I suppose the whole Harry Potter universe is hard magic? Very hard, perhaps, since it is all taught in a systematic way, year by year? But it never quite made sense since the same spell in the mouth of a professor had a lot more potency than when uttered by one of the students, no matter how accurately.
Harry Potter is a weird example because Rowling treats it like a hard system but the second you apply any amount of logic to their magic it falls apart completely. It very much operates on the whims and needs of the characters, and in fact the notion of Lily's self sacrifice casting a protective shield over Harry is about as soft magic as you can get. It's a soft magic wolf wearing a hard magic sheepskin.
Hmm, that's true. Maybe she found the sweet spot between the two extremes, and that's what makes those books so beloved. Or maybe the magic is just irrelevant, a side prop compared to the actual story.
Probably a bit of both. I guess it's not a coincidence that as she's come under more scrutiny (and made increasingly lazy worldbuilding choices in other aspects of the Potter canon), people have started to pick apart her magic system as well.
I suppose the whole Harry Potter universe is hard magic? Very hard, perhaps, since it is all taught in a systematic way, year by year? But it never quite made sense since the same spell in the mouth of a professor had a lot more potency than when uttered by one of the students, no matter how accurately.
Harry Potter is a weird example because Rowling treats it like a hard system but the second you apply any amount of logic to their magic it falls apart completely. It very much operates on the whims and needs of the characters, and in fact the notion of Lily's self sacrifice casting a protective shield over Harry is about as soft magic as you can get. It's a soft magic wolf wearing a hard magic sheepskin.
Hmm, that's true. Maybe she found the sweet spot between the two extremes, and that's what makes those books so beloved. Or maybe the magic is just irrelevant, a side prop compared to the actual story.
Probably a bit of both. I guess it's not a coincidence that as she's come under more scrutiny (and made increasingly lazy worldbuilding choices in other aspects of the Potter canon), people have started to pick apart her magic system as well.