Magic calorie-burning

[marinafrants]

No: HPFGUIDX 37240

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "ritadear2" <ritadarling at i...> wrote:
> Marina wrote:
> 
> "Now, just thinking about it logically, it seems to me that if you 
> wave a wand, say a couple of words, and out pops a fireball (or a 
> bunch of roses, or a French poodle) -- well, the energy has to 
> come from somewhere, doesn't it? And the most obvious 
> answer is that it comes from inside the wizard who's doing the 
> spell. So I don't think it's too much of a stretch to assume that 
> calories are burned in the process."
> 
> True, but I guess I was thinking more along the lines of general 
> muscle mass.  I imagine the kids at Hogwarts do get a bit of 
> strength and stamina training while carrying heavy books 
> through the corridors and up and down stairs 

I guess we do have to assume that.  Hogwarts does seem to have an 
awful lot of stairs and no elevatiors.  Plus, chasing after Blast-
tailed skrewts and such in Hagrid's class is probably pretty good 
cross-training too. :-)

In any case, when I originally had my "magic burns calories" idea, I 
wasn't thinking of wizard weight problems at all; I was thinking 
about the First Law of Thermodynamics: energy can be converted from 
one form to another, but it cannot be created or destroyed.  It may 
be just the engineering geek in me coming to the surface, but I like 
to think that magic doesn't just ignore the laws of physics -- it 
has to work within them, but using totally different methods and 
principles than science does.  So to cast a spell, potential energy 
must be converted to kinetic/magical energy, and since there's no 
evidence that wizards draw potential energy from an external source, 
I assume it must come from the spell-caster him/herself.

> And, we need to add Crabbe and Goyle to the overweight list, 
> don't we?

I think Crabbe and Goyle are supposed to be big and muscly rather 
than fat.  Good thug material. :-)

Marina
rusalka at ix.netcom.com