"psychic' link/power

[Amanda Lewanski]

No: HPFGUIDX 14910

"A. Green" wrote:

> If this has been covered, please point me to the thread.

I don't believe it has, and thank you for the post, because the other
day I was wondering about the *exact* same thing and forgot to ask about
it. But I pondered it, and here's what I've worked out.

> I've been wondering if either Ron or Harry has some kind of
> "telepathic"? ability.  For instance, in PoA (I don't have the book
> with me) after the encounter with Draco in Hogsmead (when invisi-Harry
> was roughing him up outside the Shrieking Shack), Harry runs back
> through the tunnel so that he
> can get back to Hogwarts before he gets caught outside.  Snape catches
> Harry in the hall and they go to Snape's office.  Snape makes Harry
> empty his pockets. Harry says Ron bought the contents for him.  Ron
> rushes in and says, paraphrasing, "I bought the stuff for him."
> 1. How did Ron know Harry got caught?

Well, the three (Draco, Harry, Ron) all left about the same time from
the Shrieking Shack. Draco ran off first, going the Standard Route to
Hogwarts. Harry left immediately after, going the Tunnel Route, which
may or may not be shorter. When Harry got out of the witch, Snape had
*just* been talking to Draco, so there was apparently only about a
fifteen-  to twenty-minute difference in Draco and Harry's arrival times
(allowing Draco time to find Snape, and Snape time to get to the
statue).

Ron presumably hotfooted it back to Hogwarts as well, leaving at about
the same time. I presume he took the standard route, which is apparently
shorter (since Draco got there first, with enough time to find Snape and
tell his story). So Ron could not have been *that* far behind, timewise,
Draco *or* Harry. However, Snape and Harry have time to have their whole
confrontation scene before Ron bursts in. Soooo,

> 2. How did he know they were in Snape's office?

He'd run back and checked their dorm first, not found Harry, and assumed
the worst. He might even have run into Draco, crowing his victory.
Anyway, I assume he had to run around a bit to determine Harry had
indeed been collared by Snape and they were in Snape's office.

> 3. How did he know Snape had made Harry empty his pockets?

Good question. Did he see the stuff on Snape's desk? He might have just
assumed, having heard about Snape from his many brothers and knowing
that if they were still in Snape's office, not Dumbledore's, that Snape
was probably still questioning (i.e., not sure).

> 4. How did he know Harry had said Ron bought the stuff (and not
> Hermione)?

This one, I've no idea. Except that they were with each other, and each
other was their first thought. It also isn't the sort of thing
Hermione'd be buying for anyone, joke stuff.

> Seems to me that if he had been standing outside the door during the
> whole inquisition, he wouldn't have burst in "out of breath" as I
> remember it, to say the he'd gotten the stuff.

As I say, I think there was a combination of some running around and
searching, and serendipity with excuses.

> Later, in the shrieking shack, when they all blast Snape - could it
> have been Ron or Harry unconciously (for some reason I can't spell
> that today - several typos and it still doesn't look right :)
> transmitted his intent to
> the other two, and caused them to have the same response?  I mean, I
> see Hermione disagreeing with Snape, and trying to reason with him,
> but I don't really see her facing down a professor with her wand and
> blasting his wand away.  Maybe that's just me.

I think Snape was pretty clearly unhinged at the time, and they only
wanted to get his wand away so that Sirius and Lupin could have their
say. Remember, not even Harry believed Sirius at that point--they just
wanted to hear their side. If *one* person does "expelliarmus," it just
brings the object's wand away; it was the combination that was so
powerful.

> I think the link may have been there again, stronger in the
> compartment on the train in GoF when they all blasted Malfoy - either
> Ron or Harry decided to blast him, and transmitted the
> desire/direction to the rest of them, so once again they act as one.

I think it's more that they know each other so well that there's no need
for speech. There's nothing all that unusual about that, people who have
been friends for as long as they have, in such close association, often
develop that "finish each other's sentences" type relationship.

> Could that be something else Harry got from V. (besides
> snake-speech)?  V. was supposed to be really good at controlling
> people, wasn't he?

I know he was supposed to be charismatic (according to him, wasn't it?).
But I don't know about the other. Loads of people *claimed* he
controlled them, after he was defeated, but that doesn't mean he really
did. I'm sure a significant percentage of those so claiming were trying
to wiggle out of an all-expense-paid trip to Azkaban.

--Amanda


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]