Portkeys Explained

[Grey Wolf]

No: HPFGUIDX 59161

I seem to remember a very nice theory on how portkeys work that doesn't 
require to make two cases out of them. IIRC, however, it was proposed 
by one of the currently active members (bboy?), so I'm stranged that 
no-one has brought it up recently. Then again, maybe it has been 
brought up and I missed it - been busy and haven't been paying all the 
ttention I should've. In any case, if it has come up in the discussion 
before, sorry in advance.

The theory goes something like this: all portkeys are time activated. 
The time at which they activate is precise to the second. BUT, once 
they have been activated, they don't go anyplace, are simply waiting 
for the trigger that will send them flying. If you will, the magic goes 
from passive wait to active wait at a specific point in time, but it is 
still a wait. What triggers the teleportation magic is human contact, 
but obviously only if the portkey is active. Or, looking at it from the 
other way round, both conditions need to be set at the same time to 
"fly": someone touching it after the proper time. When that happens, 
everyone touching the object gets ported.

Why do things so complicated? In fact, it is very reasonable, since it 
allows big flexibility in the use of portkeys. If you need mass 
transit, it has to be set at a time *after* everyone is touching the 
object. Imagine, if not, the troubles at the hill. When going to the 
Quidditch final, there are 9 people at the hill wanting to be portkeyed 
half way across the country. If one of them touches the object just a 
moment too soon, all the others get stranded. And 9 people with big 
backpacks are going to have trouble managing to touch the boot at the 
same time. In this case, it is better to have everyone touching it 
*before* the time comes, so when the time does come, everyone is 
already touching it and thus everyone gets ported. Compare it to the 
arrangement that Harry and Cedric do to touch the cup. Now imagine how 
difficult it would be if nine people were involved.

On the other hand, if what you need is a fast exit ready to go 
someplace, but you don't know when you'll be free to go, you make the 
portkey activate a couple hours in advance, and whenever you're ready 
you simply touch and get portkeyed.

In conclusion, IMO there is only one working to portkeys - time 
activation with human contact trigger. Oh, and it seems logical that 
after being transported, you need to stop touching before it can work 
again. That way, if there are multiple stops in the portkey, you are 
not taken directly to the last, but are allowed to drop it in the way, 
do something and then continue the journey.

> Alon states: 
> > The problem I have with the portkey is that it would seem stupid to 
> > make the TWC-Portkey a two-way object. If I'd been Harry or Cedric, 
> > I would take the TWC along with me while exploring (maybe just too 
> > much roleplaying on my behalf).

Winner's cups are normally heavy and unyieldy. Real life isn't like 
RPG, were the shape of the object isn't taken into consideration (if 
you can lift it, you can carry it is the rule in AD&D). I should know, 
I used to carry along all sorts of weapons and treasure... but had no 
backpack. We never made an issue of it. Harry and Cedric have no easy 
way of taking the cup with them, and they might need their hands in a 
hurry, so it is better to drop it.

> > That, or 
> > the 'added waypoint'-theorem, or the idea of a safe-catch... Either 
> > way, it was quite foolish of Crouch/Moody, Peter, and Voldemort ;)

I'll go into this in detail further down, but lets just say that giving 
an enemy a retreat line isn't foolish at all. The badger is most 
dangerous when its back is against the wall.
 
> Annemehr:
> As for why the Cup transports Harry back to Hogwarts, two 
> possibilities have been mulled over during my time on the list.
> 
> One says that Dumbledore originally made the Cup a portkey to 
> transport the winner to the entrance of the maze, so the audience 
> would see who had won.  The idea is that Crouch!Moody merely 
> *inserted* a stop at the graveyard, to take Harry there first.  This 
> idea is beautifully logical, but two objections make me disbelieve 
> it. For one thing, there is no good reason why Bagman would not have 
> told the champions this while he was explaining the task, 

There are very good reasons: 1) they don't need to know it - the cup 
will work without them knowing, and its a nice surprise for the winner 
not to have to crawl back through a *maze* after winning. A sort of 
treat, if you will. 2) Crouch might not now at all - it could be just 
Dumbledore's idea. 3) All the time during the tournament, the champions 
have been given minimun information about the tasks. They get told to 
expect enchantments and creatures, and that it will be a maze (and the 
order in which they enter). That's it. A detail such as "Oh, and when 
you touch the cup you'll be portkey'ed to the entrance" is really 
irrelevant when compared to "Expect Blast-ended Skrewts", but as always 
they're left to discover that for themselves.

> and secondly, 
> Crouch Jr., under the Veritaserum, says that he "turned the cup into 
> a portkey," which I take to be literal truth.

Originally it was speculated that Crouch didn't know that the cup was 
already a portkey (this ties in with (2) above), but raises the problem 
of how the ghosts in Voldemort's wand knew. The logical thing to asume 
is that he was told by Dumbledore to turn it into a portkey (the 
original one, the one to the outside of the maze), and that he knew 
this would be the case, and duly informed Voldemort of this. And added 
the extra step when no-one was looking to closely - but the original 
was still there, probably even hidding the fact that there was an 
intermediate step (I believe magic enchantments can be felt by powerful 
wizards - sort of how you can tell an object is teeming with energy).

> The other possibility, which is what I believe, is that Crouch Jr. 
> put both stops in for a reason.  There have been discussions as to 
> why he did this, and two possible reasons are usually put forth.
<snip two explanaitions>

Ummm... there is one last reason put forward, the one defended by the 
MDDT, that the portkey was planned or at least allowed to be a last 
line of withdrawal for Harry, in case killing him was proved to be 
impossible once again (fourth time and counting). Read all about it in 
MAGIC DISHWASHER - post 40044. People always think that this is a bad 
move for Voldemort, since he could kill the brat - but could he? From 
Voldemort's PoV, it's nowhere obvious that this is the case. He 
couldn't kill him when Harry was a baby, and he was at the top of his 
powers. He couldn't kill him while possesing another wizard, sionce the 
protection was still present. He couldn't kill him with a bloody big 
snake under his control. From Peter's and other's accounts, Voldemort 
might also know that Harry has also faced giant spiders, hundreds of 
dementors, dragons, werewolves, etc, etc. Killing the brat isn't easy. 
In fact, it is downright difficult (and dangerous). What if the potion 
*doesn't* give Voldemort the protection? What if he is still unable to 
touch him? Better have a way of getting rid of the brat that doesn't 
take half his DEs with him.

What Voldemort wants is to resurrect. He believes that the potion will 
give him a body again, from which to continue his search for 
immortality (fat chance, according to MD - there's a flaw in the 
potion, but we don't really need to go into that now). He also needs to 
make a show of power in front of his DEs. This, however, doesn't 
require the death of Harry - Harry fleeing works just as well, since it 
is obvious that the winner of the GG (Graveyard Gathering) is 
Voldemort. He's got his DEs in line (those that weren't already in line 
- to whit Avery, *the only one of the newly arrived DEs that is 
crucio'ed*), he's got his body back, and has Harry flee - payback, 
since all Harry did was make him flee. That was possible thanks to the 
portkey back. And Voldemort also has an advantage - he's used Harry to 
feed information to Dumbledore. Or rather, missinformation, as MD 
believes - and logically so (but I would say so, wouldn't I?).

Hope that helps,

Grey Wolf, MDDT, warming up for a comeback