eyeglasses, buck teeth, and other problems

[Steve Vander Ark]

No: HPFGUIDX 12086


> > 
> > Okay, let's say your basic eye problems (near- and far-
sightedness, 
> > etc.) are curable by magic.  So:
> > 
> > Why does Harry wear glasses?  Because no one's told him they can 
> > clear up his myopia for him with a flick of a wand.

I wonder--and this is just off the top of my head--if it has to do 
with the whole thing of why the Wizarding World wants to keep itself 
secret from Muggles...they don't approve of magic being used to just 
make mundane problems go away and they know that that's what Muggles 
would want to use magic for. Maybe one of the basic philosophies of 
the Wizarding World is that you don't just zap your wand here there 
and everywhere trying to make yourself perfect in every way, that 
doing so wouldn't be good for your character and everyone knows it. 
You accept who you are, you work within the minor limitations we all 
have in one area or another, because that's part of being a whole 
person. 

Does that make any sense at all?

Then does the fact fit in that it took an unusual and slightly 
underhanded situation for Hermione to "fix" her teeth? She wouldn't 
have been able to just ask Pomfrey to change her teeth, but since she 
was in that unexpectedly perfect situation, she went for it. I mean, 
that's a clear example of a spell being available and Hermione not 
using it. I know, I know, her parents wanted her to have braces (for 
the same character reasons, probably) but she could have snuck around 
that, certainly. Following that logic, if Harry would accidentlly 
damage his eyes, he might be able to get Pomfrey unintentionally to 
get rid of his near or far sightedness. Maybe he'd better go out and 
wrestle with the Whomping Willow and see what happens. It almost 
worked for Davey Gudgeon!

Steve Vander Ark
The Harry Potter Lexicon
http://www.i2k.com/~svderark/lexicon