Will

Biodata

Power Progression

Will’s system awards experience for practice, study and other experiences. The Chapter 2 status panel establishes several levels without showing when he reached them 2.

Background and History

Will was born on May 16, 1980, to Dorothy Behrens and Edward Philanthus Howard, the Earl of Arundel. Dorothy named him Will Howard, but Edward did not marry her, and the child was given her surname instead. Edward supplied a London house and monthly support on the condition that Will’s identity remain secret 2.

Dorothy became abusive, locking Will away and beating him. During one confinement, an outburst of accidental magic led to an out-of-body experience; a consciousness from another world then took over, retaining Will’s memories and knowledge of the Harry Potter novels. Will subsequently found the wizarding world on his own and began buying books and learning spells. After Dorothy died in a car accident, he lived alone and devoted himself to magic 1 2.

His memories of his previous life include more than a decade spent studying for examinations as a small-town student. When learning the Patronus Charm, he identified receiving his university acceptance letter as a rare moment of sufficiently intense happiness, contrasting it with the lingering gloom of his earlier education 241.

The Sorting Hat placed Will in Slytherin despite his preference for Hufflepuff. His first days brought conflicts with students who disparaged his perceived Muggle background; he defeated Ivan Selwyn, Auburn Nott and others in the dormitory, then beat a larger group led by Yaxley in the common room 6 7 10.

At Christmas, Edward summoned Will to the Howard estate while threatening to withdraw future support. Will learned that Edward viewed him as a useful family asset. He used the Imperius Curse to make Edward write bearer cheques, then stunned him and erased his memory. His uncle Hobart, by contrast, offered him support 26 40 41.

Sylvia’s family later showed Will a portrait of Vincent Behrens, a wizard who resembled him and had helped preserve their branch of the Lestrange family. Will concluded that Vincent was his future self. A test with an alchemical object called the Wizard’s Eye confirmed his identity, and he received a Gringotts vault containing a substantial fortune and Hufflepuff’s Cup, which he recognized as a Horcrux 42 43 44 45.

Will founded the High Tower beside the Black Lake as a place for students to meet and study. It grew into a community spanning houses and backgrounds, with Will increasingly asked to guide its members. He joined the Rune Association and gained wider academic attention for his work on spells, runes and Potion Transfiguration 105 224 262 495.

His investigation of Voldemort’s Diary and the Chamber of Secrets drew him into the conflict with Voldemort. When Voldemort later tried to recruit him through Lucius Malfoy, Will brought the proposal to Dumbledore. The two agreed to use Voldemort’s trust in him as part of a deception, leaving Will outwardly aligned with Voldemort while reporting to Dumbledore 81 91 129 340.

After his experiences in Egypt, Dumbledore treated a mark left on Will by Ramesses II. The treatment left him unconscious for three days, and Dumbledore explained that the mark had been designed to slowly corrupt his soul and kill him after fifty or sixty years. Will was advised to suspend Animagus training during his recovery, and the incident intensified his search for knowledge about souls 140.

Will’s early Potion Transfiguration publications attracted accusations that he had relied on family connections or appropriated his professors’ work. He largely ignored the rumors, while Snape defended his achievements and warned him about academic opportunists. During a subsequent interview with Rita Skeeter, Will emphasized his curiosity, his own efforts and the guidance of Hogwarts’ professors while avoiding political controversy 227 228 229.

Experiments with an altered Patronus Charm led Will to cast it over a remote Scottish village. The resulting pursuit of the “Christmas Dark Wizard” eventually prompted Dumbledore to order him to end the Aurors’ search through a demonstration of power without Dark Magic or injury. Dumbledore supplied Felix Felicis for the confrontation 270 308.

Will’s research expanded beyond conventional spellcraft to ritual, soul and Ancient Magic. Time travel took him to several earlier periods, including 1767 and 1890. In 1890, he covertly followed Depty and Professor Fig’s search for the Ancient Magic trials, copied and absorbed a core beneath Rookwood Castle, and experimented with emotion-consuming magic. He used captive Dark Wizards and artificial werewolves as test subjects, actions that exposed a ruthless side of his pursuit of knowledge. Further work on an Ancient Magic Core preceded a Phoenix rebirth; when he emerged aboard a ship, the year was 1901 448 452 462 463 468 471 474 475.

In later school years, Will continued balancing research with his covert position among the Death Eaters. Grindelwald also became a mentor, although Will rejected his political cause in favor of pursuing magic on his own terms. Will developed an Origin Spell system and gave a compilation of spells to the Ministry’s Aurors. In his sixth year, he declined the opportunity to become Head Boy and helped arrange Draco Malfoy’s appointment instead, using the post in a wider recruitment and intelligence plan 490 638 701 728 747.

To protect Sylvia’s family after Voldemort’s return, Will told Roy Lestrange that Vincent had warned them to prepare for war. He disclosed his undercover role and proposed taking over part of the family’s medicinal-herb market, with the profits supplied to Voldemort as cover. Roy accepted the arrangement and canceled the family’s planned trip to France 499.

Will also negotiated an alliance with the Howard family on terms that made him its foremost ally rather than a returning family member. He offered them access to magic in exchange for spreading recognition of his authority, while retaining particular consideration for Hobart. He later pursued plans involving the family, the American wizarding world and a possible magical university 685 758 767.

Before securing the alliance, Will demonstrated the gap between his power and that of the wizards the Howards already knew. He transported the dinner gathering to Antarctica, immobilized Edward and transformed the snowy surroundings into a scorching desert. Miles Howard then lowered his head and asked what Will wanted the family to do 684.

His American plans included infiltrating the upper ranks of the Magical Congress of the United States of America and its public-relations apparatus. He intended the Howard family to handle part of his collection of Muggle faith, and ordered the duke to assemble the leaders of the family’s American operations for a briefing and selection process 767.

During his sixth year, Will reopened his laboratory and devoted most of his captive Dark Wizard subjects to Soul Studies. He also planned to reverse Potion Transfiguration by deriving a Dream Potion from his Dream Charm. His relentless schedule eventually led Snape and Flitwick to require one day of rest every two weeks, threatening his Restricted Section access and their ritual studies if he refused. He spent the first enforced Saturday off visiting Hogsmeade with Sylvia 743 798.

Will later visited a church whose congregation worshipped him as the “Wizard God.” Their devotion supplied Charisma experience, and his Charisma eventually reached LV6 (1200/1200), upgrading its existing bonuses and Magic-Blessed Body rather than immediately advancing to LV7. After experimenting with the resulting changes, he used True Mask.MAX to suppress enough of his enhanced charisma for the High Tower’s members to behave normally around him again 827 832 833.

At the end of the holidays, Will transcribed Voldemort’s Soul Studies knowledge into three notebooks and recognized that it might help save Scrimgeour. The beginning of term and Dumbledore’s return interrupted his opportunity to resume the relevant experiments. McGonagall subsequently held her final tutoring session with him and entrusted him with notes, prompting Will to thank her formally for nearly six years of instruction and personal care 833 836.

By this stage, Dumbledore considered Will difficult even for him to deal with and likened the High Tower to a small kingdom independent of the four houses, with Will as its unseen king. His concern centered less on Will becoming another Voldemort than on the scale of Will’s ambition 843.

Appearance

Will is described as thin at eleven, with fine features and distinctive silver-gray eyes. A portrait of Vincent Behrens looks like an older version of him 1 17 43. After Magic Body Tempering activated, he appeared taller and sturdier, with improved physical abilities 351.

• Eyes: Silver-gray; their resemblance to Vincent’s helps draw the Lestranges’ attention 43.
• Scars: His childhood injuries left scars hidden beneath his clothes 2.
• Physical development: By the summer after his fourth year, sustained Magic Body Tempering had made him stronger than most young wizards and roughly comparable to Harry in physical strength 499.
• Enhanced presence: His later charisma improvements made him seem noticeably different to Harry and caused unusually strong reactions among his acquaintances until he learned to conceal part of their effect 833.

Personality

Will prizes understanding how magic works over memorizing instructions. He studies intensely, sometimes missing sleep, meals and classes; after Dumbledore warns him about losing himself in that pursuit, he adopts a healthier routine without giving up his studies 1 17 18 49.

He is guarded about family and slow to trust, but shares food, helps classmates and patiently teaches Neville. He usually avoids affairs that do not concern him, yet responds forcefully to threats. The Mirror of Erised shows an older Will passing the great wizards of history, which he interprets as a desire to surpass them all 5 7 14 17 24 40.

Will prefers building his own path to following a mentor’s political program or accepting a fixed limit on his growth. His friendships and ties to mentors remain important emotional anchors. At the same time, he can be secretive and calculating, and some of his later experiments inflict severe harm on captives 448 490 541 602 691.

His public reputation is often that of a modest, gentle and fame-indifferent scholar, but Sylvia recognizes the arrogance, ambition and calculation beneath that image. Will himself acknowledges that he is calculating much of the time 292 353 356.

He favors lasting development over temporary increases in power. This informs both his rejection of a Transfiguration bonus that would permanently cap the discipline and his selection of Meme as an investment in an independent path combining different forms of magic 448 638.

His tendency to overwork persists despite earlier attempts to moderate it. In sixth year, his mentors resort to explicit restrictions to make him rest, while he continues to use charms to remain alert during prolonged research. Reviewing his experimental procedures sometimes makes him question whether he is a Dark Wizard, though he does not dwell on the concern 772 798.

Abilities and Skills

Wizard’s Eye

An innate magical sight that Will can activate to see the flow and forms of magic 2.

• Reveals the intricate magical patterns in McGonagall’s transformed desk 8.
• Lets him observe Neville’s uneven magical flow, though it does not establish the cause 14.
• Gives him a potential advantage in research requiring observation of changes in magic 28 29.
• Helps him extract a potion’s runes, study Ancient Magic and reproduce the circuits of an Ancient Magic Core 61 307 462.
• Works with Sight Insight to show the progress of a transformation and an efficient path for guiding it 111.
• Allows him to perceive Natural Magic in distant lightning, leading to a discussion with McGonagall about its shared core with a wizard’s magic 85.

Spellcasting and Defence

Will can cast nonverbal magic before starting Hogwarts and has practised the Shield Charm extensively 3 10.

• Uses Protego to withstand Yaxley’s Stunning Spell while testing his defences 10.
• Uses rapid spell combinations, Transfiguration and Confringo against older students 10.
• Performs wandless household magic and stops a spill on the Knight Bus without his wand 36 41.
• Constructs the Bone-Growing Charm by translating and simplifying Skele-Gro’s magical structure. Primordial Meme and his later Origin Spell system support further spell construction and modification 61 64 638.
• Can amplify spells with Ancient Magic. Tests of Rookwood’s emotion-derived power made a Stunning Spell explosively destructive and split a Killing Curse into two lethal beams 468 469.
• Uses Ancient Runes for layered protection and subtle battlefield disruption, including while fighting beside Flitwick at Hogsmeade. He sometimes speaks incantations or draws his wand chiefly to conceal how much magic he can perform without them 776.
• Creates additional potion-derived spells, including a Confusion Charm and a Vigor Charm based on Invigoration Draught 68.
• Can inflict soul damage through Dark Magic. Dumbledore identified such damage in the Black Dragon and warned him to use this magic sparingly 370.
• Uses Mind Spell to forcibly alter a spell’s behavior through will. Concentrating the Cruciatus Curse on a werewolf’s magical structure required substantial effort and caused pain from mental strain 541.

Research and Teaching

Will gains substantial experience by investigating magical principles and can explain spells through practice as well as theory 15 29.

• Teaches Neville the Summoning Charm through repeated demonstrations and corrections to pronunciation and wand movement 14.
• Studies the relationship between runes and modern spells with Flitwick, then identifies an unconventional possible connection between spells and potions 15 34.
• Reads Ethan Abdullah’s disturbing research but chooses to consult established experts rather than repeat his dangerous experiments 28 29 30.
• Studies approaches to transformation from Uagadou and Chinese magical texts, applying what he learns to Human Transfiguration and his Animagus research 103 111.
• Researches how body, soul and magic relate. In experiments on werewolves, he combines Dark Magic and soul damage to make cuts along what he believes is a subject’s Magic structure 541 681.
• Compiles Origin Spells for Hogwarts-level study and supplies a collection to Aurors for use against Dark Wizards 701.
• Can alter spells already incorporated into the Origin system and incorporate the revisions again, affecting the versions used by existing learners. He tests this process with Neville and the Summoning Charm 637 638 647 648.
• Identifies his so-called Happiness Charm as a Dream Charm and agrees with Snape that it should be restricted. He considers revising it through the Origin system and later investigates deriving a Dream Potion from it 646 743.
• Studies alchemy using textbooks and notes supplied by Fred and George. His Alchemical Insight improves material identification, reliability and experience gain 728 781.
• Can gain Soul Studies experience despite the discipline’s unreadable level, unlike Magic, whose experience notifications remain at +0 772.
• Copies Voldemort’s Soul Studies research into three notebooks and studies its theories of body, soul and magic, identifying possible applications to Scrimgeour’s condition 833.

Transformation and Ancient Magic

Will’s Formless Chaos lets him remain aware and magically capable through major bodily changes. His Animagus ritual first produced a silver-and-black bird form, and he subsequently took a silver wolf form. His transformations also include a silver Phoenix. His Formless bonus later allowed qualities of his soul to shape his Transfiguration on a much larger scale 163 169 172 351 448.

He can perceive and construct Ancient Magic, and has studied both joy-related magic and the emotion-consuming power associated with Rookwood’s core. The latter can drain negative emotions, leaving victims mentally diminished, and can amplify suitable spells. He has also constructed a new Ancient Magic Core 307 463 468 475.

• Joy-related Ancient Magic: Santa Claus teaches him to construct a core that stores joy, advising him to cultivate and gather happiness rather than steal it from others 297.
• Emotion-specific amplification: Ancient Magic does not enhance every spell indiscriminately; negative emotions amplify offensive charms and most Dark Magic 468.
• Large-scale transformation: His demonstration to the Howard family includes changing an Antarctic snowscape into a hot desert 684.
• Werewolf research: He theorizes that lycanthropy is permanent Transfiguration driven by Natural Magic. Early attempts to reproduce a werewolf’s magical structure in death-row prisoners kill the subjects, and his later research continues with artificial werewolves 446 471.
• Ritual reproduction: Ritual Inscription lets him perfectly reproduce rituals he has previously completed 112 117.

Charisma and Magical Affinity

Will’s Charisma abilities affect attention, persuasion, credibility and emotions. Emotion Weaving lets him sense the emotional fields of nearby individuals or groups, with clarity depending on emotional intensity. He can expend magic to provoke or soothe emotions, or use a larger amount to alter them slightly 2 18 307.

• Faith as experience: Worship directed toward him by a congregation supplies Charisma experience 827.
• MAX bonuses: At Charisma LV6 (1200/1200), his five existing Charisma bonus abilities upgrade to MAX, increasing their original effects by 50%–150%. This is not a confirmed advancement to LV7 832.
• Magic-Blessed Body.MAX: Substantially increases magical affinity while allowing it to continue improving without limit. Its benefits include magical output efficiency, perception and manipulation, but do not directly improve skills such as Cooking or Herbology 832.
• Effects on animals: During testing in a South American rainforest, nearby animals gather around him and remain despite a tremendous noise, only returning to ordinary hostile behavior after he leaves 832.
• Concealment: He experimentally uses True Mask.MAX to hide part of his enhanced charisma, stabilizing its disruptive effects on his social interactions over several days 833.

Altered Patronus Charm

Will develops an unusual Patronus that manifests as silver-gray light or mist and can affect emotions. Early practice leaves him unnaturally cold and emotionally detached; he gradually recovers after reducing his practice 253.

• Can slightly control the emitted light, which initially fades when he stops supplying magic 253.
• Produces darkened mist during an experiment conducted under Euphoria Draught, causing Peter Pettigrew first to experience despair and then emotional numbness as Will adjusts the spell 270.
• Can draw on another person’s emotions to extend its duration. Will concludes from his tests that its effects cause no lasting harm, though chocolate does not immediately restore happiness while emotions remain suppressed 270.

Equipment, Weapons and Items

• Primary wand — acacia, phoenix feather, twelve and a quarter inches; bought from Ollivander before Will entered Hogwarts 1.
• Old wand — used while studying magic and travelling discreetly before Hogwarts; still in his possession during the Howard visit 2 40.
• Enchanted trunk and books — carry the material he reads and studies extensively 2 3.
• Nimbus 2000 — a gift from Hobart; Will considers selling it to increase his savings 40.
• Golden Wizard’s Eye — an alchemical object distinct from his innate talent, used to test his connection to Vincent 43 44.
• Gringotts vault key — grants access to the fortune associated with Vincent; the vault also holds Hufflepuff’s Cup 44 45.
• Dragon-hide potion-making gear — clothing and gloves given by Sylvia for protection during advanced brewing 45.
• Silver watch and Time-Turner — time-travel equipment whose effects and unpredictable destinations expose Will to danger 447 452 475.
• Black family manuscripts — research materials on Ancient Magic and other subjects made available to him by Sirius Black 306.
• Emergency Portkey — made by Dumbledore, attaches almost invisibly to the end of Will’s wand and can return him directly to Hogwarts in danger 184.
• Alchemy textbooks and notes — supplied by Fred and George and used in his sixth-year studies 728 781.
• Soul Studies notebooks — three notebooks into which he transcribes Voldemort’s research 833.
• McGonagall’s notes — entrusted to him during her final tutoring session, representing the transmission of her knowledge and research approach 836.
• Powerful Portkey from Voldemort — handled by Will during a discussion of Voldemort’s plans involving Hogwarts; Will privately suspects that the intended operation may involve taking students hostage 824.

Relationships

• Dorothy Behrens — mother; her abuse shaped Will’s guarded independence, and he felt no grief at her death 2.
• Edward Philanthus Howard — biological father; Will rejects his attempt to control him through family ties and financial support. Their later dealings remain strained despite the Howard family’s alliance with Will 2 26 40 41 685.
• Hobart Howard — wizard uncle who welcomes Will, defends him to Edward and continues offering financial support. Will cites consideration for Hobart as one reason for his later arrangement with the family 40 41 49 685.
• Miles Howard — head of the Howard family who accepts Will’s proposed alliance and directs family resources toward supporting him 685.
• Sylvia Lestrange — Slytherin classmate and close friend who repeatedly looks out for him and welcomes him into her family. They later date; she remains attentive to his health, safety and work 7 17 42 45 499 607. She recognizes the ambition and calculation behind his modest public manner and accompanies him on his enforced sixth-year day off 292 798.
• Neville Longbottom — friend and pupil; Will helps him master the Summoning Charm and other first-year spells. Neville later regards Will’s continued trust and support with gratitude 14 18 34 648.
• Hermione Granger — former primary-school classmate and Hogwarts friend; she admires his learning while feeling pressure to keep up. Will later encourages her to define her own ambitions rather than compare herself with him 3 8 33 34 107. She is among those who nominate him for Head Boy 743.
• Harry Potter — friend and High Tower member. Harry regards Will as a true friend after their shared life-threatening experiences during the Triwizard Tournament, and Will’s interventions give the Order of the Phoenix a major advantage over the original course of events 549 809.
• Professor Flitwick — mentor who teaches Will spell theory and welcomes regular questions. They later collaborate intellectually and fight together at Hogsmeade; Flitwick invites Will to consider succeeding him as Charms professor 1 15 30 607 738 776. He joins Snape in imposing regular rest days on Will 798.
• Professor Snape — Head of Slytherin and demanding Potions instructor who grants Will access to restricted reading and teaches him brewing technique. Their relationship grows familiar enough for teasing, though Snape continues to warn him about dangerous experiments 15 31 50 523. Snape explicitly defends his trust in Will as his apprentice, and their later Potions and Dark Magic lessons increasingly resemble academic exchanges 613 798.
• Professor McGonagall — Transfiguration mentor who takes an interest in his welfare and asks him to guide the High Tower’s members 85 105. At their final tutoring session, she entrusts him with notes, and he bows deeply in gratitude for her teaching and care over nearly six years 836.
• Albus Dumbledore — Headmaster who supports Will’s learning but warns him against dangerous magic and consuming ambition. They later coordinate Will’s covert position with Voldemort, and Dumbledore shares his own experience of magic responding to him 13 17 18 129 232. Dumbledore regards Will’s personal bonds as essential safeguards, while later worrying about his grand ambition and growing authority within the High Tower 602 843.
• Remus Lupin — holiday tutor in Defence Against the Dark Arts; Will helps him in return with practical suggestions and a possible job lead. Their association continues when Lupin returns to Hogwarts 47 48 340 738.
• Draco Malfoy — High Tower member and later covert collaborator. Will directs his recruitment efforts, supports his appointment as Head Boy and argues that Draco can choose a path distinct from Lucius’s 147 528 738 747.
• Lucius Malfoy — intermediary with Voldemort who privately supplies Will with old Potions books and imported ingredients in exchange for protecting Draco during an operation against Harry 505.
• Roy Lestrange — Sylvia’s grandfather, who introduces Will to the portrait of Vincent. Will later reveals his undercover position to Roy and coordinates a protective business arrangement; Roy treats him as family and refuses compensation 42 499.
• Gellert Grindelwald — advanced-magic mentor who teaches Will Protego Diabolica and corresponds with him under Dumbledore’s supervision. Will welcomes his instruction but rejects his political vision 490 602. After learning of two paths to the pinnacle of magic, Will decides that he wants to pursue both rather than choose only one 602.
• Voldemort — believes Will to be a valuable student and loyal operative. Will cultivates that impression while covertly cooperating with Dumbledore 129 340 495 691. Voldemort’s instruction and research remain sources of knowledge for Will, including the Soul Studies material he later transcribes and studies 833.
• Santa Claus — instructor in joy-related Ancient Magic who teaches Will to construct an emotional core and treats him with unusual friendliness 297 298.
• Peter Pettigrew — captive experimental subject used in Will’s spell and altered Patronus research 174 270.

Trivia

• Will dislikes Quidditch enough to read a Potions book during a match, but says he would like to learn to fly under his own power rather than on a broom 14 22.
• His system initially lists Magic LV? as unavailable because of the world’s unusual nature; Nefertari’s teaching later unlocks Magic LV.max 2 35 120.
• Despite his skill in magic, Will is a poor Wizard’s Chess player 34.
• His first-year reputation includes the nickname “Ravenclaw’s spy,” reflecting how strongly his study habits contrast with other students’ expectations of Slytherin 15 68 353.
• His habit of keeping emergency reserves began when Dorothy confined him without food; he later applies the same caution to money, maintaining two Gringotts accounts 40.
• Rumors that he possesses prophetic talent arise partly because Lockhart is the only early professor whose office he never visits for instruction 97.
• His early attempt to make Chinese-style soy milk by blasting soybeans with Reducto is unsuccessful 2.