Harry Potter and the Skittering Spouse

Except, they already do know (they call it accidental magic), and still don't do it, because the way they're doing things is easier for them, and requires less effort to get to the level they're at.

Yes it would be a massive advantage to anyone who can get it working, but it's also so much more effort than most of them are willing to put in when wands work "just fine".

What I meant wasn't they didn't know about accidental magic but more that they know about it but still overwhelmingly use wands and premade spells. So I'm saying there should be a reason for that. One a bit more meaningful than everyone being lazy since that is improbable even in a small population.
 
People doing dumb things happens. And Harry Potter isn't worldbuilt to the highest standards... But on the whole for a society to consistently fail to realize that safe, freeform reality warping was possible is a pretty big ask. Because anyone who did think of that would be massively advantaged over those that didn't. So there should be a reason why nobody did and succeeded. And if Rowling failed to provide one one should be invented.

My thought was always a mixture of the obvious power boost and the ease of control. The way wands were talked about and introduced at the beginning, an the way sparks fly and all when you find the right one, it seemed to be that finding the right mix of magical materials let people channel their magic easier than just doing it with a thought, but more than that. Training people to think about something hard enough to turn the knack for accidental magic into someone repeatable and without accidents, when you're training children, is probably a whole lot harder than teaching them a swish and a flick and proper pronunciation for a reliable effect.
 
What I meant wasn't they didn't know about accidental magic but more that they know about it but still overwhelmingly use wands and premade spells. So I'm saying there should be a reason for that. One a bit more meaningful than everyone being lazy since that is improbable even in a small population.
There is a reason, using wands is just that much easier in terms of control and effect.
 
The problem is that ten thousand in Britain doesn't match some of the other numbers given in Canon. During the world cup, 500 wizards worked for a year to build the stadium and grounds. That means that they had 500 government workers to spare from other duties in the ministry. Given the need to keep aurors, office workers, all the people that keep the government running on duty, that means that the MoM has at least 1000 plus workers, and no government can afford to keep that many employees working. Ten percent of the population?

So, either the MoM has twice as many workers as they have jobs for, there are more than 10k wizards... or JKR made another silly math error.

Take your pick.
 
The problem is that ten thousand in Britain doesn't match some of the other numbers given in Canon. During the world cup, 500 wizards worked for a year to build the stadium and grounds. That means that they had 500 government workers to spare from other duties in the ministry. Given the need to keep aurors, office workers, all the people that keep the government running on duty, that means that the MoM has at least 1000 plus workers, and no government can afford to keep that many employees working. Ten percent of the population?

So, either the MoM has twice as many workers as they have jobs for, there are more than 10k wizards... or JKR made another silly math error.

Take your pick.
Or they temporarily hired people who aren't normally government personnel? That's what most muggle governments do for that kind of project.
 
To the best of my knowledge there is no canon about this... So if you want to claim otherwise please supply a quote.
Contrary to your apparent belief, there is a lot of canon and wog about this, I have neither the time nor inclination to search for it all for you. Maybe you should start with book 6 where the difficulty of things increase drastically with something as minor as not saying the spell out loud, or the African school that exclusively teaches wandless magic.

So, either the MoM has twice as many workers as they have jobs for, there are more than 10k wizards... or JKR made another silly math error.
The Ministry, St. Mungos, and Diagon + Knockturn Alleys seem to be the only readily available sources of employment, so I'd say that they Ministry could possibly employ a much larger part of the population than would happen in the non-magical world. I don't think taxes are the Ministry's primary source of money to spend.

The main job of the Ministry appears to be not only governing but also managing the magical world and making sure its interactions with the non-magical world don't reveal it. The Wizengamot itself, with the Minister and Chief Warlock appear to be the actual governmental aspects, the rest is law enforcement, bureaucracy, and research.
 
Guys, the fuck is even going on right now? I don't have population numbers honestly I don't know if anyone does. Only numbers I care about are combatants. Voldy had what 20-30 inner circle lieutenants some of whom where more political and less combat Mrs. Malfoy springs to mind. Prolly no more than ten grunts per lieutenant? Prolly closer to five honestly maybe as few as three. Ministry has… how many aurors who utterly fail to accomplish anything? Of course after voldy takes over and people go belly up there are all the regular mooks with no conscience that pick up work as snatchers and whatever else but they aren't relevant yet. And the Order is like 30-50 people? most of whom are too old or undertrained for any kind of combat op. Harry's defense group prolly numbers… what? 70-100 kids (seriously how many I can't freaking remember and don't have access to book 5 right now) maybe half of that being old/skilled enough that they won't just instantly die if they break cover? No idea how many are mentally prepared to fight for their lives.

… I hate wizards so damn much if this were anything approaching conventional combat… anyway.

Magic systems. I really don't care what they teach in other parts of the world. No one is going to have access to books on those styles of spell casting and Taylor isn't about to reinvent them. Or create new methods. I have one planned moment of glory for the international community. And it doesn't really need any kind of explanation, hand waving will do fine. Taylor isn't getting a wand but I do have plans to let her run wild with a branch of magic that gets no love in canon despite the massive role it played in setting the stage.
 
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I don't have population numbers honestly I don't know if anyone does.
Do take care to not facepalm reading the following.

[source] General population:
Let's say three thousand [in Britain], actually, thinking about it, and then think of all the magical creatures

[source] School population:
There are about a thousand students at Hogwarts.
This one is somewhat consistent: Chapter 12 of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix has "thirty of his classmates" line. This gives a total student population of about 840, with 210 (thirty per year, times seven years) or so in each House.
 
yeah, if you start bringing numbers and logic into canon, it starts falling apart. That why I consider it more of suggestion than rule.

I personaly like the most "big magical Britain" where magical population is total about 1% of total population. So about 670 000 mages, and magical beings that pay taxes. Yes, in this version Hogwards isn't really the only school in britain, just the most popular and the rest simply isn't mentioned, because Harry did not research about it.
 
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I'm not certain what's going on in the general conversations right now, buuuut...

I do have plans to let her run wild with a branch of magic that gets no love in canon despite the massive role it played in setting the stage.
My guess? Potions, Care of Magical Creatures, or Herbology. All three of which don't need the person using them to have magic. Potions, I think Taylor would appreciate having the equivalent of mix and match magical handgrenades. Care of Magical Creatures, well she DID show that through observation she could learn to command Rachel's dogs. And Newt Scamander's friend was a muggle and learned how to handle some magical creatures. Herbology, it's basically just like with potions. Certain magical plants don't even need to be processed to be useful/dangerous.
 
IMO what makes the most sense to me is for magical Britain to be about the size of a small town, population-wise, so most, if not all kids go to Hogwarts (40-ish per year post-population drop from the war). I mean, everyone knows everyone and everything about how things work screams 'small town politics'
 
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Voldy had what 20-30 inner circle lieutenants
That's a bit of a big number. And the Inner Circle isn't all Lieutenants, though they have more authority.
There's a difference between being a regular Death Eater, an Inner Circle member, and a Lieutenant. Inner Circe is who he called to the Graveyard for his rebirth. The regular Death Eaters are even less than them, and he's got irregulars and Imperiused people among that number. The Lieutenants, however, are just 5 or so people.

Lieutenants: Bellatrix, Malfoy, Rookwood, Dolohov, and Snape (maybe Snape isn't.)
Inner Circle: Death Eaters
Allies: People who were unmarked but close to Inner Circle members like Narcissa and the younger heirs of the Death Eater families
Rabble: Werewolves and thugs taken in, the Imperiused, unskilled witches and wizards who weren't recruited by Voldemort himself and don't have connection to the original Knights of Walpurgis or their founding family members.
And the Order is like 30-50 people?
harrypotter.fandom.com

Order of the Phoenix

The Order of the Phoenix was a secret society founded by Albus Dumbledore to oppose Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters. The original Order was created in the 1970s. It was constructed after Voldemort returned to England from abroad and started his campaign to take over the Ministry of Magic and...
Seems like there's 39 named characters in it, could be more who go un-named, and they've got their own non-member allies as well that might not always get remembered, like Flitwick, Sprout, Slughorn, Lee Jordan (created Potterwatch radio), Madam Maxime, and Percy Weasley who can easily be said to be another Snape who was loyally reporting to the Order after all.
70-100 kids (seriously how many I can't freaking remember and don't have access to book 5 right now)
harrypotter.fandom.com

Dumbledore's Army

Dumbledore's Army (also known as the D.A.) was a secret organisation initiated by Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley in 1995. The goal of this organisation was to teach their fellow Hogwarts students proper Defence Against the Dark Arts, as the DADA Professor during the 1995–1996...
Somewhere between 36 (Named Characters) and 42+, but probably not more than 60 kids.
 
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I'm not certain what's going on in the general conversations right now, buuuut...


My guess? Potions, Care of Magical Creatures, or Herbology. All three of which don't need the person using them to have magic. Potions, I think Taylor would appreciate having the equivalent of mix and match magical handgrenades. Care of Magical Creatures, well she DID show that through observation she could learn to command Rachel's dogs. And Newt Scamander's friend was a muggle and learned how to handle some magical creatures. Herbology, it's basically just like with potions. Certain magical plants don't even need to be processed to be useful/dangerous.
yeah, those 3 where my guess as well, for much the same reasons. Even if she can't do the potions herself, well, she was just married into money. They can hire a potioneer. no need for a master there, workable is fine.

and the ease of procurement for magical creatures, with access to Hagrid, possible connections to Newt, and clear access to the forbidden forest. And an infested Black mannor

plants might be harder to get in viable quantities and have risks involved unless she can use house-elfs or bugs to take care of a fast-growing dangerus plant.
 
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I like the idea of Taylor using Potion but in my personal headcanon potion can only be brewed by a Wizard or Witch, because they imbued some of their magic during the process. If that wasn't the case, anyone including Muggle and Squib could brew potions which would add yet another plothole in a setting that's already full of them.
My bet would be on Divination. This Admitely presents the same problem as potions, moreso even but it could perhaps be handwaved with enchanted tools.
 
inistry has… how many aurors who utterly fail to accomplish anything?
Well, US states seem to vary between roughly 3 and 6 police officers per 1000 people. Wizarding Britain seems to have probably between 12,000 and 3,000 people, so between 9 and 72 police officers. And that number include bureaucrats, and probably specialists, though not DEA, FBI, NSA, etc.
It's also not clear whether wizards would need more or fewer aurors per person than muggles (asuming maintenance of the Statue is separate): more, because everyone is armed, or less, because apparition means they don't have to station people geographically, and can just stick with a quick-reaction force.

The number of death eaters is tricky to estimate, but we can make very sketchy guesses. Of the nine named slytherins in Harry's year, three were known death eater combatants (of dubious quality) (Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle), Nott had a death eater parent, Pansy seemed to be pretty outspokenly non-anti-Voldemort, and Daphne's sister married Draco, which presumably means she isn't virulently anti-Voldemort.
It's very unlikely that's representative, but that would be 1/12 of the population willing to fight for Voldemort (at least, if they thought there was no risk, and were peer-pressured into it). That would put nearly 20 times as many death eater combatants as aurors. Even if likely a fifth of them were as good as a professional auror, they'd still be outnumbered 4:1.
And it really doesn't take much for a wizard to be dangerous; a month of full-time drills using spells they learned in class would likely make them able to contribute, at least en masse.

Overall, I would guess the aurors are significantly outnumbered.
 
Do take care to not facepalm reading the following.

[source] General population:


[source] School population:

This one is somewhat consistent: Chapter 12 of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix has "thirty of his classmates" line. This gives a total student population of about 840, with 210 (thirty per year, times seven years) or so in each House.

That assumes similar sized classes and that the war classes (those older than Harry's arent significantly smaller vis a vis deaths) or that the baby boom post war was a large enough one to offset those losses.
 
Yeah, there's forty named students in Harry's year, and assuming that's fairly typical, around 280 total in Hogwarts. Which makes much more sense with the other numbers for Hogwarts things we're given in the text (one teacher per subject, one sports team of seven players per house).
 
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