as there is little to no magic in the air. Except of course if accidental magic happens or someone practices spells next to you when you're trying to watch television or something.

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CONJURATION

That is conjuring stuff out of thin air. It's a branch of transfiguration, that most of magical people can practice. In Hogwarts they begin to teach it from the first year on, though only simple ones such as fire and drinkable water. Most of these kind of transfiguration are advanced and difficult and they start to teach them on sixth year, on the N.E.W.T level.

Out of thin air can be conjured only inanimate objects and one of three elements, (fire, water earth.) Animals can be conjured seemingly out of nothingness - from the tip of a wand - but really they just move there from some other place.

The bigger and more complex the object or animal, the harder and more exhausting it is to conjure out of thin air or in the animal's case to ?call? from elsewhere - for even the most skilled and powerful.

Nothing that forms out of thin air can last very long. It can exists from a few minutes to a few hours, depending on how powerful the conjurer is, and of the spell's strength which is for one thing affected by if it was cast spoken or non-verbal. Anyway, at the latest within a few hours it will disappear into the air as if it never existed.

Five things nobody can conjure up from thin air:
(only the first one is canon)

1. food / food ingredients (and generally anything organic)
2. money
3. things that don't exist or the conjurer doesn't know what it is
4. house/cottage or other buildings, or motor/engine vehicles
5. magical objects and potions

* Those things can't be magically copied either.

+ Video cassettes, CD albums and such basically can be conjured, but only as empty versions - no specific movie or album. And empty versions are useless as they wouldn't last. So if anything like that was wanted it would have to be purchased with money or copied by magic.

[Kieran]

TIME TRAVEL

(This is based on the Prisoner of Azkaban book and nothing else.)

There is only one way to time travel and a muggle can't do so alone but needs to have a witch or a wizard with them operating the Time Turner.

This magic is so deep and complex that not just anybody could create a Time Turner - not even almost-working one. People capable of such deep mahig are truly rare, and I won't accept here any character who'd be capable of doing time magic – for the sake of fairness.

Professor Saul Croaker – (a side character controlled only by me) - was a close trusted friend of the old wizard who created the Hour Reversal Charm and the Time Turners in 1890. At the time of their creation Croaker was 50 years old and had worked as an Unspeakable for many decades and had become the Head of the Department of Mysteries. He was entrusted with the incantation and helped the creator to experiment with it and eventually the Time Turners, though was never able to succesfully cast the charm himself.

They suspected that it's so deep and complex magic that it requires more magical power than 99% of the wizardkind could ever possess. Becoming the reason why the creator enclosed the charm, so that anyone who needs it could use it while of course not just anyone would be given access to it and certainly not to be used without a good enough reason. They kept this incredible discovery to themselves for several years, wanting to be sure it's safe enough to keep around before spreading the knowledge of it at all.

The year was 1899, some time after the creator died of old age, when Croaker introduced the Time Turners to the other Unspeakables but did not reveal the incantation of the charm – knowing from personal experience it would likely go horribly wrong. They kept further experimenting with the Time Turners for a couple of years until in 1901 Croaker banned those experiments. He felt they'd been tested enough while also wanting to minimise the risk of something going terribly wrong on a time travel without his friend around, the only one he knew could've possibly helped ar all in such event.

That same year their existence was revealed to the members of the International Confedeation of Wizards and the members of the British Wizengamot. Again, only the Time Turners, not the incantation of the charm which still remained known only by professor Croaker. The Confedeation decided all of the Time Turners to be stored at the Department of Mysteries in the British Ministry of Magic under extreme security system, and the experimenting with them remain banned. Loads of strict laws were written also around the use of Time Turners specifically.

The Hour Reversal Charm's incantation remains known only by Saul Croaker but on January 1st 1902 the existence of the Time Turners was revealed to the wizarding media across the globe, but not where they were kept. Seeing to that media has the tendency to misprint info, or downright deliberately twist facts around and colour or scandalise stories – the Ministries of Magic in each country were required to publish their own official newsletter about their existence. Including that they were created by an old English wizard (including his name) who passed away years ago, and the information how to apply for one through one's own country's Ministry.

And that they should only be used for mundane tasks and travel no further than 5 hours back, while not just any application would be approved. The reason for the need must be extremely good and the applicant proven to be responsible and trustworthy. No applicant would ever get a Time Turner to keep forever, but only up to one year depending on the purpose and how well the use goes. Further instructions and rules would be given if an application was approved.

The newsletters either did not say anything about where they're kept.
The applications forms have been riddled with spells that prevent anyone from casting any confusion charms or anything like that on them. As in, tricking an application to pass is not possible.

A time travel does not create two timelines, but simply a closed loop in time. Therefore, if your face wasn't bruised when you began the travel it can't get bruised during it - your health remains the same as your past self for you're the one and same person just divided into two places at the same time by the power of magic. And, your present/future self can't die during the travel because it would create a paradox in other people's minds and the travel indeed creates a loop. So, time travel creates a paradox in reality (having one person in two different places doing two different things), but never in the minds of the traveller or anyone else.

* * *

Every Time Turner has a text engraved, running around its edge:
"I mark the hours, every one, nor have I yet outrun the Sun.
My use and value, unto you, are gauged by what you have to do."

It means:

--> You can't travel to the future.
Not even from the past back to the present where you stared, as that would be future at the moment.

--> You can't change the past.
Whatever you do during your time travel, it can't make anyone disappear into thin air or cause any other change in the world. Because you're in the past, therefore anything you do there has already happened and affected everything.

--> You can travel back no more than 5 hours at once.
As you can't travel to the future you must live through the time period you set. When you reach the present moment, you can't use the Time Turner again until one hour has passed. And then, only go back that one hour.

The Time Turner was never meant for long travels, or fun trips, or to change the past - but it was created to be used in secret, to gain a few extra hours for some good thing - like Hermione's motive was to have extra hours in her day so she could study all available school subjects. Even she was granted one because her academic achievements were remarkable, her personality responsible and she'd be using the Time Turner in a safe environment under the supervision of Albus Dumbledore. Even so professor McGonigall had to write numerous letters to the Ministry of Magic, trying to convince them that Hermione was extremely responsible and trustworthy. Thus, no matter how pure and valid a motive, Time Turner may not be granted in all situations.

* * *

There are a few tens of Time Turners in the world, and all of them are in London, controlled by the Ministry of Magic and kept in the Time Room at the Department of Mysteries. In the year 1899 the Ministry quit experimental time travels and since then they've just laid there when not in use by someone who's applied for and been granted one.
Although during the testing years they noted some of the limitations (such as the maximum amount of hours and that you can't travel forward) and nothing catastrophic ever happened, all its possibilities are not known for not everything could be tested.

Violating time's flow is considered extremely dangerous and regardless of evidence many believe that you could change the past. That's why Time Turners are only granted for certain type of reasons, to extremely responsible persons, for a limited time period and with hundreds of rules to be followed. You must apply for one in the Ministry of Magic and it usually takes weeks to go through if granted at all. The Time Turner must be returned to the Ministry at the latest on the day previously discussed between you and them.

The main rules:

1. You are not allowed to tell anyone in the present time, that you possess a Time Turner. (Depending on the reason for the use it is revealed to only those who need to know, such as in Hermione's case to all of Hogwarts' staff.)
2. You must not let anyone see both versions of yourself at the same time nor let yourself see you, while on the time travel.
3. You may use it only for the purpose it was granted for and absolutely nothing else.

Breaking these rules and being caught leads to a terrible punishment - for adults most likely a sentence of some length in Azkaban, as this would be considered a serious and dangerous crime.

Nobody knows that the past can not be changed at all, which is why the use of a Time Turner is extremely controlled.

[Kieran]

OWL POST

A muggle can't send owl post other than as a direct reply with the same owl that brought the letter/parcel to them as the owl will then automatically return to the sender. Sending an owl requires magical power so that the bird can know who to track down, a charm happens between the sender and the bird which makes it possible. It's not a charm cast by the sender but a psychic one that happens between the magical bird and the magical human.

One can't use just any owl/bird but it has to be one of the magical sub-type that only look like the normal kind of the speacies. So one must be rented or bought from the wizarding community from a breeder or a store – or sent off from a post office. These magical types have their own magic that can't directly be compared to the wizardkind's magic much like the house-elves do. These birds have higher intelligence than their non-magical cousins, and a magical power to pick up and track down an individual human's soul's essence. That's why the bird can't find a person who is dead or under a strong anti-tracking spell, in which case the bird returns very soon with the letter/parcel because it couldn't pick up the essence.

Still, a witch or a wizard either can't send owl post to just anybody anywhere at any time. The sender must have some sort of an image of what the person looks like and who they are so that the bird can pick up the right person's essence. If the sender can't provide this information to the bird in their intent as they're sending it off, the bird simply will not leave. So no one can send owl post to someone they don't know at all but must use muggle mail or send the bird to someone they do know who can forward the letter/parcel to the right person.

Subscription to newspapers and magazines in the wizarding society must always be done in person in that paper's/magazine's office so that they can assign a specific bird to deliver it to the person in question. When that owl gets sick or dies the paper/magazine will be delivered to the subscriber's given address by a person and then a new owl is assigned.

The warning letter about underage magic use are delivered by an owl which has been trained to deliver mail to the specific address where a muggle-born or another magical person living with muggles, is known to live. They don't send warnings to all-wizarding houses, and if the alarmed location is nowhere near any specific house they will arrive to investigate in person.

The Hogwarts invitation letters are delivered by Hogwarts' own owls. There is the ancient magical quill that detects every single magical child in Great-Britain at the moment when the child's magical powers activate (around age 2) as well as the child's name which it then writes down in the Book of Admission. The names are written on the envelopes with that same magical quill, which enables the owl to pick up and track down the child in question. (The magical quill is ancient and the charm cast on it long lost, thus it can't be replicated in order to make owl post function more easily.)

Owls are not fast flyers even on their own, much less if they carry something.
A healthy and average size owl without a wind, carrying a letter, can fly maximum of 65 km an hour but not for long. The average pace is 30-50 km an hour. Small owls of course fly much slower and they're usually used only for local mail delivery.

In example, a letter between London and Hogwarts carried by a healthy average size owl travels about 24 hours, probably a few hours more - assuming the bird rests at times. (The distance between London and Hogwarts is 725 km in a straight line.)
Within London an owl post travels from a few minutes to a couple of hours, as London is about 50 km across in a straight line.

Here is a handy and quick tool to figure out the distance. Just type the city and country where the owl leaves and the same for where it's going.

[Kieran]

MODERN BRITAIN

Out of the over 50 million residents in Britain only approximately 500,000 are witches, wizards and squibs. The same relative numbers apply to all countries in the world. They are required by wizarding law to "hide in plain sight". They've got their enchantments and cover-ups for their occupations if they work in the wizarding society instead of a muggle occupation.

~ CORPORAL PUNISHMENT

In the summer of 1987 all kinds of corporal disciplining was outlawed in state schools and private schools receiving any funding from the government. Before that, CP was a common practice. In Hogwarts it was prohibited in the early 1970s.

The law does not apply to home discipline, but the legal guardian has a free hand in physically disciplining their own children. As well as to permit others to, outside school. The Child Welfare law however requires "reasonable chastisement", but does not define it in any detail. It made the prosecution and sentencing of actual abuse cases difficult, as the line between reasonable and unreasonable depended on the opinion of the jury or judge.

~ OPPOSING TO FIREARMS

Since 1920 gun license could be gained only with a "good reason" and since 1967 the police hasn't licensed them to anyone with a criminal background or history of mental illness. Even the police themselves have never primarily carried firearms, but only the minority. On the timeline of this game only 17% of London constables carry a firearm. From 1991 onward the armed police respond in a special group van, to decrease the response time.

~ MOBILE PHONES

During our timeline 93% of private individuals are stuck with landline home phones and phonebooths. Mobile phone tech had barely begun and was ridiculously expensive to buy and use.

The first hand-held model was released in 1985. They could only be purchased from the operator's own shop. They were large and heavy, the battery (stand-by and talk time) weren't long-lasting and there were no special features, not even text messaging. They worked only on a small area, at the best covering the whole of London. The first network reaching abroad, GSM, was opened in 1991 but was targeted at international business owners. In 1994 GSM was offered also to private users, but the range covered only England and Scotland.

In the 1980's purchasing a mobile phone was recommendable only to business owners for keeping in contact with the office, for them the high price and high minute rates were paid back by spared time. For private use and the public, mobile phones and their use became affordable around the mid '90s and even then only to the established middle-class and upper class.