Excerpt from "Our world's Magic: Volume 1" by Rover Wagstaff
The Puppillar, both domestic and wild, seem to be a perfect conduit for the magical energy of our world. Though many of the most common puppillars, of which domesticated puppillars mainly belong, only possess faint traces of magic, many of the more elaborate puppillars of our world have been documented to have stronger connections and reserves of magical energy. "Legendary" Puppillars have even been documented to be able to use fantastical abilities, though these powerful beings embody the definition of the word Legendary, being quite rare and mostly contained in old legends which are only sometimes verified. Fortunately for the denizens of our world, many Puppillars with magical powers are benevolent, and will often use their abilities to benefit those around them. In fact, in most cities and towns, puppillar magic is part of makes things work.
As noted by many researchers, puppillar morphology can be highly varied, even something as fundamental as number of limbs can be vastly different between individuals. Though some have suggested that Puppillars with more limbs are a different species completely, it is clear that regardless of the variation, Puppillars have enough in common to be a unified species. It has been speculated that one of the reasons for this variation is the influence of magic, and the fact that the more elaborate the puppillar the more likely it is to have magic, seems to line up with this theory.
Most notably, Puppillars with twelve or more legs, or those possessing fantastical elements such as horns, and features not typically occurring in nature, have higher levels of magic than puppillars with less legs or more average features. Legendary Puppillars, classified by being highly elaborate or with many fantastical features, have a very high concentration of magic, and can often call upon multiple magical abilities.
More common puppillars aren't left out of magical abilities however, it seems that all puppillars have the ability to tap into magical energy, though sometimes they need outside help. Occasionally, magic can help to create more magic, and its been observed that the magic that some individuals possess gives them the ability to instill magical effects in other puppillars. Even without the use of such potions, there have been cases where a more common looking puppillar has been said to have magical abilties!
Magical Effects can be just as varied as puppillar features themselves, Magic is not one size fits all, and from observation it seems that anything is possible, even if it has not yet been observed. As such, for ease of classification, many have relegated Magical abilities into two categories: Mini Magic and Major Magic, a somewhat imperfect system, but one that suits us academics for the time being.
As it stands, Mini Magic includes smaller or simpler magical abilities, including but not limited to, things such as minor changes in a puppillar's appearance (color shifting, glowing body fluids, or limited invisibility), or other abilities that don't drastically affect the world around them (creating/summoning small objects or a small amount of something, affecting the emotions of others, or being able to communicate telepathically).
Major Magic, as we understand, includes more powerful abilities, or abilities that can potentially be dangerous or greatly affect the world around them. Appearance based abilities include Shapeshifting (which has been documented with Legendary Puppillars being able to utilize an Illusory form), but can include other things as well. Powerful abilities such as manipulating weather, controlling elements, or even things such as bending time and space have been observed to be possible. We are very lucky that many puppillars with such abilities have used them for good, rather than harm.
Furthurmore, something that has been quite trendy lately is Transfiguration Magic, which unlike most forms of magic, does not seem to occur naturally at all. Potions that cause puppillars (and others) to transfigure themselves into material such as fabric or food, have started appearing lately, and are quite rare and expensive, but as I mentioned, very trendy. We have been hoping to do more research on how this type of magic works, but as its quite a rarity, subjects are hard to find.