Chapter Discussions - Chapter Two Questions, "A Peck of Owls"

[kiricat2001]

No: HPFGUIDX 72484

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Wendy St John" > 
> Now me (Wendy):
> 
> This is something that has bothered me considerably, as there seems 
to me
> to be an inconsistency in canon about it. While at first glance I 
agree
> with Corinth's theory, it doesn't hold up under scrutiny. If the 
MoM is
> just able to detect spells at Privet Drive without being able to 
identify
> who cast them, then why wasn't Harry in trouble for the numerous 
spells
> cast by the Advance Guard in chapter three of OoP? (Moody's 
disillusionment
> charm, Tonks' scourgify, packing spell, and levitation spell, are 
the ones
> I can think of off the top of my head). As quickly as the Ministry
> responded to Harry's patronus (and as eager to discredit Harry as 
we know
> Fudge to have been) you would think that if the Minstry was just 
tracking
> magic of any sort at Privet Drive, then Harry would have been in 
trouble
> for all those spells. And yet, he wasn't.
> 
> On the other hand, it doesn't seem as though the Ministry is 
tracking just
> the magic used personally by Harry, either - or else why would he 
have
> gotten in trouble for Dobby levitating the pudding in CoS? 
> 
> It also doesn't seem to be a question of wand vs. wandless magic - 
the
> Ministry detected both the wandless "blowing up" of Aunt Marge, as 
well as
> the Patronus cast by Harry using his wand. Although, curiously, 
there was
> no mention (IIRC) of the wandless "lumos" that Harry cast in order 
to
> locate his wand after it was knocked away by Dudley. 
> 
> So I am at a loss to explain just how and what the Ministry is 
really
> tracking. The only explanation I can think of is that originally the
> Ministry had a sort of general magic detection in place (as 
described by
> Corinth), and at some point after the beginning of PoA 
they "upgraded" to
> some sort of system by which they were aware of spells cast by Harry
> personally. This still doesn't make much sense. Since they'd already
> reprimanded him once for a spell he didn't cast (Dobby's 
levitation), it
> seems they would have jumped on the chance to blame the scourgify,
> levitation, and disllusionment spells on Harry. After all, it would 
have
> been difficult for Harry to defend himself against those accusations
> without revealing the identities of members of the Order (which 
doesn't
> seem to be a very good idea). 
> 
> I think there might be something gained by looking at the other 
things the
> Ministry can and can't track - Portkeys, for example. Lupin states 
they
> didn't use one to get from Privet Drive to Grimmauld Place because 
it was
> "worth more than their lives" to create an unauthorized one. Yet 
Dumbledore
> does just that, and the Ministry apparently has no way of detecting 
it
> until it is actually seen by Fudge after the battle at the 
Ministry. So why
> was Lupin so hesitant to create one (unless he thought there was a 
good
> chance they'd get caught)? I'm also interested in knowing more 
about how
> Floo travel and communication is monitored (I'm assuming that 
travel and
> head-in-the-fireplace are both the result of Floo - don't remember 
right
> now if this is actually stated in OoP). Seeing Umbridge's hand 
grasping at
> Sirius' hair was definitely a shocker!  

> Anyone else have ideas about this? It's been bothering me rather a 
lot
> lately. <g> 


Well said! I think there are a lot of discrepancies in the books 
about how the use of magic can and cannot be tracked and monitored by 
the MoM. And exactly what uses are allowed and not allowed.  Of 
course, there is the thought that some things simply are allowed 
because the plot calls for them....

It is still one of the problems I have with the whole scenario of 
Sirius being kept virtually under house arrest at 12 Grimmauld 
Place.  We know that house has horrible memories for him. Yet, he 
must stay inside. He must not leave.  There is no way he can leave 
other than as Snuffles, and now the DEs know about that.  Well, he 
has a wand. Could he not apparate to Hogsmeade some night, just to 
take a stroll?  Are there not Disillusionment charms? Polyjuice 
potions, spare invisibility cloaks, etc. that could spring him out 
for, say two hours a week? Evidently not.  And, I guess there is no 
other possible magic that could be used by anyone anywhere to simply 
give him a half an hour of freedom.  No, no, no.  He must stay there 
until the one event happens that springs him - the kids' mission at 
the Dept. of Mysteries. And the end result of that is that he 
conveniently falls through the veil.

Marianne, still feeling that someone is jerking her magical chain