[Background Information] Special Features Guide

[Peter Alva Tannenbaum]

General Special Features Guide
by Justyne Jaracas & Adrian Firepillar
with special thanks to Stefan Janacek & Maire Dins

Special features are abilities that are rare and sometimes powerful. They are typically awarded monthly to applicants who have put time and effort into their RPing to show they deserve it. Players who receive special features are usually responsible people who we believe we can trust to play the role fairly without godmoding or cheating using it. These features are awarded to people who have proven they can follow the rules of the board, and that they've found something that fits their character design well.

In order to apply for a special feature, you need only put an application via the special feature tombola, though it is perk to have a measure of activity because it shows us that you can play well and responsibly. We would like to remind you that if you apply for every single feature available, you will automatically be rejected. Please put some thought into your application before sticking one in; we do pay a great deal of attention to these applicants.

Magical Hogwarts has a wide range of original special features that you can apply for. However, a select few are simply not allowed:

Telepaths, Empaths, Mindreaders, Telekinetics

Please do not apply for any of these features, as we will not approve them. In this thread you will find general special features that are possible for your character to attain. Please note that Animagus and Elementals have their own, rather large guides in seperate threads and can be found here for those who are interested.

[Peter Alva Tannenbaum]

The Sight

Introduction

The Sight, like most special features on Magical Hogwarts, is an inate ability that someone is either born with or not. It manifests in several different forms, and each form's effects are unique to the person who has it. It is most-often studied in Divination, which is only taught at Hogwarts. Everyone with The Sight is a scholar of Divination, though not all scholars of Divination are gifted with the Sight. Practitioners of the Sight are often called either Clairvoyants or Seers, depending on their ability. It is the Hogwarts special feature, as Necromancy is to Durmstrang, and Hypnotists are to Beauxbatons.

Seers are often very good at all forms of Divination. It will usually be their best subject. They're also usually more aware of their surroundings than the average person would be. This is because Divination is divining meanings behind symbolism occuring in every day life, and that is what most of their abilities are based off of.

People who are gifted with the Sight are usually very rare. Many people are frauds, pretending to have one of the abilities that comes with the title of "Seer." The Sight itself runs in bloodlines, and typically skips several generations before manifesting itself. And because predictions of the future can take hundreds of years before they come true, if at all, true seers are often impossible to determine until well after their deaths.

Seers are usually not very good at "traditional" and "literal" forms of magic. Transfiguration, Arithmancy, and Ancient Runes are often too complex for most seers to deal with. This is not to say that they are not intelligent individuals, just that they will not usually be good at complex forms of magic that require a lot of attention and focus. They are not usually very focused people, nor do they often cling to logic or rationale in any way. They are people who enjoy classes like Care of Magical Creatures, Flying, Charms - things that do not require a great deal of logic.

Abilities

There are three main types of clairvoyance, and each works a different way.

Prophets
Prophets are seers who have absolutely no control over their ability. They are the ones who are most often given the title of "Seer" as opposed to clairvoyants. A true prophet is very, very rare, and close to impossible outside of certain bloodlines. When a prophet makes a prediction, it is always of the future, and it does not always come true. Whether or not it comes true depends on the people involved and whether or not they act on it.

When making a prediction, the prophet goes into a trance-like state, and sounds like they're speaking in another person's voice, or from far away. When they come out of the trance, they have no memory of what they have said. Only the person the prophecy is spoken to usually knows what is said, though the Ministry of Magic in the U.K. keeps track of each and every prophecy made, with spells so that only the people the prophecy is about can access it. These are stored in the Hall of Prophecy in the Department of Mysteries.

Prophecies are often worded in such a manner that they can be interpretted a thousand different ways, and depending on how they are acted upon is how they come out, if at all.

It is impossible for a prophet to learn to master their ability, since most of the time they do not even know they truly have it. Only if they are told by someone they made a prediction to can they find out.

Precognitives & Postcognitives
Precognition is the ability to see the future, any forms of it, such as just the sound of someone's voice, a phrase, to an all-out scene. Postcognition is the ability to see an event that has already passed by through time. Like with precognition, postcognition can be anything from just one word, or a flash of a license plate number, to an all-out scene played out before them.

The ability to see the future is a tricky one. It often requires tools, such as using crystal balls, or mirrors, in order to see the vision in. Sometimes, a clairvoyant is born with the ability to see the future using touch. These people are called touch-knows, or touch clairvoyants. Other times, they are born having these visions in dreams. They are called dream clairvoyants.

Regardless of how they do it, all pre- and post-cognitives require tools in order to see anything. Their emotional state heavily influences visions as well. If they are extremely upset or worked up, it is possible and highly likely that they won't have any vision at all. Often, in order to actually summon up a vision, seers have to be extremely relaxed, and even then it does not always work. However, visions may still occur by accident from time-to-time, rarely. The better control the clairvoyant has, the less likely an accidental vision.

Visions are extremely exhausting things, emotionally and physically. Often times, if the seer is having a vision that is violent, or traumatic in any way, they will reflect the emotions of one of the people involved. It is a subconscious thing, but often unnerves them. Usually, after a particularly strong vision, the seer will need to sleep, or at the minimum, rest. Attempting magic after a vision is like asking for trouble, as they are usually quite exhausted afterwards. Their magic will normally go haywire and cause them or those around them to be hurt.

Precognition and postcognition rarely go hand-in-hand. Seers are almost always born with only one of these abilities, not both. And neither a precognitive nor a postcognitive may be a Prophet.

Playing a Seer
Because the Sight, as a special feature, requires a lot of other characters being used, there are several rules one has to follow in order to even be considered for it. First, regardless of what form of Seer you're applying for, you have to check with the individuals involved in your visions before you have one. You are not allowed to see things out of the person's past or future unless they permit it.

Further than that, it is impossible to cast any spells while you're having a vision. While in the vision, the seer, regardless of ability, will be completely unaware of what is happening around or to them. They will not hear people speaking to them nor will they have any sense of touch or, really, any of their senses outside of the vision. It is also impossible to stop a vision once it has started, no matter what form of seer you're choosing to apply for.

Also to note, a Seer will never have another special feature like Elemental or Animagus. Seers are usually stand-alone features. Legilimency and Occlumency are also out of the question, because occlumency would prevent visions, and legilimency would make them worse than the Seer could handle. A Seer will not be good enough at Transfiguration to become an animagus. Please do not apply for any of these together.

[Peter Alva Tannenbaum]

Occlumency & Legilimency

Occlumency and Legilimency are obscure forms of magic that are not standard at any of the three big magic schools -- Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. To learn them, one must have a teacher who knows what they're doing, and it requires a great deal of self-discipline and practice. To become good at Legilimency or Occlumency requires years of working at each one in turn.

Someone adept at Legilimency is called a Legilimens. Legilimency is the magic of breaking into another person's mind and reading, not their thoughts, but their memories, and their emotions. It comes easier when the spell-caster is nearer to the target and when the person it is being used against is off-guard or relaxed, such as asleep. Eye contact is usually required in order for Legilimency to work, so the legilimens is usually someone who is good at manipulating people into doing what they want - such as meeting their eyes. The person's emotional state affects the memories that come easiest to the surface as well.

A Legilimens can usually tell when they are being lied to, unless they are dealing with an occlumens of equal or greater ability than themselves.

The incantation for Legilimency is Legilimens, though it is known that if someone is exceptionally good at Legilimency, they may not need the incantation or even their wand in order to cast it. In canon, Lord Voldemort does not need his wand to break into someone's mind, so says Severus Snape at Harry's Occlumency lessons in Order of the Phoenix.

Occlumency is a particularly complex branch of defensive magic that is not standard at any of the three big magic schools -- Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang.  It pertains to locking off one's mind from the intrusion of others, (ideally) effectively hiding suspicious memories, thoughts and emotions.  The sister-branch to this form of magic is Legilimency, which entails the penetration into the minds of others.

To learn Occlumency, one must have a teacher who is proficient enough in their ability to teach it to others. A great deal of time, self-discipline and practice is needed to become savvy in this particular branch of magic - moreso if one wishes to master the ability.  Constant practice as well as self-control will help the aspiring Occlumens to grow more skilled, but this is not an easy area of magic.  It is complex as the mind is complex and should be observed as such.

An Occlumens is someone adept at Occlumency. It is almost essential to be an Occlumens if one intends to lie to a legilimens. It is also helpful against the Imperius curse, one of the three unforgivables, as similar defenses are needed to resist it.

Legilimency and Occlumency balance one another out. A legilimens has to be better at Legilimency than the person they are casting it on is at Occlumency in order for it to work. This works in reverse as well; an occlumens has to be better at Occlumency than the legilimens is at Legilimency in order to resist it.

Though it is not specified in canon, it is easy to deduce that Occlumency takes a great deal of time to become adept at. Constant practice as well as self-control will help the aspiring Occlumens to grow more skilled, but it's a very difficult art of magic. Legilimency would likewise require a strong will, constant practice, and self-restraint in order to become good at it. Observational skills would likely also be key, as one would learn to be able to decipher from how the person acts whether they are behaving suspiciously or not.

[Peter Alva Tannenbaum]

Veela & Sirens

While vily (yes, this is the plural form or veela) and sirens are basically different creatures, we are going to summarize them in the same special feature description. While the apprenticed and mannerisms are slightly different, their abilities pretty much boil down to the same sort of thing. Therefore we think it is a pointless decision to make two different descriptions with almost identical content.

First of all, vily as well as sirens are very rare creatures. They normally remain invisible for the normal wizard and it is not often that a wizard can claim to have seen a siren or a veela himself. Normally these creatures will prefer to remain amongst themselves and do not mix well with the rest of the rewardingly world. It will therefore only be in the most exceptional cases that we will approve a full siren or a full veela. Most of the time we will be speaking about people of veela and siren descent.

Please not that both veela and sirens when mixing with normal wizards will only have female offspring. So please do not apply for a half veela boy because such a thing does not exist. In their own natural habitat there are male specimen, however they are so rare that some wizards even argue about their existence. No wizard has ever seen a male specimen; in fact, to this day, they remain the secret of the seas and the forests.

Normally, vily are guardians of nature, caring for trees, streams, and flowers in their territory. They are very gentle and caring creatures. They believe that nature and life is sacred. Vily are normally very peaceful creatures. However if one enters their realm to cause damage to nature they can be vengeful and very loathing. Vily usually have quite a temper on them and often arrive at rash conclusions, being someone renowned for tragic mood swings.  They are capable of both causing and curing illnesses. They wear shimmering clothes or are covered in vibrant green leaves.

The natural habitat of the siren are small islands. Similar to vily the siren cares a lot about her habitat. It as a guardian of the sea and its creatures. Sirens are probably more outgoing and curious than vily are and often take interest in things happening beyond the borders of the sea. However, they usually don't explore, but wait for the stories to come to them. Sirens quite like the occasional intruders they get and are captivated by them and their stories.

Vily and sirens are both exceptionally beautiful woman. They are thin and skinny women, with fair skin and long flowing hair. Their features are fine and detailed, almost frail. The siren as well as the veela has some birdlike features. For sirens it is not uncommon to additionally have webbed hands and feet. Usually these features are not displayed as strongly by half sirens. Both creatures can turn their head into a bird's head when they are very angry. In this form they are able to produce the most unearthly and horrible screams and screeches. Anyone near an angry siren or veela should make sure to protect their ears because it can cause long lasting damage.

They are also able to throw flames when infuriated; however, this is usually a trait not retained by half bloods. The ability to throw flames and transform the head goes away as soon as their anger fades and they are never able to hold the transformation for a very long period of time. In most cases it only lasts a few minutes.

Vily and siren are both said to have an exceptionally strong effect especially on male people. When they sing, their voices are so enchanting no man will manage to turn away from them. Men will often act in a strange, sometimes even embarrassing manner to win their attention. However, the song of the veela and sirens does not create love; it merely creates a sort of infatuation that wears off after a while.
Veela and siren have their very own type of coercive magic. They have a way to bend men to their will, usually their magic does not very well at all on females. They have the ability to sing certain things that will influence a mans emotions, thoughts and decisions. When singing the right words they can make someone feel sad or happy. Make someone feel depressed, or in love, or sick. And, of course, the most infamous use of making men fall in love, or is it lust, with them. There are many different possibilities. However, these impressions usually do not last very long. They wear off once the siren or Veela has left. While half veela and sirens usually retain this feature, it is often found in a weaker form.

This coercive magic of the veela and siren is tricky business. Most full vily and sirens will manage to capture a whole audience without any effort. However those that are only half bloods or even less will struggle horribly. Some may even find it difficult enough to handle a strong willed individual. Not all men are equally likely to be lulled in by the siren's song. Those with rational and well structured minds may be able to fend of their magic. Others, while feeling affected, may still be able to remain in control of their actions.

When someone is making a decision a siren or veela can try to influence those that are in doubt to come to a certain conclusion by using their song. They have a way to speak and sing in a suggestive manner, subconsciously willing people to do their bidding. This is also why their reputation in the wizarding community is rather dubious. A lot of women, of course, view vily and siren as a threat. Some men do as well, and moreover their hair and nails are very much desired ingredients for a whole variety of different potions. Not all wizards will therefore treat them with respect, and some may even go as far as actively hunt them.

[Peter Alva Tannenbaum]

Metamorphmagus

Metamorphmagi are wizards or witches born with the innate ability to change any aspect of their appearance on a whim. This can be anything from the bone structure of their face, the shape of their noses, to their hair and eye color. It's an ability that the person is born with, though the effect can be simulated with potions and charms, by normal wizards.

A metamorphmagus can literally change anything about their physical appearance at will. It does not require the use of their wand, though it is advisable to use a mirror when doing it, so that the metamorphmagus can see the outcome. The ability is extremely rare, and probably runs in blood-lines, like parseltongue. It is exceptionally good for disguises, as the metamorphmagus can lengthen or shorten their hair, change it's color, their skin tone, their eye color, and even some of their bone structure, in a hurry, if they have to.

Usually metamorphmagi need to be extremly concentrated and focused for their magic to work. When they are under great stress they sometimes struggle to control their abilities, and might even feel unable to perform their magic at all.

The singular word for this ability is metamorphmagus. The plural word is metamorphmagi.

[Peter Alva Tannenbaum]

Necromancers

Introduction

Necromancy is one of the few features exclusive to Magical Hogwarts and the students of Durmstrang Institute. Necromancy is not vastly different from wand magic and is, other than a lot of features, a learned skill, not one you are born with. Necromancy, however, requires much dedication and many years of study before one can master it to any useful extent. There are many people that study necromancy in school, but very few that bring it to any useful level. Being able to hold a skeleton animated for a few seconds is not what makes a person a necromancer.

In the RP world of Magical Hogwarts there are several forms of wandless magic, such as seers using their cards and crystal orbs, rune specialists using gem stones and scrolls written in ancient symbols. Necromancy is a further form of wandless magic. However, as with each branch of magic, necromancy requires a magical essence for it to work: blood.

Character Alignment

Necromancers, as opposed to most wizards, are usually dark wizards. At the best of times they are gray wizards but there is not a single necromancer that is loyal to the white side. This does by no means imply that all necromancers are loyal to Voldemort, but simply that they selfishly persue their own goals.

There is no official restriction but it is extremely unlikely that a muggleborn will find a tutor in necromancy, thus it is unlikely he will learn it. Necromancers believe in purity and magical abilities of blood and will always hold pure-bloods in high regard. Maybe not as fanatically as the death eaters, as there are also uses for the other kinds of blood, but a master of necromancy will find it beneath him to teach a child of the wrong heritage.

Abilities

Necromancers usually also excel in Runes, Alchemy and old languages. They are very educated people, usually very smug and booksmart types. Their abilities are most interesting. Necromancers can cast any kind of spell they might want to cast using blood instead of their wand, but they hardly ever do that. Usually they will only work those rituals that cannot be worked with a wand in that manner. And there are several things they can do much better then anyone else:

Summoning the Undead (Inferi/Zombies/Ghouls)
Necromancers usually know of ways to control those old and dark creatures like no other. In a way, they attract undead creatures and can easily bind them with a blood ritual making them swear loyalty to them. Necromancers can always tell if an undead creature is near. A necromancer is able to command their undead without problems, getting them to do their bidding. With much practice and expertise, they can control every aspect about them, often have the ability to make undead summoned by normal dark wizards turn sides with the blink of an eye.

Skeletons
Necromancers can reanimate a skeleton for several hours to do their bidding. They commonly use those as servants to do chores around the house or run small errands for them. The skeletons are fairly dull and dumb as it is impossible to reanimate the mind. They are sometimes also used in fights and conflicts as a mindless fighting force, or are sent together with and undead to procure some items the necromancer wanted illegally.

Healing
Necromancers know of ways of healing that is deeply unholy and dangerous, therefore is not employed in St. Mungos. They are capable of saving the life of one person by sacrificing another and they can heal one person by transferring their injury or illness to someone else. This method obviously does not solve the problem permanently but is very efficient. In order to create a healing effect like, this one a bottle of human blood is needed from preferable a rather innocent person. When casting the spells with the blood, all illness and injury will fall to the person the blood was procured from. The healing spell also works if the blood is from an already dead person, assuming the necromancer killed them in the process of getting the blood.

Possession
Highly advanced necromancers know how to possess people. It is similar to the imperius curse, but actually it is as if the necromancers conscience is transferred into the victims body where the necromancer can hear his own thoughts and those of the suppressed mind. Usually possessions only work if cast with the necromancers own blood and they are very, very tiring to the necromancers. Also with each possession cast there is a risk of the necromancer getting stuck in the spheres, meaning their consciousness gets lost while trying to transfer between two bodies. It is also possible for the necromancer to get trapped in the victim's body, as well. Lastly, anytime during the possession the victim may manage to break the incantation and regain control over his body. Usually the latter is similar to a wizard's duel, the one with the stronger magical ability prevails. However, once the victim regains consciousness, it is very painful for the necromancer and they will try to flee as fast as they can.

Time/Aging
Most necromancers have an unusual interest in staying alive as long as possible. They long-since know there is a connection between time and blood and they like to experiment with this if anything else. Old and experienced ones may know how to make a time-turner or how to travel through time on their own accord, but necromancers are smart people and usually only do so to further their knowledge, not to take anything or change history. There are a few occasions of necromancers getting lost in time, because the further one travels back the harder it becomes to return to the present. They will often make money by selling people products that make them younger (usually the effects wear of rather rapidly) or often craft bizarre artifacts that allow insights into the past or future on the surface of a mirror. But usually anything a necromancer gives out to the public is not really useful. They do not like to share their wisdom, but instead preferring to make money out of people's stupidity.

Purity of Blood

Necromancers have the constant need to produce blood from anywhere. Usually they work with human, unicorn and dragon blood, though on occasion the blood of other magical creatures. Necromancers never use the blood of muggles, squibs or ordinary animals. In case they happen to do so accidentally, every spell they cast creates a blast backfiring on them. If the spell was large enough, it is perfectly possible the necromancers gets killed. As such, necromancers usually get their blood themselves and do not buy it anywhere, which is why there are no white magicians among them.

[Peter Alva Tannenbaum]

Hypnotists

Introduction

Hypnotists, sometimes also known as mesmerizers, are very rare. The feature is one where the border between it being learned or being an ability you are born with is very unclear. In general, it requires some talent as well as hard study to be able to learn the art of hypnosis, sometimes also know as mesmerising.

Hypnotists are usually gentle and kind people, very emphatic people who feel with others. They are socially skilled, understanding other people and how they think. Usually, they will also be interested in Divination and Herbology, and have a musical talent that is quite extraordinary.

Character Alignment

Hypnotists usually are white or grey wizards, it is rare to find a darkly aligned hypnotist but it has happened on very rare occasions. In general it is said that hypnotists are in touch with a higher kind of magic (from their perspective), which normal wizards love to call humbug. However most of them are sort of spiritual people strongly believing into one thing or another where they usually draw their power from.

Unlike other special features, hypnotists use their wands, and no wand, no magic. They have no wandless capabitilies whatsoever, and they often even need to touch the person they are casting their spellwork on with their wand in order to make things happen.

Abilities

Deep Sleep
Hypnotists can send a person to deep sleep even against the persons wills, by simply touching them with their wand. The incantation is usually 'Soporis', but most hypnotists can cast the spell non verbal simply by thinking the incantation in their mind. The duration how long they send the person to sleep depends on the power of the hypnotist and the power of the person the sleep is cast on. It can last a few minutes, in the very least 5, but also a whole day.

Dream Production
Hypnotists are masters of the power of suggestion. When they send a person to sleep magically they can make sure they will have a certain dream and that they will wake up and remember the dream. That way they can subtly influence someone to take a certain decision. The spell is cast with the wand as well and the incantation is 'Somnio'. It is possible to cast the spell in a manner to make the dream reoccur everytime the person sleeps until he or she understands the message.

The Great Pendulum
Hypnotists, additionally to their wand, have a pendulum. If they get a person to stare at the pendulum for long enought they can set the person into a deep trance. Most hypnotists use this method as a method of psychologically healing people and helping them to cope with their problems. Dark Hypnotists have been known to abuse the power of the pendulum at times. Sending people to a Trance with the great pendulum usually takes a new minutes and they can only be woken up by a tip with the hypnotists wand.

The Small Pendulum
Hypnotists can get people to do their bidding, as long as it does not go out of the victim's way. If they swing the small pendulum three times in front of a person's eyes they can ask for small favours which the person will usually do. Such as carrying bags five floors up the stairs, or giving the hypnotist a few galleons, maybe borrowing the hypnotist a book they would normally not give away, but nothing great and major. It is not possible to make a person jump from a bridge or assassinate someone. It might however very well possible to make the victim kiss a random stranger.

Dance of Courage/Beauty/Confusion
Hypnotists usually can play special melodies on their instrument of choice that will affect everyone who listens to it. Those melodies primarily influence the persons feelings. Often when hypnotists play everyone feels compelled to dance. The hypnotists can influence people to feel courageours, beautiful, in love, but he can also use the gift to make people feel dizzy or confused.

Limitations

Hypnotists master a very gentle and careful kind of magic. Usually hypnotists do not work their spells well when they are upset or angry. None of their spells can bring a person into mortal danger, though there are always possibilities for abuse. Hypnotists usually refrain from wearing lots of metal as it seems to impair their magic. They cast spells best when balanced.

Hypnotic spells hardly ever fail, but hypnotists usually do not cast them often. They hardly ever see more then one or two people a day to help them and only cast a handful of spells. Most hypnotic spells bring enormous physical fatigue with them. Repeated casting of the same spell makes them very tired very very quickly.

[Peter Alva Tannenbaum]

Illusionists

Introduction

Illusionism is an old and complicated form of magic which in some aspects has similarities with transfiguration. Illusionists however master a different art. Illusionism creates something that is not real. Someone who masters transfiguration can turn a leaf into a mouse, an illusionist can make something that looks like a mouse appear. However once the illusionist leaves the incantation will gradually wear off until the mouse is completely gone. Illusionists can recreate a room, make persons appear and speak, create any vision they want. However the difficulty of doing so increases with the complexity of the illusion and the number of people who it is supposed to work on. Illusions can be broken by a suspicious wizards. If a wizard believes he encounters an illusion he closes his eyes saying that he does not believe what he is seeing. Then something similar to a duel happens. If the Illusion is stronger than the wizard it will persist, or if the wizard is stronger the illusion will shatter for him. However just for him. Other individuals fooled by an illusion still have to realize for themselves and break out of it.

Illusionism is one of those tricky features where you need some talent you are born with and a lot of dedication to study it. Not everyone can learn it to a useful extend. Most wizards can manage small visual illusions (those will be explained later) however the deeper and more intricate fields of illusions will remain a secret to them. As it is taught in Durmstrang it can be said that most students master visual illusions by the end of their education. However unlike true illusionists they will need to use their wand to create them. Some especially eager to study might also achieve proficiency in audio-visual illusions.

Character Alignment

Illusionists come from all sorts of backgrounds. However in the magical word illusionism is often considered as a bad unrighteously kind of magic. Usually those who practice the art openly are frowned upon. Hence illusionist rarely brag about their skills. They are usually very quiet about it and will only use it in a subtle manner to not make themselves suspicious. Usually it takes many years to master the art properly, and very few have the patience and determination to learn abilities to their full extend. Illusionists are in many cases fairly neutral wizards if anything, having no sympathies for either side as neither the dark wizards nor the lights ones think of their magic highly. It is probably in the very nature of illusions that those who can cast them are not trusted. After all you never know what is real.

Abilities

Illusions are very complicated business as they have to fool all senses of the person they are meant to affect. However this is usually very difficult. Recreating the visual image, the sounds, the smell, the feel, sometimes the taste and of course also the magic if trying to model a magical item. Illusions are more difficult to produce for large objects and get incredibly more difficult depending how many people are to be fooled. All illusions are cast without a wand and are usually achieved by making a series of complex hand movements, as though they are weaving some elements into our reality. All illusionist spells are nonverbal, as a matter of fact an incantation is not even thought, they usually just work without an incantation. Illusionism as it is thought in Durmstrang with wands and incantations is an attempt to model the first three layers of the illusionist art so that common wizards can use it. However the true are goes much further. Generally when someone learns to produce illusions it is learned in the following way.

The Visual Layer

Small Visual Illusions - (1st years)

All illusionists begin their arts by casting small visual illusions. They can make something tiny appear, like a dice or a coin. However when you touch the object your hand seems to glide right through it. Small visual illusions hence are very limited in their usefulness. You might be able to forge a prefect pin or passport, but you have to make sure that the object does not get touched, otherwise it is quickly obvious that the object in question is merely an illusion. In the beginning small visuals are usually only cast one person at a time. With further practice they illusionist will learn how to cast those on more than one person. Small visual illusions can be used to alter an existing object. For example you can enchant a document to display something and thus overcome the weakness that your object cannot be touched. However those sensitive to touch will probably still notice the missing scratch marks on the paper. You can enchant a box to look like a mouth, but when you touch it is still feels like a box. Hence it is not use in fooling a transfiguration teacher at this level.

Great Visual Illusions - (2nd years)

With practice of the small illusions usually soon comes the desire to great something larger. It takes a lot of time to create a convincing large illusion. Changing the colour of the tapestry in an entire room may at first cause patches of the old colour to shine through. Or the illusion will flicker, meaning for a few seconds each minute it will not work. Sometimes these flickers are short enough not to be noticed, but often they give the illusionist right away. The move from small to big illusions is the first big step toward proficiency of their art. Again usually training these starts with casting them for one individual then for several at once. It is possible to make something elephant sized appear, but at this stage it requires the illusionists full concentration. In general inanimate objects will come to the illusionist more easily. Making a cupboard appear is not as hard as capturing a flying dragon. Animate illusions usually greatly depend on how well the illusionist studies the behavior of the thing or creature it is trying to mimic. Someone who has never seen a dragon will not create a very convincing illusion. Same as with small illusions it is possible to place the large ones on an object.

The Audio Layer

Audio Illusions - (3rd year - 4th Year)

Usually with the mastery of great visuals the illusionist will try to combine visuals with audio impressions or sometimes smells or textures. However it is usually soon that the illusionist realizes that this is much, much more difficult than he ever thought. Usually somewhat crestfallen and humbled they will attempt to create sounds first. Unmusical illusionists may learn the olfactory layer first and then the audio layer but it is rare. As with all illusions perceptiveness and a good memory are the key. Making a tune appear out of nowhere takes a while to perfect. At this stage they learn how to make some hear voices and how to make music play in an empty room. Same as with all illusions it usually becomes much more difficult for each person involved in the spell. During the learning of audio illusions there are a number of mistakes that frequently occur. If the illusionists concentration fades the music will be out of tune, if doing a voice the pitch may change. When imitating someones voice it is often hard to mimic their word order, phrases and the way they speak. It usually takes at least 2 years to achieve some competence in this art. Often it can take much longer.

Audio Visual Illusions - (5th Year - 6th Year)

Once audio illusions are mastered illusionists move on to combine what they learned so far. Audio and visual together are able to produce quite convincing illusions already. Often in the beginning audio and visual are not synchronous. When modelling a bird for example the sound of the flapping wings will not match the movement, and its cry may be delayed and occur long after the animal opened its beak. Coordination these illusions is so difficult that many illusionists never outgrow this stage, despite there being many more to master. Producing a convincing illusion of a talking head is at this stage still impossible. Combining the audio and visual in such a precise manner that lip movements match sounds takes a very, very long time to learn.

The Olfactory Layer

Simple Olfactory Illusions (7th Year - 8th Year)

The next step is to learn how to recreate the sensation of smell. In general plain smells like lavender are easier to produce then complex smells such as a designer fragrance. Again in the beginning it is impossible to combine smell with the already learned visual and audio layer. As a matter of fact attempts to combine at this stage usually result in the illusions flickering and shining through patches of reality. Illusionist therefore usually focus on mastering the olfactory illusions for now. Those take at least two years to learn sometimes much longer depending of course on the skill of the illusionist and his ability to distinguish smells. Most illusionists will manage basic smells such as peppermint, few will manage to recreate the smell of a lemon meringue pie. Attempts at these illusions will have flaws in the beginning. what was intended as lemon might turn out to smell like orange, or the smell will have an unpleasant artificial note to it that makes it very easy to realize that it is not real.

Illusiona Minora (9th - 10th Year)

An illusiona minora is an illusion combining olfactory, visual and audio components. These are realty tricky to do. By now most illusionists have figured how to synchronize things, but nevertheless it is very difficult to keep these illusions stable. In the beginning they will flicker a lot and it will be near impossible to keep them maintained for more than one person watching, With years of practice these illusions eventually become stable to hold for a few days at the very best of times before they fall apart and disintegrate. That is of course if no one broke them before that point in time. Often from learning the basics of the minora it takes around 5 to 10 years to perfect them.

The Sensory Layer

Illusiona Media (around 15th Year)

As it is near impossible to create the sensation of touch on its own the next step is much more difficult. At the very earliest illusionists begin to experiment with this 15 years into their studies. It is at that stage that they learn to mimic shaped and textures. The learning at this point slows down drastically. It is very hard to keep an illusiona minora up not to mention adding elements to it. In an attempt to practice for an illusiona media often combinations between visuals and touch are practiced first. Something like a dice does not need sound and smell to be convincing. Though when you want to roll it of course there needs to be sound added. And of course dices smell of something, but it does not register with most people so in the beginning it can be neglected. The medias are not learned by all illusionists, the usually flicker a lot and do not last very long. At the bare minimum another 5 to ten years to create this one.

The Taste Layer

Illusiona Majora (around 20th Year)

The majora adds taste to illusionist creations. Faking an apple is now possible. However eating this apple will not make you any less hungry. It will just create the illusion of eating something. It has zero nutritious value and disappears pretty much the moment it has been swallowed. As this is a very detailed quirk to illusions it takes a while to master. Some don't bother with it as it is rarely needed.

The Magic Layer

Illusiona Perfecta (around 40th Year)

The magic layer refers to several things. So far the combination of layers was very limited. The creation of a wind, which is a combination of sensory, audio and olfactory layer seemed pretty much off limits. At the stage of perfecting illusions often these more uncommon combinations are first attempted to create. At this stage also magical things can be recreated. Poisons might be recreated or other items of magical nature. Sometimes temperature is another quality mastered at this stage. At the earliest this is learned after 40 years of study, sometimes even later, for most illusionists this stage never happens. It is only the most exceptional of their kind who master this level.


Limitations

There are several key limitations to be aware of. You can not create an illusion of something you have never seen or cannot imagine in great detail. If you have never seen a dragon, it is impossible for you to make an illusion of one. If you studied pictures of dragons in detail you might be able to create a visual of it, but movement and sound as well as smell will be utterly inaccurate. Even the most advanced illusionist will struggle to make illusions perfect. Illusions always have flaws. To stick with the dragon. Even if you get looks, smells, sounds, movement, skin and so on correctly you might never get the wind right the winds of the dragon produce, nor will the fire he spits be really warm. Almost all illusionists fail to creature temperature. As a matter of fact the sensory layer is so complex it almost always has flaws. Who touched a dragon all over to know how every individual bit feels. Emotions and feelings can never be reproduced. even when making a very good illusion of a dementor the feeling of being never happy again cannot be achieved by an illusion. Illusions that require a lot of precision and coordination of elements are usually hard to cast and can very often fail. Casting illusions requires full concentration. Being distracted is always a recipe for disaster.

Illusions are limited in their capacity. No one can fool more than maybe 5 people at a time, and no one can keep up an illusion for longer then a few days after its creation. When creating a fake item you never know how many people it might come in contact with. Of an illusion is subjected to too many viewers it begins to flicker and will eventually break down and disappear. Illusions are more likely to work if the person they are meant for is someone the illusionist knows. If the person the illusion is made for is present during its creation the illusions works better. However there is a large risk to be identified as an illusionist when doing so, and if the illusion fails results might be very ugly.

Not everyone is equally prone to believe in illusions. While ordinary wizards may be folled easily, illusions never work well on centaurs, giants and other magical beings. House elves are pretty much immune to them. Ghosts often can see through them as well. Trying to cast illusions on these beings would be foolish.

Anyone can attempt to break an illusions by simply stopping to believe in it. If the wizard stopping to believe is strong enough the illusion will disappear for him, and he can encourage others to break the illusion as well. Pointing out flaws in illusions often helps other people to break free from their grip. 

[Peter Alva Tannenbaum]

Parseltongue

Parseltongue is the language of serpents. To a parselmouth or snake, it sounds like normal words. To someone who does not speak parseltongue, it sounds like hissing and spitting without taking a breath. It almost sounds as though the person speaking it is having some sort of seizure or fit.

Parseltongue is often associated with dark wizards, as throughout history, the only known parselmouths were practitioners of the Dark Arts. Most famous of these wizards are Salazar Slytherin, or serpent-tongue, who founded Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, along with Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff and Rowena Ravenclaw. Also, Herpo the Foul, famous for having created the first known Basilisk, and, possibly the most famous of all, the Dark Lord, Voldemort.

The ability to speak parseltongue is something that runs in blood-lines, and entire families (such as the Gaunts) can have it. However, the actual ability itself is somewhat rare. Except for a few scattered families, the ability is almost non-existant. It is typically used to order serpents to do the bidding of the parselmouth. Only a parselmouth can control the mythic King of Serpents, the Basilisk, whose stare no one can meet.

Terminology

• Basilisk: Magical serpent who kills all that meet its stare. Created by hatching a chicken's egg underneath a toad, the cry of a rooster is fatal to it. Spiders flee from it. Herpo the Foul is the listed creator. Illegal to create.
• Herpo the Foul: Creator of the basilisk, and known dark wizard/parselmouth.
• Parselmouth: A person who speaks the language of parseltongue.
• Parseltongue: The language of serpents.
• Serpent-Tongue: Salazar Slytherin, one of four founders of Hogwarts.

[Peter Alva Tannenbaum]

Consensimency
Written by Stefan Janacek

Like most special features, consensimency is an ability one is either born with or not, however, there is a lot of latitude on how far the ability is developed, representing a boon to the role-player that wishes to play a character over decades of the character’s life.

Basically, consensimency is the ability to feel the physical sensations of another person’s body (though the ability to recognize what those sensations are takes considerable training).  It is important to note that the sensations are not felt as if they are part of the consensimens' body, but rather as a rush of pain/pleasure/pressure/etc. through the part of the skin that is touching.  (i.e. Shaking hands with someone that has a toothache does not make the consensimens’ teeth hurt, it would be felt as a rush of sensation in the hand until the consensimens had the training to identify it from say, touching someone being tickled or wearing tight shoes.)

Evolution and Training of the Ability

Birth to Discovery
The wizard (or witch) is born with ability to feel another’s bodily sensations on skin-to-skin contact.  The sensations are like an unpleasant tingling in infants. Many will not breastfeed and fight being touched.  As one’s magical ability grows, so does the ability; becoming fully manifest at puberty by which time those cursed with this ability are simply unable to tolerate any skin-to-skin contact at all without being overwhelmed with the rush of unidentifiable sensations to the point of being debilitated.  For this reason consensimens are often very isolated as children and teens; choosing to wear gloves and thick clothing as much as possible.  In rare instances being touched also may result in an uncontrolled magical incident, especially while the consensimens is in the 8-11 year age range.  Typically, however, the untrained consensimens would initially try to jerk away when touched, perhaps cry out, with prolonged contact resulting in seizures and/or passing out as the nervous system is overwhelmed.  The ability is often recognized by the staff at the consensimens’ school when the student is 11-15.  The Ministry would be informed once the diagnosis is confirmed and a mentor assigned, preferably a professor at the consensimens’ school.  (The mentor need not be a consensimens himself.)

Defensive Training
Fortunately, it is a gift that can be trained if one has a teacher and a strong desire to do so.  Initially this training involves developing the mental ability to block out the sensations until touch can be tolerated.  Once the initial stage is mastered, the consensimens would be able to touch someone else; however, being surprised by the touch of another would result in being overwhelmed.  With time and hard work, the consensimens would eventually be able to block out a touch after it happened - a feat that represents an incredibly psychological relief.  This mastery often takes three to five years.

Stage of Discovery
The entire world often changes for the consensimens once he no longer must fear being touched.  While most will avoid skin-to-skin contact if it can be helped, they are now capable of shaking hands, learning social dances, and no longer must wear gloves and long sleeves even in summer.  It is at this point that the consensimens reaches a crossroad:  does he continue with the training, learning to isolate the sensations so that he would be able to tell that the one he is touching has a sore foot, headache, etc?  This is a very slow, painstaking process, requiring the ability to interact skin-to-skin with a variety of people experiencing similar sensations (good or bad).  If only one subject is used, the sensations would be identifiable for them, but the ability to label the sensation with others would be difficult at best.  This process would be never ending for there are an infinite number of sensations that would need to be identified. 

Using the gift
As the gift works by creating a link from the consensimens’ body to the subject, with further training that link can be reversed so that the consensimens can effect changes in the subject’s body.  Initially this is almost all bad.  A young consensimens, tortured by touch, might well unintentionally strike back causing blind harm to the one touching him.  Helping another person, such as healing a wound, is considerably more difficult, as it requires not only the ability to recognize what is wrong, but also know how to remediate it. 

However, with medical training and years of experience, sensation interpretation can be further refined to aid in the diagnosis of injury or disease.  The beginning of this skill is to be able to not only recognize, but to internalize the sensations, so that the consensimens does not just feel them at the touch point but where the subject feels it.  The sensory input is filtered until just the pain (or pleasure) is being transferred, then psychosomatically felt in the same location that it is originating from.  This is exhausting at first, as it takes time to be able to block the sensation once it is allowed that far in and so often the consensimens will withdraw from the touch before the connection is fully formed.  Fortunately, for most applications, a cursory wash of sensation is sufficient for identification (if identification of the sensation is possible).  However, if one is to train the skill for healing, the consensimens must learn to tolerate fully experiencing the sensations of another person.

As an advanced skill, the ability can be refined to include making small soft tissue changes inside the body, such as healing (or severing) ligaments, blood vessels, even spinal cord and brain tissue without the use of a wand.  This is something that even in skilled healers (or assassins) will take decades to master with precision and there will be many mistakes along the way.  His elemental isolation often makes the consensimens sociopathic enough that they care nothing for the benefit of the world and those around them.  Therefore, when a consensimens is identified, it is imperative that they receive extensive guidance and training to make him a functional member of society. 

Playing a Consensimens

Playing a consensimens requires the consent and active participation of other characters as the consensimens must not write for the feelings of another character without permission.  Certainly one must not heal or harm another character without his permission.  Therefore it will be very important to plot out the instances when this gift is used.  It is significant to note that until the ability to block out others’ sensations has been mastered, it is impossible for the consensimens to fight back on purpose short of initially jerking away.  One certainly could not think well enough to draw one’s wand, never mind do wanded magic. 

[Peter Alva Tannenbaum]

Vampires
written by Maire Dins

What are vampires?

Recognized as part-human by the Ministry of Magic, Vampires are better described as formerly human creatures for in order to become a Vampire one must first be human. Vampires are not born, they are made. Their unique attributes give them several advantages over humans, but their weaknesses can be far more deadly to themselves.

Most Vampires do not survive more than five to ten years, they simply do not posses the cunning and stealth that is required for survival. Little of their former human selves remain after the full transformation is complete  and while a few relearn skills, for most the shock of intellectual loss is too much to overcome. As a result, Vampires are their own worst enemy. The inability to accept the changes within themselves and accordingly adapt kill more Vampires than is widely known. The secondmost threat to a Vampire is other Vampires. They are not social creatures who live in packs, rather loners who will only tolerate the presence of other Vampires on rare occasion and even then it is a flight of fancy. Many Master Vampires who have decided to to turn a human quickly become bored with the work that is involved and either kill the creature or leave it to it's own defense, which is more often the crueler of the two.

Contrary to popular belief, begot and encouraged by none other than the Ministry of Magic, so-called Vampire hunters are not as effective or widely feared by Vampires than is reported. Most have had one or two chances of luck where they have crossed paths with a Vampire and lived, fewer actually slay a Vampire. A disturbing amount of recorded Vampire kills are a result of having located a coven.

Younger and inexperienced Vampires will not take care when choosing their coven, or 'safe place', where the Vampire takes sanctuary during daylight hours. Usually it is a cave or abandoned building these novice Vampires use, the same ones being used over and over by multiple different vampires over the years. If a Vampire hunter happens to discover one of these covens, they could (and have) earn themselves a greater income and reputation by returning to this location and killing the Vampires who did not take the scent of a human as a warning sign, thus assuring the Vampire hunter several kills and giving birth to the urban legend that covens are groups of Vampires living together.

How is a Vampire created?

Vampires are creatures that are made as a result of a human being bitten by a vampire and infected with a specific virus. It is very rare that a vampire is created as it does not result from one bite, but three bites over a period of three days.

The first bite kills the human. The virus enters the system and attacks the areas of the brain that control intellect, reasoning, behavior and memory, making them almost incapable of function and enhances the areas that control animal instinct, senses, strength and movement. The second bite puts more of the virus into the system, which begins to attack the actual DNA of the human. It retards the cells themselves, the pigmentation of the skin changes, ultra-violet sensitivity raises drastically, the ability to pro-create is damaged, the roots of the cuspid teeth and the keratin that makes the fingernails are infected. The third bite and the resulting virus that is introduced into the system revives what is left of the body and changes the way the body's absorption and digestion of nutrients works.

When the new Vampire is awakened for the first time, they are barely more than animals. Usually, the creator Vampire will take a few months to teach the pet to function. This is usually the only time that Vampires interact and requires an urge on the behalf of the creator Vampire.

The infection that has killed the human and taken over the body causes effects that are irreversible. Vampires are pale and gaunt. They are stronger and faster than humans but are unable to produce magic, Witches and Wizards who become Vampires not only lose the ability, but all memory of spells, potions and charms. Vampires can speak, but they are not highly clever creatures, they are capable of limited memory functions, usually more long-term memory than short-term memory, and when ready to feed, are more like animals than the humans they closely resemble.

The infections of the teeth and fingernails cause them to grow at an abnormal rate, making them longer and sharper than that of humans. The Ultra-Violet sensitivity is such that they are literally incapable of coming in contact with sunlight in any form. The new digestive system will break down food and drink as a humans would, however, it only absorbs the nutrients needed to survive from the blood of humans and animals.

The mark of a vampire bite is much more prominent on an actual Vampire than that of a victim, because of the number of bites.

Are there different types of Vampires?

Yes, there are three types of Vampires.

Master Vampire - The oldest and rarest are referred to as Masters. Masters are the only ones who are capable of being a creator Vampire and some have a limited ability to fly. Masters have the most intelligence and are the most cunning.

Vampire (common) - Most Vampires alive today are between 50-150 years old. These Vampires are most common, incapable of both flight and creating other Vampires. They usually have a limited amount of intelligence, enough to have survived this long.

Novice Vampire - The youngest, those who have been turned for less than 50 years, are considered the lowest of the species. Also, Vampires who have been incapable of accepting the changes are considered Novices.

Vampires are capable of recognizing how old each other are, within a decade, and those who are younger always defer to the oldest.

What is the life of a Vampire like?

The UV sensitivity is so great that a Vampire is incapable of any functions during the daylight hours. During the first hours of sunlight, a Vampire will feel itself begin to weaken. The feeling increases until they are no longer able to move. This requires a safe place, known as a coven, for them to sleep during the time the sun is in the sky. While the sun is setting in the sky, the Vampire will slowly awaken and regain it's strength.

If anyone found them during this time, they would literally unable to protect themselves. They are solitary creatures and highly territorial. Master Vampires will kill any younger Vampires they find within 150 miles of their coven. Most of the common Vampires attempt to live in larger cities. Those youngest Vampires who have not been trained live in forests and woods like animals. Master Vampires live in rural areas, small towns and villages and will travel several hundred miles each time they need to feed.

The Vampire, regardless of it's age, needs to feed approximately every three days. Some will just feed on animals, most will attack humans without much ado, master Vampires are the most clever of the lot and will stalk it's prey and lure them into coming to them.

Vampires are not capable of holding a job and functioning in society. Both their physical and mental changes prevent this from being possible.

What else do I need to know?

Vampires do not feed on each other. The virus in a Vampire's blood does not have the nutrients it requires.

There are three ways to kill a Vampire. Silver, stakes and Sunlight.

Vampires can not have offspring, their bodies are incapable of it.

Being a Vampire Character

Pros Stronger Faster Longer lifespan Faster healing abilities Heightened senses

Cons Inability to go out in daylight Lower intelligence Inability to do traditional magic Live off animal and human blood