[HPforGrownups] Re: Wizarding Teabags? and muggle inventions

[B.C. French]

No: HPFGUIDX 1529

>Or why Arthur Weasley, who is in daily contact with "muggle artifacts,"
>should be so hopeless inept when trying to interact with the Muggle world.

Having contact with things doesn't necessarily mean that you 
understand them, understand their context in the world, or know how 
to use them. Having worked computer technical support, I can 
certainly state under no uncertain terms that this happens to 
Muggles, too.

>Or, as Vicki said, why do they use a Muggle-type train running from a hub of
>the Muggle railway transportation system?

It simplifies the logistics of getting several hundred students to 
one place at one time. Remember the whole problem with getting 
several thousand to the World Cup using portkeys? Imagine having to 
come up with a whole new set of portkeys every year.

>Or, as someone pointed out previously, why does Madame Malkin use pins to
>hem up the robes of her customers?
>
>Are we being a little obsessive?  Yeah... but it's fun!

There are varying levels of wizarding practicality. You can point out 
that Madame Malkin uses pins but Ron apparently doesn't know how to 
use scissors to remove lace from a robe. I would guess that different 
wizards adopt different things. Sometimes simple is better -- Madame 
Malkin may know a "Stitch Witchery" spell (for those of you who don't 
sew, Stitch Witchery is an actual product -- it's basically dried 
cloth glue) to make cloth stick to itself instead of  using pins, but 
may find that it can be a touchy spell that may damage fabric or 
cause it to fuse prematurely. Also, perhaps they are enchanted pins 
that do the sewing themselves. The book only mentions that Madame 
Malkin was pinning up Harry's robes, but no mention was ever made of 
the hems being sewed. Perhaps she puts the pins in place that, when 
adjusted to her taste, do the sewing for her.

So, how do we explain that Ron was using a severing spell instead of 
scissors? Well, it may be that over the centuries, wizards never had 
to bother adopting Muggle technology because they could do better 
with magic. Therefore, use of Muggle artifacts fell into overall 
disuse. This may have led, as time goes on, to wizards doing things 
in an impractical way that is actually more complicated than using a 
tool, but either (a) they like to show off and do it the magical way, 
or (b) they are simply ignorant of Muggle tools and don't know how 
else to do it.

I am sure there are no hard and fast rules. Just because something is 
the most efficient way doesn't mean it is always adopted, and 
sometimes just because something is "slicker" doesn't mean it's the 
best way to do it. A spell can be used for pinning robes, but maybe 
Madame Malkin just likes to use pins. Maybe Ron has never seen 
scissors.

...Barb
-- 
Barbara French
bcfrench at rochester.rr.com
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