When did the "trace" come about?

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 176139

--- "abeandamandabustos" <abeandamandabustos at ...> wrote:
>
> In the previous books the decree for the restriction 
> of underage magic is only referred to as such and is 
> never said to be a "trace."  DD even states in HBP 
> that the MOM cannot even differentiate between who 
> is performing magic in any given place. Harry was 
> blamed for Dobby's hover charm because the MOM did 
> not know who cast the spell, simply that a spell had
> been cast.  Now in DH, there is a trace that knows 
> who does what and Harry cannot perform magic at the 
> Burrow- even though previous canon (via DD) states 
> that the MOM relies on wizarding parents to restrict
> their children. Any thoughts?
> 
> Amanda- first post- hope it didnt suck!
>


bboyminn:

No, your first post is fine. We have discussed this
before, but not specifically regarding 'The Trace'.
But that doesn't stop us from discussing it again.

The problem is, we get truth, but we don't get 
'whole' truth. We are feed information in bits and
pieces each constituting a partial truth. But never
are we give one concise comprehensive truth.

But, if you put the pieces together they come close
to complete truth and we find the inconsistencies
aren't as great as we thought.

For example, when the Trace is explained it is 
indicated that if Harry /or/ anyone *near* Harry
performs magic, the Trace will pick it up and
report it. But, nothing to indicate it specifically
identifies Harry. 

I think it identifies location; that is, magic in 
the vicinity of Harry. That explains why the Ministry
thought Harry cast the Hover Charm, when it was really
Dobby. Magic occurred in the vicinity of Harry, and
since Harry is the only wizard in the vicinity, they
conclude it had to be Harry.

Now in that instance, it wasn't a simple case of 
underage magic, which seems a misdemeanor to me. It
was a case of magic in front of Vernon's muggle 
guests. That's a breach of the Statute of Secrecy and
is a much greater crime than underage magic. That
threatens to give away the presence of the entire
magical world. That is a big deal, and warranted a
more severe response by the Ministy.

On the other hand, Fred and George seem to be 
experimenting with magic all the time at the Burrow.
But the Burrow is an isolated magical place. No change
of muggles finding out. So, a very minor crime that
the Ministry leaves to the Parents. 

Also, since Mr. and Mrs. Weasley are performing magic
in the vicinity of the Trace on Fred and George, the 
Trace alarm is going off all the time. The Ministry
simply can't be bothered to respond to a thousand
false alarms a day because of magic in the vicinity,
so they leave it up to the parents, unless muggles
somehow become involved.

Does that make sense?

Steve/bboyminn