Magic was a deeply subjective thing. Even when its logic made sense, it was the logic of the mind, not some universal law of things.
Take the Order of the Phoenix's Arrow Deflection Charm, for example. Its magical effect was actually a Palace Lantern floating just above and in front of the caster's head.
Anton had asked Lupin about it, hoping to understand the principles behind it, but Lupin's reply had been full of Wizardly reasoning.
—Because we all grew up listening to Wizard Fairy Tales.
Hmm...
There was a classic story in Wizard Fairy Tales about a child who wandered into a gloomy Forest. Its rocks were jagged, the trees seemed like monsters in the shadows, and the wind howled like a Beast.
The child received a magical lantern. Once he lit it, its glow gave him strength, allowing him to overcome everything that frightened him and escape harm from monsters and Beasts, until he reached an abandoned palace full of treasure.
The Fairy Tales' message was simple enough, but the idea that light gave you strength had become ingrained in many Wizards from childhood onward.
This offered great insight for the study of Collective Consciousness in the field of Gray Magic.
But the collective Subconscious was still the collective Subconscious. Anton could tap into its power, but it was difficult to alter its ingrained beliefs through individual will alone.
Light granted the strength to resist harm. The light came from a lantern, preferably a Palace Lantern.
That was how the Magical World worked.
Unless someone could deliberately guide another culture into becoming popular in society, everyone would keep believing the same thing. And those ideas would grow stronger in people's minds with each passing generation, repeated in Fairy Tales and quoted in books by adults.
And so a