Hc that different types of elves are able to use magic in different ways/to different levels.
I will be focusing more on the avari and silvan elves as i am known to do:
Magic, in this sense, is more like the life force that flows through everything and everyone. Elves generate an extra amount of it which, they then can use through pathways in their body. Humans and dwarves, etc, are rarely able to use magic to an effective result bc they don’t generate as much as elves and aren’t built with the pathways to access it, though dwarves can occasionally channel the magic around them into the objects they create.
Silvans actually have a surprisingly high level of magic usage, even more than their valinorian counterparts, though most of it is passive. A surprising amount of people will hear “silvans can communicate with trees” and then never proceed to link it to magic usage. Of course it varies silvan to silvan, but a well trained silvan can actively use magic to protect and defend and lay down wards. Their link with the world around them through trees also allows them to boost their own magic when they need it. It’s because of this especially why silvans do not like being underground. Thranduil and Legolas are actually rather adept magic users, though they don’t show it off.
There’s also a type of elf that cannot use magic at all. These are the Fawneli elves. They are considered the strongest elves in the world, to the point they can pick up boulders the size of a palace and toss them about without breaking a sweat. They’re fast and their hardy. They are also referred to as “mini-giants” because it is as if someone took a giant and shrunk them, but kept all their strength in tact. However, in return for this strength, they are unable to use even the slightest bit of magic and are completely cut off from it. The Fawneli are mostly desert elves, and nomads. They don’t have a governing body and sadly most of them were hunted down and enslaved, which was made easier due to their vulnerability to magic of all kinds. There’s only a few dozen left in the world by the end of the third age.
If silvans were magic positive, and the Fawneli were magic neutral, than the Okreans are magic negative. Not only are they capable of seeing through any magic disguise of anyone, including maia and vala, but they are also mostly immune to any and all magic thrown at them. Whenever they are around, magic actively deteriorates. As a result, they are elves of science. And, as a result, the Valar do not like the Okreans as they see them as a threat bc of this immunity. Because the Vala saw them as a threat, they massacred the Okreans, with Tulkas and Orome themselves coming down to kill off these elves, during the second age. Only 8 Okreans surivied, including Kleoyia (though she was only 8 at the time), and they were cursed by the vala to live in agony untill they either killed themselves, or lost themselves to madness.
The Atric Elves share their magic with the forms of beasts. Individually, they cannot cast it the way most do, but rather they obtain the form of animals with their magic and get power through that. The Atric elves live in the the far north, mostly in the arctic circle, and thus tend to share the forms of arctic animals, whether they be from the land, air, or sea.
Aquatic elves are, as the name describes, elves that live in bodies of water, emphasis on in. Way back at the lake, they decided that the water was much safer than land, and so they took a plunge and never looked back. Aquatic elves are often refered to as mer-folk or sirens. Parts of their body take on shapes of aquatic life, and they come in many shapes and sizes. They have abit of a rivalry with the Atric elves, specifically the Atric elves that shape-shift into aquatic animal forms, as they compete for food. The silvans, however, they have a good trade relationship with. The Aquatic elves will provide silvans with good seafood, and in turn the silvans will give them a lot of land meat and vegetables the Aquatic elves can’t reach.
Sucian elves are probably the most common of Avari elves. They are also referred to as spiritual elves. Their magic mostly comes from their own power, and many will use tools in order to aid themselves. There are two major Sucian elf empires: the Bali’tsa empire and the Qitian empire. What is unique about the Sucian elves is that they can pass on their power to others, though it is extremely difficult. It is also the most diverse of the magic types, and tends to be more unique to each family.
Lastly you have the Agpetian elves, who get their power assigned to them, assumably by Eru himself. As far as i’m aware there’s no rhyme or reason as to why they get the magic they get, but when a child becomes 100 days old, their magic will display itself. As a result, they tend to be a little more…. Religious? Than other avari, though they do not worship or care for the valar at all.