Possible Flint: Fireplace in the common rooms

[wry1352000]

No: HPFGUIDX 83394

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "artcase" <artcase at y...> wrote:
> How/why do students receive mail by owls? 
> 
> If their parents could use the floo network to communicate (much 
like 
> a telephone/transporter) why would they resort to the much slower, 
> less efficient method of owl post?
> 
> AND for that matter, how do the teachers keep the student from 
> leaving the school/parents from coming into the school via floo?
> 
> My only guess is that it is restricted in some manner, which makes 
> Sirus's useage ("broke into a wizarding house...")highly unlikely.
> 
> Maybe I'm just reading  too much into it, but what is stopping LV 
> from using a wizarding house (in the same manner) and dropping in 
on 
> Harry some late night?
> 
> Comments?

Very interesting question.
Maybe Hogwarts fireplaces are magically restricted in such a way that 
they can only be used for "head" travel, not "full body" travel?  In 
both instances when Sirius contacts Harry via Gryffindor common room 
fire, only his head appears in the fire, while the rest of his body 
remains where he is, and the same is true of the two times Harry uses 
Umbridge's fire to contact Sirius.  Maybe it's one more of those 
security features similar to the no apparate-disapparate 
restriction?  The only case of someone actually stepping out of a 
Hogwarts fire so far happened when Snape summoned Lupin to his office 
when he wanted an explanation regarding Harry's possession of the 
Marauder Map, but since Lupin was himself at Hogwarts at the time, it 
may be a different situation, not like outside travel.  At any rate, 
Sirius didn't try to enter the Gryffindor common room via somebody's 
fire in CoS when he was after Pettigrew/Scabbers, but tried to get 
there the usual way.  Perhaps, there isn't much damage one can do to 
someone with one's head only, no wand.  

*But* still there's definitely more about these fires than meets the 
eye.  For instance, Umbridge tried - and nearly did - catch Sirius by 
hand when he was talking to Harry via Gr. fire.  So are there more 
than 2 ways of getting through the fire?  If one can make one's head 
appear in the fire and one's hand appear there on separate occasions, 
can one manage to have both appear at the same time?  Or maybe it's 
just Umbridge who seemed to give herself many additional surveilance 
powers who could see what was going on in various Hogwarts fires and 
somehow reach with her hand into one?  I mean maybe "reaching into" a 
fire like that is at all uncommon, and it was only her position as 
temporary head of Hogwarts that allowed her to do it with the 
school's fires?  

Voldemort may be finding Fudge's denial policies too convenient 
throughout book 5 to risk revealing himself and, perhaps, he wished 
to hear the full prohpecy (while its record existed) before trying to 
attack Harry again, but it's true that if anybody could use Hogwarts 
fires whenever he/she wished to, it would make the no 
apparate/disapparate restriction totally useless.

About parents communicating with students, there would be no 
privacy, unless they arrange a midnight talk or something, and also 
there's only one fire in the G. common room and so many 
students.  But although I don't remember anything mentioned about 
fires in the bedrooms, I assume there should be some there too, 
otherwise how would all the bedrooms on both boys' and girls' side be 
kept warm?  If it's indeed the case, then it would be easier to 
arrange - there are only 5 people in Harry's bedroom, for instance 
(we don't know about others).  But maybe it's still too tedious to 
arrange for privacy every time, or maybe it's too expensive (in terms 
of floo powder use) to do on a regular basis?

I hope there'll be more on the subject in books to come.

Zinaida.