Floo/head-in-the-fireplace, was Re: OK, The Portkey

[Amanda Geist]

No: HPFGUIDX 57552

First off, I haven't been following the list in a while and I have seen Floo
discussions go past, so apologies if this has been dissected before.

Kriselda completely accurately (bravo!) said

> Maybe I just missed it, but I don't recall the talking-head-in-the-fire
> being specified as a form of travel via Floo powder.  I'd gotten the
> impression that it was a different kind of spell all together that allowed
> someone to project their head into a fireplace, rather than moving their
> entire body.  I know that for someone to go somewhere by Floo powder there
> doesn't have to be a fire burning in the fireplace they're trying to reach
> (otherwise, Mr. Weasly and the kids wouldn't have been able to make it to
> the Dursley's fireplace at all), but for the talking-head messages to get
> through it seems that there does have to be a fire, since that's what the
> head appears in.
>

L.O.O.N. on deck.

You may be right. It's inconclusive. I combed the books for fireplace
travel/communication incidents; all page numbers are from the Canadian or UK
editions.

In GoF, when Arthur and the boys show up to get Harry, what Arthur says is
" ' I had your fireplace connected to the Floo Network, you see - just for
an afternoon, you know, so we could get Harry.....I'll light a fire to send
the boys back.." (p. 44)

Also in GoF, when Mr. Diggory "pops in" to tell Arthur about Mad-Eye:
 " Amos Diggory's head was sitting in the middle of the flames like a large
bearded egg." (p. 141)

And when Sirius' head shows up at Hogwarts:
"..Harry looked back into the flames, and jumped.
  Sirius' head was sitting in the fire. If Harry hadn't seen Mr. Diggory do
exctly this back in the Weasleys' kitchen, it would have scared him out of
his wits." (p. 290)
--and--
(Sirius speaking) '.. I've broken into a wizarding house to use the fire,
but they could be back at any time...' " (p. 291)

Neither of the head-in-the-fire instances in GoF specifically mention Floo
powder.

However, in PoA, when Snape summons Lupin, this definitely sounds like Floo
powder:

"He [Snape] strode across to his fire, seized a handful of glittering powder
from a jar on the fireplace, and threw it into the flames.
  'Lupin!' Snape called into the fire. 'I want a word!' " (p. 211-212)

The description of the powder Snape used matches the description of Floo
powder when we are introduced to it, in CoS:

"He [Fred] took a pinch of glittering powder out of the flowerpot, stepped
up to the fire and threw the powder into the flames." (p. 41)

So Snape seems to have used Floo powder to *call* Lupin; we are not told
whether Snape's flames turned green, but when Lupin appears he is "revolving
very fast" (p. 212), which matches the sensation Harry feels when he travels
by Floo in CoS.

Here is my interpretation of this....
--Wizarding houses and businesses, etc., are connected to a "Floo network"
that allows travel and/or communication via Floo powder. (canon)
--There is a Floo Regulation Panel which oversees the hooking up of
fireplaces to the network; not sure what other tasks they have. (canon, GoF
p. 44).
--When you use Floo powder, you must have a fire going in the *outgoing*
fireplace, and the flames turn green. (canon extrapolation)
--It is not necessary to have a fire going in the *receiving* fireplace, and
those flames do not turn green (although these normal-looking flames do not
burn, either). (canon extrapolation)
--Floo powder has a communication function as well as a travel one (canon
extrapolation). Snape *calls* Lupin, the Floo must have carried his voice.

My interpretations?

I wonder what would have happened if Lupin's fire had not been lit. For
Snape's flames did not turn green (that we know of); he was using Floo to
*call,* not to travel. I must conclude that Lupin's own flames turned green,
and that, along with Snape's call, alerted Lupin to come. He knew upon
arrival that it was Snape who had summoned him ("You called, Severus?") so I
am also presuming he *heard* him. If Lupin's fire had been out, would there
have been no answer? Or does the use of Floo to "call" in this way, *light*
the fire?

As for whether Floo is the mechanism for the head-in-the-fireplace
communication--I think it is. I don't think it is such a stretch to go from
sending your voice by Floo, which I think canon supports, to someone, to
sticking your head in the fire to talk to them directly.

For the Snape/Lupin interaction, I think that Snape could have stuck just
his head in the fireplace to ask Lupin directly, except that given his
personality, he'd rather (a) be clean and standing in his office talking to
a ashy and just-straightening-up Lupin, rather than be very low in a
fireplace looking *up* at him--very much a psychological disadvantage; and
(b) not treat Harry to the spectacle of his backside sticking out of his
fireplace while he talked to Lupin.

The thing that makes me hesitate is the physical disorientation that Harry
experienced when he used Floo, it's hard to see how all that whirling and
spinning and stuff could be going on while half of you is in one place and
the other half somewhere else.

However, given the following:
--*fireplaces* are used for both things
--Floo powder is an avenue for communication as well as travel
--the Floo Regulation Panel is simply "Floo" and not "Floo and X" regulation

I am tending to think that Floo is more adaptable than we (Harry) have yet
seen or realized. There may be alternate uses or applications, one of which
is the head-in-the-fireplace quickie communication function.

Thoughts?

~Amandageist