[HPforGrownups] Re: Request for new topics / the nature of magic

[Kemper]

No: HPFGUIDX 152589

On 5/20/06, Tim <evangelist at ihug.co.nz> wrote:
>
>  I was just wondering whether there had been any discussion about the
> nature of magic.
> For instance, we have Dumbledore "drawing" up a chair at the court in
> OOtP, yet Molly and the house-elves
> seem to have to physically cook edible food rather than simply conjuring
> it. Is there a contradiction
> here or have i missed something?
>


kemper now:

Steve wrote something back in on Sept 11, 2005 that addressed this issue
that I agree with.  The subject of the post: Thin Air, Choices and
theEarthly/Soulfull Self.  You can search it on Yahoo!mort.  I have gmail,
so a search is super easy though I never know the post number.  Below is a
cut and paste of your expressed interest of "drawing" up a chair: to make it
easy for you.  Enjoy. Kemper

> Saraquel:
> *(snip)*
> > Raining – need  an umbrella, just stick out your wand. Do you
> > think you have to pay in advance – 5 knuts an item, and a fine of
> > 1 sickle if not returned in 24hours. Or worse, the nearest like
> > object responds to the call...
> *(snip)*
>
> Ceridwen:
> I've been going the other way, that the conjuring of objects ... is
> merely utilizing existant air molecules and transfiguring them into
> whatever is needed at the time.  A limited  spell, and when the
> thing is no longer needed (and maintained), it evaporates back into
> air molecules. ...
>

bboyminn:

People seem to be looking at this issue as Black or White, one or the
other, when I think the answer is really both. Some things we see are
transported or transferred while other objects are conjured out of the
'nothingness'.

Certainly the house-elves are merely transporting/transferring food
from the kitchens where they cook it, up to the house tables above.
When Dumbledore makes tea and cakes appear in Hagrid's hut, he
probably simply transferred them from the kitchens.

Other objects were probably conjured. Remember, according to our good
friend Albert Einstein matter and energy are interchangable. They are
simply different states of the same essense much like water and ice
are manifestations of the same core essense. So, I suspect Conjuring
is simply a energy to matter conversion similar to the Replicators and
Transporters found in the Star Trek series.

The problem is that when things 'magically' appear in the books, it's
usually not specified as to whether we are witnessing Conjuring or
Transfer Charms. So, when Dumbledore brought the purple sleeping bags
into the Great Hall, we really don't know if he created them or merely
moved them from another location.

However, we do know that Conjured objects are transient, they are
temporary; eventually they spontaneously go back the the 'nothingness'
from which they came. Given the short by variable life of conjured
objects, I would suspect that the sleeping bags were real and moved
from a storage area, while Molly's heavy white sauce was probably
conjured to save a few calories. The chair that Dumbledore /drew/ in
the air for Trelawney was probably conjured while the chair that he
made appear for Harry at his trial was /probably/ a real chair pulled
from some other location. The ropes or lashing created by the
'incarcerous' spell are probably conjured, they would only be need for
an hour or two, so they would need no permanence. The sandwiches that
McGonagall make appear in Snape's office for Harry and Ron were likely
real and merely transferred from the kitchens. It would make little
sense to feel 'air' to hungry children. Can't prove that, and I'm not
ridgedly attached to it, so consider it more of an illustration than
an absolute statement of fact.

So, the answer is BOTH; we see instances of object magically appearing
from both Conjuring and Transfer Spells.


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