CHAPDISC: DH20, Xenophilius Lovegood

[Jerri/Dan Chase]

No: HPFGUIDX 182909

In reply to my comments about the "Taboo" on Lord V's name, houyhnhnm 
said:

>It was one of the minor irritations that caused me
>to be dissatisfied with DH. I didn't really analyze
>why it bothered me (other than it's being one more
>example of a tendency to multiply entities beyond
>necessity). But you're right. If it was possible
>to jinx a name in that way, the most powerful wizard
>of his age should have known it. Therefore why would
>he be urging people to put themselves at risk?

Yes, and I felt that there were just too many "new" types of magic or 
new uses introduced in DH.  And things that if they had existed we 
should have known about in earlier books.  "The Trace" and the "Taboo" 
and the rather strange extra use for DD's "put-outer" which Ron used 
in the previous chapter, and many more that I kept noticing.

Harry's ability to do the Imperious Curse the first time, with no 
practice and no special lessons, and have it work pretty well. 
(Compared with the experienced death eater who presumably tried to put 
an imperious curse on the Muggle PM's staff member and end up with 
someone who quacked like a duck and tried to attack people.  One can 
only assume that he had intended some more useful and less noticeable 
activities for that person.)

I know that JKR liked to keep introducing new things.  I believe we 
saw at least one new form of transportation in each book.  But Harry 
has been in the wizarding world for almost 7 years now, and has been 
taking classes and getting fairly good grades.  How did there come to 
be so very many issues that were still new to him and to us?  The 
Deathly Hallows alone were a major new concept to spring on Harry and 
the reader in the last book of a series.  All these other little new 
types of magic or changes or apparent inconsistencies kept adding up. 
Any ONE can be accepted or explained away or just considered a minor 
irritation.

Jerri