Marietta, Magical Contracts, and that Damned Gleam of Triumph.

[amiabledorsai]

No: HPFGUIDX 155671



Just a thought that was stimulated by the ongoing discussion of
Marietta's little acne problem and Hermione's apparent refusal to pass
her some  magical Clearasil.

Magical obligations seem to play a big part in the HP books—from the
life debts that Snape and Peter owe, to the Unbreakable Vow, to the
magical contract that forced Harry's participation in the Tri-Wizard
Tournament, the pesky things keep cropping up, usually with important
consequences.

Almost as if JKR is trying to tell us something.

It seems to be pretty easy to acquire a magical obligation, whether
you want one or not.  Harry never volunteered for the Tri-Wizard, and
I doubt that either Snape or Pettigrew wanted to incur life debts.  I
wonder if Marietta's pimples are less the result of an easily-lifted
(by Hermione) hex, or the result of a penalty clause in a violated
magical contract.  After all, all of the signers agreed not to "shout
about" the DA.

If so, then perhaps it would take a concerted effort by most or all of
the offended parties (all of the DA members, in this case) to lift the
curse, not just Hermione deciding on her own hook that Marietta has
suffered enough.

I wonder if JKR is holding this back for book 7 because she wants to
use it to illustrate something about magical obligations that is
important to the resolution of the story arc.

Specifically, I wonder if Voldemort owes some sort of magical debt to
Harry and/or Peter as a result of their flesh and blood being used in
his resurrection.

And I wonder what happens if one of them figures out how to call in
the debt?

Please discuss this, if you have any thoughts.  I probably won't be
able to contribute much, since I'll be out of town with only sporadic
access for the next few weeeks.

It's possible that anything interesting will end up (with the
originator's permission, and credit given) in a fanfic that I've been
noodling about since HBP came out.

Amiable Dorsai