Muggle drugs and medicines have no effect on wizards? I see this more and more in fanfiction, and I think it is quite ridiculous.

The only difference between wizards and muggles is the ability to use magic. I think it's safe to infer that the body chemistry and metabolism of wizards and muggles are exactly the same.

I don't know why, but this pisses me off. I remember reading a story awhile ago where Harry tries to give his uncle (or Dudley, can't remember) some of his bone marrow for a transplant, and it puts him into a coma for like 2 months. wtf.

That's just one story I remember that uses this idea. I see no reason why a wizard wouldn't get fucked up if he smoked some weed or took a few 80 mg Oxycodone's or what have you.

I think it is canon that wizards are more resistant to 'muggle' diseases, so antibiotics and vaccinations might not be as effective, but I don't see any logical reason for this to apply to all 'muggle' substances.

 

Then why do muggles not get dragon pox?

Why, I ask. Why?!

 

Magic?? :d

But seriously speaking, I think it is due to lack of any active magic in muggle body.

 

Are you sure they can't get Dragon Pox? Maybe they do only they call it something else, and they don't have a cure for it. Like Ebola or Aids.

 

Fuck if I know. Maybe it only affects those who carry the genetic marker that makes one 'magical', or something like that.

Or maybe muggles do. Maybe the wizarding worlds' dragon pox is a known disease in the muggle world.


edit: lol The Santi. Beat me by 7 minutes.

Is there any proof that wizards have 'active magic' in their bodies? What is 'active magic'? Is magic an internal or external force?

Without getting into a magical theory discussion, we simply do not know. However, you are assuming wizards do possess this 'active magic', and I'm not sure that's a logical conclusion one can make when looking at canon data.

 

JKR has said there is a genetic component to magic. Therefore the jump can be made to say that certain diseases will only affect those who carry that genetic marker. No need for magical theory, just a logical conclusion that we can come to given the information we have.

 

I think your biggest problem is that you are reading stories in which Harry is willing to give his uncle his bone marrow.

Also, it might be that those diseases specifically attack the magic. Or maybe you can only catch Dragon Pox by coming into proximity with a dragon or dragon hide.

 

Saint Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.

Wizards don't get sick with muggle diseases. I'm fairly certain that none of the characters ever come down with a mundane illness, and wizards can't just check themselves in to a muggle hospital if they do.

The truth is in the title. St. Mungo's treats magical illnesses. St. Mungo's is the only wizarding hospital. Therefore we conclude that wizards don't get muggle diseases.

 

Yes, I get all this.

My original question is why wouldn't a wizard be affected by muggle drugs or medicines? Their biology, as far as we can infer, and apart from the magical gene, is exactly the same.

Even if wizards don't generally catch infections and muggle diseases, that doesn't mean a healthy dose of antibiotics, immunosuppressives, morphine, nitroglycerine, or any other powerful medical drugs wouldn't fuck with their system.

And the same for recreational drugs. In the wizarding world it's apparently all about Firewhiskey and various other alcohols. However, there is no reason that a wizard wouldn't get fucked up if he ingested some prescription painkillers or smoked a doob.

 

I don't think we can infer that. There could very well be a biological component to the wizard extended lifespan thing, even if it's magic affecting their biology.

I'd love to see what a powerful Harry would do if he was tripping on LSD or something similar I think I actually saw a fic like that, but I can't remember the name of it.

 

BZZZZT--- Pepper-up Potion cures the common cold in CS. So there is canon evidence that wizards can get muggle illnesses.

There is no canon proof that shows one way or the other so this is a fanon device. The closest thing where the muggle way doesn't work is when Mr. Weasley gets bit by a "Magical" snake and the "Magical" poison prevents the holes from closing... muggle stitches don't work.

 

Harry compares the effects from a Dementor with a flue in canon, which suggests that wizards CAN be affected by Muggle deceases. I assume that they can be easily treated, however. I vaguely remember people using pepper-up potion for this purpose in CoS.

Didn't Slughorn and Hagrid get drunk from normal whine in HBP?

JKR interviews imply that active magic exists in wizards. She said somewhere that Muggles and Squibs can't make potions, and that an accident would take place if a Muggle touched a Wand.

 

Really? I'd be very interested to read whatever that's quoted from. Not saying you're wrong, just surprised and interested.

I could see the first one, about the potions, since in HBP the students needed to use Specialis Revelio to find out what poisons were mixed together or some such thing, and Muggles and Squibs would be shit-out-of-luck in that scenario, but an accident if a Muggle touched a wand? I can't imagine that being the case, especially with however many Muggleborn students going home with their wands every summer, and no doubt a few of them have little brothers and sisters who are Muggles and want to try doing magic.

Even with a Ministry of Magic unsympathetic to Muggleborns and their families, there would have to be some repercussions if every time a little sister touched a wand she got blasted into the ceiling or turned into a toad, if only because the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad would be working overtime every time underage Muggleborns went home for the holidays.

 

I tend to discount virtually everything JKR says outside of canon aside from birthdays and other mundane things. She usually screws things up when she tries to explain how or why things happen, not to mention the total wrongness of Albus being gay, the number of students that attend Hogwarts, etc., ad infinitum.

 

Completely forgot about this.

I know..I just hate it when people take the position in their fanfics that 'muggle' substances don't affect wizards.

As for Mr. Weasley's wound, perhaps the snake venom has corrosive properties, or somehow chemically reacts with the stitches to make them come apart.

Obviously you can't apply muggle solutions to most wizarding injuries due to their magical nature, so it's not really a surprise the stitches didn't work.

And why would Mr. Weasley need stitches anyway? I'm not an expert on snakes, but don't they leave little puncture wounds and not laceration wounds? I don't think you would ever need stitches for a snake bite...but then again like I said, I'm not an expert on the subject.

 

Nagini was supposedly a "Magical" snake. With magical poisonous venom that kept the wounds bleeding. I don't remember the hospital scene where Arthur or the doctor is explaining why the holes won't close up. I'm sure you can find your answer there.

 

That whole episode with the snake always struck me as stupid---what's the point of being a freaking venomous snake (who looks like a python, btw) if your modus operandi is to bite your victim so many times they bleed to death? I mean, snake fangs aren't the same as wolverine jaws--they're not built for heavy use. So either Arthur got bitten on a major artery, or it should have just been about getting poisoned, not bleeding to death. Man, that still annoys me.

 

Apparently Nagini is a big-ass snake and has super-jaws as well.

 

That was it. Thanks.