Muggle-born Grim - Nitpicking - Magic Laws - Harry - Owls - Shampoo

[Catlady]

No: HPFGUIDX 17651

Amy wrote:
> Penny wrote:
> > Of course, we're not sure that Hermione is the only
> > muggle-born Gryffindor.  Someone has a good theory
> > that Dean Thomas sounds muggle-born given his
> > preoccupation with soccer (and seeming lack of
> > knowledge about Quidditch).  Someone else thought
> > Lavender might also  be muggle-born.
> These are educated guesses based on the character's knowledge of
> wizarding/Muggle life or lack thereof.  My guess is that Dean and
>  Lavender are Muggle-born, because they don't know what a Grim is.

CoS: "Dean Thomas, who, like Harry, had grown up with Muggles, ended up
closing his eyes and jabbing his wand at the list, then picking the
subjects it landed on."  I take that as canon saying that Dean is
Muggle-born: who but Harry has been wizard-born but raised by Muggles?

I think it was me who made the point about Lavender being Muggle-born
because she didn't know about Grims, but I am so convinced that Lavender
Brown is the kind of whimsical name that wizarding folk give their
children AND that the Patil twins are Muggle-born that I am tempted to
believe that JKR made a mistake! It was Parvati, not Lavender, who
"looked puzzled"!

Lea McLeod wrote:
> I didn't mind the Hogsmeade Pub changing its name between book 1 and 3

I believe that The Hog's Head, where Hagrid said there is a rather rough
crowd, and The Three Broomsticks, suitable for students and ladies, are
different establishments.

Amber wrote:
> Even now after the fourth book, I am still confused on
> how magic in her world works. For example:
> 1) What exactly is a Charm? To me, a Charm means that
> something is enchanted to perform a type of magic

I *think* JKR explained in an interview that Charms, Transfigurations,
Hexes, Jinxes, and Curses are all spells. They are various kinds of
spells. I *think* she said that a Charm is a spell that alters
something's BEHAVIOR while Transfiguration changes a thing into a
different thing. In SS, the Flying Keys were the Charm puzzle. I would
have thought that changing old metal keys into brightly winged keys was
a Transfiguration, but apparently I would have been wrong: it's a Charm.

I'm inclined to think that Hexes, Jinxes, and Curses are all Charms, the
names referring to the degree of HARM they do to their target.

Jenny from Ravenclaw wrote:
> People wrote a lot last week about Harry's strengths and
> talents, but I was wondering about his weaknesses as well.
> What are they?  What are the things about Harry that could
> really end up hurting him?

The first thing that came to my mind is that he doesn't want to confide
in the grown-ups. He could end up facing something HUGE single-handedly
because he didn't tell Dumbledore something he should have. OTOH, in GoF
he seems to be overcoming that.

Browneyes wrote:
> if hedwig can find sirius for harry, why isn't
> MOM sending their owls out to track him???

This was discussed before but the group never agreed on an answer. My
theory is that the owls use Owl Magic to find the addressees (even,
wrote JKR, if only the name and no address was written on the letter)
and they use Owl Magic to fly "between" (like Pern dragons -- or call it
taking a shortcut through an alternate dimension) to get to the
addressee, and humans on broomsticks cannot follow the Owls while they
are "between".

Btw, Joe, the Moderators previously told us to combine our many short
posts into one long post, which is why I am putting so many different
things into this post here.

Ouroboros wrote:
> I'm sure many have said this before, but I can't resist saying
> it again, that it's especially ironic that the potions master
> should have this problem. Shouldn't he be able to make
> the perfect shampoo to get rid of excess oil?

Except for the claim that bobotuber pus cures acne (altho' it doesn't
seem to have helped Moaning Myrtle when she was alive), JKR magic
doesn't seem much of a threat to the cosmetics industry. Nobody is doing
spells to be slim or have bigger eyelashes blablabla. Hermione used
'liberal quantities of Sleekeezy's Hair Potion' in the UK edition but 'a
whole jar of Hair-So-Sleek' in the US edition, and I couldn't tell
whether Hair-So-Sleek was supposed to be a magic or a Muggle product. It
might as well be a Muggle product if it takes a whole jar and a couple
of hours work: what is use of having magic if it can't sleek Hermione's
hair with a wand wave and an incantation????

Meanwhile, back on Snape, I choose to believe that he isn't actually
oily, his skin just LOOKS oily. I know someone who has that problem.
And 'slimy' was a value judgment, not a physical description.
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