Being Good and Evil /Hermione is Voldemort in making?

[katrinalisa2002]

No: HPFGUIDX 155184

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "houyhnhnm102" <celizwh at ...>
wrote:

> houyhnhnm:
>
> If every signature on a parchment constitutes a magically
> binding contract, why would Crouch!Moody have needed to
> point out that Harry was magically bound to compete in the
> TWT?  Why would any argument have arisen over Harry's
> withdrawal from the tournament?  Karkaroff and Madame
> Maxine would have known it was a magical contract if
> in their world there is no other kind.

I think this is just their anger showing through. Plus, surely there
must be some negating circumstances for magical contracts, and Harry
was underage and, they would assume, an illegal entrant.

> I can think of only one other example of someone signing
> a parchment (other than a letter)--permission forms for
> third-years)--but one can imagine occasions on which
> witches or wizards would have to sign their names--
> transferring property, entering into apprenticeships,
> making wills (We know they make wills). Are all of these
> signatures magically binding?  It's possible, but where's
> the canon support?

> And if there isn't, why should Marietta be particularly
> wary of putting her name on Hermione's parchment for any
> reason other than the obvious one that it will incriminate
> her if it falls into the wrong hands?


I'm not saying every parchment that is signed constitutes a magically
binding contract; I just think it is obvious that, even without the
sneak jinx, this was a contract. Breaking a contract, whether magical
or Muggle has consequences. Breaking a promise can result in `karmic'
punishment, or magic punishment, either way Marietta should have
expected punishment.
If you tell a friend a secret, and ask them not to tell, and they do,
do you not punish them? I mean with your anger or disapproval, not
with disfigurement ;)

As for signing wills and transferring property...well we would have
to assume their signature is *legally* binding, and I see no reason
why it would not also be 'magically' binding, if only because the
wizarding world includes magic in everything.


> What *about* all the letters that go back and forth
> between characters in the Potterverse?  If there is
> something inherently magical about putting one's name
> on parchment, wouldn't it come into play even with a letter?

No, because it is not simply putting one's name on a piece of paper.
It is not even inherently magical to sign a contract, it is just
the punishment, if you like, for breaking your word is administered
magically. In a letter, the only thing you are promising when you
sign at the bottom is that you are who you say you are.

In some countries, treachery is punished with death, not that I'm
suggesting Marietta deserves to die, or that she deserves her
punishment to linger for so long, but it must be remembered, she
could have got Harry and co expelled, their wands snapped, so what
she did isn't something, IMO, that can be just brushed off.

katrina