Wards

[danajsparks.livejournal.com]

I'm wondering where the idea of magical protective wards comes from. It's a fairly ubiquitous concept in HP fan fiction, but I'm not finding anything about wards in the books. There is the blood protection on 4 Privet Drive, but I don't think that's ever called a ward.

Comments

[sharaz-jek.livejournal.com]

They're mentioned in Diana Wynne Jones' Tough Guide to Fantasyland, so are probably common in fantasy (though oddly enough, none of the fantasy I've ever read). Probably fanficcers needed a name for protective spells that really should have been developed in the Potterverse and picked the generic one.

[danajsparks.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think Rowling really failed in this area of her world-building.