[HPforGrownups] Quills (was Re: Hogwarts Uniform with Link - OT)

[annegirl11 at juno.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 117366

Mibletonia said:
> However, I wonder, are the wizards sticking to 1700-century 
> technology (or sometimes even older) because their version of it has 
> been so much approved by magic that the newer muggle technology is 
> not really better? 

Here's my totally unsupported fanwank: How often do we hear of people
actually dipping the quill in a pot of ink? It seems like they carry
these around moreso than use them; maybe the quill just needs to be
*near* the ink to magically tranferit to the quill. 

And maybe the magic doesn't stop there. (Here's where I go into fantasy
land and indulge my writing impliment obcession.) We know of sugar
quills, quik quills, and I think a few more but I can't remember if
they're canon. Maybe ordinary student quills have editing functions;
strike-through deletes, circling copy/pastes, etc. (Maybe they're
semi-sentient and are in fact better than frickin annoying MS Word.) We
never hear of parchment notebooks, either; maybe the kids carry around
*one* roll of parchment all day, and their notes get magically
transferred to a huge roll of parchment they keep in their rooms and only
use for studying. (Can't you just imagine Hermione having her note rolls
obcessively organized and under an anti-copying/theft charm, while Ron
looses his under his bed by the second week and has to tear the room
apart before midterms and finals?) 

If Muggles have those goofy computer pens, and that's just stupid rote
computer chips, then I have no doubt that the magic that came up with the
semi-sentient Marauder's Map can have some pretty decent magic office
supplies. (That's a Staples I'd drop a small fortune in! Moreso than I
usually do!) Plus, I have no doubt that the Marauders didn't pass notes
the old-fashioned way. ("Dammit, Padfoot! Stop writing obscene jokes on
my notes!") Maybe we just don't hear about it because 1) students aren't
allowed/don't know how to use the magic because of cheating and whatnot;
2) It's so commonplace that it's not worth mentioning 3) I'm talking out
my ass.

Aura

~*~
"What he didn't like about heroes was that they were usually suicidally
gloomy when sober and homicidally insane when drunk."
- Discword
http://archive.skyehawke.com/authors.php?no=606