Of witchcraft, of wizardry
I do not particularly like the gender-neutral term wixen coined by fandom - not because I know German, I also do not like the term magicals - but because it does not feel organic in-universe. We need a gender-neutral term, but there is a fundamental issue with choosing one that combines terms witch and wizard. It is true that throughout the series, when aimed at people of all genders, we almost always see wizards or witches – something that out-universe is caused by the existing literary tradition (The Worst Witch, etc.) It is also true that wizard and wizarding are used by default.
On paper, such double use of a term as both gender-specific and gender-neutral in the absence of grammatical gender in Modern English is asking for a term that does not function as a generic masculine.
None of the terms for magic users – save for warlock, which is male because of the -ck suffix, and initially not negatively connoted, unlike in the real world – are inherently gendered in the real world. However, I also do not agree that honouring the real-world usage of witch, wizard, mage, sorcerer, etc, as truly gender-neutral terms for magic users that simply practice different types of magic or represent different schools of thought works canonically.
Historically (in-universe), the world wizard was indeed gender neutral. The Sorting Hat, which is as old as the founders, still refers to the four of them as wizards:
There lived four wizards of renown, Whose names are still well known.
It is not a coincidence, as at this time witchcraft and wizardry were still separate practices. All founders were practising wizardry and thus were wizards; they represent a classical archetype of a wizard (etymologically it is derived from “wise”), since they are scholars, not some wild witches, and they build an academic institution. It just also so happens that with time Hogwarts starts teaching many forms of magic and becomes a school of witchcraft and wizardry.
Some of the classes like flying on brooms, potions, and divination are historically associated with women and witches[gender-neutral]. They are linked with the wild, the nature, the womanhood. (NB: the now regressive author used to be rather progressive by making both practices available to people of all genders).
Ironically, even we as fandom, started seeing broom flying as something that fits boyhood more than girlhood. Culturally, broom flying used to be associated almost exclusively with witches, brooms are after all a household item and were heavily associated with witch hunts, but as many things introduced to everybody, it started to be seen as more worthy of the boys. Slytherin implicitly favours boys over girls on their team, because Quidditch is seen as elite and flying is not feminine anymore.
Potions - like their real-world analogies of cooking and folk remedies - are left to men on a professional level and to women in the household. Feminine-coded Divination attracts as many girls as boys and is one of the main research areas in the DoM – and yet somehow it still looked down as irrational by some of the characters, while its more academic analogue - Arithmancy - is male-coded and respected.
Astronomy, History, Charms, Transfiguration, Arithmancy, Ancient Runes (and Alchemy, though it is not in the Curriculum) are associated with studied men, academics, sitting in libraries and wearing beards – and so with wizardry. Some of the classes are less obviously associated with either witchcraft or wizardry, but let us talk about it sometime later.
Other terms also appear to have once been widespread, but are currently largely obsolete. They stay in historical titles (Grand Sorc., Chf. Warloc., the Warlocks’ Convention of 1709, a sub-committee of Sardinian sorcerers). They are still used in the neutral stylistic register (Witching Hour, with the popular singing sorceress, Celestina Warbeck, warlock called Perkins), but there is a second negatively connoted meaning for each of them. It is especially obvious when used side-by-side (venerable-looking wizards arguing over the latest article in Transfiguration Today but wild-looking warlocks). Underage Sorcery is something wild, something you are supposed to stop using after having received the privilege to learn from books (hi Harry).
See, the only truly gender-neutral and practice-neutral term that is used in the series is wand-carriers, and it is uttered by a Goblin. Why? Well, because homo sapiens might have erased the differences between sorcery, witchcraft and wizardly, by generously allowing other homo sapiens, bar squibs, to study in one place, but the same courtesy is not given to other beings wielding or not wielding magic (Non-Wizard Part-Humans is the legal term for those of mixed descent, Magical Creatures is for those of non-human descent). Magicals also does not seem like a very inclusive term, since some of the creatures – merpeople, giants – do not wield magic.
So where does it leave us? Is wizard a better gender-neutral term? It leaves an opening for being truly inclusive once wandlore and Hogwarts are shared with everybody, but it defaults to wizardry as the preferred practice. “Wixen” does not solve this either, because “witch” and “wizard” have different stems. (Is is better to default to this stem?) Something derived from sorcerer and sorceress? Something derived from magician for humans, and something altogether different for all beings? Is the difference meaningful? Whatever the answer is, the magical society is very far from any form of consensus or even animated discussion on the topic.
