How a Summoning Charm works (was "Get The Golden Egg" Plot Hole!)

[lupinesque]

No: HPFGUIDX 37942

Jo Serenadust speculated:

> If Harry had just said,"accio broomstick" he probably would have 
> been bombarded with every school broom in the sheds.  IIRC, his 
> broomstick is the only Firebolt in the school.
> I agree that Mrs Weasleys "accio" obtaining exactly the tainted 
> toffees she was after is fairly baffling.  My reasoning on that is 
> that as a fully trained and presumably powerful witch, she only 
> needs to say accio, point her wand in the general direction of what 
> she wants and concentrate on the desired objects.

As we know, a Summoning Charm has a much wider radius than just the 
1/4 mile to the castle or whatever it is; Harry later considers 
Summoning an aqualung, of which the nearest one is probably miles 
away, and although he rejects that solution to the 2nd Task, the 
reason isn't because he can't Summon something from that far away.  I 
think Harry gets only his Firebolt and not the one leaning against a 
broomshed at Chaser Moran's country place in County Clare not because 
of distance but because of intention--the same reason Jo gives for 
Mrs. Weasley's success.  I wrote about this way back when in message 
20352:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/20352

also at the Lexicon:

http://www.i2k.com/~svderark/lexicon/ and search for "nature of magic"

I'd be interested to hear what you think.

Amy Z