Dumbledore's Bridge (was: Dumbledore's Philosophy (was MAGIC DISHWASHER...)

[Geoff Bannister]

No: HPFGUIDX 81869

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "jakedjensen" <jakejensen at h...> 
wrote:
> --- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "artcase" <artcase at y...> 
wrote:
> > --- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "slgazit" <slgazit at s...> 
> wrote:
>  
> > I often wonder what DD meant by "Old Magic". 
> 
> <SNIP> 
> 
> > Opinions?
> > 
> > A.
> 


Jake:
> I often wonder about this myself.  A question I ponder frequently 
is 
> why would a form of magic die out that enabled users to engage the 
> Av. Kad. curse?  It would be like tossing away the cure to polio.  
I 
> think the old magic may have something to do with muggles (as you 
> suggested) or Egypt.  We learn about Egyptian curses (and Egypt in 
> general) at the start of PoA.  Now Hermione is taking runes.  Some 
> have speculated that WB put a copyright on a Harry Potter book 
> entitled something like "Harry Potter and the Pyrmiads of 
(something 
> or other)."  And then you have the sneakescope (bought in Egypt), 
> which may still have a secret or two to reveal.  Who knows, maybe 
> Harry's scar is really a rune?  Maybe he had it on his head before 
VD 
> attacked and it protected him? (I wish I could attach some canon to 
> this post, but, like so many others, I am at the office right now) 



Geoff:
This post got me thinking about a couple of books I have made passing 
reference to in the past, "The Weirdstone of Brisingamen" and "The 
Moon of Gomrath". These were a couple of children's books written by 
Alan Garner in the early 1960s when I was in my early twenties; so 
much for adults reading children's fiction - I've done it all my 
life. They involved a couple of children and tok place around 
Alderlet Edge which is a large hill (in the UK) in Cheshire not far 
south of Manchester. The author drew on an existing legend 
surrounding the hill and has a Gandalf/Dumbledore figure called 
Cadellin who has to protect a group of magically sleeping knights who 
wait to be awakened in an hour of great need. They are protected by a 
network of spells. In the course of the first book, Susan receives a 
magic bracelet of unknown date which protects her against an attack 
by a troll woman. In the second book, she loans the bracelet to 
Cadellin for his use and is attacked by evil forces while 
unprotected. Her helpers call on what they call "Old Magic" to save 
her. This describes Cadellin's spells in comparison with it as using 
a sword to split a reed and using a butcher's meat axe for a job. It  
postulates an older magic driven out by the "new". Perhaps this is 
the basis of the "Old Magic" we are discussing here. In the same way 
that, say, "old wives' remedies" have been displaced by modern 
medicine but apparently can still be efficacious, perhaps there is an 
old magic deemd to be obsolete by the Wizarding World. BTW, I would 
recommend these books heartily if you can locate copies.