Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-24674051-20160216053257/@comment-25926288-20160216183934

Hmcooper4 wrote: And as for Henry, I debated adding him in the "Cursed/Blessed" category. Being Author would, I think, qualify for some form of magic (even if limited). Besides, we saw that Isaac could grant magical skills to others. (Of course, a lot of that was also the work of the Pen and Ink).

Another point is that even with Emma being Born with magic, she still needed training to learn to control her magic. Similarly with the other 'born' magic users. In Elsa's case, it was more a simple matter of control, Emma, Ingrid, and Zelena spent time not only controlling but expanding their capabilities. (Hence the reason that Ingrid and Emma can perform normal witchcraft in addition to their element).

Also, Rumple obviously gained magic from his affiliation with the Dark One, but he also seems to have spent time honing and controlling his craft. So perhaps the category of "taught" is not really accurate. Similarly with Merlin, he got the Holy Grail magic, but spent a couple hundred years fine tuning his skills.

So perhaps it may just be that everyone has some level of internal magic, and training is needed to learn to control it. The power level of the witch/warlock is based on the level of the inate ability. So that, for example, Anastasia will never be as powerful of a witch as Regina, Cora, or Emma. And Belle actually seems to have a knack with magic items, and even concocting potions, but even with training I doubt she's be all that powerful. True. Taught isn't the best of words, but it does get across a point. They all trained, but some wouldn't have (noticeable) magic if they weren't trained. Cora wcould have lived her whole life without knowing she had magic.

I will agree that the power level is dependent on the level of the inate abilitity and how well they control it. It's how I view that Zelena's magic is more like a wildfire to Regina's tame one. Regina has control and tons of training, but Zelena's just more natural with it. I do wonder if it is possible that we don't truly see the full potential of every magic user however.