The Dresden Files > DF Spoilers
Could Maggie have taken up a Coin?
Mr. Death:
--- Quote from: LordDresden2 on February 21, 2018, 03:56:11 AM ---It takes effort on the part of the person to use that outside energy. Yeah, the energy is there to be drawn on, but using it takes concentration and focus and effort that come from the character. Think back to Fool Moon, at one point Harry is so exhausted that he can barely manage to hex a small security camera.
He's not inside a circle, there's plenty of magical energy around. Another Wizard, fresh to fight, could have hexed the camera, or melted it with a blast of flame, or the like. But Harry was so tired that he couldn't make the magic flow. He even worries he might have overstrained his talent and done permanent damage.
Since then, he's built up his endurance and can throw a lot more magic, but it still takes effort and focus from him to manipulate external magical energy.
--- End quote ---
None of that says or confirms that it's referring to his ability to use /outside/ forces, just that he's having trouble using any forces at all.
You say he's exhausted. That tends to mean he's lacking in /internal/ energy. He's worried that he's lost his magic, not that he's lost the ability to use outside magic.
Yes, wizards /can/ draw in power from outside. But they also use power that's generated from themselves. What do you think Harry's doing when he throws together a spell from inside a circle?
--- Quote ---But there's no reason to think that these are the same thing. JB has said that everybody has at least a little ability to use magic, so it's not the ability to manipulate the energy that is different in people like Harry, it's their ability to handle large amounts in a highly skilled way.
--- End quote ---
Yes, it is. Look at Butters: He has learned a lot about magic, but he cannot command power like Harry does. The best he can do -- after a couple years with Bob -- is build things for Bob to power and manipulate.
There is absolutely a difference in the ability to manipulate the energy.
groinkick:
--- Quote from: Mr. Death on February 21, 2018, 04:59:03 AM ---None of that says or confirms that it's referring to his ability to use /outside/ forces, just that he's having trouble using any forces at all.
You say he's exhausted. That tends to mean he's lacking in /internal/ energy. He's worried that he's lost his magic, not that he's lost the ability to use outside magic.
Yes, wizards /can/ draw in power from outside. But they also use power that's generated from themselves. What do you think Harry's doing when he throws together a spell from inside a circle?
Yes, it is. Look at Butters: He has learned a lot about magic, but he cannot command power like Harry does. The best he can do -- after a couple years with Bob -- is build things for Bob to power and manipulate.
There is absolutely a difference in the ability to manipulate the energy.
--- End quote ---
What goes on in the books, and what Jim says can lead to some confusion. I think he said something like a wizard will need some of his own power which allows him to tap into power from the never never which flows through him for his spells. I think that's why dark magic corrupts you, it has to go through your body... The Blackstaff seems to prevent this.
LordDresden2:
--- Quote from: Mr. Death on February 21, 2018, 04:59:03 AM ---None of that says or confirms that it's referring to his ability to use /outside/ forces, just that he's having trouble using any forces at all.
You say he's exhausted. That tends to mean he's lacking in /internal/ energy. He's worried that he's lost his magic, not that he's lost the ability to use outside magic.
--- End quote ---
That's not implied. Either one fits the statement equally well. Harry could have used up some inner 'reserve' of energy, yes, but he could just as easily be exhausted from manipulating outside energy. The overall trend of the series text is that most magical power, in humans, involves outside energies, except for death curses.
--- Quote ---
Yes, wizards /can/ draw in power from outside. But they also use power that's generated from themselves. What do you think Harry's doing when he throws together a spell from inside a circle?
--- End quote ---
Harry usually can't throw a spell from inside a circle. When he does, the implication is that he's using what energy is there inside the circle.
Remember Aurora's circle. Harry was basically helpless inside it, the only thing he could throw was his death curse. Aurora did consider this last a potential problem, but otherwise Harry was more or less magically neutralized.
We saw this in action when Nicodemus trapped Harry, Ivy, Kincaid, etc. in a big circle, too. Because it was a big circle, there was quite a bit of energy in it, but Harry muses that once that energy is all used up, he's 'just a guy with a gun'. Unless, of course, he threw a death curse.
LordDresden2:
--- Quote from: Mr. Death on February 21, 2018, 04:59:03 AM ---
Look at Butters: He has learned a lot about magic, but he cannot command power like Harry does. The best he can do -- after a couple years with Bob -- is build things for Bob to power and manipulate.
There is absolutely a difference in the ability to manipulate the energy.
--- End quote ---
That's what I said. Most people have only a tiny ability to manipulate external magical energy, like Butters. What makes people like Harry different is their ability to manipulate large amounts of it.
But it remains to be established that the internal life energy is the same thing. You don't have to reach out to it, it's YOU, and you're it. So there's at least a good chance it follows different rules.
LordDresden2:
--- Quote from: groinkick on February 21, 2018, 05:52:06 AM ---What goes on in the books, and what Jim says can lead to some confusion. I think he said something like a wizard will need some of his own power which allows him to tap into power from the never never which flows through him for his spells. I think that's why dark magic corrupts you, it has to go through your body... The Blackstaff seems to prevent this.
--- End quote ---
That's how ritual magic works, too. You get something Powerful to send energy to you, so you can throw spells as if you were a Wizard (at least in terms of raw power, not necessarily skill).
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