Floo talk

[Horst or Rebecca J. Bohner]

No: HPFGUIDX 20611

> >In CF, Sirius black does some kind of Apparition, when his
> > head speaks to Harry from the fireplace. I presume that the
> fireplace
> > has to be connected to the Floo network in order to allow people
> this
> > kind of communication, and I can't imagine that, for mere security
> > reasons, Hogwarts fireplaces are connected- much too easy for
> > intruders.

> Good catch!  Here's a try at defending Jo:
>
> I'm sure you can't take Floo powder into Hogwarts, at least not unless
> you're a professor and have some kind of magical security clearance.

I'm sure you can't get into the Hogwarts grounds via Floo any more than you
can Apparate there, but within the Hogwarts grounds I don't see any reason
you couldn't get from one fireplace to another using Floo powder.  Not only
because we've seen this used in PoA (Snape's summoning of Remus) but because
it just seems to make good practical sense.  Why walk all over creation if
you don't have to -- especially in an emergency situation where it could be
vitally important for you to get from one part of the grounds to another as
fast as possible?

Sirius's head in the fire in GoF is not, I think, a use of Floo powder.
Floo powder is a method of travel and involves the whole body.  The
head-in-fire bit seems to be some other kind of magic, related but
different -- with the emphasis on communication, rather than transportation.
Although, Molly Weasley *did* give Amos Diggory's head a piece of toast in
GoF... so it does seem as though in some regard the person's head is
actually *there*.

I suppose the head-in-the-fire trick *could* be the result of just sticking
your head in a Floo fire, although that seems awfully uncomfortable.  But in
that case Sirius would have to have gotten special clearance from
Dumbledore, or something, that would allow him access to Hogwarts via Floo.
It's not inconceivable that Dumbledore would have allowed him this liberty,
especially under the circumstances.
--
Rebecca J. Bohner
rebeccaj at pobox.com
http://home.golden.net/~rebeccaj