1. DLP Flash Christmas Competition + Writing Marathon 2024!

    Competition topic: Magical New Year!

    Marathon goal? Crank out words!

    Check the marathon thread or competition thread for details.

    Dismiss Notice
  2. Hi there, Guest

    Only registered users can really experience what DLP has to offer. Many forums are only accessible if you have an account. Why don't you register?
    Dismiss Notice
  3. Introducing for your Perusing Pleasure

    New Thread Thursday
    +
    Shit Post Sunday

    READ ME
    Dismiss Notice

Do wizards get diseases like cancer?

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Duryodhana, Jan 11, 2016.

  1. Duryodhana

    Duryodhana Scrub

    Joined:
    Dec 28, 2014
    Messages:
    20
    Location:
    India
    There seems to be little knowledge of magical disease and whether muggle diseases affect wizards.
    Does being magical change one's immune system or anything like that?
    And what about diseases like cancer or maybe STDs?
     
  2. Republic

    Republic The Snow Queen –§ Prestigious §– DLP Supporter

    Joined:
    Sep 1, 2010
    Messages:
    493
    Location:
    Germany occupied Greece
    High Score:
    4495+2362
    I think that it's generally accepted that wizards don't get muggle diseases. But that's fine, considering there are magical equivalents that are quite deadly.
     
  3. BTT

    BTT Viol̀e͜n̛t͝ D̶e͡li͡g҉h̛t҉s̀ ~ Prestige ~

    Joined:
    Aug 31, 2011
    Messages:
    437
    Location:
    Cyber City Oedo
    High Score:
    1204
    Magic > Muggle Nature. This is actually canon, though I can't be fucked to find the quote right now. So wizards can't get cancer, aids, ebola, or a cold.

    Can they have similar diseases, of magical origin, though? Sure.
     
  4. Clerith

    Clerith Ahegao Emperor ~ Prestige ~ DLP Supporter

    Joined:
    Jan 7, 2008
    Messages:
    176
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Finland
    High Score:
    1645
    Straight from JK:

    Full article.
     
    Last edited: Jan 11, 2016
  5. ihateseatbelts

    ihateseatbelts Seventh Year

    Joined:
    Mar 28, 2014
    Messages:
    274
    Location:
    Where the mandem jam up to no good
    First of all, kudos. Duryodhana is pretty much the ultimate Slytherin.

    We actually know more than we think at first glance when it comes to magical diseases. Stuff like Vanishing sickness and the like seem as if they can be pretty nasty. It also appears that wizards can get the flu, but I assume that it's a magical strain and likely unrelated to Muggle influenza.

    There are deadly ailments - like Dragon pox - and some even mutate (see Cerebrumous Spattergroit). And you can't forget contagious curses like lycanthropy.
     
  6. TheRedSpeedster

    TheRedSpeedster Squib

    Joined:
    Jan 8, 2016
    Messages:
    10
    Location:
    Atlanta,GA
    High Score:
    0
    What about mental diseases like Dementia. I'm wondering because my new fanfic has the Oblivate spell be an extreme cause for future Dementia and incorporate the ideas of Mental illnesses like Split personality. (Honestly, that Oblivate spell is some whacked up stuff)
     
  7. vlad

    vlad Banned ~ Prestige ~

    Joined:
    Oct 6, 2007
    Messages:
    678
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Georgia, SSR
    High Score:
    2000
    Rowling said: stuff

    The key was "broadly speaking." Fix cancer, yes. Fix bad eyesight... Nope.
     
  8. Glimmervoid

    Glimmervoid Professor

    Joined:
    Dec 21, 2011
    Messages:
    423
    Location:
    UK
    Would cancer in a wizard be mundane, though?

    Think about it. A wizard is magic and all parts of him are magic (consider the magical ingredients used in potions or wands for examples of parts continuing to be magic once separated from the creature proper).

    Cancer is some of your cells going wrong and replicating like crazy. Cells are part of a wizard and so would be magic in turn. This could mean wizard cancer will be out of control magical cells running wild. Magic they could use to protect themselves from magical cure. Magic they could use for active if unpredictably ends.

    The idea of wizards with crazy magical cancers which do random magical things at random amuses me. Maybe your tumour could randomly turn your hair blue or cause a magical wasting sickness or randomly apparate out your body and turn into a new creature :cool:
     
    Last edited: Jan 11, 2016
  9. Hawkin

    Hawkin Chief Warlock

    Joined:
    Apr 20, 2011
    Messages:
    1,453
    Location:
    QC, Canada
    That, right there. Just don't try to explain how magic come from the cells or how there's this gene in wizards' DNA that allows them to do magic or you'll end up with MoR. Now if you want to invent fancy diseases that turn your hair blue or make you shit all over yourself while smelling like roses, feel free. Just don't call it cancer; that belongs to muggle.
     
  10. Ashton Knight

    Ashton Knight Disappeared DLP Supporter

    Joined:
    Nov 16, 2015
    Messages:
    270
    Location:
    UK
    High Score:
    0
    She doesn't actually specify whether they're immune to it (I.E Not being affected at all) or if they are vulnerable to it but can easily fix it with a spell.

    My own personal opinion is that wizards are immune to the majority of muggle diseases while muggles are immune to the majority of wizarding diseases (The latter is more headcon than anything).
     
  11. Glimmervoid

    Glimmervoid Professor

    Joined:
    Dec 21, 2011
    Messages:
    423
    Location:
    UK
    I think you focusing far, far to much on the word cell in my post. It is just a word, but if it makes you happy...

    A wizard is magic, body, mind and soul. As such, any scirrhus consumption of said body will be magical too, for every part of a wizard is magical from the highest to the lowest. Bereft of the control of the mind and soul, the magic of the consumption will become isolated from the wider body magical. Its power will be wild and untamed. It will exhibit strange spontaneous eruption of power, similar to accidental magic of untrained youths. The native and inherent palliative power of a wizard's magic may keep the consumption in check, but if the consumptions grows too big or in times of great stress or weakness (such as that induced by other magical miladies), the consumption may become life threatening.
     
  12. unorfind

    unorfind Third Year

    Joined:
    Jun 5, 2012
    Messages:
    103
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Poland
    So no they don't seem to be immune to it just curing mundane stuff is trivial for them, on other hand if you get some kind of magical diarrhea it probably be will be ten times worse :)
     
  13. Sesc

    Sesc Slytherin at Heart Moderator

    Joined:
    Dec 20, 2007
    Messages:
    6,216
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Blocksberg, Germany
    ^ What he said, plus

    So that is actually another reason for the SoS. If it kills even wizards, muggles wouldn't have a chance.
     
  14. Hospitalised_Soul

    Hospitalised_Soul Squib

    Joined:
    Jan 4, 2016
    Messages:
    5
    Location:
    Narnia
    High Score:
    0
    I think, that they probably wouldn't as it is more than likely that their immune systems are strengthened by magic, hence the longer life span. Even if they did it's more than likely very easy to cure, even if it's for the fact that someone found developed/caught it and decided it would be unbecoming to die of a muggle disease.
    I mean, come on, if they can create potions to stop an extremely fatal and excruciating poison within seconds, it can't be too hard for an arrogant and prideful pureblood to work out the cure to AID's.

    Although, it would of been incredibly ironic for Walburga Black, the epitome of a Dark Pureblood Lady, to keel over from cancer...
     
  15. Alistair

    Alistair Seventh Year

    Joined:
    Oct 28, 2014
    Messages:
    217
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    USA
    Firstly, Hi I am new here, but everyone has to stop lurking at some point.

    My take on the issue is that Wizards are physically indistinguishable from muggles in every way. All these ideas about wizards being more durable or longer lived is, as far as I can tell, purely a fanon idea that isn't supported by canon.
    Therefore, a wizard can get a cold, or cancer or even ebola for that matter. The only difference is that wizard healing is so much better than muggle medicine that healing such conditions is trivial.
    I would also propose that muggles can catch wizard diseases. It isn't specifically stated in canon, but I always thought it was implied that conditions such as Lycantrophy and Vampirism could be contracted by muggles. There is also no evidence in canon to suggest that this shouldn't happen. Muggles can be physically harmed by magic; a cutting curse has the same effect on muggles as on wizards, as does obliviate, imperio, or dragonfire for that matter. In no other area of magic are muggles immune. Why would diseases be any different?
     
  16. wordhammer

    wordhammer Dark Lord DLP Supporter

    Joined:
    Feb 11, 2010
    Messages:
    1,916
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    In the wood room, somewhere flat
    I'm more amenable to the idea that wizards aren't biochemically different from muggles. They aren't suffused with magic like a dragon or unicorn. What they can do is apply magic as a trump card against muggle-level threats. It's a fine line of difference; a chaser gets hit by a bludger with enough force to shatter a stone wall, but the fact that the player is a witch means that her body is reinforced at the moment of impact. She's also on a broom which may provide some force attenuation, but those bludgers still hurt and they can still crack your skull open.

    As for the diseases, my understanding is that muggle illnesses have some simple magical cures... that rely on the consumer to be a wizard to make them work. Pepper-up potion, for instance, is a cure for the symptoms of the common cold- wizards still get it, but they have a simple fix.

    I'd also argue that some magical diseases don't affect muggles at all, simply because they have no access to magic to make the disease do magical harm. It's still important to keep the illnesses out of view or the muggles will go hysterical over the threat of lizard-skin sickness and the like.
     
Loading...