In this chapter, I touch up on some things I forgot before, and then I go on to discuss a bit of the superscience that seems to be prevalent in some of the shows. Please do leave reviews if you have any questions you want me to answer! Reader feedback will be much appreciated.
So, Dr. Sleevemore – born psychic or practiced?
This is a good question, and the case of Dr. Sleevemore is one I hadn't considered before. I suspect he's a case of someone being born with potential, but learning how to unlock it. It would make sense that he would have some psychic powers as innate, explaining why he decided to research them in the first place. Then, in his research, he perhaps figured out how to utilize one's full potential – or at least part of it. I should note that wizards probably very seldom learn psychic powers unless they are born with it, due to their access to magic, which renders psychic powers redundant.
If psychic powers are indistinguishable from magic, where does the mana come from?
Also a good question. See, my belief that they are indistinguishable comes from the realization that no matter what your technobabble, psychic powers just don't make sense. I mean, you can talk about quantum entanglement or the whatnot, but given that we're dealing with a universe where we already know magic exists, Occam's Razor seems to apply. I would say that psychic powers just don't require much mana, so they're still able to utilize all that remains after the castle in the sky was built.
So wouldn't psychic powers be a good backup in case a wizard's mana supply is cut off, or if their powers are taken away?
Yes, but wizards are notoriously arrogant and don't believe that will happen.
How different is the magic non-wizards can learn from the magic wizards use?
Quite different. Non-wizard magic requires a lot of ritualism, while wizard magic is fast and versatile. It's kind of like the difference between invocation and evocation, though that's probably not a great analogy either.
Where does the mana for non-wizard magic come from?
Same place as psychic powers. Part of the ritual probably involves actually collecting enough mana to do something.
Where does Dr. Sleevemore get his superscience equipment, and how does it work?
He probably builds it himself. He is more or less a mad scientist. The "psychic measuring device" would easily work, though. Since doing magic (which psychic powers are a subset of) requires changing your mind frame, you can simply measure your brain waves. The machine that lets him see Raven's vision was an excuse for a clip show, but assuming one figures out how visual memories are encoded, you might be able to make a device that does that. On the other hand, it might be what we call a "psychotronic" device, that is, one which can utilize and emit psychic powers. (Some powerful magical artifacts can presumably already do this.) If that's so, it might magically translate her thoughts.
So is Arwin also a mad scientist?
Given his robot (In "Arwinstein") and possibly his P.U. (if you don't believe it was a telepathic dream, in "The Suite Smell of Excess"), yes, I would say he is.
How does the A.I. in Arwinstein work?
Either it, too, is magic, it involves a very complex learning algorithm, or a working artificial neural network. Perhaps a bit of both.
How about the P.U.?
This would require a lot of energy of some sort, and it might be magical. On the other hand, it might have something to do with tearing holes in reality. No one really knows anything about physics, anyway, we just fake it.
Why is no one ever in any serious danger and everything so light unlike most stories involving magic?
I don't know quite how broad you're saying "most" is, or how you define serious danger. This show is essentially like Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Bewitched (Mr. Laritate is a reference to the boss in that show, Larry Tate!), or I Dream of Jeannie. Or a number of other sitcoms involving magic as a plot device, where the mood was still light. Perhaps, though, it resembles a tale of heady enticement, showing the hedonism of unlimited power, and how it's not really all that it's cracked up to be. Sure, due to magic, they can get out of any "serious" danger, but they still have day to day problems – similar to the aforementioned shows!
Why would the Disney producers put two people with such good chemistry (Selena Gomez and David Henrie) as siblings?
In their defense, they probably didn't know quite how much chemistry they would have when they were chosen for the cast. Now this also seems to be the reason for the prevalence of "Jalex" shippers, but there might also be something there about the allure of extremely forbidden relationships. Even among wizards, sibling relationships are taboo. Also note that Max would have to get the powers by default if they did carry on a relationship, even if it weren't taboo, because unless former wizards count as wizards by wizard law, at least one of Alex and Justin won't have powers.