Charmed Life - Diana Wynne Jones [87]
When you travel from one world to the next, you usually have to leave a part of yourself behind. Unless, of course, you wish to move more permanently. By using very strong magic it is possible to relocate yourself to another world, but be warned — this will set up a chain reaction whereby your counterparts will be dragged through after you, replacing the gaps left behind in each world!
Before you get to another world, you may have to travel through The World Edge, which, if you didn’t know any better, you might call The Place Between. Not all travellers can actually see The World Edge, but it’s always like a leftover piece of world. At its worst, The World Edge can be shapeless and empty, which may be enough to put the most hardened traveller off going any farther, but it also functions as the mechanism that draws you back to your own world, and this can help prevent you from getting lost.
Once you’ve made it into another world, it’s a good idea to proceed with caution, as you never know when you might stumble across something unpleasant — like a dragon, for example. You should also be careful what you do in other worlds, for your actions may affect the natural laws in your own world. One thing is certain: Related Worlds and parallel universes are not to be toyed with!
TYPES OF MAGIC
WHAT IS MAGIC? There is no easy answer to this question. For in the worlds of Chrestomanci, magic is as individual as the person using it. And if two people use the same spell but the results are different, this may not only be due to who is doing the magic, but how they are doing the magic, and whether the magic is being used for good or evil.
Is it possible to learn magic? If no one in your family has ever shown signs of magical ability, it is very unlikely that you will be able to do magic. If, however, your great-aunt twice removed once turned herself invisible, the chances are there is magic in your family and you may well have inherited it. It is no surprise that Roger and Julia Chant can do magic in Charmed Life, for example, given that their father is Chrestomanci. Even those children from a magical family who seem to have no magic ability at all usually find there’s a logical reason why not, as magic will out!
But being born with magical ability is not enough. Magic users are not born knowing spells and charms — these have to be learnt. Spell-making and spell-using is handed down like recipes through generations in The Magicians of Caprona, where each spell-making family is a school of learning. In The Lives of Christopher Chant, Charmed Life, and Mixed Magics, alongside lessons on history, geography, and mathematics, the student has to take a series of Elementary and Advanced Magic classes. It is only when you pass the Advanced Magic classes that you become what is known as an “adept.”
So what happens in a world where magic and witchcraft are outlawed? Larwood House, the school for witch-orphans in Witch Week, is the very last place you would have magic lessons, for magic is utterly forbidden. Still, the funny thing about magic is that, lessons or no lessons, it has a habit of breaking out like measles, whether in the form of a swarm of exotic birds, a flying mop, or a running shoe disguised as a gateau. One thing is certain: although erratic, the results of untrained magic can be quite spectacular.
If you are born without magic, or don’t come from a family of magic users, it is still possible to learn magic. But having magic on the curriculum doesn’t necessarily ensure good teaching. Being taught by a hedge-wizard (a derogatory name for an inept wizard) is just as bad as not being taught at all. People who have been taught by hedge-wizards, or not taught at all, usually lack the skills to use their magic ability wisely or properly, yet another reason why Chrestomanci is needed!
What about different types of magic? There are both different types of magic and different