Accio Charm (and a bit about portkeys & apparating)

[brewpub44]

No: HPFGUIDX 32613

First, I was astounded to see so many messages posted today! And on 
quite a collage of topics! I wondered if things would die off as the 
movie buzz settled, and am pleasantly surprised to see it taking off!

Now, a while back, a newbie asked a lot of questions, and most have 
been answered, but this one:

Why didn't Quirrel use Accio charm to get the Stone *Accio Sorcerer's 
Stone*

Well, here's my take. Not all is canon, so bear with me.

Magic requires many elements, but a prime one is *familiarity*. That 
is why most spells are line-of-site. The wizard must see what it is 
in order to charm/curse it. This has been said many times.

But what about Harry and his Firebolt? Well, two points. 1) Harry 
knows his Firebolt inside and out, he is very 'in tune' with it so to 
speak; and 2) he knows exactly where it is. Now I would suppose that, 
even if he didn't know where it is, his familiarity with it would 
suffice (if he were powerful enough).

I suspect that such magics have three levels of power: Any wizard 
worth his salt can Accio a visible object, a more powerful wizard is 
needed to Accio a familiar and location-known object, but not 
visible, and only the most powerful can Accio an object on 
familiarity alone.

Now Quirrel did not know what the SS looked like (it's been locked up 
for ages), and I think more than just *seeing it* would equal 
familiarity for an object that was not in line-of-site. And he does 
not *absolutely know* where it is. So he loses on all three accounts.

I think this can apply to a Portkeys and other spells. You can't 
create a Portkey to somewhere you do not know, you might not even be 
able to Apparate to a place you do not know. How did the DEs Apparate 
to LV? LV sent up a "flare" with the Dark Mark tattoo, a sort of DE 
homing beacon.

Anyway, my two cents. Later!

A Barkeep in Diagon Alley