Frozen 2 had promise. It shared some premises with Onward, namely the existence of a pre-technological society that had learned to live in harmony with “natural” magic. This natural magic was founded upon the four elements of Earth, Water, Air, and Fire, the foundation that led to the modern field of chemistry, after a long detour into alchemy. But it botches what could have been a truly magical story into a neither-here-nor-there mess, partly saved by the light-hearted Olaf, and a cute delightful salamander.
In Frozen 2, the salamander is a spirit of (elemental) fire, an idea from the medieval alchemist Paracelsus. However, in our world, salamanders are amphibians – creatures of both earth and water. They are often found hiding in driftwood, fallen branches and broken logs. They don’t tolerate heat or fire and try to escape when wood is put to the torch, hence their association with fire. They scamper away when the fire starts, seemingly appearing from nowhere, as if born from the fire.
Salamanders are mentioned in the Harry Potter series when the twins Fred and George Weasley get a salamander to swallow some fireworks, or when Hagrid treats them for scale-rot. Salamander blood is also used in Strengthening Solutions, and Hagrid builds a bonfire to keep them happy during Care of Magical Creatures. Salamanders are described in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (the book, not the movie) as fire-dwelling lizards. The author of said book is one Newt Scamander, a very salamander-ish name if you ask me.
However, it’s the non-magical salamanders of our world that are much more interesting. They can regrow their limbs! How do they do so? Well, it’s in their genes. Actually, it’s in all our genes too, since we have genetic instructions to grow limbs. Some people even grow an extra finger! However for us humans, the genes haven’t yet be coaxed to regrow a missing limb. Scientists continue to probe and unlock the secrets of the salamander’s ability to regrow different limbs, although apparently there’s a limit. Chop off the limb enough times and eventually it doesn’t regrow. Ah, biochemistry – fascinating and complicated!
Voldermort magically provides Wormtongue a new hand, although it seems more like an advanced prosthetic (with its silvery appearance) rather than the regrowth of his own hand. The hand isn’t completely under Wormtongue’s control. It’s not really his, and it kills him in the end. It’s unclear how exactly Voldemort magically builds his new body, although it is likely not the same as his old body – not exactly grown from him – although it does take extracts from his father, from Wormtongue, and from Harry. Bone, flesh, blood. But in his long efforts to escape death, Voldemort has marred his own body-soul complex. How exactly remains unclear.
A simpler example of regrowth is Skele-Gro, a potion used to regrow missing bones. In this case, Harry has to endure a painful evening of regrowing the bones in his arm, after they are removed (cursed?) by the bungling Professor Lockhart. Could a magical spell have been used to put the bones back in – essentially the reverse of what Lockhart did? Possibly. But the choice to do it “properly” is to use a potion. I’ve argued that what makes Potions of such importance to magic-users are its interactions at the molecular level. Biochemistry is complex, and when fine control is required for things too small to see and too complicated to mentally picture, a potion is much more effective than a magical spell. Perhaps the potion magically activates the appropriate bone-growing DNA in Harry, first detecting what’s missing underneath his flesh, and regrowing his bones salamander-like. I wonder if salamander extract is used in Skele-Gro; it would certainly be appropriate.
Could a complex potion, perhaps with salamander extract, have regrown Wormtongue’s hand? Or helped George Weasley regrow an ear? I don’t know. Neither was attempted. Neville Longbottom does accidentally transplant his ears on a cactus in a Transfiguration class while attempting a Switching Spell. But that’s not the same as re-growing. I’ve postulated that Transfiguration spells wear off after some time, so they won’t have the permanence one wants in a new limb. Magical spells have their limits, and the Wizarding World still needs chemistry!
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