Turning Items to Portkeys

[Steve <bboy_mn@yahoo.com>]

No: HPFGUIDX 52127

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, Celebrimbor <legolas1190 at y...>
wrote:
> I was just thinking, what does it take for an item to be turned to a
portkey? The reason I'm wondering this is to bring a new theory to
that old question. Why didn't Moody just turn any old item of Harry's
into a portkey? Well, I think that maybe it takes a lot to turn
something into a portkey. Perhaps it needs to be a special sort of
item that was pre-made to turn into a portkey. I mean, we know that
the cup already was a portkey that was supposed to bring the champion
out to the clearing outside the maze, and all Moody did was give it an
"intermediate" stop location.
> 
> Celebrimbor

bboy_mn:
I can't tell you what is; I can only tell you what I think IS.

Portkeys seem really nice, no fire, no soot, no getting out at the
wrong fire grate, you can transport your whole family. 

Why would anyone use Floo power when portkey are so easy? 

Of course, the only reasonable answer is that, portkeys are not that easy.

So if they are not easy then what is a reasonable 'not easy' sequence
of magical events necessary to create a portkey that at the same time
are so complex that it prevent the average person from doing it?

I believe there are two stages to creating a portkey. First, the
object must become portkey enabled, then the enabled object must be
charmed to the time and/or destination.

I believe it is the first stage, the portkey enabling stage, that
prevents most people from doing this. This is a complex process that
uses difficult potions combined with an uncommon assortment of charms
and spells. It is the complexity of this stage that makes it
impractical for the Weasleys, for example, to use portkeys instead of
Floo power.

Once an object is made portkey ready, a somewhat difficult charm is
used to program it with the time and/or destination. This is somewhat
difficult; not an easy charm but still within the capability of a
majority (a small majority) of witches and wizards.

If you remember the World Cup match, when the Weasleys arrive, the
wizard takes the portkey and throws it into a pile with all the
others. When the Weasleys are ready to leave, the get another
enchanted object relatively quicky to take them home. 

So the objects in the pile of used portkeys remained portkey ready,
and only needed to be recharmed with their destination. However, that
was only an overnight delay. Objects that are 'portkey enabled' do not
stay enabled indefinitely. Eventually, the ability fades and they must
be prepared in the complex potions and with many enabling charms.

Of course, I made this up, but it is a reasonable explaination that
fits the apparent facts. There has to be a reason why people aren't
using portkeys all the time. My answer is the the 'enabling' process
is too complex and impermanent to be practical. Yet we see objects
being enchanted very quickly; eg: leaving the World Cup. By having a
two stage process, my idea resolves that apparent in consistency.

Now to Moody and the portkey, why didn't Moody enchant Harry's
toothbrush. Well, first there is opportunity. A DADA teacher roaming
the dorms of Gryffindor would certainly be uncommon and certainly not
go unnoticed. If my two stage theory is correct, then Moody/Crouch
couldn't have gotten a personal object for a long enough period of
time to 'enable' it, and there was alway the risk that Harry would say
'Ron, would you hand me my toothbrush?'; too many variables.

But Moody could help quide an isolated Harry to the Tri-Wiz Cup. That
would leave everyone quessing who had managed to capture Harry and how
they had managed to do it, and allow Moody/Crouch to escape unnoticed.
By they time they got around to suspecting and investigating Moody, he
would be long gone and back with Voldemort. 

Apparation In/Out of Hogwarts-
You can't apparate into or out of Hogwarts, this we know from repeated
references in the book. But what about magical transporting within the
boundaries of Hogwarts. After the invisibility cloak incident with
Draco at the Shrieking Shack, Harry runs back to the school and Snape
catches him (PoA PB, CH 14, pg 287) . While in Snape's office,
Professor Lupin Floos from his own office down to Snape's office. So,
some degree of magical transportation is possible within the
boundaries of Hogwarts.

Let's look at another aspect of the magic transport protections on
Hogwarts. It seems reasonable that the greatest protection prevents
people from entering Hogwarts, although, it is quite clearly said that
 Sirius can't have apparated out of Hogwarts. But we have no clear
statements on portkey and Floo out of Hogwarts. It would seem
reasonable that it's not easy to portkey or Floo out, but so far, only
 Apparation has been specifically stated as impossible. 

So, back to the Tri-Wiz and the Cup; Dumbledore may have relaxed the
anti-magical transport spells in order to allow the Tri-Wiz
Cup/Portkey to work properly. I suspect he didn't drop them
completely, but enough to allow Floo in and out and Portkey in and out
to be possible, while still keeping Apparation very difficult or
impossible. During that short period of time that does make Hogwarts
more vulnerable, but since there was almost no likelihood of attack,
it probably seemed pretty safe.

I like the 'cling film' analogy. Since the Hogwarts to graveyard
enchantment was put on last, it was the enchantment on the top of the
portkey/Cup. They touched the Cup and that top layer was used up,
leaving the original portkey to the entrance of the maze on top. The
Graveyard stop is usually referred to and an intermediate stop, but
how do you insert a stop in the middle. The 'cling film' theory
explains that perfectly.

Voldemort is you classic arrogant evil-overload. To damn full of
himself for his own good. I seriously doubt that he even remotely
considered the possiblilty of Harry's escape. Being the all-powerful
all-knowing all-mighty evil overlord that he is, nothing could ever go
wrong with one of his plans (and of course, if it did, it would
certainly be someone else's fault). Second point here, Voldemort was a
little helpless when Harry and Cedric arrived at the graveyard. In his
Ugly Baby form, he was pretty much dependant on Wormtail to manage the
minor details like disposing of the Tri-Wiz Cup. I suspect they were
all too focused on the details of getting Voldemort's body back. At
this time Wormtail knew he was going to have to cut off his own hand,
so his thoughts may have been a bit preoccupied to think of a minor
detail like the cup.

That's about all I can think of for now, so that ends my little lesson
in the magical world of portkeys.

bboy_mn