Magic is a strange, mysterious force that seeks to defy explanation. As soon as you believe you understand, a wrench, a simple flux, pulls the land askew and redefines reality. Great feats of magic are possible. Feats that boggle the mind—born from both the witch whose name is known throughout the land and the quiet wretch of a wizard that seemed to crawl from the mud before the casting.
Over time, magic has been defined and redefined and then defined again. Ever changing. Ceaseless. Magic is little more than the energy that makes the world spin on its axis. Those so gifted can harness this energy. Once, in ancient times, this was seen to be par for the course. Normal. Natural. When man sought to understand the world, magic began to defy explanation. Physics and natural harmony did not coincide with the bends and twists of magical energy.
In times still ancient, yet not so long ago, magic was denied by men who could not—would not—understand her. Those who could manipulate energy were exiled. Hunted. Magic began to change. It was refined to fit within the modern times. Wandlore was brought to life, to help those who struggled to grasp raw energy with their bare hands. Wands became protective. They were necessary.
Time moved on, as time always does. Half the world seemed to forget magic ever existed. They wrote off magic as a thing of dreams and fantasy. Those memories of magic that lingered were called acts of God. Divine intervention. Divine power. Half the world could never forget magic. They heard the whispers and slowly, so slowly as to be insidious, they began to believe the rumors. Gods, men called them. Their magic was divine intervention. They were better than the others—the others with blood that was dirty. Magic was purifying. Their own blood was clean and pure for the magic they could wield.
Time continued on, as time is wont to do. Magic became defined. Scripted. What was once seen as failure was now commonplace. Wands were once considered a crutch—a poor man's excuse for working magic. Overnight, or so it seemed to be, magic could not be performed without a wand. It was taught such that man could master a wand. That a wand could choose a wizard or repel one and deny power. Only those pure of blood would be chosen; would see their divine right manifested. Oh, how the ancients must have laughed!
Great wizards were born. The greatest looked to the ancient past for secrets of magic. It was those who began to search among their dirty-blooded other half—the Mudblood. Once, it was a great thing to be able to pick out a Mudblood to whom magic called. Mudbloods who mastered magic were exalted. It was amazing that one so impure could overcome the odds; could become great.
The hands of the clock shifted once more. When those of dirty blood became too great, those of purity sought to shut them out. Mudblood became an insult. A dirty word. As dirty as it's original meaning, which had come full circle. Magic was as scripted as science. Only a spoken word with a complicated movement could bring about a response. Magic was not an experiment. It was akin to science, though hell to he who dared to state the comparison!
Does time seem to become familiar now? Or has the clock continued to turn on this time, leaving this text to feel ancient and paltry? How now, must you feel?
Indifferent to the changes of the world? Most appear to be. It is comforting to think the times you live in are how it's always been. Your woes are that which your grandparents faced. The woes your grandparents speak of seem somehow less after times changed. The changes seem little. Paltry. Even if the world is nothing like it once was.
Do you feel fear? It is natural, you know. To feel fear in the face of change. It is the mark of evolution that kept you alive while others failed. There is safety in the known. Danger in the unknown. It is perfectly natural to run from what you do not understand. Do not fear—you are not alone.
Is it excitement you feel? You burn for the novelty of the unknown, for the truths that once were. Perhaps you seek to learn magic as the ancients knew. Alas, I fear few will truly feel thus. Easy, it is, to practice magic only with a wand in one's hand and a spell on one's lips.
Curiosity for words that you never considered? Odd, it seems to you, that in all the history you've heard, you never once heard this. Have you heard, how history can be subjective? That the telling of a single event can make for a thousand stories—stories that, at first blush, might seem entirely unrelated. I am proud for your curiosity.
Or perhaps you simply feel confusion. Perhaps you were forced into reading this words and have no care for the tale I weave for you. When the pieces don't align with what you know, it is easy to dismiss the story for simple fiction. It might amaze you how much truth can be found in simple fiction.
If I am right, you might just be beginning to wonder what exactly it is I mean to tell you. For every time someone begins to speak or begins to write, there is a purpose. A lesson. Some piece of me that I mean to impart on you. Is this meant to be a lesson in history? A bit of life advice? A teaching in magic? I laugh as you try to puzzle it together.
But now! Let me say what I mean to say.
Magic is more, much more, than the waving of wands and the saying of spells. Spells and fancy wand movements will only get you so far. So you cannot perform magic without a wand? Perhaps you simply think of magic in the wrong way. Remember the lesson I've already taught? That back before the beginning of time, magic was simply the manipulation of energy. All could do magic. Let's go back to that; to simpler times. To a time when you merely had to believe it was possible for it to be done.
But with a twist of course, because nothing can ever be that simple.
A thousand protective spells and enchantments have been invented through the course of time. And why not? The world is a dangerous place. Any man will want to treasure the things he loves most. Thos of great power know that there is no price too great to protect the ones you love. And that is ultimately the crux of the matter. What is the price that's too great? For everyone has a price, whether you know it or believe it. Everyone has a price they are not willing to pay.
At the end of the line, when things are beyond hope, what are you willing to do in order to protect the ones you love? You must answer this question. Think long and hard. At what lengths will you go? At what length will you not go? It is odd the different answers these two questions can bring, even though they are asking the same thing.
Magic is little more than energy. Energy never fades. It only changes like a phoenix in constant cycle between life, death, and rebirth.
Ask yourself this: are you willing to die for what you love?
The greatest power in this world brought from sacrifice. People sacrifice every day—sometimes the price is so slight you don't even realize what you're sacrificing. Other times, the sacrifice is so great that is nearly impossible to bear.
Some have the mistaken belief that great feats of magic are complicated. Complicated. Complex. Impossible. It must be so, because everyone could do it if it weren't. It takes someone great to do something extraordinary. I challenge you now to believe differently. To believe that ordinary people can do extraordinary things. It is a simple answer. But it is hard. Oh, so very hard. It must be hard otherwise everyone would be doing it.
A life for a life. A statement that has long be used to justify the murder of murderer. Or perhaps you are more familiar with its sister phrase—an eye for an eye. Do unto the thief what the thief has done unto you. In other context, this ideal comes into play. The greatest protection is born from sacrifice. Do you understand now?
In raw form, magic is at its strongest. Can you stand in the face of death, unflinching and unafraid, to give your life for someone else? If you can, I really must insist that you see a doctor of some sort, because you are clearly suicidal. But can you stand unshakable to protect the one you love most? There is a difference between standing firm and standing unafraid. Fear can heighten magic. Any strong emotion can—that's how untrained children can perform magic before they have a wand in their hand. If you can stand, willing and ready to die, you can perform magic that is beyond comprehension in this day and age. You can perform a feat that will stretch through time, protective and undefeatable. For the kiss of death is the strongest magic of all.
It is the ultimate sacrifice, to die for another. It is something that cannot be undone; magic that must be undertaken with the utmost caution. You will not walk away, but your loved one will. Stand before death with open arms. Face it unshakable and perhaps a trifle afraid. Will your death to have meaning and it will. Magic need not be any more complicated than that.
Advice and Knowledge of One Nicholas Flamel