Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-25823557-20161107111730/@comment-5679696-20161107154430

Eskaver wrote: The laws of magic are more like "really hard things we don't know how to do" than actual limitations.

Jafar and Amara simply allowed for themselves to wield the powers that they couldn't achieve on their own. So instead of using Cora's spell of Vipers eye, Chinera blood, and the heart of the thing you hate most to make someone "love" you, they could simply will it. The curse of the empty hearted only creates an illusion of love tho, it doesn't break the Laws of Magic.

And I'd like to add that Zelena's Time Travel Spell, as well as the Spell of the Three Genies were both very easy to perform. It was only hard for them to gather the ingredients.