Will write for reviews: If you read a story, any story not just mine, please take a minute to leave a reivew. Story traffic and reviews are the only compensation the writers of FF get. A story is much more likely to be updated and hopefully completed when there is feedback from readers.

As I stand on my soapbox here. I used to wonder why there were so many unfinished stories on fan fiction. Then I started to write my own stories. It is a commitment, a very time consuming one. When you get no reviews, you lose interest. The thought of what else I could be doing with my time creeps in. I have tentatively returned to writing. We will see if it is worth my time to continue providing entertainment.

Melverne's Picks: I have created a community for exceptional stories. The stories are either more than 20,000 words or complete unless it is the sequel to another story. I am always looking for a great read, if you have any suggestions PM me.

Story Status

Dragon Pox: Why would you bother to keep someone in protective custody without an able keeper? Mrs Figg was a member of the Order of thePhoenix and could have been a formidable Auror watching over Harry Potter. What if she decided to intervene?

Mrs Figg takes an active interest in Harry's welfare at an early age. Dumbledore is very manipulative in this story.

Warning: Harry is abused during this story by the Dursleys.

Beta Reader: Trucklesinthetrees - Thank you for proofing the posts, Author of Remembering Me and Remembering Me: Into the Serpent's Lair (listed in my community and favorites list).

Status: Chapter 8 is being worked on. It is 3,000 words long.

Hogwarts School of War Wizardry Summary: Discontinued. This was my first attempt at a HP story line. It has been pulled down and is being incorporated into Thicker than Mud.

Thicker than Mud: In the Wizarding World blood status is an important factor in society. A civil war was fought under the guise of blood purity. In some cases entire bloodlines came to an end. With war orphans and nearly extinct families left in the aftermath wouldn’t this have created an emphasis on preserving family?

Warning: This story is M for a reason. There is crude content, foul language and violence in the story. If this offends you, don’t read it.

Status: Chapter 6 is now up. Chapter 7 is being worked on it is approximately 1,000 words in.

Beta Reader: Zarathustra46 – Author of a fantastic trilogy. The parts are Vows, Duty and Honour (listed in my community and favorites list).

How Magic Works

Disclaimer: This is mostly based upon JK Rowling's novels. I have provided some additional detail as to how magic works in my story and answers some questions about the world itself. The spells mentioned have come from The Harry Potter Lexicon an enormous source of information about the Harry Potter universe. http:///index-2.html

Quintessence:The fifth and highest element in ancient and medieval philosophy that permeates all nature and is the substance composing the celestial bodies. It is the essence of a thing in its purest and most concentrated form. This is magical energy.

Aptitude Is the ability to learn and retain spells. Purebloods have an advantage here from constant exposure to magic from the moment they are born. Sometimes a Muggle-born can match a Pureblood, or even more rarely exceed them (Hermoine is the only example in Harry's years at Hogwarts. Two decades before that it was Lily Evans. It just is not very common for a Muggle-born to excel over Purebloods).

Components Nearly all wizards require a component to do magic. It is possible to master / specialize in a few spells to overcome the requirements. A wand is used to focus the magical energy and an invocation to tell it what to do.

Brooms: This is a specialized item (physical component) for flight. Could a witch or wizard fly without one? Absolutely. A magical person could leap from the top of Hogwarts and glide to the ground. A more ambitious individual could levitate or possibly attain true flight. But why bother when a broom has its own power source, greater maneuverability and speed.

Wand: This focuses magical energy.

Invocation: This is the requirement of a spoken word to achieve the desired results.

Endurance There is a finite amount of energy that can be used by a magical person. Powerful spells require more energy. Training can help but some people just have a greater endurance. Example: Many people jog but not everyone is an Olympic level athlete.

Strength Another aspect which can be trained up, but training will only get you so far. Some individuals are simply more powerful. It is possible to have a blasting curse capable of blowing off the doors of a bank vault. Granted the caster probably just used nearly every once of energy to do something like that.

Mastery / Specialization With enough time and effort it is possible to for silent and / or wandless magic. Not everyone will commit the time to learn how or even be capable of this.

Spells:A variety of practical spells are known by pretty much everyone. A few good hexes more for defense or a practical joke. Defined from above these can be more powerful based on the caster's abilities or specialization. This is far from a complete list.

Accio: Summoning charm, cannot summon living things. Apparation: The ability to teleport from one location to another. Very restrictive. The caster must pass their OWLS and take a test for certification. The distance is limited by the caster's strength and if they are familiar with the area. Apparating blind increases the chances of splicing tremendously. Businesses and most residences have wards to prevent anyone from apparating in. Confringo: Standard blasting charm. Depulso: A banishing charm which pushes things away from the caster. Protego: A shield charm which deflects hexes. Scourgify: A household cleaning charm.

Family Grimoires:Every good cook has a family recipe that won't be shared. Wizard families have Grimoires full of spells which are taught to family only. The oldest families have spells which have not classified as light or dark. Short of being caught killing someone, there is little that can be done about this. Some of the spells have not been seen for a century or more.

Magical Energy Sources (Quintessence)

Places of power: Camelot, Hogwarts andStonehenge are all examples of incredibly powerful locations. The land fuels the enchantments and wards placed upon the living quarters. The oldest families have the greatest sources of magical energy. Battles were fought over the location, which explains why the oldest families have the best land. It helped create the best defense.

The Burrows for example belongs to the ancient family of Weasley. Its appearance is obviously magical. There a numerous enchantments in place just to keep the structure from collapsing. There has to be an obscene amount of concealment and Notice-Me-Not charms to keep the Muggles away and avoid detection. Hogwarts has stairs which move, a great hall with an enchanted ceiling, and an anti apparation field to name just a few things. It is one of the most powerful locations in the world. Wizard Homes: Not everyone is fortunate enough to inherit an ancestral home or have the funds to buy one if it should happen to become available (highly unlikely). So what does everyone else do? A home is stationary and power sources can be purchased to maintain enchantments. The defenses will never be as good but it is enough to power a connection for the floo, hold a Notice-Me-Not enchantment and some low powered wards. The more it can do the more expensive it is.

Note: The Russian witch of legend, Bagba Yaga, had a hut on chicken legs and it could walk. This was a long time ago though and in the wilderness. Most Muggles that stumbled across the hut did not live to say anything.

Magic Items

Books: Children's books have moving illustrations and sounds (a lion that roars). Books which will read to the holder. Diaries which safeguard the entries so only the writer can read it.

Children's Toys: Numerous toys have been crafted to siphon off excess magic, lowering the probability of accidental magic. A checkers or chess board which uses the magic from the players to move the pieces. Stuffed animals that give words of comfort, sing nursery rhymes or glow in the dark when squeezed. Wizard tops which will spin for as long as the user wishes and changes colors.

Pensieve(s): A common household item used in place of video recorders (The Wizarding World has their equivalent of home videos). The more expensive it is the more memories it can hold. Additional enchantments are available such as projecting the memory like a hologram or security systems.

Pictures: Non electric cameras are used to take pictures. A specially brewed potion is used to animate the images.

Portraits: A portrait can be enchanted. The person will act, move and speak just like the subject. The likeness is uncanny and can either bring great comfort and / or sadness if the subject is deceased.

Items of power: Gemstones, jewelry and other items can be used as a reservoir for magical energy. Only the finest crafted items can be used. Dwarven or goblin workmanship is the most desired for this and is outrageously expensive. It is more likely to be a family heirloom.

Education

Primary (ages: 5 - 10): Because of the witch trials and the inquisition the Wizarding World maintains a separate society. It is a measure to keep their children safe. At this age the magical children are sent to a centralized location by floo for the morning. The basics of arithmetic, Latin (most verbal components are in Latin), reading and writing (calligraphy and use of the quill and parchment) is taught. Crafts, music and physical education (deep breathing and learning to focus) are included. Attendance is mandatory unless a certified tutor is hired and acceptable test scores are maintained. This is why half bloods and purebloods know each other. They are not divided until the sorting at Hogwarts. August 15th is the cut off for enrollment (Hermoine is nearly one year older than Harry).

The Muggle born are at a disadvantage for two major reasons. They are not introduced to the Wizarding World until their eleventh birthday. This is a ten year deficit of exposure to magic. By the time they reach Hogwarts there is an enormous gap of basic knowledge that magical children take for granted. Secondly the primary education teaches the use of a quill (having to learn is a major set back), arithmetic (geared towards learning arithmancy), and Latin (key for understanding the verbal components of spells).

A summer holiday class is offered (strongly recommended) but not required for Muggle born students prior to their first year at Hogwarts. A few half bloods and pure bloods are invited to attend the holiday class as representatives of the Wizarding World to give the children a chance to meet other witches / wizards before going to Hogwarts.

Hogwarts

The Quill of Admission:This is a magical artifact from the founders of Hogwarts. It records the name of every child born with the aptitude for magic. Once a year it writes the names and address of the children who have the necessary magical strength to graduate from Hogwarts.

Hedge Schools:A separate list is maintained for those with magic but who would be better suited for a trade. These individuals attend a Hedge school until the age of thirteen (first through third year). If their scores are at least an E average (exceeds expectations) and the Hedge school gives them a recommendation, they are given the opportunity to transfer to Hogwarts as a fourth year student. This is an integration point for new students at Hogwarts from the Hedge schools.

Cost of Education: The bulk of the educational costs are paid through taxes. The tuition is based on the family's income bracket. There is no cost break for multiple children and school supplies are the parents' responsibility. This can create a hardship on large families (IE: Weasley). Orphans (IE: Tom Riddle) are given a low interest loan and begin making payments after graduating.

Curriculum and school activities Once again The Harry Potter Lexicon has done a fantastic job of detailing this from the books. My additions would include

Citizenship: Available as an elective to third year students. Purebloods may one day inherit a seat in the Wizengamot or a graduate might seek employment in the Ministry of Magic. This class gives instruction on the workings of the community and government. It is required for all prefects, head boy / girl and any student wishing to serve on the student counsel at Hogwarts (only Fourth year students and above can be elected).

School Paper / Yearbook: Available to third years as an elective. Grammar is picked up again as part of the course.

Student Counsel (School activity): The student council is comprised of one represententative per year (fourth through seventh) from each house. This is in addition to the Prefects and the head boy / girl of each house. One sixth or seventh year student is elected the prime minister. Each session will vote on items of political importance and hear any grievances from the student body.

School Sports

Broom Racing: All years. The wizarding world's equivalent of NASCAR. Obstacle courses are also very popular.

Chess Club: All years.

Dueling: All years.

Fencing / Swordsmanship: All years.

Football (soccer in America): All years, a very controversial addition.

Quidditch: All years. (I know. According to cannon it is second year and above. Yet Harry played. Youngest seeker in a century. I prefer to think everyone was welcome to try out. Harry was just that good).