The Laws of Magic and the Magic of Laws
A Study of the Unbreakable Vow from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood
Prince from a Legal and Ontological Perspective
MARCO MAZZOCCA
Zitiervorschlag
MAZZOCCA, The Laws of Magic and the Magic of Laws,
in: cognitio 2021/1.
URL: cognitio-zeitschrift.ch/2021-1/Mazzocca
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.4767583
ISSN: 2624-8417
Creative Commons – Namensnennung – Weitergabe unter gleichen Bedingungen 4.0 International
,The Laws of Magic
valuable comments and suggestions.
and the Magic of Laws
A Study of the Unbreakable Vow
from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood
Prince from a Legal and Ontologi-
cal Perspective
MARCO MAZZOCCA*
This work analyses the «Unbreakable Vow» as
developed in the plot of the novel Harry Potter and
the Half-Blood Prince from a legal and ontological
perspective. In particular, the relationship between
magic and law is investigated in light of social ontol-
ogy and is compared to Roman law’s obligationes
verbis contractae.
Table of Contents
I. Introduction 1
II. Law and Magic 2
A. Law 2
B. Magic 3
III. Legal Forms and Magic Formulas 4
A. The «Unbreakable Vow» and its
Form 4
B. The Form Mirrored by Roman Law 6
Dr. Marco Mazzocca, Ph.D., Postdoc,
Pavol Jozef Šafárik, University in
Košice, mailto:
.
I want to thank all the participants of
the Doctoral Forum in Law and
Humanities
at the University of Lucerne for their remarks.
Special thanks to Yuliia Khyzhniak for her
1
, C. The Magical Aspect of Roman Law 8
IV. Muggles’ Ontology and Magic Words 9
A. Muggles’ Ontology 9
B. Magic Words 11
V. Conclusion 12
I. Introduction
The world described in the Harry Potter series
has an exceptional feature that distinguishes
these works from many other excellent
fantasy series.1 Instead of being located in
some remote fictional world, locations such
as «Little Whinging», «Diagon Alley»,
and «Hogwarts» all have quite familiar geo-
graphical locations – the county of Surrey,
London, and the Scottish Highlands,
respectively.
Likewise, even the political geography of the
novels should be quite familiar. Throughout
the saga, we discover, for example, that there
1 Indeed, in many popular fantasy series, such as
«The Lord of the Rings» or «The Chronicles of
Narnia», or the more recent «A Song of Ice and
Fire», events occur in other worlds (respectively
«Middle Earth», «Narnia», and «Westeros»). See
TOLKIEN J.R.R., The Fellowship of the Ring,
London 1954; LEWIS C. S., The Lion, the Witch
and the Wardrobe, London 1950; MARTIN
GEORGE R.R., A Game of Thrones, New York
1996.
2
A Study of the Unbreakable Vow from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood
Prince from a Legal and Ontological Perspective
MARCO MAZZOCCA
Zitiervorschlag
MAZZOCCA, The Laws of Magic and the Magic of Laws,
in: cognitio 2021/1.
URL: cognitio-zeitschrift.ch/2021-1/Mazzocca
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.4767583
ISSN: 2624-8417
Creative Commons – Namensnennung – Weitergabe unter gleichen Bedingungen 4.0 International
,The Laws of Magic
valuable comments and suggestions.
and the Magic of Laws
A Study of the Unbreakable Vow
from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood
Prince from a Legal and Ontologi-
cal Perspective
MARCO MAZZOCCA*
This work analyses the «Unbreakable Vow» as
developed in the plot of the novel Harry Potter and
the Half-Blood Prince from a legal and ontological
perspective. In particular, the relationship between
magic and law is investigated in light of social ontol-
ogy and is compared to Roman law’s obligationes
verbis contractae.
Table of Contents
I. Introduction 1
II. Law and Magic 2
A. Law 2
B. Magic 3
III. Legal Forms and Magic Formulas 4
A. The «Unbreakable Vow» and its
Form 4
B. The Form Mirrored by Roman Law 6
Dr. Marco Mazzocca, Ph.D., Postdoc,
Pavol Jozef Šafárik, University in
Košice, mailto:
.
I want to thank all the participants of
the Doctoral Forum in Law and
Humanities
at the University of Lucerne for their remarks.
Special thanks to Yuliia Khyzhniak for her
1
, C. The Magical Aspect of Roman Law 8
IV. Muggles’ Ontology and Magic Words 9
A. Muggles’ Ontology 9
B. Magic Words 11
V. Conclusion 12
I. Introduction
The world described in the Harry Potter series
has an exceptional feature that distinguishes
these works from many other excellent
fantasy series.1 Instead of being located in
some remote fictional world, locations such
as «Little Whinging», «Diagon Alley»,
and «Hogwarts» all have quite familiar geo-
graphical locations – the county of Surrey,
London, and the Scottish Highlands,
respectively.
Likewise, even the political geography of the
novels should be quite familiar. Throughout
the saga, we discover, for example, that there
1 Indeed, in many popular fantasy series, such as
«The Lord of the Rings» or «The Chronicles of
Narnia», or the more recent «A Song of Ice and
Fire», events occur in other worlds (respectively
«Middle Earth», «Narnia», and «Westeros»). See
TOLKIEN J.R.R., The Fellowship of the Ring,
London 1954; LEWIS C. S., The Lion, the Witch
and the Wardrobe, London 1950; MARTIN
GEORGE R.R., A Game of Thrones, New York
1996.
2
