Translation / Lord Darcy / Wizard Lifespan / Harry's Blood

[catlady_de_los_angeles]

No: HPFGUIDX 34158

Alexander wrote:

> Harry associates with chess at best (Harry Kasparov being world 
> chess champion).

Ouch! I knew that there is this THING about H and G in Russian (which 
John has explained phonetically) but it never before occured to me 
that you wouldn't notice that Harry (as in Potter, or Truman) is a 
different name than Gary (as in Kasparov). Gary is quite a common 
given name in US, as far as I know not derived from Russian but from
 a nickname of Gareth, one of the Knights of King Arthur's Round 
Table.

(Speaking of which, what's your nickname? Alex, Lexie, Sandy, Sasha?)

Drieux wrote:

> but the magic system posited requires that any strong 'good' 
> magician be at least a communicant of the Roman church.

Correction: the Lord Darcy universe is as remarkable for 
[monotheistic] religions [I can't recall mention of any other kind] 
not beating up on each other as for [monotheistic] religions being 
perfectly aligned with Goodness. There are Roman monks, priests, and 
bishops at the wizards' convention, but also rabbis and imams.

Tabouli wrote:

> At what point do wizards start ageing slower than Muggles? They're
> considered of age at 17, and from available evidence, are known to 
> marry and have kids in their late teens and early twenties, at 
> least in the late seventies. By British Muggle standards in the 
> same era, (was it the 1970s when the age of legal adulthood was 
> reduced from 21 to 18?) I'd say these ages are both a bit on the
> young side

I can't make it work that wizards at first mature faster than 
Muggles, so I would guess that the ages of majority is just an 
example of arbitrariness and the wizarding love of prime number.

>From what we have seen in canon, it seems to me that they age at much 
the same rate as Muggles (a *little* slower from 11 to 17, with a 
sudden catch-up on 17th birthday?) until age 20 or 21 --- 20 is easier 
to calculate with, but 21 is a magic number. Or maybe age 19 because 
it's a prime. And then age at one half the rate of Muggles. Like this:

Dumble is 150.
150 - 20 = 130
130 / 2 = 65
65 + 20 = 85
It seems plausible to me that an 85 year old Muggle could have a long 
white beard and be starting too look tired.

McGonagall is 70.
70 - 20 = 50
50 / 2 = 25
25 + 20 = 45
Sure, a 45 year old Muggle's hair could still be black: I'm 44 and 
have only a few gray hairs that show. JKR's own drawing of McGonagall 
(in Photos section of this group, with Dumbledore and Hagrid leaving 
baby Harry on the doorstep) looks *intensely* younger than Maggie 
Smith.

> Another thought - if wizards marry at 20, they might have 130 years
> or more of married life to live! Phew! Makes you think, eh?

Maybe that is why the spouses of married teachers live elsewhere: 
maybe Mesdames Sprout and Pomfrey took those live-in jobs on purpose 
to get away from boring husbands.

Caesar wrote:

> the curse V cast upon HP gave HP some of Voldemort's powers(only
> notable one so far is Parseltoungue) (snip)  so we assume LV must 
> get some new powers- the first and most obvious being the ability
> to harm harry. the second- ok, well, maybe LV could be a good
> Seeker. 

Consider the possibility that Harry got his remarkable ability to fly 
without being taught how and to Seek better than his competitors 
FROM V along with the Parseltongue. Think how awful Harry would feel 
if he discovered that what he believes to be his one talent not only 
isn't even his, but came from his enemy.