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Foci
Topic Started: Jan 17 2013, 04:46 AM (169 Views)
Felix Mort
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Headmaster

A Focus (pl.foci) is a quasi-sentient magical instrument through which a witch or wizard channels his or her magical powers. Most spells are done with the aid of Foci, but it is possible to do spells without the use of foci. Focus less magic is, however, very difficult and requires much concentration and incredible skill; only truly advanced wizards are known to perform such magic.
In addition, magic with a focus is mostly performed with an incantation, but Nonverbal spells are also possible for more experienced wizards and are a great deal more helpful in dueling, as the opponent has no way of knowing what spell you are going to cast and thus might not be able to adequately protect him or herself in time. foci are referred to as "quasi-sentient" because they are as close to animate as an inanimate object can get. This is because they are imbued with a great deal of magic.

Wands are manufactured and sold by Wandmakers, the most famous of these in Great Britain being Ollivander and Gregorovitch. Each wand is made of a specific type of wood with a magical substance making up the core. Although the wand cores may come from the same creature, or the wood may come from the same tree, no two existing wands are exactly alike. The study of the history and the magical properties of wands is called Wandlore.
Staffs and other foci is mostly gained outside of Great Britain since they focus more on the supremacy that is wands leaving foci like staffs, swords, instruments alone

Acquiring a focus
Most witches and wizards go to buy their first wand when they are eleven, just before starting their magical education. Most English wizards and witches get their wands at Ollivanders Wand Shop in Diagon Alley, where they may try out multiple wands until they find the one that suits them, or rather, the wand finds the wizard that suits it.
Other foci is gained the same way but in shops that sell them, some foci that is rare is only within some families (like Morts is the only ones with the knowledge of magical swords, and the holders of the bardic magic knows how to make magical instruments)

Wands and wandlore
Wandlore is a specific class of magic that refers to the history and magical properties of wands. Mr. Ollivander claims that it is a "complex and mysterious branch of magic." The idea that a focus chooses the wizard is a part of wandlore, as is the idea that foci can switch allegiance.
Material
Generally, wands are long, thin rods of wood with a magical substance embedded into their core. Some of the woods used include holly, hawthorn, hazel, oak, cherry, vine, rowan, ivy, rosewood, blackthorn, willow, elm, ash, mahogany, yew, birch, and elder. The cores that have been documented are phoenix feather, dragon heartstring, Veela hair, unicorn hair, and Thestral tail hair. The wandmaker Garrick Ollivander mentioned that he did not use Veela hair, as it made for "temperamental" wands. It is possible that other magical substances may be used for cores, but none have yet been specified. (role of this forum, you can have magical cores that is many different things like siren feather, but those wands most be from outside the uk since the uk wands is just phoenix feather, dragon heartstring, unicorn hair, staffs, is pretty much a bigger and thicker wand, other focuses is mostly made from the same stuff as wands, in this forum multicore, or multi wood type focuses is allowed but is far harder to control and is the mark of great wizards and is only allowed in adults due to the nature of these foci)
Other important characteristics of a wand are its length and its rigidity, ranging from "unyielding" to "springy." All of these different factors have some effect on the overall use of the wand itself, but it is currently unknown what they actually indeed do. The characteristics of a wand also seem to have some influence over which kinds of magic the wand is particularly suited for. For example, James Potter's wand was excellent at Transfiguration, and Lily Evans' wand was described as being nice for Charms work.
The exact process of making a wand is not known. Likely, it is as difficult and complex as wandlore itself.

General foci properties
In almost all documented cases, the wand chooses the wizard. This is due to the unique character of each wand, which must match that of the wizard, as the wizard may not be able to perform magic if his and his wand's characters conflict, or the magic may be sub-par to magic performed with the wizard's own wand. When trying out different wands, an aspiring wizard may cause some damage when he encounters wands that don't get along with him. Unfortunately, such trial and error is the only way to find a wand that matches the witch or wizard, and so Mr. Ollivander has become used to his shop becoming damaged on a constant basis.
Since numbers have known magical properties, it's also possible that the wand's length have some symbolic meaning related to their owners, much like their core. For example, the wand of Tom Riddle, a reputed dark wizard, measures 13½ inches and thirteen is commonly an omen of misfortune or evil in the folklore and religion of various cultures around the world.

Examples of damage caused by "mismatched" wands were seen in 1991, where wand boxes flew off of shelves and banged into walls and when a glass jar on a shelf was shattered as a result of Harry Potter waving the wrong sort of wands. He tried out many wands before he found the one that chose him. Apparently, a warm feeling is felt when the wizard or witch chooses the right wand, and the wand sometimes emits a few sparks or does some similar small sign of magic.


Wands are capable of changing masters. When a wand's master is disarmed, stunned, or killed, the wand may accept the old master's attacker as its new master. This is mostly observed in the Elder Wand, which, according to Albus Dumbledore, only respects power. The Elder Wand will transfer its allegiance even if its defeated master is not in possession of it at the time. It is unknown if other wands share this trait. Most wands share an affinity with their masters and will not easily discontinue their allegiance with the previous master if at all. Indeed it seems unlikely the original bond is severed; if it were, a defeated witch or wizard would be better served to acquire a new wand rather than continue using it, as it would no longer perform at its peak for them, yet this is not noted to happen. Furthermore, wands forcibly taken in circumstances of purely competitive or friendly nature, or are stolen without attacking the previous master will not change allegiance.
Wands can be broken by spells or by physical damage. Wands in this condition will have greatly reduced magical abilities. Even when repaired, the wand's magic will not improve and the wand may break again while performing magic. The Elder Wand is able to completely repair broken wands, although this ability may be lost if the current master (Harry Potter) dies undefeated, as most of the wand's power would disappear with him.

Wands are quasi-sentient, meaning that while they cannot think or communicate like a human, they can perform certain actions through their own will. This could be how they choose their wizard/witch, and also explains how Harry's wand was able to act on its own against Voldemort. Wands sometimes show hints of their personality, such as shyness (reluctance to get out of their box before being purchased). (foci other then wands share these with them, some wizards/witches know their foci’s personality and name their foci)
Rights of usage
Non-human beings, such as goblins and house-elves, are prohibited from owning or using wands. For goblins in particular, this has been a point of contention with the wizarding community, and has been the cause of some outbreaks of violence. It is unknown if any formal prohibition exists against Muggles possessing a wand, as they would be unable to use them anyway, although it could be considered a breach of the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy.
During the last year of the Second Wizarding War, the British Ministry of Magic was overthrown by the Death Eaters, and new laws were put into effect. Muggle-born witches and wizards were regarded as having "stolen" their magic from "real" witches and wizards, and their wands were confiscated. Those who were not imprisoned were usually left destitute.
In this forum foci is more wide spread, and wizards has lost the right to be the only foci users, but there is rules and non human foci users has one foci allowed, and if they break rules they lose them forever, there is also harder to get the ok to get foci for non wizarding folk

Known Foci Types
Wand: most common form of foci now, most of the world use them
Staff: old school wands, some use it, and some use it as a supplement to their wands (as in a magic staff you insert your wand in to and get that extra oomph)
Sword: this type of foci has popped up in many cultures over the years, from china to England, from the Americas to Eurasia, from Egypt to Norway. All places that have had great smiths that know about wandlore or how to make wands has at one point made a sword focus, but due to the simple fact, the blade gets in the way most never bothered to much with them. That being said, the Mort family is a family known for their sword “wands” and the fact they has made use of some spells to let you get rid of the blade part.
Musical instrument: musical instruments share much with the sword foci, musical instrument foci are commonly stringed instruments and you don’t wave them around you play songs on them, like the swords only one family now holds the knowledge of how to make a good musical instrument foci
There is also drum foci, used by shamans, this knowledge is still out there, the drum foci is the oldest known foci
There is flute foci, they are one of the more interesting foci as you can both wave them or play them for magic powers
Pen: a really modern and so far only concept magical foci, the pens are far weaker than a wand but is easier to hide, pen foci has the habit of breaking or messing up spells
Fan: for some time fans has used as magical foci, some still knows how to make them, fans are tricky foci since they can be used on open or closed form or even opening or closing them while waving them around
Shillelagh: see wands
Trident: see sword, and yes the morts know how to make foci tridents
Athame: same as sword, just smaller and more common then swords, they are the wand to the swords staff
Drumstick: one wizard has a drumstick wand, no one knows where or how he got it, it seems to be nothing more than a wand looking like a drumstick
Hockey stick: same as drumstick, owned by the same wizard, acts like his staff
Gauntlet: for a while knight wizards had no wands but rather their gauntlets, these foci goes more in to the finger movement then waving around
There is more foci types basically anything you can hold in your hand that is not horrible balanced or weighs too much, or is too small, or to slippery
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