Harry Potter Re-working the world of Harry Potter

[Carandol]

True. All I'm saying is that the amount of effort needed should be taken into account when judging plausibility. At some point even with wizarding magic to help, the amount of effort and competence needed because difficult to sewallow - though what that point is will obviously vary.

There's always going to help a certain amount of suspension of disbelief required, things brushed under the carpet, but you can move the problem area around, or spread it out more thinly. You just can't eliminate it completely.

My preference is that wizards had a low impact on muggle history, which is implausible without further explanation, making the cover up relatively simple. It's also quite possible that they had a massive impact, which needs a significant continuing effort to keep it concealed. Both options are valid, as are all the points on the spectrum in between.

 

[Prince Charon]

True. All I'm saying is that the amount of effort needed should be taken into account when judging plausibility.? At some point even with wizarding magic to help, the amount of effort and competence needed because? difficult to sewallow - though what that point is will obviously vary.

There's always going to help a certain amount of suspension of disbelief required, things brushed under the carpet, but you can move the problem area around, or spread it out more thinly. You just can't eliminate it completely.

My preference is that wizards had a low impact on muggle history, which is implausible without further explanation, making the cover up relatively simple. It's also quite possible that they had a massive impact, which needs a significant continuing effort to keep it concealed. Both options are valid, as are all the points on the spectrum in between.

Perhaps they started withdrawing from Muggle society around the time of Arthur, with Merlin being one of the last to try. Of course, the question is, why did they?

There's also the possibility that the magical population was very small, compared to the human population in general, and powerful mages rarer still. That can be supported by canon, and explains their general lack of influence. Further, we know the dates that some spells and items were invented, so it follows that earlier magic-users didn't have those spells and items. Thus, you could say they had little influence, because they lacked the power to do so.

 

[divad]

I would expect that wizards of the past would have been much less skilled in magic just as muggles of the past had inferior tools. However if you just know the levetation charm you are instantly better off then your fellows as I have gone over. Knowing even the most basic magic would make you effectively richer then you would otherwise be, a wealth that like most wealth would build on its self so long as it isn't squandered. This would increase thier birth rate to a higher level then the muggles just because they would be better fed so they would get pregnant easier, miscarry less, and more children would reach adulthood. Furthermore this would also mean they they would die less often of illness because they would eat better and live in better conditions. Wizards and witchs breed wizards and witchs causing the percentage of the population to increase.

 

[Carandol]

When were wands invented? Before then, wizarding magic was a lot less effective, and they're not a trivial thing to invent.

Off-hand, I think magic wands only show up in European folklore sometime around 1000-1200 AD. Wizards could have had them earlier than that, but not necessarily much earlier.

 

[Deleted member 5249]

Wands according to Hp have at least existed since 382 B.C. Ollivander's family have been making them since then. It's probably much older than that though.

 

[divad]

Yes, and what is more is that they were working magic before that.