Necro - Relating to the dead

Mancy - Divination

In my opinion Necromancy is not the darkest of arts, but it is by no means light.

JKR has made it clear that no one who is dead can come back.

I believe that Inferi are not a result of Necromancy, but several charms that can be used to control. In Dumbledore vs. Voldermort we see Dumbledore seemingly animate statues to do his bidding. Could more complex charms not be applied to a corpse to do what you want? I think it is the fact that the attacker is a dead body that makes Inferi so feared. I do not think that Inferi are a result of Necromancy.

I would say that Necromancy is not raising legions of dead to do what you want, but a way to force prophecy or the future. As the meaning of the word implies I think a necromancer could pull some part of a dead person back to him to receive wisdom, knowledge, power etc... The act of taking someone off of there “next great adventure” and making them start over is where Necromancy gets its bad wrap. Necromancers in my book are little more than Dark seers who care nothing for others.

To call back a person to receive from them I would say it is a mildly complicated ritual. The only solid requirement is to have something of value that belongs to the person you are trying to reach. After that arithmantic calculations would be needed to determine the correct spells to use to call back the spirit. The object that is required would need to be magical and of value so not just any necromancer could call back Merlin or the founders.

I think the usual answer of a person being able to raise the dead is kind of boring. So I thought up my own version of Necromancy feel free to use it in a story if you want.

 

Ok...since it seems the thread has died now that we've concluded that Necromancy is a form of divination and not the blackest of magics, I'll post the Transfiguration Curriculum that i've devised for Hogwarts. Keep in mind that in canon Hogwarts is the finest school of Witchcraft and Wizardry in Britain, and that not everyone passes all of their classes, this is the curriculum taught.

Hogwarts Transfigurative Arts Class Curriculum.

Year 1: Basic Transmutations

-Inanimate to inanimate transformations
-Organic to Inorganic transformations
-Enlarging and Reducing mass
-Repair Charms/Switching Spells

Year 2: Basic Transmogrifications

-Animate to inanimate transformations
-Organic to inorganic transformations
-Larger scale Transmutations
-Vanishing Charms

Year 3 - OWL Preperatory: Advanced Transmogrifications

-Inanimate to animate transformations
-Basic command Animations
-Advanced Transmutations: Merging objects and reversal

Year 4 - OWL Preperatory: Duplicating Matter

-Advanced Repair Charms
-Duplication of Inanimate objects
-Duplication of Animate objects

Year 5 - OWL: Basic Transfigurations

-Plantae to Plantae
-Plantae to Insect
-Plantae to Mammal/Avian/Reptile
-Insect to Insect
-Insect to Mammal/Avian/Reptile
-Mammal/Avian/Reptile to Mammal/Avian/Reptile
-Ethical debates

Year 6 - NEWT Preperatory: Conjurations and Animations

-Conjuring Inanimate objects
-Conjuring Animate objects
-Conjurationary Permanence
-Advanced Animations: Limited Sentience
-Summoning Vs. Conjuring

Year 7 - NEWT: Advanced Transfigurations

-Human to Plantae
-Human to Mammal/Avian/Reptile
-Animagus Theory
-Human to Human
-Gender differentials
-Hair Growth
-Metamorphmagi
-Healing Introduction


I think this is a viable curriculum for what we've seen so far, any questions/comments? Anyone hate it?

 

I thought Human transfiguration was a large part of 6th year were you seem to have it as conjuring which I don't think they have really done much of. But i agree with the over all trend of it getting harder as it goes. I don't think healing would be under transfiguation though.

 

They learned the Aguamenti Charm as well as Tergeo and a couple others I believe in HBP, that would fall under conjuring and matter manipulation. I do believe that healing would be under transfigurations, Madam Pomfrey once stated that she can heal a broken bone 'in a heart beat', wouldn't this be accomplished by merging it back together? That sounds like transfigurations to me, not charms. The basis of healing appears to be transfiguring the body back to its proper state, charms do wear off after a time don't they? We wouldn't want our leg to suddenly fall off because the charm was weak...

 

*Glares at posters not following teh rules*

What part of "Do not veer of topic" did you not understand. I was going to change the topic in a day or two just to make sure everyone was done. (By the way, someone mind telling me how to re-open or make a new poll? I can't figure it out.)

I could say more, but I'd most likely just rant and get myself into trouble.
*Glares really really f#@!kin hard*



Since you couldn't wait for me to do it, and did it wrong at that here is the next topic. (Sorry if the description sucks, Not in the most creative of mind sets right now)




[size=+1]One-Thousand and One Magiks: Book I, Alchemy[/size]


Alchemy, the power to mold an objects very essence to ones own will. Known as one of the 'Noble' arts, Alchemy is not a power easily weld by the simple minded.

Is this amazing feat of magic that of the Soul, or of complex sciences? The decision is in your hands, choose wisely

 

That's nice. Very rarely do threads go the way you've planned them, at least this was semi-on topic rather than spam or post-whoring. Get over it.

 

Well, i'll admit I know next to nothing about alchemy, but that sounds like an advanced form of transfiguration. But then potions have always seem to have been mentioned in relation to it, so maybe it is the line between the two.

For example, maybe the potion has something to do with transforming the object, by breaking down it's atoms, and then re-creating them into gold.

Perhaps the Polyjuice Potion comes under Alchemy, as it is to do with changing the body, similar to how the Elixir of life might have blocked the affect aging, by constantly rechanging the DNA pattern, by continuously reproducing the necessary things to live. For example, to avoid illness the elixir could have produced the correct amount of enzymes and cells to recuperate for those that died. It could also explain how Flamel lived for over 600 with out loosing every single brain cell, as one dies every second.

Also, wasn't alchemy the early stages of medicine? So maybe medical magic comes under alchemy, as it needs to reproduce certain things in the body to fix it. Skele-grow is a plain example, as it made new bone cells.

So, I think that alchemy is of the most complex sciences. Looks like magic can be explained with science.


EDIT: Don't discuss this please, but vanishing is also in 5th year transfiguration I believe

 

Alchemy, in the traditional sense, is the process of understanding the changes in chemical processes. I.e. Working out why a substance will change from a silvery colour to brown.

In RL it is considered to be a fore-runner of, and a pseudo, science with the ultimate goal of making the Philosopher's Stone. It is also given the credit for the discovery of gunpowder, distillation, ink dying and ore mining/refining. In the magical world it seems to be the search for how some substances will affect others, not unlike potions (Got from the fact that Dumbledore is an alchemist and discovered the 12 uses of Dragon blood).

In canon there's nothing much mroe than indirect references to it (Dumbledore's chocolate frog card and Nicolas Flammel).

 

No avitus, it wasn't on topic. Thus why I was kinda upset. Yes I know that they rarely go as planned but I thought we'd get more than five post before someone decided to this.

Though my post did come out rather harsher than expected. Anyway, please try not to jump around like that, especially when you don't even do it right -_-.

 

Well since I always thought Alchemy was closely related to Chemistry (I believe chemistry evolved from alchemy) it would make me think that it would be more like potions. As potions seems to be the magical equivilant of chemistry.

It says Dumbeldore discovered the 12 use's for dragons blood with Flammel, well we don't know how they did this but I imagin it would be by breaking it up into componants and finding out what they do and thus putting together the results. That is how it is done in chemistry (sort of). Rather than adding numerous ingrediant together to make something new. You use catalists to remove or add componants to an already existing substance to make it something else (It may not sound it but there is a difference)

 

Why have that when you could have pyrokinesis? Talking about pyrokinesis, i'm going to look at some instructions on how to learn that.

Anyway, it may also have something to do biology as well as chemistry. As alchemy evolved from shaman healing, medicine evolved from alchemy. It would still fit in with what everybody else has said, about Alchemy finding out why things happen (like physics), but it would be put into how to use these things to heal and repair, or change the human body perhaps?

So, to me it sounds like a mixture of the three core sciences

 

Oh, thats right. The stone had the power to give long life, which is healing in a sense I suppose as it would have to destroy all things trying to break down the body.

 

Hey,

Here is a short definition of Alchemy from Wikipedia -

From the reading I have done, and what I have been taught at school, the main interests or goals of Alchemists were -

1. To turn a junk substance (usually lead) into Gold.
2. To create a Aqua Vitae, i.e. Water of Life.
3. Create a remedy called a Panacea, to cure any disease or illness.

And to do the those three things, most Alchemist's searched for how to make a legendary substance that was said to allow the user to do each of the things mentioned above, and was said to be the sole key ingredient. I speak of course of a 'Philosopher's Stone'.

I myself find it intensely interesting that this amazing substance, this tool of the gods as it seems, would be named a Philosopher's Stone, when philosopher's historically investigate the Spiritual and Moral aspects of life, and usually do not delve into the materialistic parts.

Even more striking to me is that the Philosopher's Stone seems like a powerful tool to manipulate the physical world, so the label of it being a 'Philosophers' stone seems false and misleading to me.

Prevent your death, make yourself rich beyond you wildest dreams! Cure anyone who is sick. For the first couple of hundred years or so it would be great.

But what would happen once you became selfish with it and misused it? If you demanded goods/services/money to cure someone's Wife/Child/Friend? What if you lived forever, and watched everyone die, change, be reborn, and life just generally going on around you?

If a war broke out, you would try and do something, but even though you are immortal, your still one person, and you cannot save the people you come to look after, care for even.

After an event like this, I reckon an alchemist who went through a situation like that would give up on his life, and would envy those who die, and he would long for the same in the end.

So, MAYBE it is truly a Philosopher's Stone..... To wield it's power, be tempted by it, almost seduced by what it represents. Damn it, I want one!

To have to make a decision about if you will/won't use it, and for what purpose?

Another aspect of Alchemy that most people overlook (and no, I did not get this off of Fullmetal Alchemist, although I am listening to OST now, 'Brothers' by Michiru Oshima and BEPA owns =D) is the idea of creating a being to do your bidding, a Homunculus.



Now this was said to be done by the Alchemist Paracelsus in the 1500's. He told of how he had given life to a infant-like creature much like a small baby, but alot smaller.

Here is the procedure he described -

Other alchemists claimed other ways of making a Homunculus, which use would be to serve it's master, similiar to the servitude of a golem.

Here is one such other method -

Yet another, cited by Dr. David Christianus at the University of Giessen during the 18th century, was to take an egg laid by a black hen, poke a tiny hole through the shell, replace a bean-sized portion of the white with human sperm, seal the opening with virgin parchment, and bury the egg in dung on the first day of the March lunar cycle. A miniature humanoid would emerge from the egg after thirty days, which would help and protect its creator in return for a steady diet of lavender seeds and earthworms.

So in conclusion, Alchemy was the forefather discipline of many of today's sciences, and it focused on four goals -

1. To turn a junk substance (usually lead) into Gold.
2. To create a Aqua Vitae, i.e. Water of Life.
3. Create a remedy called a Panacea, to cure any disease or illness.
4. Creation of a Homunculus.

Love, Mog

EDIT - P.S.

Alchemists did'nt do any dividing of materials usually. Most alchemists believed that the ingredients did'nt matter, that it was the spiritual meaning behind the ingredients that caused a change in matter.

Of course, it did'nt matter when there concoction exploded and tore there brains over the wall xD.

EDIT #2 - Oh xD Sorry!

Ah dude, the thing is..... alchemists themselves did'nt think of that aspect at all. They WERE'NT interested in whether a chemical change occured, because for one, they did'nt think it WAS a chemical change, and two, modern scientific ideas had NOT YET been formulated.

They did'nt want to know why Chemical A (red) and Chemical B (blue) would change to Chemical C (brown), they were interested in the EFFECTS that the change would bring about, and not the ACTUAL change.

Sure, they discovered alot of information on elements and biology, but let me tell you, they definately were'nt trying to discover those things.

Sorry if it sounded flamey to you *flamey*.

EDIT #3 - LOL XD I keep remebering things to add. Someone mentioned that a magic branch about fire would be cool. Try this - Chaos Magic.

 

Wasn't the Aguamenti charm learnt in charms?

 

No study of animagi?
Hadn't they mentioned stidying in third year?

 

If I remember correctly, students study THEORY of Animagi Transformation in Seventh Year as many are incapable of doing the transformation, so it is not a required part of the cirriculum to perform one.

Love, Mog

EDIT - I just looked through that list and he has Animagi Theory listed in Seventh Year, so me and him are agreed. When you say third year you are thinking of James, Sirius and Peter, although I'm not sure if the books ever say when they perfected it, and they never mention WHEN they find out about him being a werewolf.

 

This thread is discussing Alchemy not transfiguration if you want to discuss that I suggest you start a new thread.

Ok from what I see alchemy has numerous aspects of it from the scientific to the spiritual.

Now I know most alchemists didn’t care about the chemical changes that happened because they didn't know about atoms and such but you are forgetting that they still cataloged and observed them and while them might not have realized why adding certain substances caused certain reactions but they still knew they did and were able to replicate and use in different ways this information.

One use for so called alchemy I've discovered while looking was the smelting of rear metals out of ore. There are reports of people managing to extract small amounts of metals such as aluminum from ores which to lay people would have looked as if the alchemist was changing one substance (Ore which looks like stone) to metal. This spured their quest to find the transformation of something into gold.

It seems alchemy has numerous aspects in our definition of it from smelting, medicinal, chemical and that almost mythical creation of life and elixirs.

I believe the "Potterverse" definition of alchemy is the study of substances (dragons blood) to find out it's properties and the harnessing of substances to bring about a change in other substances (Philosophers stone turning stuff to gold, I can't remember if it said lead to gold in the book or just anything)

 

Sorry, I'd missed.
And no, I was refering in PoA McGonnagal doing ehr animagus transformation and talking about it right after they came from the first divination class.