What can be said about Harry Potter that has not been said already? The release dates of the books will forever be carved into the hearts of a generation and the minds of the ones to come. History was made with each midnight book release, each movie ticket, and each studio visit. The world, and pop culture as we know it, has been changed by The Boy Who Lived and his adventures in the wizarding world. Ever wondered if you were secretly a wizard? No judgment here, you are in good company if you did. Children everywhere have waited with baited breath to receive their Hogwarts acceptance letter on their eleventh birthday.
The world of Harry Potter has been praised and ridiculed over time, with revisions and retcons coming from J.K. Rowling herself via Twitter. Fans have made cosplays, art, and fiction to express their love for and issues with the book series. Now the Fantastic Beasts franchise is taking the spotlight with new movies exciting and deterring Potterheads in similar measure.
But what separates us mere Muggles from Wizardkind? Sure, they can do magic, but is there more to it? Perhaps they can grow extra limbs, change forms and even see into the future. Read on to discover just what lies in Wizard anatomy.
20 It’s All In The Genes
Wizards, for the most part, are similar to Muggles. From a visual perspective, it is near impossible to distinguish wizards and muggles. However, at around the age of eleven, the magical gene within wizards and witches activates, causing them to discover their powers. From there, magical representatives arrive to educate the newbies and a Hogwarts letter surely follows afterward. Then there is the whirlwind of buying school supplies, selecting a familiar, and getting to Platform 9 and ¾.
19 They Live For A Long Time
Living forever is something we hear about in media over and over again; it has become a lame character motivation at best and an awful cliche at worst. It seems that wizardkind have beaten us Muggles to the punch. Without even trying, wizards live for a maximum of 200 years or so. Dumbledore managed to reach 115 years old before his untimely demise. Nicholas Flamel, who perished before the events of The Half-Blood Prince. The Alchemist is the exception to the rule since he lived to be between 665 and 669 years of age.
18 Wizards Can Create Life With Other Magical Creatures
As weird as it can be to picture, wizards can breed with other magical creatures. Unusual couplings can lead to beings with interesting abilities, like Hagrid. Since Hagrid is half-giant, he is super strong and is immune to certain spells.
Logistically, how would mating with other creatures work?
He could have been a wonderful wizard if Tom Riddle had not gotten him expelled and his wand snapped. Others who are half-wizards include Professor Flitwick, who was part-vampire and Fleur Delacour, who was part-veela.
17 Gifts From The Ancestors
As if getting to use magic and go to Hogwarts was not enough, wizards can also inherit certain special powers from their DNA. Voldemort received his ability to speak Parseltongue from his bloodline as his family was directly related to Salazar Slytherin. Sure, Harry could also speak Parseltongue, but that was because he was one of Voldemort’s horcruxes and had a piece of his soul - gotta take the perks where you can get them, I guess. At least it was a handy perk.
16 Wizards Can Inherit Innate Abilities
Genes are really important for wizards apparently. Along with what we already mentioned, wizards can also have innate abilities to do extra cool stuff on top of the amazing things they are already capable of.
With great power comes a side of great mischief.
Nymphadora Tonks, for example, was a metamorphmagus, meaning that she could change her body into different things, like grow a duck’s bill on her face. Her son, Teddy, is also a metamorphmagus just like his mother. Bet he used his powers for pranks, not evil.
15 They Also Have Amazing Memories
Living a long time means that you will end up with a lot of memories. Dumbledore even had a pensieve to declutter all of the memories in his head. Bet many people would love to have a super memory to help with tests or remembering to get milk from the store. Some wizards have amazing memories, even by magical standards. Bartimeus Crouch Senior could speak over 200 languages fluently, which is definitely impressive. Does it not get a little much to remember so many things?
14 They Have Jacked-Up Immune Systems
Being a wizard has so many perks - they don’t even have to grind for them. Along with powers, abilities, and general awesomeness, wizards also come equipped with super immune systems.
Too bad they are not immune to perishing.
They are immune to regular Muggle diseases and there are some things that would almost destroy a Muggle but merely inconvenience a wizard. They do get sick of things like Dragonpox though - which is a shame. But is generally totally worth it.
13 Wizards Have Souls
The debate over whether humans have a soul or not is an ancient one. Whether you believe we do in real life, the wizards of Harry Potter do have souls. Voldemort made horcruxes by splitting his soul into multiple pieces and placing them into particular objects. Harry, unfortunately, got made into a horcrux by accident, but he fixed it by perishing in the final book. It was during this demise that we saw a version of purgatory, a spooky alternate Platform 9 and ¾.
12 Pureblood Wizards Interbreed
In the wizarding world, there are different levels of wizard. Some people are half-wizard and then there are others known as purebloods. There are 23 pureblood families with some families fighting to maintain their pureblood status. Families like The Gaunts, The Lestranges, and The Blacks were so dedicated to maintaining their pureblood status that they married only other purebloods. Since the pool is so small, this meant either marrying people from other pureblood families or marrying within your own family.
11 The Dark Arts Really Take A Toll
Learning magic at Hogwarts sounds like a dream, but sometimes there are downsides. Some wizards like Tom Riddle get caught up in practicing The Dark Arts. This creepy magic takes a lot of power to learn and even more to wield.
This has been a PSA.
Notable Dark Arts wizards include Grindelwald and Tom Marvolo Riddle. Tom Riddle practiced so much dark magic that he began to physically deform into the slit-nosed villain we all know as Voldemort. The Dark Arts should be respected but are bad for your health.
10 They Truly Connect With Their Wands
‘The wand chooses the wizard Mr. Potter’ has been burned into the minds of kids all over the world. Said by Ollivander to Harry when he went to buy his first wand, getting a wand is very particular. The wand sees into the wizard’s very being and decides if they would be compatible. Everything from the core to the type of wood to the length you get is decided by who you are. Since there are so many combinations, it is highly unlikely that two wizards can get the exact same wand.
9 They Have The Power To Attack Minds
Everybody knows about Wingardium Leviosa, Accio, and Stupefy, but there are more intense spells than the basic ones that are Harry’s go-tos. There are spells that attack and invade your mind; they can plant, change, and even erase memories, and you would not even know. This is just one of the ways Voldemort used on his enemies during his rise to power. He attempted to do the same to Harry, but he was protected for the most part by Lily’s love.
8 But They Can Also Protect Themselves From Mind Control
The practice of closing your mind from external influence is known as Occlumency. In The Order Of The Phoenix, Snape is tasked by Dumbledore to teach Harry Occlumency to protect him from Voldemort. Harry had been having visions and dreams of what Voldemort was doing and seeing him everywhere at any time.
Pretty futuristic stuff for 1995.
It was a rigorous process which revealed a whole lot of personal stuff for both Harry and Snape but was ultimately useful.
7 Some Wizards Can Predict The Future
Imagine being able to predict the future. Would that be helpful or just make you super paranoid? Some witches and wizards can use Divination to predict future events. Professor Trelawny and her ancestor Cassandra are two examples of witches who can use Divination. Trelawny is not the best example as only a few of her visions actually turn out to be true, but she did see the prophecy about Harry, Neville, and Voldemort, so it worked out in the end.
6 They Can Be Born Without Magic
Genes are very funny things; just because your parents have certain genes does not mean that you will definitely be born with the same ones. Apparently, the magical gene follows this rule as some wizards cannot do magic. Even if they have magical parents, some babies are born without the magical gene in their DNA. These people are known as Squibs and have not always been treated well by wizardkind. Filch is just one example of a Squib that we have met in Harry Potter.
5 Wizards Can Breed With Humans
Since there are so few pureblood lines, but plenty of students at the magical school in the world, it is safe to say that wizards figured out a few things. According to Ron Weasley, wizards had to mate with Muggles to survive all these years. This is why the notion of purebloods being better than half-wizards makes no sense since it is the reason wizards still exist after all this time. Most wizards, like Professor Snape, have some Muggle in there somewhere, so there is strength in numbers.
4 Muggle Parents Can Give Birth To Wizards
That pesky magical gene can be a real sneaky one. Muggle parents with no history of magic within their family still have a chance of producing their own baby wizard or witch. These wizards who have Muggle parents are known as half-bloods or mudbloods in vulgar terms. Hermione Granger had Muggle parents as did Lily Evans, Harry’s mother. Most witches and wizards know that the blood hierarchy is meaningless, but there are some who believe it has importance.
3 Wizards Can Hold Another Soul Inside Them
As we all know, Harry was one of Voldemort’s horcruxes. This meant that he had a piece of Voldemort’s soul inside of him from when Voldemort tried to murder him as a baby. As well as getting a sick scar and the ability to talk to snakes, Harry proved something important; wizards can hold another person’s soul inside of them. Sure, Harry only had a piece, but this could be the start of something. I hope the Ministry is not doing illegal experiments about this.
2 They Can Transform Into Animals
We all know about Transfiguration, the spell to turn objects into animals but did you know that wizards can also turn themselves into animals. These people are called Animagi and there is a lengthy process to become one involving holding a Mandrake leaf in your mouth for a whole month. Perhaps the most famous Animagi were The Marauders - AKA James Potter, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew - as well as Professor McGonagall. Viktor Krum used Transfiguration to turn his head into a shark head in The Goblet Of Fire, meaning that Transfiguration and Animagus are two different things.
1 They Can Perform Magic Without Wands
You would think that getting a personalized wand that chose you specifically would satisfy you on the magic front, but it is not enough for some wizards. Harry and Voldemort have wands containing two feathers from the same phoenix, meaning that they cannot wound each other. Voldemort was a highly skilled wizard and taught himself how to use magic without a wand in his youth which was a great weapon to use against Harry when they fought each other in battle.
