Introductory
note: This isn’t intended to be an analysis of all the
magical paraphernalia in Harry Potter’s world; only those things that have been
discussed in the club are included. It
seems those enthralling debates about Howlers, Omnioculars and Remembralls
happened elsewhere.
Some topics summarised here are also covered in the Mysteries and Inconsistencies FAQ and in other FAQs, as noted.
Wands are covered in a separate FAQ.
For detailed information from the Harry Potter books,
please visit the Harry Potter Lexicon, created by HPfGU member, Steve Vander
Ark.
Message numbers prefixed ‘Y’ are from the Yahoo
archives; eGroups message threads are indicated by date and title.
THE
INVISIBILITY CLOAK
Harry
picked the shining, silvery cloth off the floor. It was strange to the touch,
like water woven into material. [SS/PS, Chap. 12]
“Rare” and “valuable” are two of the terms used to
describe the Invisibility Cloak, so the first question that springs to mind is:
how did James Potter come by one? It
may have been valuable, but on Dumbledore’s evidence, it seems James used it to
steal food from the Hogwarts’ kitchens.
It may have been rare, but at least three of the teachers – Moody-Crouch,
Snape and Dumbledore – had some knowledge of it. Was this because they knew James and therefore knew about the
cloak or because they knew about rare and valuable invisibility cloaks in
general?
Should we perhaps question how Dumbledore came to be in
possession of James’ cloak: was it given to him, left to him or confiscated
from James when he was at the school?
Because he passed it on to Harry one might assume that it was entrusted
to him after James was killed. It
wouldn’t make sense for James to have handed over something that useful to
Dumbledore with an angry Voldemort on the loose. Maybe he wanted to make sure that it didn’t fall into the wrong
hands. This theory is supported by the
fact that Dumbledore also had the key to the Potters’ Gringotts’ vault; James
may have given the key and cloak to him when he realised Voldemort was after
him. In addition, Dumbledore appears to
be able to see through the cloak, so perhaps Voldemort shares this talent, in
which case, it would make sense to get it into safe hands.
Not everyone, it seems, needs a cloak to be
invisible. When Harry is in the room
with the Mirror of Erised, Dumbledore tells him that he doesn't need a cloak to
become invisible, raising the question of whether he meant that he knew an
invisibility spell or simply that he could keep very still and quiet, so as not
to be noticed.
(Y483, Y485, Y2223, Y2343, Y4974, Y6675)
(e-26/08/00, “Invisibility”)
(e-14/11/00, “Invisibility Cloak”)
It is generally accepted that the twins donated the
Marauder’s Map to Harry so that he could have some fun in Hogsmeade. Apart from its creators, Moony, Wormtail,
Padfoot and Prongs (MWPP), Snape, Dumbledore and Crouch Jnr (deceased) know
about the map, the twins obviously had possession of it and Harry, Ron and
Hermione have seen it, whilst poor Filch had it, but didn’t have a clue what it
was.
The map may not be sentient, but it comes pretty close
to having a mind of its own, and, like Tom Riddle’s Diary, there is no visible
location for a brain. This brings to
mind Arthur Weasley’s fatherly advice to Ginny: Never trust anything that
can think for itself unless you can see where it keeps its brain. Harry decided to use the map, despite
recalling this advice, but it could be argued that Arthur had been doling out
parental advice, similar to “don’t talk to strangers,” rather than speaking in
the absolute terms of a natural law.
“…the
Marauder's map never lies...” (Lupin, PoA, )
Since The Marauder’s Map shows the names of living
beings within its limits it could, arguably, uncover the disguises and
alternate states of many characters.
For example, if Crookshanks were an animagus wouldn’t his real name be
visible to Lupin when he saw him on the map?
In PoA, Lupin is stunned to see Pettigrew’s name appear on the map, and
this distraction might explain why he didn’t see (or accept) two sets of dots
named ‘Harry Potter’ and ‘Hermione Granger’ after they had used the
time-turner. On the other hand, perhaps the map, like so many readers of the
Harry Potter books, was simply unable to cope with this kink in the space-time
continuum.
"This
little beauty's taught us more than all the teachers in this school."
(Fred, PoA)
“[George] took out his wand, touched the parchment lightly, and
said, "I solemnly swear that I am up to
no good."” (PoA)
Wouldn’t the twins have noticed that Scabbers appeared
on the map as Peter Pettigrew? Maybe
they had not used the map as much as we might think; perhaps they had only used
the 'people' feature of the map to check whether anyone was in their path as
they were sneaking around, and had not bothered to look at any places they
weren't going. For example, they
wouldn’t be likely to examine it in the Gyffindor Common Room, where Scabbers
might easily have been spotted in his true form. It’s also possible that MWPP designed the map to avoid certain
areas, like the dormitories, where Scabbers would have spent many an hour
having a snooze.
Another theory is that the map doesn’t show everyone,
but picks out names of interest to the reader or that the reader filters out
the names that aren’t of interest (think of someone consulting the page of a
Muggle dictionary). There could be
hundreds of little names moving around the map, so perhaps Fred and George just
didn’t notice ‘Peter Pettigrew’ among them. The name wouldn’t have had the
significance to them that it did to Lupin, Sirius et al. Ron knew about Pettigrew from Arthur, but
perhaps the twins didn’t.
Perhaps the map is “programmed” to detect those who
might harm the viewer, rather like Moody's Foe Glass in GoF or scans for new
life forms to display but doesn't pick up on them immediately. It never lies, but if it didn’t show
something, it wouldn’t be lying; it would just not be telling.
A plausible option is that when the Map was created, it
was charmed so that none of the Marauders would be invisible to the others, in
case they were positioning for a prank or in need of a rescue. Since they
charmed the map to be turned on and off with commands and must have anticipated
that it would be seen by non-Marauder eyes, perhaps they charmed it so that
non-Marauder eyes would not see any of the individual Marauders. Unfortunately, this promising theory is
foiled by the fact that Snape could see Lupin on the map.
It’s important the think about ‘intent’ in relation to
magic. Perhaps Harry had to know how to
use the map and have the intention of using it, in order to appear on it and
have it show him what he needed to see.
The map may “tune in” to the thought of the viewer and show them what
they want or need to see.
At the end of PoA, Snape uses the map to watch Lupin
running down the corridor towards the Whomping Willow. Wouldn’t he have
noticed Peter Pettigrew as well, if he were tracking Lupin’s path? A possible solution to this quandary is that
Snape saw Lupin running out, but the other five characters, including
Pettigrew, were already in the Shrieking Shack and off the map’s boundary.
Perhaps only animals that have been given names by
people appear on the map. This might
explain why the Weasley twins didn’t notice ‘Peter Pettigrew,’ because
Peter-the-rat was known as ‘Scabbers’.
However, since Lupin sees the rat as ‘Peter Pettigrew,’ we would have to
assume that the name the viewer sees is the one by which they know the
character best.
Why, then, would Harry see Moody-Crouch described as
‘Bartemius Crouch’? An intriguing
theory on this is that Barty junior stole Moody’s identity, whereas Peter had
been given the name ‘Scabbers’ freely.
In some cultures, a person’s name carries special significance and, in
any case, it can be said that a child’s name is a “gift” from its parents. Another possibility is that the map can see
through the surface magic of the Polyjuice Potion, but not through a whole body
transfiguration into an Animagus.
There is evidence that some animals are not shown on the
Marauder’s Map at all: Lupin didn’t refer to Crookshanks when he described the
number of people being dragged under the Whomping Willow. However, that may have been because he
didn’t count Crookshanks as a ‘person’.
A single dot was flitting around a room in the
bottom left-hand corner - Snapes office.
But the dot wasn't labeled "Severus Snape" ... it was
Bartemius Crouch. [GoF, Chap. 25]
Snape seemed convinced that the map was the product of
powerful Dark Magic until he knew who had created it, so we should perhaps be
wary of its intentions. The map got very personal with Snape in PoA, when he
looked at it, possibly because MWPP had written protective magical insults into
it. It is possible that it called him
by name merely because he identified himself, and used a generic insult that
had been programmed into it. Of course,
it could have some discretionary ability, since the comments were appropriate
to Snape:
“Professor Severus Snape, master of this school,
commands you to yield the information you conceal!” Snape said, hitting the map
with his wand [PoA, Chap 14]
It is also possible that the Marauders tailored the
insults to be triggered by Snape alone, since he was a contemporary of
theirs.
Another idea put forward is that the map houses an
“animating spirit which has been bewitched to echo the thinking
processes of its creators”. This would be something like the Sorting Hat or a
benign version of Riddle’s Diary.
The map would then be able to recognize Snape and insult him.
After the map insulted Snape, he summoned Lupin to the
room. Other than requiring his services
as DADA professor, one theory is that he was trying to trick Lupin into
revealing that he was one of the map’s creators and had given it to Harry. He may have made the connection with the
MWPP nicknames and the fact that the map had been rude to him in specific
terms. His motive may have been to
prove to Dumbledore than Lupin was luring Harry into danger.
When Fred and George passed the map to Harry, George
claimed, “we know it by heart.”
This seems a little odd, since the nature of the map is to show the here
and now and it would never become obsolete.
However, once the twins had located all the secret passages and learned
the passwords, they wouldn’t necessarily need it.
If four students could create something like the
Marauders Map, isn’t it likely that there is a spell that could do the
same? Why doesn’t Dumbledore use a ‘True Identity’ spell from time to
time to make sure everyone at Hogwarts is really who they say they are?
In GoF, when Harry's scar hurts and he's wondering how
he can reach Dumbledore, could he have looked at the map to find out if he was
at Hogwarts? The supposition is that
either Harry didn’t think to look at the map or it works only within Hogwarts’
grounds.
The map seems an incredible piece of magical invention
for four young wizards. Although we
don’t know when they actually created it, they may well have been into late
adolescence and the fact that Filch had confiscated it indicates that it was
before they left Hogwarts. Also, Lupin
talks about it as something they wrote after the four of them became Animagi
and began roaming Hogwarts.
Is there more than one map? For all we know, each
of the Marauders may have had one. If so, where the other three
Marauders' Maps? Lupin's map is
probably the one confiscated by Filch, and later retrieved by the Weasley
twins. James' map was probably
destroyed with the house, when he and Lily were killed. Sirius' map was most
likely confiscated by the MoM following his arrest. Peter's map could
still be in his possession, or it could be among the items left after his
supposed death or in the evil clutches of Voldemort.
In GoF, Moody borrows the map from Harry after the
incident on the stairs and does not return it.
At the end of the story it is, in effect, absent without leave. What happened to it?
(Y2223, Y3418,
Y6301, Y7118, Y7124, Y7143)
(e-23/10/00, “Marauder’s Map/Riddle’s Diary” thread)
(e-24/10/00, “Marauder’s Map” thread)
(e-24/10/00, “Pettigrew, Scabbers & the Marauder’s
Map”)
(e-25/10/00, “Yet another Marauder’s Map question”)
(e-17/12/00, “Snape and the Map” thread)
(e-26/08/00, “Dumbledore and the rat, map” thread)
(e-05/09/00, “Marauder’s Map - where does it work?”
thread)
(e-06/09/00, “Animals on Marauder’s Map” thread)
“One simply siphons the excess
thoughts from one's mind, pours them into the basin, and examines them at one's
leisure. It becomes easier to spot
patterns and links, you understand, when they are in this form.” [Dumbledore, GoF, Chap. 30]
In GoF, why doesn’t Dumbledore use his Pensieve to
extract the traumatic graveyard episode from Harry’s thoughts? This would not only have provided a clear
picture of what happened after Harry and Cedric were whisked away from the
maze, but would prove that Peter Pettigrew was still alive and identify the
Death Eaters who had returned to Voldemort.
The idea of extracting a visual record was proposed to be similar to the
type of video evidence the police might use in evidence of a road traffic
accident.
Three main theories have been put forward. The first is that the Pensieve is personal
to Dumbledore and would not, therefore have worked with Harry’s thoughts, the
second suggests that using the Pensieve removes the thought from the user and
that Dumbledore probably wanted Harry to retain the memories as part of the
‘tough love’ approach to training him for the challenges ahead and the third
proposes that miles of MoM red tape may be involved in obtaining a Pensieve. In
relation to the second of these, it was felt that Harry would only recall the
memory of the events, including the use of the Cruciatus Curse, and not the
pain, which his brain would block out.
Another interesting thought is that one could reacquire
an extracted memory by viewing it in the Pensieve, which would be, in a sense,
like loading files back onto your computer from a floppy disc when you wished
to view them.
If anyone’s memories can be collected in the Pensieve,
is it possible that Harry might get to “see” his parents in happier times, in
future books? If Sirius could sieve his
memories, for example, Harry might be able to peer into his Godfather’s past
friendship with James and Lily. The problem with this is that Sirius'
unpleasant time in Azkaban might also get siphoned into the Pensieve. It's worth considering the possibility that
the Pensieve can only collect memories for a limited time after their
formation. That would keep anyone from using it to “dig up long-lost
memories”.
The Pensieve might also be ‘one hit wonder’ plot device
that never makes another appearance, like the Mirror of Erised or the Weasley’s
flying car.
(Y4714, Y4720, Y4723, Y4724)
(e-31/08/00, “Pensieve – just a thought” thread)
“The
ancient study of alchemy is concerned with making the Philosopher’s Stone, a
legendary substance with astonishing powers. The stone will transform any metal
into pure gold. It also produces the Elixir of Life, which will make the
drinker immortal.” [SS/PS, Chap. 13]
Nicolas Flamel is “the only known maker of The
Philosopher’s Stone.” Flamel, and
his wife Perenelle, were real people who lived in fifteenth century France (http://www.alchemylab.com/flamel.htm)
and he is thought to be the only alchemist who achieved the legendary
Stone.
Note: Although JKR clearly intended to refer to the real
person, the age of Flamel implied in SS/PS appears to be about a hundred years
older than the real Flamel would have been.
The Philosopher’s Stone is not a stone as such, but an
elixir; a legendary substance connected with the search for eternal life and
attempts to turn base metals into gold though alchemy. At the end of PS, Quirrel-Voldemort is trying
to get his hands on the stone, presumably to assist his return to full human
form and obtain eternal life.
Apparently, US publishers Scholastic coined the term
‘Sorcerer’s Stone,’ because they felt that many American readers (and they were
thinking children) would be put off by the word ‘philosopher’. This, of course, lessened the impact of nods
to the real Philosopher’s Stone.
Since Flamel discovered the Philosopher’s Stone long
before Dumbledore was born, how could they have collaborated in the study of
alchemy? Amanda Lewanski explains:
“Alchemy was not primarily the search for a way to turn lead into gold. While
that was a by-product, it was also an allegory for the transmutation of the
alchemist. The processes and steps of alchemical research were intended as a
search for truth, goodness, and self-improvement. By the time you can turn lead
into gold, you're at a stage where you know that really doesn't matter.” It’s feasible, therefore, that Flamel would
still be studying the processes of alchemy when he met Dumbledore and that
Dumbledore would seek self-improvement and development under Flamel’s wing.
When Harry is talking to Quirrell and attempting to lie
about what he is seeing in the Mirror of Erised, he sees himself pull the
Philosopher’s Stone out of his pocket and put it back. Then, he feels the stone appear,
miraculously, in his pocket. Had Harry
summoned the stone to his pocket by thinking about it, or was it there all the
time, but brought to his attention at that moment? Perhaps Dumbledore hid the
stone in the mirror and charmed it to come only to someone who didn’t want to
use it. Harry would then have wished
it into his pocket, because he didn’t want Quirrell-Voldemort to get his hands
on it.
(Y3221, Y5929, Y5930)
(e-15/12/00, “Re: Let' get it right - Philosopher's
Stone (was Re: Sorcerer's Stone)”)
(e-30/12/00, “Dumbledore and Fannel [sic] (Was:
Splitting Hairs) thread”)
(e-18/01/01, “Nicolas Flamel” thread)
“They're
objects that are used to transport wizards from one spot to another at a
prearranged time. You can do large
groups at a time if you need to...” [Arthur, GoF, Chap. 6]
“Instantly, Harry felt a jerk somewhere behind his navel. His feet had left the ground. He could not unclench the hand holding the
Triwizard Cup; it was pulling him onward in a howl of wind and swirling colour,
Cedric at his side.” [GoF, Chap. 31].
Do all portkeys work in the same way? In GoF, the Triwizard Cup seemed to be set
to work whenever it was touched, not at a specified time, and it was
‘programmed’ to return to Hogwarts. In
contrast, the boot that was used as a portkey to the World Cup site was
supposed to be used at a specific time and was dead once it had been used. Why
would Moody-Crouch give Harry a potential escape route from the graveyard by
allowing the Cup to operate as a portkey back to Hogwarts?
The consensus of this theory is that that there are at
least two types of portkey, differing only in the type of trigger: the
time-sensitive ‘boot’ type and the touch-sensitive ‘cup’ type, and perhaps
other types we haven’t seen, with different triggers.
Another theory is that portkeys are disallowed by
Hogwarts enchantments in the same way as apparating, but that Dumbledore gave
the Triwizard Cup a special dispensation for the purposes of the Triwizard
Tournament, intending that it would transport the winner to the outside of the
maze. This could explain why
Moody-Crouch had to use the Cup to get Harry to the graveyard. He may have
inserted a programming instruction to send the person who touched it to the
graveyard and once that had been activated, the original instruction remained
to transport Harry and Cedric to the outside of the maze.
This theory would marry up with Voldemort’s desire to
“mock and degrade the legitimate sources of authority,” by seizing Harry at the
very moment when he triumphed in the third task of the venerable Triwizard
Tournament. This would serve to make a
mockery of the Tournament and re-establish Voldemort as a powerful force who
can “fleer the ‘Permanent Things’ of the Wizarding World at will”.
Why couldn’t Moody-Crouch have used any old object as a
portkey or simply hit Harry with a powerful spell? Firstly, someone else might have put his or her hand on any other
touch-triggered portkey, and, secondly, using the Cup meant that Harry would be
largely isolated from view when he was spirited away.
In GoF, when the gang gathered on Stoatshead Hill to
travel to the Quidditch World Cup, did they know what the portkey was? If not,
how would they know what they were looking for and what would have happened if
they hadn't found it by the appointed time? Arthur didn't seem to know exactly
what they were looking for, because they were looking around a bit before Amos
Diggory shouted that he'd found it.
“What would have happened if, at the appointed time, they discovered it
wasn't the boot they were all touching, but a rubber band lying next to the
boot?” A likely explanation is that, being imbued with magic; an experienced
wizard would probably “feel” that the boot was a portkey. In addition there
might be an anti-muggle spell that would prevent anyone but a wizard from
touching it.
In light of the significance of the later scene with the
Triwizard Cup, the boot scene was clearly included to introduce the reader to
the concept of a portkey.
(Y6826, Y6846, Y6853, Y7066, Y7069)
(e-29/09/00, “Portkey spell”)
(e-19/11/00, “Portkeys” thread)
(e02/12/00, “The Portkey Conundrum” thread)
SIRIUS
BLACK’S MOTORCYCLE
A low
rumbling sound had broken the silence around them. It grew steadily louder as
they looked up and down the street for some sign of a headlight…
[SS/PS, Chap. 1]
In PoA, Hagrid says that he was sent to James and Lily's
house to retrieve Harry and, while he was there, Sirius arrived on his flying
motorcycle. Sirius gave his bike to Hagrid and told him that he wasn’t
going to need it anymore. Why didn't he need it? It may be because
it was clear to him that Peter was the traitor and he intended to track him
down and kill him, possibly expecting to be killed in the process. He must also have expected to be framed for
the murders of Lily and James Potter.
Despite what Sirius had said Hagrid seemed keen to get
the bike back to him. In SS/PS, he tells Dumbledore and McGonagall that he
“borrowed” the motorcycle from Sirius Black, not that Black gave it to
him. Perhaps he misunderstood Sirius or
was too grief-stricken to think straight.
At the same time, Sirius was probably “darn near suicidal with grief
over the death of the Potters and his failure to protect them. It is typical of
someone contemplating suicide to give away their most treasured
possessions.” Hagrid says that Sirius
was “white and shaking,” which suggests that he was in shock.
Sirius's motorcycle didn't seem to be a big deal to
Dumbledore or McGonagall, which could mean mean that a) they didn't really care
that the motorcycle was illegal, b) the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office
didn't exist at the time, or c) Sirius was exempt from the rules. Option (b) is possible, since, in CoS,
Molly mentions that Arthur wrote the Muggle artifacts laws himself.
Another opinion is that Sirius's motorcycle is not an
enchanted Muggle motorcycle at all, but a magical item that borrows some of its
form from the Muggle version.
(e-12/10/00, “Sirius’ Mortorcycle” thread)
(e-31/12/00, “Re: Broomsticks…)
(e-30/12/00, “Question about the Ministry of Magic”
thread)
(e-31/12/00, “Flying motorcycles and other magic stuff”)
THE
SORTING HAT
“…Professor
McGonagall silently placed a four-legged stool in front of the first years. On
top of the stool she put a pointed wizard's hat. This hat was patched and
frayed and extremely dirty. Aunt Petunia wouldn't have let it in the house.”
[SS/PS, Chap. 7]
In hinting at future books, JKR has said that the
Sorting Hat is a character in its own right and that we would learn more about
it later in the series. Several
theories have been put forward on this:
The hat may have a connection to Godric Gryffindor, since it brought
Godric’s sword to Harry. On the other
hand it may encapsulate the characteristics of all four Founders, so that it is
capable of recognising them in the students during the sorting process. More of a long shot is the proposal that it
is the trapped spirit of the former headmaster, Dippet.
Has there always been a Sorting Hat and, if not, how
were the students sorted before it arrived on the scene? Riddle recognised it in CoS, so we can
confirm that it was around then, and given it’s battered state and light
workload, we might assume that it is an “extremely old being”.
Regarding the technique the hat uses for sorting,
perhaps we should apply the rule of logic known as ‘Occam’s Razor,’ which
states that the simplest explanation that covers the facts is the correct
one. In relation to the number of
students in Harry’s year it has been proposed that there may be fewer
Gryffindors and Slytherins than Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws, so it may be that the
Sorting Hat looks for the rarer Gryffindor and Slytherin traits first and if it
doesn’t strong evidence of either, sorts to Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw. It seems unlikely that the hat tries to
assign equal numbers to each house, choosing the “five most Gryffindor boys”
for example, because it sorts the students sequentially and would not, we
assume, be able to take a view at the population level.
Perhaps there is a natural law of order that puts the
students evenly into the houses.
However, this takes out the judgement in the Sorting Hat’s choices and
reduces it to an analytical processor.
“Who knows, maybe it does a scan of all the students as they arrive on
Hogwarts grounds. Maybe the hat is aware of all the wizards in the UK. Maybe
the magic pen and the hat are in cahoots. We don't know the extent of the Hat's
power”.
Members of the club took various psychological and
personality sorting tests, such as Meyers-Briggs, and theories were expounded
on which personality profiles best matched the four Hogwarts Houses. [refs to
be added]
Sorting is also covered in the Houses of Hogwarts FAQ
(??????????).
(Y3407, Y3422, Y3432, Y3428, Y7098, Y7115, Y7242, Y7256,
Y7233)
“It's
called a Time-Turner," Hermione whispered, “and I got it from Professor
McGonagall on our first day back. I've been using it all year to get to all my
lessons. Professor McGonagall made me swear I wouldn't tell anyone.” [PoA,
Chap 21]
“Hasn't
your experience with the Time-Turner taught you anything, Harry? The
consequences of our actions are always so complicated, so diverse, that
predicting the future is a very difficult business indeed...” [PoA,
Chap. 22]
In the scene where Harry and Hermione use the
time-turner to rescue Buckbeak why didn’t they replay the scene as many times
as they needed to get it right? At
first, this thought seems a reasonable question, but there are two factors that
count against such an action. Firstly,
there would be high chance that the pair would encounter an earlier Harry and
Hermione, and, secondly, they would not be able to make further attempts if
they had observed any sort of outcome.
To expand on the second of these points, the theory goes
that, using the time-turner, people can only change the course of time if the
outcome is uncertain or, “exists in a state of ‘Quantum Ambiguity’ where it can
go one way or the other”. The rescue of
Buckbeak was possible only because Harry and Hermione had not witnessed his
death; they heard the axe fall, but they did not see him beheaded. Once they had rescued him, the ambiguity of
the situation was resolved.
Applying this explanation to two other situations, when
Hermione used the time-turner to squeeze in all those extra classes, she fell
asleep and missed a Charms class, but the minute she was woken, the ambiguous
state in her mind was resolved and the option of returning to take the class
was lost. Another situation was when
Harry witnessed himself creating the Patronus by the lake. In this case, Harry was only potentially on
the other side of the lake and this ambiguity was resolved when he voluntarily
saved his own life.
Could this be related to the Heisenberg Uncertainty
Principle, which holds that one cannot measure both the momentum and location
of an electron with any accuracy at the same time? In other words, if an action (momentum) is resolved in one place
(location), it becomes impossible to return to that place to achieve an
alternative outcome.
In relation to, PoA there are many subtle clues to
events caused by the time-turner. For
example, when Harry, Ron and Hermione enter the entrance hall under the
Invisibility Cloak, they hear departing footsteps and a door slamming and
proceed to Hagrid’s hut to comfort him over the death of Buckbeak. Later, after using the time-turner, Harry
and Hermione appear in the entrance hall and hide in a broom cupboard, where
Hermione hears herself, Ron and Harry outside, under the cloak, on their way to
Hagrid’s.
(Y1769, Y1771, Y1781, Y1789, Y1176)
“Mr.
Weasley's car was standing, empty, in the middle of a circle of thick trees
under a roof of dense branches, its headlights ablaze. As Ron walked,
open-mouthed, toward it, it moved slowly toward him, exactly like a large,
turquoise dog greeting its owner.” [CoS, Chap. 15]
The Weasleys’ car is believed to be a Ford Anglia 105E,
judging from the artwork on the UK cover of CoS.
The 105E was born in the late 1950s, as a small, ugly
car with pointy rear wings. Ford continued to make a previous, more
rounded Ford Anglia design until 1962, but renamed it the Ford Popular once the
105E had been unleashed on the planet.
When JKR launched Goblet of Fire at London’s King’s
Cross Station in 2000, she arrived on a mock Platform 9¾ in a model 105E.
It may be that some knowledge of the technology behind something
is required before a spell can be cast to manipulate it. Arthur used magic to
give the car the capability of flying, but it still couldn't handle the trip to
Hogwarts. Also, the car would have been
between 25-39 years old when Harry and Ron flew it (according to production
dates for the 105E and estimated timelines) and was possibly not at its
best. Given Arthur’s total lack of
mechanical knowledge, it's safe to assume that the functional parts weren't up
to a long trip. “The spirit was willing but the Lucas electrics were weak.”
There is no American name for the Ford Anglia, unless you count “roller
skate”.
(e-10/11/00, “Ford Anglia equivalent”)
(e-03/12/00, “The Flying Car…”)
THE
GOLDEN SNITCH
“With
a roar from the crowd to speed them upward, the fourteen players rose toward
the leaden sky. Harry flew higher than any of them, squinting around for the
Snitch.” [CoS, Chap 10]
What is the Golden Snitch, apart from being a Quidditch
ball? One theory proposed that there is
a living creature trapped within the ball like a genie in a bottle – perhaps a
fairy – or that may evolve into something else later. However, it is as difficult to tell whether the Snitch is alive
in that sense, as it is to tell if something with no apparent brain has a mind
of its own. If the Golden Snitch were a
creature, we would have to assume that Silver, Bronze, Copper and Tin Snitches
would be rather less remarkable varieties.
(Y2877, Y2897)
TOM
RIDDLE’S DIARY
“Harry
saw at once that it was a diary, and the faded year on the cover told him it
was fifty years old. He opened it eagerly. On the first page he could just make
out the name "T. M. Riddle" in smudged ink.” [CoS,
Chap. 13]
Like the Marauder’s Map, Tom Riddle's diary is another
major piece of magic without a visible brain.
When did Riddle make the diary?
It seems likely that Riddle preserved himself, in the diary, as he was
when he made it. At the time, Dumbledore was suspicious of him, so he ‘hid’ in
the diary so that he would be able to guide somebody to the Chamber of
Secrets.
(e-23/10/00, “Marauder’s Map/Riddle’s diary” thread)
It was a magnificent mirror, as high as the ceiling,
with an ornate gold frame, standing on two clawed feet. There was an
inscription carved around the top: Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on
wohsi.” [SS/PS, Chap. 12]
[The inscription is “I show not your face but your
heart’s desire” written backwards]
Could Muggles appear in the Mirror of Erised? Yes: If the mirror shows what the viewer desires,
in Harry’s case it should show his family, Muggles included.
Dumbledore says he would see himself holding a pair of
woollen socks. What does this
mean? It could be that his deepest
desires have already been fulfilled in his long lifetime and simple, creature
comforts are all he might need. On the
other hand, perhaps he yearns for family and for
someone to take care of him.
(e-04/11/00, “Muggles in Mirror of Erised” thread)
(e-23/12/00, “Socks” thread)
“Harry
-- this is a Pocket Sneakoscope. If there's someone untrustworthy around, it's
supposed to light up and spin…” [Ron’s note to Harry, PoA,
Chap. 1]
The Pocket Sneakocope was triggered twice when Scabbers
was around, although no one noticed it at the time. There is a misapprehension that it went off when Harry first
received it, but this was probably because Ron explained in his note that it
had gone off in Egypt just before he sent it.
Ron would have put this down to the twins sneaking beetles into Bill’s
soup or the fact that he had surreptitiously used Errol to send the Sneakoscope
to Harry.
(Y2277, Y2279, Y2280, Y2283)
updated to 15/01/01