A Portkey Question ....

[caliburncy at yahoo.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 23168

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., Amanda Lewanski <editor at t...> wrote:
> it may well be that the only Portkeys that
> Arthur Weasley has come into contact with are the ones triggered by
> time, not by touch, and he's generalizing based on incomplete 
knowledge.

This is quite a valid point.  But if true it also raises in to 
question the whole Authorial Theory of Misinformation as it regards 
these books, which I don't know if I should get into here.  I will 
probably bore everyone to tears.  Stil if anyone is wondering what the 
heck I'm talking about I will explain further.

> An alternate, much more mundane but also more likely explanation, is
> that if Arthur Weasley had gone into all the details of Portkeys,
> explaining different types of trigger, it would be a Very Big Plot
> Mistake and JKR chose to have Arthur's knowledge be limited or his
> explanation be a thumbnail.

What I wonder is why JKR didn't just make it consistent.  Would that 
have been so wrong? :)  The portkeys at the beginning could have been 
activated by touch and the timing part could have been done by the 
wizards themselves (everyone waits to touch the portkey until the 
proper time).  Or, for the more convoluted approach, the Triwizard Cup 
could have not activated immediately when Harry and Cedric touched it 
but slightly thereafter when it was timed to do so (they would have 
held it quite some time since they would be heading to take it to the 
judges).  Sure it would stretch credibility a bit that the timing was 
on, but Crouch, Jr. could have seen to that by removing/leaving 
obstacles from/in Harry's way depending on whether he was behind/ahead 
of schedule (you will notice he left the Sphinx in Harry's way).  Of 
course this still wouldn't work for the return trip since Harry's not 
going to sit there waiting for the portkey to time properly to save 
him from Voldemort's clutches.  Although he could of held the Priori 
Incantem effect until his father said the portkey was nearing 
activation time, I suppose.  Well okay, maybe not.  Then it would have 
been consistent, see, and only at the expense of seeming ridiculously 
silly. ;)
 
> --Amanda, who devoutly hopes to encounter NO portkeys and NO 
polyjuice
> potion in book 5, maybe book 6

I'm with you there.  I would like my plots polyjuice-free especially.