Very curious tidbit..WW internet??

[carolynwhite2]

--- In HPFGU-Catalogue at yahoogroups.com, Paul Kippes <paul-
groups at w...> wrote:
> Or, it could be the portraits.  I tought it was quite creative that
> you could send a picture of someone to find out news in the area
> around the other hangings.  Rather creative.
> 

Could be, I suppose, although the quote is from an interview between 
GOF and OOP and by the end of GOF we had already been introduced to 
speaking portraits and moving photos. However, at that point the 
portraits' abilities had only been revealed to a limited extent (Vi, 
Fat Lady, Sir Cadogan), ie we hadn't seen the subjects move out of 
Hogwarts, as Phineas and Dilys do in OOP.

Somehow, the comment:

'They have a means of finding out what goes on in the outside world 
that I think is more fun than the Internet. Could anything be more 
fun than the Internet? Yes!'

sounds like another type of WW 'technology' altogether - one that any 
wizard can use, and for many purposes. It also sounded like something 
wizards could use to find out what was going on in the muggle world, 
but I'm probably reading too much into a throwaway remark!

If it refers to the portraits, it is surely somewhat limited to 
having a willing portrait, that is of a famous person and hung in all 
sorts of useful locations, otherwise the amount you could use it to 
find out things is a bit limited, surely?

I was beginning to think along the lines of mirrors in every home 
that were charmed to reflect back not the WW they were looking out 
at, but the muggle world 'behind' them, as it were. Eg, Harry's 
mirror at the Leaky Cauldron could reflect not Harry, but maybe the 
muggle street outside Diagon Alley. 

Carolyn