Battle Tactics... (was: Re: How can you kill a wizard? )

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 165962

---  "justcarol67" <justcarol67 at ...> wrote:
>
> ...
> > 
> > Kim added:
> > 
> > One question (to Carol), is why you think the 
> > dementors won't participate in the final battle?  ...
> >   But ...  I don't think Dementors would add much 
> > excitement to the final battles, ...
> 
> Carol responds:
> I'm not sure why I don't envision a Tolkien-style 
> battle with huge armies of wizards, trolls, goblins, 
> Dementors, giants, and House Elves. Maybe it's because
> it's been done or it isn't JKR's style.

bboyminn:

As usual, I'm off on my own tagents here. For the moment,
I do agree we are not going to see any great open-field
clash of the Titans, Eragon/Eldest, LotR style battles, 
and further agree that great epic battles are not JKR
style.

If such battles do occur, I think they will be going on
in the background while main characters battle it out
in the forground. Still, I don't expect epic battles.

> Carol continues:
>
> ...
> 
> I could be wrong, but what would Dementors add to the
> battle, assuming that the students learn to cast a 
> *real* Patronus and not just an imaginary one in DADA 
> practice? But my real question is how the wizards will 
> be able to kill each other without using AKs. ...
> 

bboyminn:

Now in a moment, I'm going to stray off on that tangent I
promised you. But first to the assortment of available 
magical creatures and battles. Again, I don't see great
Eragon/Eldest style battles. If magical creatures are used
they will be used as a harrassment and terrorist technique
to destablize the existing wizard world. This will happen
in the story background as it did in HBP.

To the issue of good wizards killing bad wizards, I don't 
think that is necessary. But I do have a huge bone to 
pick with the strategy and tactics used by the good 
wizards in the fight against evil. Of course, they are
using the very same tactics that we see in most movies,
TV shows, and in much literature; classic fiction good 
guy, but realistically stupid, tactics.

For example, in the movies the good guy knocks out the bad
guy, but never takes the bad guys weapon away. I guess we
are just suppose to assume that when a good guy knocks you
out, you politely stay knock out of the duration of the 
battle. So, to the point, why in the Ministry of Magic -
Dept of Mysteries battle did Harry and friends not take
the DE's wands away from them once those DE's had been 
cursed and disabled? Enquiring minds want to know. 

Also, it doesn't seem that hard to reverse a curse, and
may even be possible that some curses are self-limiting.
That is, if you are Stupified, the curse wears off on its
own after half-hour and you are good to go again.
Speculation, of course, but it illustrates my point.
Why not use multiple curses? Why not hit someone with a
Full-Body-Bind, then add to that a Stupify, then compound
it again by adding an Incarcerous Rope Binding Spell? 

Now if for some reason the Body-Bind is released, the 
person is still Stupified and bound by ropes. OR if the
Stupify wears off, then the ropes and the Body-Bind 
still hold them. 

Further, once you have a DE disabled, why not take, hide,
snap, or otherwise get rid of the DE's wand. In the 
Ministry battle, frequently they were in offices. If they
were too morally superior to do something as terrible as 
snap another wizard's wand, they could have stashed it in
a drawer or behind some books on the shelves, or behind 
the actual shelves. 

I could fault the author for that lack of logic, but, as
I said, it is a logic I see in most movies. 

Further note on dangerous and deadly spells, when
McGonagall was cursed with several Stunning spells as
she came to Hagrid's aid. The consensus was that it
was a miracle that their combined force did not kill
her. So, one Stupify or other substantial spell is bad,
but the combined force of several Stunning Spells all
at once is potentially deadly. Even if not deadly, it
is certainly more difficult to overcome than a single
Stunning Spell. So, once again, compound curses are a
tactical and strategic advantage. As an example, first
someone stuns a DE, then another person comes along
and the two of them stun him together. The combined
and collective force of all those spell would certainly
disable a DE for a substantial amount of time, and would
be difficult to reverse with a counter-spell.

Now for an axe I've been grinding constantly in these
forums. I can see no target in the wizard world that
is more important nor more easily attacked than 
Hogwarts. Don't get me wrong, Hogwarts is not easy
to attack, but from a strategic stand point what
target is better? What target has a more vulnerable
population?

The books are constantly reminding us that Hogwarts 
was the one target that Voldemort never dared attack,
and mainly because Dumbledore was there. Now Dumbledore
is gone, and that pretty much leaves no excuse for
Voldemort not to attack Hogwarts. Plus he does not 
need a force of a thousand or even a hundred to do it.
He just needs stealth and treachery. 

Voldemort would be far more likely to win the war by
taking over Hogwart than he would by taking over the
Ministry itself. Politicians are expendable, plus nobody
likes them anyway. But if you have the children of the
wizard world, then you have everything. I can't think of
anything that would make the wizard world fold faster 
than Voldemort holding their kids hostage.

Of course, I don't see the wizard world folding 
immediately. They would make some effort to overcome the
problem but it is not an easy problem to overcome. I
give the wizard world about two weeks at the most before
talk of surrender start making the rounds. Two weeks,
that's just enough time for Harry and friends to sneak
in an save the day. 

I could be wrong, but Hogwarts is such a glaring target,
I just don't see how Voldemort can pass it up. So, it
is there that the primary, though not necessarily the
final, battle will be fought. And it will not be a 
battle of great walls of wizards clashing on the open
moors of Scotland. 

I warned you I would be straying off on tangents. 

So, my two main points are, the fighting tactic being
used in the battles we have documented, are, I believe,
are not well thought out. And the inevitable attack,
capture, and rescue of Hogwarts. 

Just rambling.

Steve/bboyminn