Knight Bus, Electricity & BallPoint Pens

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 79090

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "James" <ebren at h...> wrote:
> Freddie:
> >>> > ...[the ww]co-opt certain Muggle inventions that do things
better/faster/easier than magic can, but otherwise, why would they
*want* do do things the Muggle way? Note that they have a bus, but
still write with quills on  parchment. < <<< <

> 
> James:
> 
> This ... annoyed me.  (along with ... Gringots changes muggle money 
> to wizarding money,...).
> 
> Harry hides under his bedclothes trying not to spill ... ink ....
> 
> They wear jeans and jumpers ... - but is a simple biro (ball pen) 
> beyond them?  
> 
> Fine enchant the exam quills ... but use a biro for homework - 
> surely.
> 
> ... harry likes the WW and wants to use its artefacts
> but .. he ... risk(s)... serious trouble if he spills ink then a
> biro/ballpoint/pencil/fountain-pen would be safer.
> 
> Will calm down now
> 
> James

bboy_mn:

The way I've always resolved the 'Pen' issue to myself, is to say that
feather pens write in a distinctive bold (as in wide, not as in
daring) style, and the teachers expect to see home work in these easy
to read bold lines of ink. 

A standard ball pen or even common fountain pen writes a very narrow
line of ink which many teachers, having read bold lines of ink their
whole lives, would find a strain to read. So they demand the wide easy
to read lines that feather pens produce.

If I was a student at Hogwarts, I think I would try to sneak in a
large supply of 'Sharpies' (pen size magic markers or felt-tipped
pens). If I doubted that would work, I might consider felt-tipped
calligraphy pens, although they are quite expensive relative to common
felt-tip pens. Another alternative would be metal-tipped calligraphy
quills (metal tip on a wooden stick) or calligraphic fountain pens
(also quite expensive).

I don't know if you have ever tried to write with a feather, but it is
a miserable messy writing experience, and the tips wear down after
only minutes of writing, so you have to keep resharpening them.
According to my research when quills were in common use, even the best
of quills seldom lasted more that a week. 

So, if I was at Howarts, I certainly would try every way possible to
get out of using common quills. Perhaps as a last desparate attempt to
 make things easier, I would spend the extra money and get an
everlasting, never needs ink and never wears out, enchanted quill.

So, the short verions answer is they use quills because the teacher
expect homework to be written by quill. 

The second slightly longer answer is that JKR merges the magic world
and the muggle world with objects and images that we find familiar.
Even descriptions of people draw on familiar icons, like witches
always have big noses, wizards dress in robes, etc... So I think the
quill are just familiar icons that give us the feel that Hogwarts is
uniquely wizardly, but in a most familiar way.

Just a thought.

bboy_mn