[HPforGrownups] Re: Nicolas Flamel

[Margaret Dean]

No: HPFGUIDX 22175

dorband at uwp.edu wrote:
 
> I dare say that had Albert Einstein been immortal, he would have
> commanded more "real" power than any mere president.  Still, a fair
> point.  I don't necessarily mean that he would be president, or, say
> Head of the MOM, or any other politically powerful position; but it
> does seem reasonable to me that the *only* immortal wizard would be a
>  de facto leader.  We see the wizarding community heap accolades on
> Dumbledore, i.e., greatest wizard, wanted him to be Head of MOM,
> support from the board of governors, etc.  Dumbledore has the
> *respect* of the wizarding community.  It does not appear that Flamel
> does.  He seems little more than a recluse.  Not very involved with
> the wizarding community.

Perhaps this tells us something about the practical effects of
immortality?  At least of the type available by the use of the
Philosopher's Stone.  What if it creates a kind of stasis . . .
you don't grow old, but you don't "grow" in any other way,
either?  Perhaps Flamel isn't cited along with Dumbledore for the
achievements in Alchemy because they weren't his.  He may have
provided Dumbledore with the background from his own researches,
but Dumbledore was the one who had to forge ahead and come up
with =new= ways to use this lore, because Flamel was incapable of
new discoveries.

Thoughts?


--Margaret Dean
  <margdean at erols.com>