I lied, put your clothes back on. I’m going to explain how I think the wands in Harry Potter are tools that help the government control the population.
How the Trace in Harry Potter Works Because it Bothered Me
So, this fandom likes to talk about how contradictory the Trace in the books is. The Trace, as in the Ministry’s tool to locate and track underage magic.
Like with Horcuxes, I've seen theories about how the Trace works, but none of them really covered everything or made magical sense to me (when broken down into Alchemical components).
So, I'm here again to explain how spells work in Harry Potter because someone has to.
Let's Cover What We Know:
1. The Trace is defined as a "Charm" that detects magical activity around underage wizards:
“Second problem. You’re underage, which means you’ve still got the Trace on you.”
“I don’t—”
“The Trace, the Trace!” said Mad-Eye impatiently. “The charm that detects magical activity around under-seventeens, the way the Ministry finds out out about underage magic! If you, or anyone around you, casts a spell to get you out of here, Thicknesse is going to know about it, and so will the Death Eaters.
“We can’t wait for the Trace to break, because the moment you turn seventeen you’ll lose all the protection your mother gave you. In short: Pius Thicknesse thinks he’s got you cornered good and proper.”
(Deathly Hollows, page 46)
2. The Trace instantly alerts the ministry when magic is cast.
“Harry, you don’t understand! Dumbledore will need to act as
quickly as possible, the Ministry have their own ways of detecting underage magic, they’ll know already, you mark my words —”
(Order of the Pheonix, page 22)
3. The Trace automatically broke upon a wizard or witch's seventeenth birthday; Remus Lupin and Ron Weasley both claimed it was impossible for the Trace to continue to affect a person over the age of seventeen and that it could not be placed on an adult.
“But how did they find us?” Hermione asked, looking from one inert man to the other. “How did they know where we were?”
She turned to Harry.
“You—you don’t think you’ve still got your Trace on you, do you, Harry?”
“He can’t have,” said Ron. “The Trace breaks at seventeen, that’s Wizarding law, you can’t put it on an adult.”
(Deathly Hollows, page 147)
“We wondered,” said Hermione tentatively, “whether Harry could still have the Trace on him?”
“Impossible,” said Lupin. Ron looked smug, and Harry felt hugely relieved. “Apart from anything else, they’d know for sure Harry was here if he still had the Trace on him, wouldn’t they? But I can’t see how they could have tracked you to Tottenham Court Road, that’s worrying, really worrying.”
(Deathly Hollows, page 178)
4. Students can use magic freely in Hogwarts and on the Hogwarts Express as we see many times in the books.
5. The Ministry trusted magical parents to properly discipline their children if they performed magic, due to the fact that the parents' own magic would constantly interfere with the Trace.
With two loud cracks, Fred and George, Ron’s elder twin brothers,
had materialized out of thin air in the middle of the room. Pigwidgeon twittered more wildly than ever and zoomed off to join Hedwig on top of the wardrobe.
(Order of the Pheonix, page 68) — example of Fred and George apparating (doing magic) inside Grimmuld Place before they are seventeen and the Trace not activating.
6. Children who grew up in the Muggle world, such as Harry Potter, are more closely monitored — any magic performed at or near 4 Privet Drive was assumed to have been caused by him because he was the only known magical person living in his neighborhood (Both with Dobby in CS and the Patronus Charm in OOP).
Dear Mr. Potter,
We have received intelligence that a Hover Charm was used at your place of residence this evening at twelve minutes past nine.
As you know, underage wizards are not permitted to perform spells outside school, and further spellwork on your part may lead to expulsion from said school (Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery, 1875, Paragraph C).
We would also ask you to remember that any magical activity that
risks notice by members of the non-magical community (Muggles) is a serious offense under section 13 of the International Confederation of Warlocks’ Statute of Secrecy.
Enjoy your holidays!
Yours sincerely,
Mafalda Hopkirk
IMPROPER USE OF MAGIC OFFICE
Ministry of Magic
(Chamber of Secrets, page 27)
Dear Mr. Potter,
We have received intelligence that you performed the Patronus Charm at twenty-three minutes past nine this evening
in a Muggle-inhabited area and in the presence of a Muggle.
The severity of this breach of the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery has resulted in your expulsion from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Ministry representatives will be calling at your place of residence shortly to destroy your wand.
(Order of the Pheonix, page 26)
“We have no record of any witch or wizard living in Little Whinging other than Harry Potter,” said Madam Bones at once.
(Order of the Phoenix, page 143)
6. Hagrid used magic around Harry before his first year, with no ministry warning letter.
He [Hagrid] brought the umbrella swishing down through the air to point at Dudley — there was a flash of violet light, a sound like a firecracker, a sharp squeal, and the next second, Dudley was dancing on the spot with his hands clasped over his fat bottom, howling in pain. When he turned his back on them, Harry saw a curly pig’s tail poking through a hole in his trousers.
(Philosopher's Stone, page 45)
7. Similarly, Hermione has said she successfully tried out "a few simple spells" before her first year. No ministry warning was issued for her either because she hasn't arrived at Hogwarts yet
"Are you sure that's a real spell?" said the girl. "Well, it's not very good, is it? I've tried a few simple spells just for practice and it's all worked for me. Nobody in my family's magic at all, it was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course, I mean, it's the very best school of witchcraft there is, I've heard -- I've learned all our course books by heart, of course, I just hope it will be enough -- I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, who are you.
(Sorcerer's Stone, page 105)
8. Childhood accidental magic isn't picked up by the Trace.
Snape had removed his coat now; his odd smock looked less peculiar in the half light. “. . . and the Ministry can punish you if you do magic outside school, you get letters.”
“But I have done magic outside school!”
“We’re all right. We haven’t got wands yet. They let you off when you’re a kid and you can’t help it. But once you’re eleven,” he nodded importantly, “and they start training you, then you’ve got to go careful.”
(Deathly Hallows, page 666)
9. When Arthur Weasley used magic around Harry to pick him up in 1994, no ministry warning arrived.
“Boys, boys . . .” said Mr. Weasley vaguely. “I’m trying to think
what to do. . . . Yes . . . only way . . . Stand back, Harry.”
Harry retreated to the sofa. Uncle Vernon, however, moved forward.
“Wait a moment!” he bellowed at the fire. “What exactly are you
going to —”
BANG.
The electric fire shot across the room as the boarded-up fireplace
burst outward, expelling Mr. Weasley, Fred, George, and Ron in a
cloud of rubble and loose chippings.
(Goblet of Fire, page 44)
10. The Order used magic when picking up Harry in 1995 after he was already set for a hearing for the Patronus charm. No warning came from the ministry for the magic of the Order members.
“Don’t be stupid, it’ll be much quicker if I — pack!” cried Tonks,
waving her wand in a long, sweeping movement over the floor.
Books, clothes, telescope, and scales all soared into the air and flew pell-mell into the trunk.
(Order of the Pheonix, page 53)
“How’re we getting — wherever we’re going?” Harry asked. “Brooms,” said Lupin. “Only way. You’re too young to Apparate, they’ll be watching the Floo Network, and it’s more than our life’s worth to set up an unauthorized Portkey.”
(Order of the Pheonix, page 51)
11. The Trace didn't pick up the magic on the magic in the graveyard during Voldemort's resurrection.
12. Neither did it pick up on Tom when he murdered the Riddle family in the summer between his fifth and sixth year (He was sixteen at the time, and therefore still underage)
“But how come the Ministry didn’t realize that Voldemort had done all that to Morfin?” Harry asked angrily. “He was underage at the time, wasn’t he? I thought they could detect underage magic!”
“You are quite right — they can detect magic, but not the perpetrator: You will remember that you were blamed by the Ministry for the Hover Charm that was, in fact, cast by —”
“Dobby,” growled Harry; this injustice still rankled. “So if you’re underage and you do magic inside an adult witch or wizard’s house, the Ministry won’t know?”
“They will certainly be unable to tell who performed the magic,” said Dumbledore, smiling slightly at the look of great indignation on Harry’s face. “They rely on witch and wizard parents to enforce their offspring’s obedience while within their walls.”
“Well, that’s rubbish,” snapped Harry. “Look what happened here, look what happened to Morfin!”
(Half-Blood Prince, page 368)
13. Harry and Hermione hang out in the burrow in summer where magic is constantly cast around them, yet, no warnings of Underage Sorcery are issued.
“Oh for heaven’s sake,” she snapped, now directing her wand at
a dustpan, which hopped off the sideboard and started skating
across the floor, scooping up the potatoes.
(Goblet of Fire, page 58) — example of Molly casting magic at The Burrow near Harry and her kids.
So, How Does it Work?
The Trace isn't placed on wizards and witches but on locations. In both occurrences, Harry received a warning for Underage Magic mentioning his documented place of residence. It is also repeated again and again, the Trace can't pick up who cast the magic, just where.
So, my conclusions are that the Trace is old magic, probably older than the ministry and no one really knows how it was cast or how it works anymore. But the Ministry knows how to use it.
They keep the knowledge very secret and don't share it with almost anyone. We can see that by the way Lupin and Ron talk about the trace in completely different terminology than the likes of Dumbledore or Madam Bones. They also say it's illegal and impossible to cast the Trace on an adult wizard. I think they're right because the trace is never cast on wizards and witches at all.
I believe the Trace is a charm cast on the entirety of Britain and Ireland and picks up all magic cast in there. When magic is cast, the ministry gets a notice that describes what was cast and where.
The ministry office that receives the notice then looks over the documentation of wizard residences. If an adult wizard lives in the location where the magic was cast, they are assumed to have cast the magic. If no wizard lives in the area, it is assumed to have been cast by an adult wizard passing by.
With muggleborn and muggle-raised wizards and witches, they only have their place of residence updated in the ministry documentation once they start Hogwarts, hence why childhood accidental magic isn't traced.
In the case of the Riddle's murder, Morfin was the only wizard documented to be living in the area, therefore all the magic traced in Little Hangelton was assumed to be done by him.
And no wizards were documented to be living in Little Hangleton during Voldemort's resurrection, hence no trace.
Arthur had to inform the ministry of the floo connection in the summer of 1994 because there was an office regulating the floo network. Therefore, they knew he'd be there so the magic was attributed to him. The same goes with the Order since Shacklebolt was a ministry official when the ministry was still under Fudge.
For fanfic purposes, it means that no one could trace Harry's magic to him the moment he's far enough away from Private Drive.
Marjorie Taylor Greene Harassing Parkland Shooting Survivor and Gun Control Activist David Hogg
What is truly astonishing to me is that this was posted by Marjorie Taylor Greene (MTG) herself. She’s proud of it. This is what she wrote:
Needless to say, this really upset people like Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter died in the Parkland shooting.
Besides the video showing Marjorie Taylor Greene to be an awful, insensitive human being, it also shows that she is very ignorant about guns and schools.
* * *
Armed Guards at Schools Don’t Deter Mass Shootings
For instance, there is no evidence that armed guards at schools deter shootings. According to Alex Yablon, writing for The Trace:
But the record usually doesn’t back up the deterrence theory — gunmen have often targeted schools with armed guards. In four high-profile 2018 school shootings — Kentucky’s Marshall County High School in January; Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in February; Maryland’s Great Mills High School in March, and Santa Fe High School in Texas in May — attackers stormed campuses despite the presence of armed guards. In all four of those cases, guards failed to stop the gunman from killing. [emphasis added]
According to Yablon, there are only “a handful of documented cases in which an armed security guard or police officers have stopped a school shooting.” Furthermore:
In the 25 shootings in the [Texas State University’s] ALERRT study that targeted schools, none were brought to an end by armed staff, guards or police officers returning fire. These shootings most commonly ended when the shooters were restrained by unarmed staff. [emphasis added]
* * *
If Americans Wanted to Stop Mass School Shootings They Would Ban Military-Style Assault Weapons
According to Clifton Leaf, writing for Fortune, following a 1996 shooting where 35 people died in Port Arthur, Australia, “semi-automatic and other military-style weapons” were banned in Australia. Leaf goes on to say:
So what happened after the assault-weapon ban? Well therein lies the other half of the story twist noted above: Nothing.
Nothing, that is, in a good way.
Australian independence didn’t end. Tyranny didn’t come. Australians still hunted and explored and big-wave surfed to their hearts’ content. Their economy didn’t crash; Invaders never arrived. Violence, in many forms, went down across the country, not up. Somehow, lawmakers on either side of the gun debate managed to get along and legislate.
As for mass killings, there were no more.* Not one in the past 22 years.
[emphasis added]
_________
*More accurately, there were no more Australian mass shooting deaths in the double digits since 1996. The highest number of Australian mass shooting deaths since 1996 happened in 2018 when a grandfather killed 6 of his family members and then himself.
What if it's the Hogwarts House Elves that attach the Trace?
I’ve written about the Trace before because we have a lot of disparate information about the Trace and while we know it seems to primarily track magic cast via wands we also know that House Elves can set it off. For a full run-down see my post over Here.
The most essential points here are: we know it's not on the wands themselves from the moment they're bought because Hermione cast spells prior to getting on the train without reprimand and nor is it magic in general because accidental magic is how Hogwarts identifies it’s students. Similarly, if it was on the wands from the moment of their sale then things such as Ron’s initial wand shouldn’t have the Trace on it - Ron’s wand in first and second year was secondhand from his brother Charlie. From this, it seems like the Trace only begins after they first attend Hogwarts and it doesn't seem to track only magic cast via wands. Harry's first notice for magic at home was due to Dobby who did not have a wand and yet Dobby was able to pin that on Harry.
Now, a teacher asking to look at a student's wand would probably be a bit weird? Wands are pretty essential, ownership and being the “master” of your wand is a whole complex magical Thing. But a House Elf? A House Elf who’s cleaning up around the school, picking up stray items and returning them, cleaning out pockets when doing the laundry, dusting the bedside cabinets where students leave their wands overnight... they’d have plenty of cause to see and touch and move someone's wand - and attach the Trace.
This could also serve to explain 1. Why House Elf magic can be used to trigger the Trace and 2. Why it's only after attending Hogwarts that the Trace is apparent.
If anyone has thoughts I’d be interested to hear them! Tagging @tobermoriansass and @cosmonauthill on this cos I’m interested to hear your thoughts!
