ANCR-701 Lessons

As students filter in this week, chatter is rather mundane, consisting of last night’s menu and this weekend’s Quidditch match. However, as normality unfolds around most of the class, one desk starts glowing in what most knowledgeable Seventh Years would call an ominous way. The owner of the desk sits wide-eyed and frozen, not daring to move as they regard their desk with abject horror.  Fortunately, Professor Wessex strides in with impeccable timing, though the student in question may not be feeling so lucky. A series of complex wand movements and many quickly-uttered guttural incantations later, the desk is returned to normal and a strange object is seen flying swiftly out of the desk and into Professor Wessex’s waiting hand. 

With a glare as sharp as a goblin-forged sword, the Slytherin Deputy returns the artefact to a little-used shelf in the corner of the classroom. This evening, she doesn’t spare a glance at her enchanted parchment and quill which, up until now, has been furiously recording events. As the student attempts to sink further in their chair than physically possible, Professor Wessex rounds on the class to begin today’s topic. 

Introduction
It is past time we began class; there is much to discuss and digest. Our topic today, for those of you who have deigned to pay attention to the syllabus, is the practice of detecting magical traces, which, as any of you with common sense should be aware of, applies to nearly all artefacts in this room. Our look at magical traces will at first be a broad one -- as this may be the first occasion you have studied the topic -- before narrowing in on exactly how this applies to ancient runes.

Magic Always Leaves A Mark
Something as powerful and personal as magic always leaves a footprint behind. This, to our current knowledge, appears to be a constant in all types of magic, spanning from House-Elves to potions and even to plants. If something or someone is magical, they will be giving off a sort of trace in one way or another.  Before we move on, it is imperative that I make clear this is not at all related to the Trace put on underaged magical persons; the government is certainly not staffed with an army of workers who are able to detect each underaged witch’s magical trace in such a foolproof way, which is, as you will learn in just a moment, impossible. Instead, I am saying that all magic is in some way detectable, even in the tiny amounts given off by magical plants.

And when I say all magic, I do mean all. Technically speaking, magical creatures could also be detected via magical traces, though an attempt to do so would be rather useless. Most magical creatures do not stand still very well, nor would they enjoy being subjected to tests. Additionally, most people do not see a need to check if a strange, fire-breathing thing is magical. That is to say, magical creatures usually have other, more obvious ways of incriminating themselves as something other than a common housecat.

It is a similar story with people and other beings. Yes, if someone studied long enough to become adept at it, they might be able to tell who was a witch or a wizard from just being near enough to them. However, the proximity required would be, at best, obvious, and at worst, an incredibly uncomfortable way to introduce yourself to a stranger. Close physical contact would likely be necessary. As such, there isn’t much use for that skill; there are much easier ways of telling if a being is magical, such as if they whip out their wand or catch onto your subtle magical references. So, no one -- or at least no one who has ever bothered sharing their findings -- has ever gotten enough experience to get to that point.

Pushing the Limits
With the introductory details out of the way, the next question that inquiring minds ask should be about the limits of this phenomenon. One such question might be about the duration of these invisible traces. Unfortunately, one defined length of time, or even a surefire formula to calculate a number based on an array of variables, does not yet exist. There are certain guidelines and approximations, but certainly more will be revealed with time. 

One thing that is certain is that cut plants or deceased beings have the shortest timespan, since they are actively decaying, along with the traces of magic they held. It’s not impossible to detect magic in a fallen Whomping Willow or a month-old Knarl corpse, but any magical sign would be extremely faint, and simply detecting it with your own trained senses would be inconclusive at best. Further tests, which would render the remains useless, would need to be conducted to be sure. As you can imagine, such an approach would simply not be practical in most cases. Potion residues present similar problems, since most potions have an expiry point at which they become ineffective. After this point, detecting a magical trace becomes significantly more difficult, though again, not impossible with the help of further magical testing. The main issue revolves around whether or not you are willing to sacrifice the object you are studying to find out if it was, at least at some point, magical.

From there, the strength of the trace and the ability to detect it is largely about the amount of power behind the spell. A simple Wand-Lighting Charm will naturally not give off as much of a magical signature as someone performing an Unbreakable Vow. Similarly, someone who drastically overpowered their Wand-Lighting Charm will create more of a trace than your average illumination. This force which causes a larger trace to be left is a very vague and non-academic term, and simply indicates that more effort was required, whether that be in concentration, willpower, or generally more complex magic and flashier effects.

Some say that “older” magic — ancient curses, rituals, or blood magic — gives off a more easily recognized trace. However, most dismiss this as personal bias, as an individual can become much more strongly attuned to certain kinds of magic. For example, older magic is much more often studied and searched for, rather than last week’s schoolwide Caterwauling Charms that have no air of mystery or need for more subtle methods of detection. There are others that say that the darker magic is, the more likely it is to give off a detectable trace as well. Of course, this theory is just as commonly dismissed for the same reasons mentioned earlier, as well as some additional points. To begin with, just what constitutes Dark magic is something of a grey area, as many curses are essentially harmlessly used by students as young as First Years in the pursuit of a petty prank war. Aside from that, this enhanced detection would be incredibly inconvenient for Dark witches and wizards attempting to work in secret, and would have aided in their capture much more swiftly if they were indeed leaving such an obvious trail. 

On a similar topic, more modern theorists have recently popularized studies on an interesting line of thinking. Some researchers have asked if it might be possible to become attuned to a specific person’s magical trace. The underlying theory is that it should technically be possible to be able to pick out magical traces from a specific person from the rest of the “noise” or determine whether a chosen subject cast a particular spell. While it has been proven possible in preliminary tests, it does require that you devote a significant portion of your life to it. As you can imagine, this is a very hot topic among magical law enforcement, though it certainly does have its flaws. 

Reading Residues
However intriguing and newsworthy these topics might be, they are on the fringes of the theory of magical traces, and to properly understand them, you need the rudimentary information as well. At their most basic, magical traces are quite simple. As mentioned before, it is merely a matter of mindfulness -- of looking or feeling for these magical fingerprints left behind. Many describe it as a sort of hum in the air, like after a lightning bolt strikes, while others indicate that they view it as a sort of warmth. However you conceptualize it, it is simply something unaccounted for that you notice if you meditate or focus closely on your surroundings and detect the presence of fading magic.

Once you have identified what a magical trace feels like, the entire spectrum of magical traces is open to you. Of course, all are not created equal and each has a different sort of signature. Whatever you try to detect most often is what you will become best at detecting. For example, someone who has worked with ancient Japanese artefacts all their life will be much more likely to detect magical traces during a dig in Japan. As you can imagine, this leads to a lot of specialization in the magiarchaeological and magilinguistic communities. Other things play into your ability as well, such as being able to actively study traces in a structured environment where you can control variables and receive confirmation of your hypotheses, but it is possible to develop the sense without such rigid procedure. 

Tools of the Trace
The detection of magical traces is a very wide topic with many applications, as you can see. But we will spend the rest of class specifically looking at how it applies to the study of ancient runes and related professions. The first benefit of or use for this skill is being able to determine whether an artefact is from one culture or another. This was evidenced quite recently during a magiarchaeological excavation in Spain, where artefacts were noted to have traces of ancient Celtic magic. While the artefacts’ geographic location and appearance would have normally suggested that the enchantments on them were developed by nearby natives, the enchantments’ traces were decidedly Celtic in flavor. This was attested to by renowned researcher, Imogen Lunet, which lent credence to information about interaction between those two civilizations in ancient times and helped researchers get to the bottom of the true history of the pieces’ uses.

Less reliably, this skill can also be used to date the object1 based on the “freshness” of the magical trace. That is to say, some researchers (particularly if very skilled in one kind of magical trace) can attempt to determine the time period during which the object was enchanted. This is used for discerning if certain artefacts are from the Old, Middle, and New Kingdoms of Egypt or the Hallstatt and La Tene periods, or anything in between. To do so, the professional simply pays attention to the strength and solidity of the trace on the object. A fuzzy, nebulous trace that seems to slip out of their grasp, or a very faint one, can indicate much older enchantments. Unfortunately, there are significant problems with this method of trace-detecting, as there is no hard and fast rule for how faint a spell’s trace will be after a certain amount of time. It varies between civilizations, spells, casters, and even the amount of willpower a caster used on a particular day. Therefore, two of the exact same spells cast by the exact same person during the same period of time could have completely different traces in terms of “vibrance,” or how easy the trace is to detect. Another factor to consider when attempting to date a trace is that an artefact may have been re-enchanted repeatedly, in some cases, much more recently than the original attempt.

Lastly, this ability simply makes day-to-day work go much faster if you have a career in magiarchaeology or curse-breaking. You can know immediately whether or not an artefact is magical. In the case of the magiarchaeologist, it helps you quickly separate regular mundane artefacts from those that require further study. And in the case of a curse-breaker, it’s quite handy to know if the object your holding is safe, or if it harbors dormant enchantments. This is the simplest and most common form of magical trace detecting (whether used in magiarchaeology or not): being able to tell if magic is, or ever was, present in an area. Because of its relative ease and the widespread usefulness of the skill, the majority of magiarchaeologists and curse-breakers -- and indeed anyone who works in hands-on situations with magical artefacts daily -- can do this to some degree.

Training Up 
Now that you are aware of both the existence of magical traces and how they are used, the intelligent and aspiring among you are asking yourselves what you can do to start cultivating this skill. As mentioned earlier, the key to doing so is mindfulness. Most witches and wizards do not close their eyes and attempt to sense the magic of the enchanted coin they made. They simply enchant it and, as long as it works, they do not need to sense the magic to be sure it is there. However, to detect magic, you must look for it. It may take time or practice, but when you have found a magical trace once, you will never forget how to do it. Of course, that does not mean that you will infallibly be able to detect magical traces from then on, but you will know what you are looking for instead of having to resort to nebulous fumbling in the dark. 

One of the easiest ways to begin attempting to detect magical traces is to create a fabricated situation. Start with two objects, one conjured, one real (and, naturally, non-magical). Whether these objects are quills, rats, or carriages does not matter -- though some certainly prefer their objects of study not to be able to wander off on their own -- as long as one has been completely formed out of magic and the other is free of all magical traces. This is typically done with the aid of another person who is able to conceal which is which and definitively tell you if you are correct or not, but there are ways to do this on your own as well. 

In the beginning, you may find that you begin to instinctively choose the correct object without knowing why. If this occurs, you are part way there, but you must still unlock your ability to consciously recognize the trace that your mind is already subconsciously noticing. There is a trace there; the magic leaves something behind. To be truly successful you must be able to detect it. Gut instinct is not enough -- though it will help you -- despite the fact that many people never graduate beyond this step.

From there, there are a number of ways to diversify your attempts. You may introduce multiple non-magical objects, or multiple magical objects, or both. You may also make your enchantments more subtle, such as distinguishing between a naturally black quill and a red one that has been made black with the Color-Changing Charm. In this way, there is “less” magic permeating the object and the trace will be more difficult to detect. Indeed, there are countless ways to vary your attempts once you have passed the first hurdle, which depend on your desired goal and your level of creativity. If you find yourself looking for information about what is possible in trace detection or other methods of training, particularly for specific goals, I would heavily recommend the library, as many resources can be found there.

With specific regard to ancient runes, my advice is to attempt to be put on magiarchaeological teams. Volunteer at museums so you can handle magical artefacts even briefly. The more exposure you can get to magical traces, the better. The same is also true if you wish to develop an affinity for a particular type of trace. With stellar grades and good reasons, I even will let students inspect the school’s private inventory in an attempt to build this skill… but only for the most trustworthy.

Professor Wessex’s glare is directed nowhere in particular, her steely gaze sweeping evenly around the room. However, one can’t help but feel she is speaking directly to the poor student cowering in the back of the room. 

Closing
But that is enough for now. If you possess a brain in your head, I have given you quite a lot to think about and, for many of you, a good deal of extra work to start on. Next week we will be talking significantly more in-depth about something only barely touched on here: the use of the Sorcerous Method. You just need to read one chapter from Spellman’s Syllabary this week, specifically the chapter on the Indus script. Additionally, between this class and next, I expect you to have completed the quiz on the information provided in the lesson, as well as an essay on your plans to cultivate your trace-detecting abilities. Additionally, for those who value the opportunities we provide here at Hogwarts, there is another N.E.W.T. revision assignment, which focuses decoding on hieroglyphic inscriptions. 

With class dismissed, Seventh Years take their leave with no more prompting. A few look as though they may be interested in approaching Professor Wessex about her offer to inspect the school’s magical artefacts, but seem to change their minds as they notice the troublemaking student from before apparently glued to their seat as if by magic. With a look at the ensnared student’s expression, everyone waiting seems to quickly decide to come back at a better time when Professor Wessex doesn’t look like she’s poised to verbally eviscerate anyone in a five kilometer radius.

Footnotes

1. Or, at least, the enchantment put on the object.

Original lesson written by Professor Venita Wessex
Image credits here, here, here, and here