[HPforGrownups] Dem Bones/Big Bro

[manawydan]

No: HPFGUIDX 54784


Katy writes:
> Have you ever known Hagrid to be someone to worry with proper grammar? ;)
But come to think of it..."Bones" would be proper for either name. Bone
plural would be Bone's and Bones plural would be Bones'...so it could be
either one.

Though we talk of "keeping up with the Joneses"! I agree though with the
other poster who said that it would be unlikely that JKR would introduce
both Bones and Boneses...

Mind you, it's a moot point as to whether the distribution of surnames in
the WW is the same as in the muggle world. Maybe Bone is as common a wizard
name as Smith among muggles...

Jenny, by contrast, writes:

> What is it that allows the MoM to ascertain when and where magic is
> being used?  And, if they can detect magic, why can they not tell
> *who* is doing the magic? Some interesting points to note from the

I also wondered this on early readings - and concluded that in order to
detect every use of magic, it would involve an enormous department of
magical snoopers, or alternatively a magical map almost on a Borges scale!

Most realistically, the question to ask would be "Why would the MoM monitor
the use of magic by magic-users?" And the answer would have to lie I think
in the absolute iron law that muggles mustn't find out about the WW. So if
someone uses magic at Hogwarts or the Burrow, the MoM isn't interested. It
knows that that's a wizardly location. Privet Drive is mugglish. Magic
shouldn't be happening there. The Ministry would really have to be
monitoring the entire Muggle side in order to pick up any unusual
occurrences (the same way that they make sure that Muggles don't remember
seeing dragons and the like).

Maybe that Borges map isn't such an outrageous idea after all.

Now the other side of the argument is that the MoM has to know what members
of the WW are in the vicinity. For example, when Dumbledore switches off the
streetlamps or the Knight Bus makes lampposts jump out of the way, the MoM
hit squad doesn't immediately descend to find out what's going on. They have
to know that the magic used is licit.

Only problem then is that the books are full of illicit uses of magic in
places where it shouldn't be used and there's no apparent comeback. Hagrid
pins the tail on Dudley. Fred and George engorge his tongue. And so on.

Maybe we've even been misled about all this.

I know that conspiracy theorists abound on this list :-) Is anyone up for
the idea that the "restriction on under-age magic" is in fact a red herring,
planted by a DE sleeper in the MoM to (a) make Harry's home life more
difficult and (b) make him feel that he can't use magic outside the WW
environment in order to make him more vulnerable to attack?

First response gets to make up the acronym :-)

Cheers

Ffred

O Benryn wleth hyd Luch Reon
Cymru yn unfryd gerhyd Wrion
Gwret dy Cymry yghymeiri