protective enchantments

[Carol]

Lee wrote:
<snip>
> Now, Harry get's a new Sneakoscope in DH; but we never find out what happened to his old one. Did Uncle Vernon smash it? <Chuckle>
>
Carol responds:
We're told from the beginning that the Sneakoscope that Ron gives Harry in PoA is a cheap one, and when Harry is going through his possessions in DH, they include a worn-out Sneakoscope. Obviously, Hermione knew that they needed a good one if they were going Horcrux-hunting and were on the run from Voldemort and the DEs. That's not an inconsistency. It's actually explained.

OTOH, Harry receives a magical razor from Fleur, yet he has a bit of stubble (and long hair) when he sees his reflection in Malfoy manor. Why, if he has a razor and, presumably, their magical tent has a bathroom, is he still unshaven? And Hermione, with all her magical talents, can't give the boys a magical haircut when they have nothing better to do than sit around and argue about Horcruxes? And even Harry takes a few books with him, but nobody uses them to while away the time. Hermione reads and rereads "The Tales of Beadle the Bard" and they read bits of "A History of Magic" and Rita Skeeter's biography of Dumbledore, but no one reads about bits of magic that might prove useful, maybe a way to restore that chunk of skin that was torn from Ron's arm when he was Splinched?

Little things, I know, and those don't bother me. I only mentioned them because you mentioned the Sneakoscope, which actually can be explained. (Still, though, why mention that magical razor if it's not going to play a part in the story?) But bigger things like Ron knowing about the Hand of Glory when that's not possible or the timing of Lily's letter to Sirius being three months off do bother me. Call me a perfectionist, but I think the books should be consistent with one another and it annoys me when I remember the facts of the story better than the author does.

Carol, noting that such details don't ruin the series for her but they do disturb the illusion of reality as she reads