[HPforGrownups] Portkey mystery? - incomplete lexicon information

[yellows at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 59058

In a message dated 5/31/2003 10:37:52 AM Eastern Standard Time, Mrs. M writes:

<<So I'm wondering if I've missed something here or if there 
> are simply many different kinds of Portkeys. Thoughts?>>

I found this distracting in GoF as well. The Portkey was so well-defined during the travel to the QWC, and yet one of the major rules seemed forgotten by the end of the novel. When the Weasley party had to *wait* until a determined time for the Portkey to transport them, but the Triwizard championship cup apparently allowed anyone who touched it -- at any time -- to go back and forth, I was confused.

I decided to tell myself that Harry's Portkey at the end of GoF was a generic Portkey, that just allowed for travel back and forth from one place to another at any old time. And the QWC Portkey was designed to open only at *specific* times, to prevent Muggles from stumbling across them and being transported. If a QWC Portkey opens only at one moment, the chance of Muggles being transported by accident is cut dramatically.

Brief Chronicles