Magical Rooms

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 53787

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, GulPlum <hp at p...> wrote:
> At 03:57 14/03/03 , Steve wrote:
> 
> <snip>

GulPlum:
> 
> >1.) Why would the antichamber room be of any magical significants?
> 
> Why not? :-) 
> 

bboy_mn:
Note that I did speculate on possible ways in which the room could
have magical significants, but even those speculations seemed weak. We
can fantasize anything, the room could be a portal into a cartoon
universe, it could be a time travel machine, it could be the secret
entrance to the Hidden Chamber of Gryffindor, etc.... But those all
seem pretty unreasonable, my original suggestion was reasonable, it
just had a few holes in it.

The idea of a magical antichamber seems very weak to me since I
suspect every room of any significant size has auxilialry rooms that
could be called antechambers. I suspect their could be small
antichambers off of the common rooms. Although I will admit they
haven't been mentions, my sense is that this type of
chamber/antechamber construction is very common in castles and large
manor/mansions. It seems too common; too many antechambers all over
the place for this one to have any significants. Although it IS a room
specifically mentioned in book four, so it definitely belongs on the list.

> >2.) Why would the Prefect Bathroom have any magical properties,
> >and what could they be? Certainly fun and games for the Prefects.
> >Do both the boy and girl prefects us that same room?
> 


> Gulplum continues:
> As to the last question, highly unlikely. The girls have their own
> toilets so it would make even more sense for them to have their own 
> bathrooms. 
> (This is where modern American English falls down because generally 
> speaking, what we call "toilets", you call  "bathrooms"). :-) 
> Although Cedric refers to it as "the prefects' bathroom", he is a 
> boy so that's the way he thinks about it. 
> 

bboy_mn responds:
That's exactly why I asked the question. This is a room that seems to
exist solely for bathing. Which is why I considered the possibility
that is was a general unisex bathing room. I'm not saying it is, I'm
say I wonder IF it is. You apparently think it is the boy's prefect
bathing room. The opinion is appreciated.

Back to the main point, the bathing room as with the antechambers
seems too common. If I were going to give a room magical properties,
from the perspective of a fictional wizard living in the Potterverse,
why would I choose a bathing room? I can't think of any reason. Of
course, I may just be a fictional wizard who lacks creative imagination. 


> 
> >3.) We already know that the Chamber Pot Room IS a magical room, 
> >so it would not be unreasonable for it to have more magical 
> >properties we don't know about. 

> Gulplum continues to continue:
> 
> Ahhh. That's where we disagree. The exact quote was "... mentioned
> in book four which has certain magical properties Harry hasn't 
> discovered yet."
> 
> The impression I get from that is that it's not the room which
> hasn't discovered yet, but its properties. Harry has never seen the 
> camber pot room, ....
> 

bboy_mn still rambling:

The exact quote is (although I don't have it in front of me); "... a
ROOM mentionsed in book four which has certain magical properties
Harry hasn't discovered yet."

Our first search and ponder priority is 'a room mentioned in book
four', our second search and ponder clue is that the room has "certain
magical properties" which is what makes it interesting as a room
desirable to visit, finally, the magical properties of this room
haven't been discovered by Harry YET.

Harry is aware of the Magical Chamber Pot room. It is a room mentioned
in book four and it is a magical room with magical properties, and
Harry hasn't discovered those magical properties YET. I could be
wrong, but that sounds like a perfect fit to me.

There is no indication that it is a room Harry doesn't know about, it
is the magical properties he doesn't know about, and there is no
indication that it has to be a room that he has actually visited. It
could be Professor Sprout's office, he certainly knows about it,
although he's never been there that we know of, and he could discover
that it has magic properties that he doesn't know about. 

On the other hand, the room mentioned in book four actaully could  be
a room Harry doesn't know about. A good illustration (although a poor
example) Snape (character selected randomly) could have mentioned a
room to Fudge (character selected randomly). That would qualify as a
room that was mentioned in book four that has magical properties Harry
doesn't know about. That meets the qualifications, although I am
assuming that it is a room that Harry is at least aware of.


> GulPlum closes:
> I'm not insisting that I'm necessarily right, but I find any other 
> explanation far more difficult to accept.
> 
> ...edited... A mundane room with undiscovered characteristics is 
> far more likely.
> 
> --
> GulPlum AKA Richard, 

bboy_mn:

I think it could be a generally common room, but I wouldn't go so far
as to say mundane room. Someone suggested the Gryffindor Common Room,
I think that is perfectly valid. In fan fiction, the common room is
riddled with secret passageways. JKR didn't actually say that it was a
room mentioned exclusively in Book 4. But I think it has to at least
stand out in book 4, it has to somehow catch our eye, otherwise it
could literally be any room in the castle; the broom closet (Should I
add that too the list? Rita interviewed Harry in a broom closet, that
makes that mundane room stand out in the story).

I also think that since JKR ended her sentence with a big 'YET', that
this room will play a significant role in the future story, and
equally implies that Harry will discover it's magical properties.

So right or wrong, for now I'm sticking with the Chamber Pot Room.
It's a small insignificant mention in the story, but it stands out
because of it's oddity.

Of course, that's just one man's opinion.

bboy_mn