- Sreeram V Ramagopalan, DPhil candidate12, - Marian Knight,
senior clinical research fellow3, - George C Ebers, professor of
clinical neurology12, - Julian C Knight, senior research fellow1
- 1Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of
Oxford, Oxford OX3 7BN - 2Department of Clinical Neurology,
University of Oxford - 3National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit,
University of Oxford - Correspondence to: J C Knight - Accepted
16 November 2007 Objective To assess the evidence for a genetic
basis to magic. Design Literature review. Setting Harry Potter
novels of J K Rowling. Participants Muggles, witches, wizards,
and squibs. Main outcome measures Family and twin studies,
magical ability, and specific magical skills. Results Magic
shows strong evidence of heritability, with familial aggregation
and concordance in twins. Evidence suggests magical ability to
be a quantitative trait. Specific magical skills, notably being
able to speak to snakes, predict the future, and change hair
colour, all seem heritable