transfiguring food etc in DH

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 179273

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "k12listmomma"
<k12listmomma at ...> wrote:
>
> Sharon:
> It always bothered me that the trio found it so hard to find
> food when they were first running/camping in DH. ... Where 
> were all the rabbits and other wild animals. Surely there 
> would have been more than wild mushrooms? ...
> 
> 
> Shelley:
> ... At the stream, couldn't they have "Accio fish"ed?
> 
> ... But no, starving really doesn't make sense at all, based
> on the normal availability of wild things to eat, and the 
> fact that they are wizards with spells to help them.
> 
> ...
> 
> My husband pointed out that they are only kids, after all, 
> and their experiences have been academics with adults taking
> care of most of those other chores. There is a learning curve
> with surviving on your own, ...

bboyminn:

Given that they managed to survive for roughly nine month
in the wild, I would say they picked up their survival skill
rather quickly. Keep in mind that Britain is pretty far north,
roughly on par with central Canada. So, I suspect winter
comes quickly. Doubt full there were many berries around 
that late in the season. But, THE DID SURVIVE, so they 
were obviously finding food.

Note on the very night we see the Goblin Party Accio Salmon
from the stream, the Trio were eating fish that they had
caught. Though, if they had not been distracted by other
things, I'm sure they would have collectively slapped 
themselves on the foreheads for not thinking of 'Accio
Salmon' themselves. Further, I'm sure after the incident,
they did exactly that.

Someone wondered why they didn't just go to Tesco's grocery,
well they did, on occasion we see them going into the 
grocery store under the cloak, take what they want, and
leaving money behind. Still, it would be unwise to linger
in highly populated areas. 

Again, NINE MONTHS in the wild living rough and hard, and
they absolutely don't seem to have been starving. True 
what food they had probably wasn't as pleasant and well 
prepared as home-cooked food, but it sustained them. 

So, I reject the idea that they didn't know what they
were doing, they survived, so they absolutely DID know what
they were doing. Though I admit, they could have probably
done much better with some survival training. 

I also suspect that JKR want to spare young readers images
of the Trio killing and cleaning rabbits, pheasant, and
chickens. So, those thing are assumed but not stated. JKR
does give us several examples of how the Trio managed to
find food. 

As to bathrooms and water, the tent had everything, though
JKR is not incline to mention bathroom function unless it
is necessary for the story. But note the first thing Hermione
did when they started camping, is go to the kitchen to make
tea. She fetched her tea kettle, but no mention of fetching
water, so I assume the tent had running water. If it had
running water, then likely it had a bathroom. So, that
problem is solved.

Just a few thoughts.

Steve/bboyminn