Speaking of Wormtail and his silver hand ...

[Linda]

No: HPFGUIDX 59178


   Janet Anderson wrote:

> > Of course, the substance the hand is made of may not be silver; 
it 
> > may be orichalcum or some magical metal (but probably not 
mithril, 
> > because the Estate of J. R. R. Tolkien might raise a stink).


   Grey Wolf replied:
 
> I myself do not think that the stuff is silver. That doesn't mean 
that 
> it doesn't have silver properties (including the, so far, 
uncanonical 
> deathly effect on werewolves). But the fact is that it came out of 
a 
> wand, and thus I am more inclined to think that it is simply 
magical 
> energy made solid (more or less) but still in raw form. 
> 
> My canon for this? Well, we are told that at the start of the 
spell, 
> the stuff is liquid. Applying liquid silver to a human body isn't 
a 
> pleasent experience (melting point: 980°C), but receiving the
hand 
was, 
> for Peter - he stops crying. Of course, a point might be made that 
the 
> "molten silver" actually solifies into a hand, but we're still in 
a 
> problem - silver isn't a articulated, and yet the hand is 
funtional. 
> All this can be, of course, explained by magic, but then, I go all 
the 
> way and assume it's magic all of it, not a combination between 
magic 
> and metal.
> 
> Further canon I can present: we have seen the silvery stuff 
before - 
> specifically Dumbledore conjures a silver bird out of his wand to 
send 
> a message to Hagrid in GoF, after he arrives at the spot were 
Crouch 
> Sr. found Harry and Krum. There is nothing to indicate that that 
bird 
> was made out of silver or that indeed silver was involved in some 
way; 
> rather, it hints that magical energy is white, bright and sparkly, 
as 
> molten silver.

   Me(Linda):
     
       Just wanted to put in my two knuts with another example 
of "silver" as the color of magic. The contents of the pensieve in 
Dumbledore's office are described as "a bright, whitish silver" and 
when Dumbledore syphons the thoughts from his mind and places them 
in the pensieve, his wand comes away from his temple with a strand 
of the same substance clinging to it. Now that makes me wonder. 
Could it be that JKR is making a connection between the actual 
thoughts of wizards and the magic they perform? Is the magic that 
she is writing about simply a form of telekinesis? Mind over matter 
as it were? Since JKR mapped out the basic story line before even 
SS/PS were published, I would think that she might very well have 
the premise behind her world's brand of magic worked out as well. 
Opinions?

    -Linda