general musings

[grey_wolf_c]

No: HPFGUIDX 42965

Animagus_Raven wrote:
> And on other unrelated topics:
> 
> Regarding Sirius not wanting to apparate while in hiding: In all 
> mentions of Pettigrew leaving the scene of his `murder' all reference 
> have been to him changing into a rat and going down a sewer.  (This 
> is related, wait until I get to it)  Why does no one suspect that he 
> apparated?  Is it because apparating is a powerful spell and would 
> have been detected but no such spell was detected?  Therefore, if he 
> wasn't there (except for a finger) and he didn't apparate – he must 
> be dead (since no one except the Marauders knew that he could 
> transform).

I've defended ocasionally a theory that states that apparating, even 
though it's *almost* instantaneous, takes long enough that if you're 
dueling or otherwise in dire straits you're not able to use it. The 
reasoning is this: we know what sort of disasters causes multiple 
spells in a single subject (check Draco et co. in the train, end of 
GoF), and that aparition is a sepecialy delicate spell, that goes wrong 
even in the best circunstances. Thus, if you try to apparate when 
stressed or in a hurry, or when someone is shooting magics at you, 
you're very probably going to splinch (I'm not 100% sure this is the 
English name for the aparating in pieces, but you know what I mean). To 
this factor, I add the fact that apparition takes a few seconds, during 
which you're both "here" and "there" (let's say that you cannot go 
faster than light: you're "here" for as long as it take you to get 
"there"). During that time, any wizard can hit you with even the 
simplest spell and cause you to miss the apparition, and possibly 
splinch, in which case you're sold, since you cannot do a blessed thing 
until someone comes along to help.
 
> On magic creating things `out of thin air'.  I believe everyone has 
> missed a point.  The house elves have to prepare all of the meals 
> that Dumbledore simply moves from the kitchens tables to the tables 
> in the hall above.  If Dumbledore could create meals out of nothing 
> all those house elves would be out of jobs.  My theory is that 
> powerful wizards keep stores of metals, cloth, provisions, etc. that 
> they can summon and shape when the need arises, thereby appearing to 
> create them `out of thin air.'  The Hogwort's storage probably were 
> the source of the sleeping bags.

It's always much more difficult to create a cooked meal than a lump of 
iron. The first requires lots of details, while the second one is the 
same material all over. I would agree that wizards can't create things 
on the spot (and in fact I believe that the sleeping bags *are* stored 
at Hogwarts), but the fact is that we've seen a few spells that do 
create things: Draco creates a snake (although it later disapears), and 
Snape (and IIRC, Sirius) create ropes with their wands.
 
> Addition questions to amaze and mystify:
>
> 2)  Who teaches Muggle Studies?  How about Arthimancy?  (My vote goes 
> to Prof. Flitwick for Arithmancy but no idea for Muggle Studies – 
> Bins, perhaps –it seems like a dry subject.)  Has JKR said that we 
> have met all the existing professors or are there some we haven't met 
> yet?

Arithmancy is taught by Vector, a witch. We haven't yet been told who 
the teacher of muggle studies is (and probably we will never be told). 
And we know for certain that we haven't yet met all the teachers. In 
the sorting ceremony of GoF, Harry tells you the teachers in one side 
of the table, and specifies that Dumbledore is sitting in the middle. 
>From there, IIRC, we can deduce that there are 14 teachers, 6 at each 
side of Dumbledore, plus Trelawny and Binns, who don't attend these 
ceremonies (Bins doesn't eat, and Trelawny almost nevers come down from 
her tower). However, do the math yourself. It's fun, and a good way to 
learn the teachers. If you don't have the time (my case right now), 
check the archives: the number of teachers at hogwarts is an old 
favourite.
 
> 3)  Could Arabella Figg be Dumbledore's girlfriend?  Take that all 
> you Sirius girlfriend theorists.  I'm voting that `old' people are 
> old.

She could. However, I'm voting for someone the age of McGonagal, maybe 
an old school friend. I also think that the Polyjuice plot is getting a 
bit old (no pun intended), and I don't think that JKR is going to pull 
it out again to get Sirius a girlfriend out of thin air. At least one 
fellow listee (can't remember who, though) believes that Hooch and 
McGonagall are an item. Maybe it's not Hooch, but Figg? Nah, I don't 
think so.
 
> P.S.  Grey wolf:  did you take your name from another series of books 
> in which a boy grows up to be a wizard – excuse me – sorcerer?  (must 
> get the job descriptions correct)

No, I devised my name myself. I love wolves, and I'm a bit of a wolf 
myself, and my personality tends towards the grey, so there you go: the 
Grey Wolf. I do enjoy the Belgariad, though (if that's the series 
you're refering to), and David & Leigh Eddings are my favourite fantasy 
writers, at least while JKR doesn't finish what she's started. Oh, and 
if you *are* refering to Belgaion et al, the "deadly insult" is being 
called magician, not wizard. Not that it really matters.
 
> Animagus_Raven throws the invisibility cloak back on a slinks 
> silently off.

Hope that helps,

Grey Wolf