Magic, Timelines, Computers, and Search Engines (was: Did R.A.B. drink the Kool-Aid?)

[Dave Hardenbrook]

No: HPFGUIDX 135314


Wednesday, July 27, 2005, 8:46:23 AM, Sharon wrote:

S> However, I don't believe that Hermione would have done a Google-type 
S> search engine for the Hogwarts library, at least if you take the 
S> Lexicon time frame into account, in which the Trio starts Hogwarts in 
S> 1991 and finishes in 1998.  

FWIW, I've never accepted the Lexicon timeline if only because it
makes Dudley's PS2 an anachronism, and the full moon is at the
completely wrong time of the month in June, 1994.

That said, I doubt even Hermione could create a search engine for the
Library (at least not by herself).  She would have to go through every
single book in the library, create a hash table of keywords, etc.,
etc.  And in the end, every search she attempted would probably just
turn up a bunch of porn sites. >:)

I have to admit, though, that as a computer programmer I've always
been intrigued at the idea of applying programming concepts to magic.
(I'm actually working on a novel with that sub-theme.)  For example, I
think Crouch Jr's tampering with the Goblet of Fire and the Triwizard
Portkey both constituted a magical "reprogramming" of those objects.

Maybe this is the mysterious unmentioned class from which comes the
missing twelfth O.W.L.: Magical Programming!

-- 
Dave