[HPforGrownups] Harry's watch

[GulPlum]

No: HPFGUIDX 52666

A quickie before I go out for the evening...

morgan_d_yyh asked:

>In GoF, Harry has a watch, which stopped functioning after being
>submersed in the lake during the second task of the Triwizard
>Tournament (GoF, ch 23). I don't know where that watch came from --
>we're usually informed of the contents of Harry's birthday and
>Christmas presents, but I can't remember any watch. But even not
>knowing its precedence, I assume it was a magical watch, for three
>reasons:
>
>1. According to Hermione's quotation of "Hogwarts: a History", "all
>those substitutes for magic Muggles use -- electricity, and computers
>and radar, and all those things -- they all go haywire around
>Hogwarts, there's too much magic in the air." (GoF, ch 28)  If a
>bugging system wouldn't work there, I can't see why a Muggle watch
>would.

Who's to say it's an electronic watch? Mechanical watches are still fairly 
popular (I have one on my wrist; it's worked fine for over 20 years and no, 
it's not an expensive one). There's no reason for a mechanical watch not to 
work at Hogwarts.

>2. Only Hermione and the Dursleys would be likely to give Harry a
>Muggle present, but
>A) Hermione is aware a Muggle watch wouldn't work at Hogwarts
>B) I can't see the Dursleys giving Harry a watch unless it were
>already broken.

However, in PS/SS, Harry fixes Dudley's broken alarm clock (so he's got 
some ability with mechanical objects). It's perfectly possible for the 
watch to have belonged to Dudley and either have been broken (something as 
simple as a torn strap, for instance) or, knowing Dudley, he's simply too 
lazy to wind it.

Mechanical watches are usually more prone to water damage than even cheap 
electronic ones, so the act of diving would probably have been sufficient 
to cause it to stop.

<snip the rest, which makes assumptions with which I disagree based on the 
above rationale>