Scabbers - Azkaban - PJP - wizard mortality - broomsticks - "Flint" - RL on trai

[Amy Z]

No: HPFGUIDX 19092

Bugg wrote:

>Lupin would have recognized Scabbers immediately if he actually saw 
>him. Sirius recognized him from a picture in the paper. Lupin sees a 
>lump in Ron's pocket and thinks 'so, Ron has a rat, no big deal.' but 
>when he sees Peter on the map... CLICK 

Good point--I was forgetting that they can both recognize him easily. 
 Thanks, Bugg, and others who set me straight.

Parker wrote:

>Fudge went to see Sirius and Arthur Weasley went to 
>see ??, but they're ministry officials. 

Hmm, Arthur visiting someone in Azkaban--another red herring/red flag? 
 All the book says is "Dad had to go out to Azkaban one time" (PA 6), 
& I assumed it was on Ministry business, but maybe the Weasleys have 
an incarcerated relative no one knows about (including, perhaps, the W 
kids) . . . ?

Neth wrote:

> But after [Mrs Crouch] died, did she revert to herself?
> If so, why wasn't this noticed, and if not, why?

Catlady wrote:

>IIRC, we were told that the Dementors are blind and therefore can't 
tell
>one corpse from another.

I think we can also probably conclude that one doesn't revert after 
death, however.  There are so many humans at Azkaban--definitely 
prisoners, probably guards--that Crouch Sr. would never have imagined 
the plan would work.  Crouch Jr. says she took PJP up until she died, 
so the plotting Crouches obviously thought it was important for her to 
keep up appearances.  (It was a pretty risky plan anyway, IMO.  She 
could easily have fallen unconscious for hours before she died, and 
then her cover would've been blown.)

Stephanie wrote:

>How fast do you think you can disapparate?  Seems to me if you're 
>magical, and you realize your car is speeding toward a cliff, you 
>could just disapparte out of there.  Or, why wouldn't you just put an 
>anti-crash spell on the car -- the Knight Bus sure seems to have 
>one.  

I agree with you, but I took it to a different conclusion:  that Lily 
and James (or any other witches and wizards) =can= be killed by car 
crashes; it's just very unlikely because they have so many protections 
available to them that Muggles don't have.  My thinking is that if L & 
J ever had reason to ride in a car, they'd do one of the above, or put 
a shield charm around themselves or something.  But if they didn't do 
any of these things, a crash would maim or kill them just as it would 
a Muggle.

All the adventures we've seen suggest that wizard bodies are just like 
Muggle bodies--they can be destroyed by falling from great heights 
(unless they use magic, a la Neville, to bounce), poisoning, drowning, 
etc.  Otherwise why was everyone, including Dumbledore, terrified to 
see Harry fall off his broom?  Gravity, inertia, and other hazards of 
life work just fine on wizards unless a charm is specifically set to 
save them.

Stephanie wrote:

>Wizards don't even know what guns are, I remember someone 
>calling them "a kind of wand that Muggles use to kill each other," 
>which suggests to me that they are useless in the magical world.

I don't think they're useless in the sense that bullets don't work on 
wizards.  I just think they have never been adopted because wizards 
have a lot more defenses available to them (you're likely to fail if 
you try to shoot a wizard 'cause he'll shield himself)--also, they 
have better weapons available to them.  

I.e., guns are unknown for the same reason that computers, 
PlayStations, electricity, ballpoint pens, etc. are--the magical 
equivalents are better, so why bother keeping up with Muggle 
technology?  When you can make a quill leak- and blotproof, you have 
no desire to invent the fountain pen or later, the ballpoint, the way 
Muggles did.  Ditto for electric light--if you can conjure light from 
your wand, light and extinguish torches with a wave, etc., you'd never 
start thinking "this gaslight is really a pain--I'm going to invent 
something more convenient," as Muggles did (if indeed Edison was a 
Muggle).  When you have Avada Kedavra at your disposal, a Colt seems 
about as useful a weapon as a water pistol.

Catlady Rita wrote:

>I am
>thinking that McGonagall put something in her spell to keep it from
>being changed, but Voldy was a strong enough wizard to overpower it.

>It might have been simpler for him to simply remove the spell that
>McGonagall had put on them (Finite Incantatem), but then they
>wouldn't have been an obstacle to our Trio.

He might have suspended it so he could walk right by, then reinstated 
it so that if anyone tried to follow they'd be held up.

This is reminding me of my nomination for Silliest Plot Device:  those 
conveniently-placed broomsticks in the flying-keys chamber.  Does 
anyone have an explanation for why they would be there?  Their only 
purpose seems to be to make it easier for someone to break in (or get 
back out after having stolen the Stone).  I would love it if someone 
could point out a good, non-plot-deviceish reason.

Note on the term Flint:  it's for one of JKR's more famous errors (and 
best saves, IMO), but is also appropriate because of Flint's own 
stupidity.  The brilliant coinage, worthy of Lewis Carroll, is by 
Pippin, and that was her stated reasoning.  It was in Message 8359 if 
anyone wants to view the historic moment.  I sure hope someone does, 
or I just did 10 minutes of searching for no reason.

Stephanie wrote:

>"Once the remaining Weasleys and Hermione had joined them, Harry and 
>ROn led the way to the end of the train, passed the packed 
>compartments, to a carriage that looked quite empty.  They loaded the 
>trunks onto it, stowed Hedwig and Crookshanks in the luggage rack, 
>then went back outside to say goodbye to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley."

>So, Lupin could've seen Harry (and he'd probably recognize him 
>immediately since he looks so much like James -- though, of course, 
>I'd put my money on that Lupin has seen Harry plenty, as one of 
>the "Old Crowd" who would know Mrs. Figg and had been in the 
>Dursley's neighborhood) go into that partiular compartment and 
>stationed his sleeping self and tattered old suitcase there.

Whoa!  Stephanie solves the mystery!  Give that woman a Chocolate Frog 
(not an evil one, of course).  I have =never= seen anyone point this 
out, as many times as the "how big a coincidence is =that=?" issue has 
come up re: HRH going into Lupin's compartment.  If he does sneak into 
their compartment after they put their luggage there, he's almost 
surely faking sleep.

Re: recognizing Harry, in addition to saying  "you can't mistake him, 
he's a dead ringer for James," Dumbledore could have sent Lupin a 
photo.

Amy Z

----------------------------------------
 "We don't send people to Azkaban 
 just for blowing up their aunts!"
       -HP and the Prisoner of Azkaban
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