I did wonder how an apprentice becomes a full member of the White Council, (and not in times of war where everyone with half a talent is accepted)
Elaine took a test under Ramirez, which she willingly failed,
but what kind of test is this?

If every wizard has his/her own speciality, what kind of guidelines are there?

Harry never took such a test, but he beat Justin (and killed him) and was just accepted (well, with the the DOD, but he is a full member of the Council).

Are there some members who where without an apprenticeship accepted?

Power, Control, Experience, Evocation, Traumathogie...

Do you think there is some kind of guidebook (literally or not)?

 

He may have been evaluated by McCoy, but other than that idk.

 

From White Night I could gather that a Warden comes along a tests the prospective Wizard's ability to just if he/she's strong enough to become part of the Council. Elaine made a point of not doing her best so that she wouldn't be accepted when Ramirez tested her. It's probably at about the same time that they give them the warning about breaking the Laws of Magic.

 

And when they find someone with great potential?
Do they find him/her a teacher, too, if he/her doesn't have one?
(under normal circumstances with far more wardens)

 

Im going to say they test you and if they decide your good enough they assign you a master. Or you wait until someone decides to take on an apprentice.

 

Yes, okay, but what are these tests?

Put fire to things, blow something up, summon something (well probably not until much later), make a shield, veil themselves?
What can you expect for an apprentice and what for a full member?

 

Probably something like the beads test Harry put Molly through to test a candidate's control over their magic.

 

I don't know...since every wizard is different, I think it's more that even a single demonstration of magic would be enough to convince the council.

Or, maybe they can just tell through the Third Eye. After all, Dresden has said repeatedly that he can 'sense' a Practicioner when he shakes their hand or sends out his wizard senses. So maybe it was just a matter of Elaine using a suppression spell to hide her true power from Ramirez.

 

I seem to remember actual tests being mentioned. Elaine says something about how she purposefully did poorly on a test given by Ramirez. Here is where a Dresden Lexicon would come in handy.

 

I didnt mean if they decide your good enough they make you a master or a full member, although Im sure some people who take the tests qualify but not many. I meant if they decide that one day you will be good enough to be a full member they assign you a teacher, master, mentor, etc.

 

I doubt they use the Sight,
Elaine could never have fooled the Sight with a spell,
withe the Third Eye you SEE magic, so you would have seen the spell and not many are willing to use their Sight for such trivial things like testing a new practicer. What you see with the Sight stays with you forever and that could very well drive someone crazy, imagine using the Sight in a bad neighborhood, where many people suffer etc. *shudder*

 

Maybe not, were forgetting that elaine requested help from the sidhe... specifically one of the uber summer ones.

Maybe they temporarily stole some of her powers and returned it to her after the test was over.

They can't sense whats not there. We know that can happen from that time harry lost some of his magic. I think second book... it'll also come back but it'll take forever

I'm going with control slash magical gauge.

Some people just don't have enough to cut it. it would be pointless to assign one of the fully trained to teach someone who could maybe only do rudimentary parlor tricks on a good day.

As to the apprentice thing. I think its a qualifier to become part of the council but exceptions can be made when someone exceptional comes along like harry.

He beat and killed someone who was already a big wig and was trained by said person to be dangerous.

 

Dresden was Justin DuMorne's apprentice, along with Elaine. Then he became Ebenezar's apprentice, at least officially - McCoy was, off the record, supposed to do away with Dresden at the first opportunity. Since McCoy didn't do that, the Council was forced to stick to the cover story, and Dresden became a member when he finished his apprenticeship. The Doom of Damocles was still hovering over him up until the books kicked off, though.

As to the whole 'flubbing the test' thing, it may be that arrogance is the key. Hypothetical: The Council members are of the opinion that anyone would do their best to join them, so all the Warden does is rock up, say 'impress me', and watch as the prospective members pulls their favourite rabbit out of a hat. The idea that someone would deliberately not become a member may not occur to them.

 

Doesn't sound like Ramirez to me. He may be a bit overconfident at times but he knows the job and is good at it. I expect the tests would be along the lines of judging raw power, so either performing a big spell or something along the lines of Molly's beads. The beads one sounds more logical to me since performing a big spell in the middle of a crowded city might not be the best of ideas.

 

The beads were never about power, though. IIRC, the beads only broke the string because of Molly's understanding of what is right and wrong. I think Harry told her that no matter how hard she tried, she'd never be able to move all of the beads. I always figured it was just something Harry cooked up himself, not something that the White Council universally used.

 

Yeah, I know, but if they can be configured to react to a person's mentality then judging raw power should be easy... I suppose I should have emphasised that a bit .

 

Apples and oranges.

On one side, the gadget Harry crafted specifically for Molly - who he's known since she was in pigtails, who he's been training for months - to unlock once her ego gets deflated past the point of I-always-know-best.

On the other hand, an all-purpose, one-size-fits-all power thermometer, that can somehow take into account raw power, skill, finesse, and aptitude for different types of magic.

 

Fair point, but magic in the Dresdenverse can be quantified and seems to be the same entity for everyone since it's basically the life force that powers the human body (or ambient magic in the air itself). Sure, the way wizards connect with their magic varies from person to person, but that's not because the magic is different for each of them, it's because no two people are exactly alike in their ways of thinking.

It's like electricity. You can use it for thousands of different things, you can use many different methods to apply it, and it can be generated by several different means, but in the end all electricity is the same entity. That's how magic in the Dresdenverse works, though it has the nifty ability to break little things like the laws of physics... or at least bend them a bit.

 

No, it isn't. Every wizard does magic differently. With potions, the ingredients depend on who's making it, and the same goes for rituals - Harry tends to use his mother's amulet at every opportunity. If someone else swiped that same amulet, it wouldn't work for them in the same way.

Besides, not all magic is fueled internally. In White Night, Harry fired off a huge-ass pillar of flame into the air by drawing heat out of the water, freezing it. Stands to reason that there would be people with bugger all internal power, but a hightened ability to channel power from external sources - heat, human sacrifice, thunderstorms, whatever.

 

You're missing the point. I'm not saying that all wizards use magic in the same way, I'm saying that the magic they use to power those spells is the same.

Look at it this way: Is the magic Dresden uses to cast ventas servitas any different from the magic he uses to cast fuego or fozare? That's what I'm trying to say. Magic is just the source, it's the human (and other beings') element that changes the way spells are cast and potions are made. Just like electricity is used for thousands of different things in thousands of different ways but is still the same thing no matter what.

To make the analogy even simpler - lightning from the clouds is the same thing as electricity produced by a generator.