Hi, I was planning more of some fanfic ideas and I began to theorise about why magic and electricity didn't work together.

I looked for something to compare magic to and tried radio signals. I did this meaning that magic was like a radio signal seeking out an antenna, meaning an object which its magic would be performed on. If ambient magic was like radio signals bouncing around with no destination, I thought that electricity may be a very powerful antenna.

So I began to think that maybe to make electricity work you could negate the magical signals from around the object. I searched 'How to negate radio signals' on google and came up with a Wordpad document describing FM radios.

It talked about many things and I will reference it at the bottom of this post.

While reading through it I noticed that it mentioned how if a radio was put too close to a radio transmitter the antenna was overloaded, but if kept at a moderate distance would work fine. This seemed to fit with my substituton of radio signals with magic and electricity with antenni.

This also brung to mind about how magic travels. If my example worked right then magic travels in waves, connecting to what it was sent to (antenna) so it can perform its magic which would be in a lesser part of the spell, the frequency, being the main part of the spell, from each wand being different because of the core.

(This brought my ideas to brother wands which I will talk about later)

Again, like FM radios, if two spells are cast at each other, I believe that the most powerful spell wins and continues on its path while the other spell dies. This could be that if Dumbledore and Neville shot the same spell at each other, only Neville would be affected.

If indeed magic is a wave then the spell with the highest frequency (magical power) would win, like in radios. This is referred to in the file I looked at, in the Multipath Distortion section, Paragraph 3.

Now to brother wands.

As we see in Book 4, when brother wands collide spells they react, causing priori incantatem. This may be because the matching cores make the magical signals extremely similar, and so they believe to be just one spell as they merge.

As I theorise that the main part of the spell is the frequency with a lesser part being the actual spell, as the spells merge the lesser parts, many different ones as the actual spell is broken down into more basic forms inside the spell, the different parts react as do certain compounds, creating a differently behaving part.

Perhaps if Voldemort and Harry had cast different spells something different would have happened oe maybe the same as the smaller parts which subside from the main signal change the spell but when the two spells collide it is mainly the main frequency that reacts. Perhaps different spells would merely change the colours or other minor changes.

Whew, that's all.

The FM Radio reference I used can be found at: www.lcc.edu/wlnz/docs/FMguide.rtf

That probably didn't make much sense and I bet most of it is completely wrong but tell me what you think.

 

Your theory is sound. I always just thought that magic acted like an EMP and just didn't allow electricity to work. But wasn't it mentioned that magic made electronics go haywire?

 

I'm not sure. If I could be bothered I might go through the books and look, so if anyone just happens to feel like it... Hehe.

Thanks. I thought that there had to be a way to make electricity work around magic but make it plausible instead of just a magical dampening field or other things. I'm not sure how one would make magic work from that but I don't think it would be too hard. Does anyone know of something that negates radio signals? That could be changed and used.

 

A very interesting idea, it could also be tied in that magic is omni-present on Earth, rather than only emerging near ley-lines, thanks to muggle electricity.
With the electricity/antenna thing, would that not mean that enough electricity could, perhaps, destroy a magical ward?

 

Yeah, that was another thought I had on how if some electricity was powerful enough it could not be overloaded by the ambient magic, allowing it to work.

About destroying the ward, I don't think it applies too much. If you have a super sensitive antenna listening to a radio station it won't destroy it will it? That wouldn't be too good.

I also just thought of something. If a character managed to take the spell part out of the magical signal and replace it with audio footage, they would be able to send this signal to another person's brain which may act as an antenna, creating a version of telepathy. What do you think?

 

Well, radio signals are just that: signals. Magic, insofar as I can tell, has/is energy, so if one drew away enough magic, there would not be enough energy to maintain whatever structure is necessary for a ward to work.

The telepathy idea actually works, you could use it as a better explaination of legilimency, which would actually give us a real reason for why it works.

 

But how would electricity draw away the magic?

Perhaps for legillimency there is only the frequency and a vacuum inside where the spell should be, making it absorb whatever it can fill, but the spell should be connected to the caster still, allowing them to pick which memories are absorbed. Did you mean it like that? If not, how?

 

I dont really know much about electricity but arent there different forms of waves, that also interfere with each other? Like magnetic waves, electricity, light etc? You are kind of implying that magic is in a way the same wave form as electricity. But it interferes with other waves as well. like light. The spells disturb the light waves, creating the colour effects when cast. I think Magic maybe expressed in some kind of wave but that doesnt allow us to draw any further conclusions.

 

I hadn't thought of that. Perhaps magic is an accumulation of most types of energy, not electrical, and so can use the different types of energy all together?

 

If that is so, then there is our reason for magical interference with technology. Anything not hardened against that sort of energy will likely short-circuit. So an old vacuum-tube radio would work, but not a hand-set walkie-talkie.

 

Oh. I just thought. Maybe ambient magic is magic that solely consists of that one type of energy, not visible or any other type? What do you think Olfrik?

To anyone who noticed the big jump in page views. I accidently leant on the F5 button while talking with my sister and didn't notice. Sorry.

 

I think ambient energy is percieved as some kind of radiation. But unlike the radiation we recieve from the skies we get it from the earth itself, or maybe from the presence of magical activity. That would support the magic from the earth as well as the wards-theory and would also work in explaining the stuff with the ley lines. You can go with either theory here. But I suppose the presence of active magic, like wards, would be most plausible to make electricity go hawire.
It would also be a way to explain muggleborns, as they were kind of victims of magical radiation of some kind that triggered some kind of genetic "disorder". That means that one of the parents was in heavy contact with magic.
Wouldnt that be a nice twist in a story to let them find out that every muggle that was heavily or several times obliviated spawned muggleborn children? Like the milkman who saw somthing?

 

Wow. That is a great idea! May I use it in the fic I'm planning?

 

You're welcome. It was just a sudden thought anyway.

 

Could you explain to me what ley lines are? I heard about them before in the Sorcery, Independent, UNITed, Space fic but I didn't know they actually existed.

Thanks.

 

I didnt really consider it before reading it in some fanfics but here is a link:
http://witcombe.sbc.edu/earthmysteries/EMLeyLines.html

 

Leylines are, in most magical stories, focus points of large quantities of magic. Sometimes, leylines intersect, creating excellent points for powerful magics, as there will be a large amount of magical energy to draw on there.

 

Magic doesn't just stop electricity, it stops all muggle devices, electrical or not.

In GOF we're told that an aqualung wouldn't work in Hogwarts, and they rely on valves and such, not electricity.

I would say that the reason for Muggle technology and electricity not working is much more obscure, illogical, less like Muggle science and more...magical.

Notice in PS Hagrid says that a car crash wouldn't be able to kill a witch and wizard. Why would this be?

I would argue that it isn't because magical people always put the impervious charm on themselves when they get in cars, but becuase magic is superior to technology in so many ways that the sheer magicness of a wizard or witch means that Muggle technology has less effect on them.

In the same way I would say that muggle technology doesn't work around Hogwarts and high concentrations of magic simply because the sheer Magicness overcomes the mundane Muggleness of the technology.

 

I agree with Taure, magic is illogical and irrational thing that affects casuality and breaks all laws of physics. Electricity is pure spawn of physics, therefore not working If we go into magnetic impulses and etc, then we must conclude, that physics and magic tied on some level, which is highly unlikely.

 

Actually, we are told no such thing. The idea was to summon one from a store, and was discredited because it was extremely unlikely that a muggle would not see it flying across the country, thus violating the Statute of secrecy. Also note that immediatley afterwards, Hermione suggests transfiguring Harry into a submarine.

In that part, I don't think he was refering to wizards in general, just scoffing at the idea that Harry's parents died in a car, rather than being killed by Voldemort. His exact words were:

Also note that the Hogwarts Express works, though I am not sure if that is magical or not.

So insofar as we are given, magic only interferes with advanced technology, involving ciruits.