Monstrous odds

[Barry Arrowsmith]

No: HPFGUIDX 96454

Some gambling types out there, all on the look out for an opportunity 
to trouser some of the  folding stuff with a minimal outlay.
There's one born every minute.
Multiple responses in this one.

 >
Jen:
Bowtruckles. That's right, they are a great menace to society and more 
specifically, Harry. Remember Harry's eyes are his most vulnerable 
area? Well, in OOTP we find out these innocent looking sticks wil 
*gouge a person's eyes out* if angered. Harry's not exactly paying 
attention to this particular lesson, either.

  There you have it, public enemy #1, Bowtruckles.
 >

Kneasy:
Bowtruckles, eh? A truly fearsome opponent, vile enough to strike 
terror into the staunchest of wizard hearts.

IIRC Harry has already diced with death fighting off a blood-crazed 
Bowtruckle. It cunningly tricked him into mis-handling it and evading 
his defences, slipped under his guard and savagely mutilated  him;  
well, two cuts worth of mutilation. And then ran off. Obviously a ploy 
to lure him into the forest where it would doubtless subject him to the 
death of a thousand splinters, or perhaps summon up a horde of maddened 
wood lice to wreak the ultimate penalty for daring to challenge the 
uncrowned King of the Forest. Can Harry devise a defence against such 
implacable hostility? Only time will tell.

250:1


 >
Shaun

  HAIRY MACBOONS!

  Geesh, Hairy MacBoons are *FUN*. In the Harry Potter game I ran at a 
con last weekend, the characters had a wonderful time dealing with 
hoards of rampaging quintapeds while zooming across the Isle of Drear 
on stolen Firebolts (-8
 >

Kneasy:
IMO it would be a grave mistake to allow Quintapeds access to brooms, 
equivalent to  allowing Arthur free rein in a nuclear powered 
generating plant. The phrase 'catastrophic outcome' springs to mind. We 
will watch the news reports from down-under with bated breath.

However, that's not my problem, it's yours -  though I suspect mass 
dementia brought on by inappropriate recreational Billywig application  
may have had something to do with it.

Personally, taking something called a 'Hairy McBoon' seriously is a bit 
difficult, but people said the same thing about 'The Flying Nun' and 
just think what a  threat to civilisation that was. Vigilant! We must 
be forever vigilant.

50:1


 >
SSS
Nundu - It's not that I think this one is likely, but it's the prospect 
of what it *could* do which is scary: "...arguably the most dangerous 
[beast] in the world...whose breath causes disease
virulent enough to eliminate entire villages, it has never yet been 
subdued by fewer than a hundred skilled wizards working together"
[FB, p. 31]. Again, this wouldn't necessarily be a book 6 appearance, 
nor an attack just on our hero, but I think it might make an 
appearance.

  Hey, Kneasy, I'd love to see the odds you'd place on Flobberworms. :-)
 >

Kneasy:
And I thought I was blood-thirsty.
It's a bit over-the-top isn't it, to hope for a  giant spotted moggy to 
pad down Hogsmead High St, piling up the corpses with  death-dealing 
halitosis? Where's the fun in that? No gore, no entertaining 
disfigurements to cause a hum of satisfaction to pervade the 
membership. And  I suppose Hermione will defeat it armed only with 
Toothflossing Stringmints and a rabid committment to dental hygiene as 
a weapon of awesome and irresistible power? Huh.

150:1

To the other extreme with Flobberworms. Though if you are  lucky enough 
to have a perverted imagination, even these docile and placid little 
beasts could be incorporated into a dastardly plot to bring Harry low.
All it needs is for some malicious person to transfigure him into a 
lettuce. The end would be prolonged, painful and not for the squeamish.

60:1



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