Harry Potter is the best YA fantasy has to offer. Much of its fantastic elements are reinforced by the very lack of Muggle science and technology, particularly on the grounds of Hogwarts School itself. Hermione tells Harry that Rita Skeeter cannot “bug” Hogwarts, in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, because muggle technology doesn’t work at the school.
But while the books make clear what is not possible in the Wizarding World, they don’t explore what magic might be possible in the Muggle World. Only Mr. Weasley seems at all interested in how muggles have used their brains to create technology to make their lives easier. Here are just a few of the more magical things in the Harry Potter series that could one day be far more fact than fiction.
Veritaserum
The truth serum is used to very great effect on Barty Crouch Jr. as a disguised Mad Eye Moody in the book/move four, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Psychoactive drugs aren’t only for those of magical ability. As Snape describes, potion-making is a “subtle science”. Though perhaps not as effective as Snape’s brew, truth serums have long existed and been used in interrogation and torture techniques. The idea is to alter someone’s cognitive state so they are more likely to tell the truth or more easily offer answers to questions. No one chemical substance has been discovered to be more effective than another, so there’s hardly a single standard in the muggle world.
Omnioculars
At the Quidditch World Cup in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry purchases Omnioculars for himself, Ron, and Hermione. Designed like very fancy binoculars, the omnioculars are able to zoom in on the action on the field as well as replay or slow down the action. If only wizards didn’t look down their noses at muggles they might have noticed the new appearance of smartphones. Like omnioculars, it is already possible for fans of any sport to zoom in, record, and replay action as they see it. They can also edit, share, and upload their content. That’s even better than a pair of omnioculars.
Owls
Owls deliver all the mail in the Wizarding World, which is why they make for such great pets. However, in the real world, Muggles usually depend on the human postman for their letters and packages.
Rock Doves, however, known for their incredible homing ability across great distances, were long used in the Muggle world as messengers, delivering mail and wartime news up through the invention of the telephone. To get a reliable delivery it is important to use a migratory bird, so it is used to traveling long distances.
Fluffy
Most fans are aware that Hagrid’s dog, and Sorcerer’s Stone guardian, Fluffy was inspired by Cerberus, the three-headed dog of the underworld in Greek Mythology. But could a three-headed dog ever exist in real life? The short answer is yes. There are quite a few examples of animals with multiple heads in science already, including this two-headed snake. Hans Spemann, an experimental embryologist, conducted tests where he was able to create two-headed embryos in frogs. The theory remains that, if the right gene could be switched “on,” more heads could also develop.
Healing Tears
In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Fawkes the Phoenix uses his tears to heal Harry’s wounds and cure the poisoning he received from the basilisk. While muggles cannot round up any phoenixes, there are healing properties being studied in tears as we speak. A powerful protein, lysozyme, has been found in the tears of pregnant women that have been very effective in the fight against HIV. Not all tears are created equal, but that doesn’t mean that a little healing can’t go a long way.
Wingardium Leviosa
Levitation and flight are some of a wizard’s “most rudimentary skills,” according to Professor Flitwick. Harry Potter fans have seen feathers and broomsticks fly, along with the levitation of both people and pets. While it would need to take place in a particular environment, Muggles too are beginning to be able to make things fly, other than aerodynamic planes and rockets. At the High Field Magnetic Laboratory at Radboud University, scientists have actually made a frog float. This proves that it is possible to make a biological specimen levitate. “In fact, it is possible to levitate magnetically every material and every living creature on the earth due to the always present molecular magnetism.” Very cool.
The Sorting Hat
What can the Sorting Hat do other than sing? It can read your mind, that’s basically how it decides which Hogwarts’ house is best suited for each student. Mind reading, particularly through a device worn on the head, has also come a long way in the Muggle World.
Enter the SQUID or Superconducting Quantum Interference Device, which can measure magnetic fields that are created by electrical impulses in the brain. A Direct Contact SQUID can already be worn as a sort of helmet to measure brain activity and, down the road, map that activity and read what’s happening within.
Invisibility Cloak
Sure, Harry’s cloak is one of the Deathly Hallows, and of far better quality than most invisibility cloaks, but muggles are getting closer to having some of their own. A number of different technologies are currently working to make wearers invisible, from special material, to infrared blankets, and regular lenses.
Apparition
Who hasn’t spent time in a crowded airport and wished they could just teleport instantly to where they needed to be? In the Wizarding World, it’s as easy as thinking about where you want to go and taking the right steps. While Muggles are still working to make this possible a theory already exists. By stepping through a wormhole it should be possible to get from one place to another, no matter how far away those places are from one another. Not too user-friendly, but not impossible either.
Skelegro
While mending bones is no problem for Madame Pomfrey, growing them back is a little bit harder to do. She manages, however, when the bones in Harry’s arm disappear thanks to Professor Lockhart. But what about for Muggles? We know casts help bones grow back together, but growing a bone, like growing a new organ, is difficult. By using cells from a mouse’s skull and combining them with a bone growth protein, scientists were able to regrow a part of the animal’s skull. It’s not as simple as Harry drinking a glass of Skelegrow, but it’s headed in the right direction.
