Killing wizards, Glasses and the Giant Squid - (WAS Going Seekerless)

[Cindy C.]

No: HPFGUIDX 30533

Amy Z wrote:

> (Side note:  wizards are human and, IMHO, can be killed in the 
usual ways, 
> e.g. by being knocked off a broomstick.  They just have more 
defenses than 
> Muggles.)
> 

Mmmmm, that's probably right.  The implications of that are kind of 
scary, though.  It means that you can kill a wizard in all of the 
usual ways *plus* the magical ways we've seen.  Maybe we should be 
surprised that Moody is the only wizard suffering from a severe case 
of paranoia, as they all have reason to be a bit jumpy.  :-) 

I have a hunch that wizards don't die from trauma that would kill 
Muggles, so long as they get to a mediwizard before they die.  Which 
brings us to the question of why some injuries to wizards can be 
cured and others cannot be . . . ahem.

My quick theory on glasses, BTW, is that there probably is a spell 
that would cure vision problems.  After all, Harry could just get two 
magical eyes like Moody.  I think a significant limitation on magical 
cures is similar to what we see in the muggle world -- side effects.  
Perhaps having a magical eye is uncomfortable or has drawbacks that 
make it preferable to just use spectacles.  For example, walking 
around constantly looking through people's clothes would get 
distracting after a while.

I wrote:

> >Cindy (secretly hoping Voldemort will meet his maker at the 
tentacles of 
> >the giant squid)
> 
Amy wrote:

>And there's even foreshadowing in CS, when Ron speculates 
> that Tom Riddle's accomplishment might have been to save a teacher 
from the 
> giant squid . . . no?  No takers?

Heck, I'll take a piece of that action.  :-)  

The conventional wisdom is that Hagrid will die in OoP.  In the first 
four books, we've had these random mentions of the giant squid, but 
it has never done anything -- not even in the Second Task, and not 
even when Victor dives from the ship into the lake.  But in GoF, we 
get some serious foreshadowing about this:  "[Harry] looked up at 
Hagrid -- perhaps he had to go into the lake sometimes, to deal with 
the creatures in it?  He looked after everything else on the grounds, 
after all--"

My money says that Hagrid will die in OoP dealing with the giant 
squid.  He loves monsters, his judgment is suspect, and Professor 
Kettleburn's experience shows that the job is dangerous.  

I don't wish to receive my winnings in leprechaun gold, however. <g>

Cindy