Concerning Portkeys

[Maria Kirilenko]

No: HPFGUIDX 52609


In message 52127 bboy_mn wrote:

>>>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.>>>

I definitely agree. Floo is *very* easy. No charms required *at all*. In comparison with it, even spells that first-years learn are hard. Which is why IMO it's not very good support for the point you're making - that portkeys are very difficult to make.

Also... floo has a certain advantage over portkeys - you don't fall out of thin air on "some poor old dear," but you come out of the fireplace - yeah, the one place in the house where no one will be sticking their neck into because it's the place allocated just for that purpose.

Quote from GoF: "His feet slammed into the ground" (when arriving to the QWC), "Harry felt his feet slam into the ground" (when he and Mr. Spare arrived to the GG). At the QWC right after the Weasleys and H and Hr arrive:

"You'd better get out
of the way, we've got a big party coming in from the Black Forest
at five fifteen." 

This gives me the idea that if someone portkeyed lands on you, it would hurt. A lot. Which is why I think that the use of portkeys is regulated, and maybe even restricted. And *that* is the reason why no one uses them to get to Diagon Alley.

I'm not saying, though, that they are easy to make. I just don't think that it's the only reason to why people don't use them very much. I also don't think that they are quite that hard as you make them out to be.

I also like the two-part portkey creation theory outlined in the message I quoted above, and I really like the 'cling film' theory, although the MD explanation of why the Triwizard Cup brought Harry to Hogwarts makes a lot of sense to me as well.

As for Crouch not enchanting a toothbrush or a textbook... I don't really like the explanation that he couldn't do it because it takes 8-9 months to create a portkey and he just wouldn't have had the opportunity and the time. 

I prefer the explanation that Pip gives in message 40044:

"Time. Voldemort wants Dumbledore to be concerned about the Triwizard 
Tournament, convinced that he's about to kill Harry, convinced 
throughout the Three Tasks that an attack on Harry is imminent. He 
wants Dumbledore to be looking the other way while Voldemort does 
some long term planning - like getting the giants and Dementors on 
board."

You don't actually have to believe in MD to buy this explanation.

I also think that Voldemort is an actor with a great sense of timing. He is, in essence, JKR herself. Oh, Voldy knows when to strike in order to frighten everyone the most - he's had years of practice. <g> His love for special effects and theatrical performances has been the reason of his many failures. 

Another random portkey thought - Arthur Weasley says that Portkeys are enchanted to work at a pre-arranged time. However, I don't see why you can't make a portkey that would work as soon as someone touched it, no matter what time it is, or after a certain time. They wouldn't necessarily be called something different, as they would still be portkeys in essence.

So, what do you think?

Maria



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