It's a tricky question... What is magic? "Magick is the science and art of causing change to occur in conformity with the Will."? (Aleister Crowley,
The Book of Thoth, 1944.) No, I'm not telling you to trust Crowley, who's a
very dodgy character, but that's one definition. Magic is the (conscious, human) mind bypassing Physics as
she is known. (Or, some would say, not looking
deep enough.)
Problem? Potter-verse magic doesn't obviously work that way. It uses a set of mnemonics (spells) and a 'magical' tool (a wand). But, the most skilled can bypass most of that. And, there's 'unconscious use of magic' (*cough*
accidental *cough*), which seems to be sorta a defensive reflex, noted in magical children.
Note there is nothing about genetics there, more observation of what happens. There is nothing in that to say (almost) all humans aren't unconscious users of magic. Just that this is below the level that magicals pick-up.
Selection pressure, evolution, would seem likely to increase the survival chances for those who use magic. Maybe we should be asking what the
down-side of conscious magic use is?
(Some might say... that magicals are... a
little short on being rational... Consider
Human genetic resistance to malaria. Too much magical ancestry is contra-survival/causes infertility? Of course, mundanes aren't arguably much better on the rationality front.
)
Is QA stopping Taylor suffering the really bad sides of conscious magic use? Protecting her from the Potter-verse really messing her up?
Yes, this is a
slightly different question from the one most people ask.
