Rowling's Knowledge (was: Two Plot Problems)

[zfshiruba]

No: HPFGUIDX 187646

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, Bart Lidofsky <bart at ...> wrote:
>
> Bart:
> <SNIP>   
> 
>     The point is that it also depends on how good J. K. Rowling's Latin 
> is. When trying to tie in what happens in the books to real world 
> knowledge, we have to remember that we are looking not at the current 
> state of knowledge, but the then current state of Rowling's knowledge. 
> Consider, for example, the mental illness of Voldemort. He may or may 
> not be sociopathic/psychotic by psychiatric standards, but if you look 
> up the illnesses in an encyclopedia and base it on that, Morty has all 
> the symptoms of one, with the exception of his ability to stick to a 
> long, complex plan.
> 
>     Bart
> 
> 
 
Zfshiruba:

I really like your point. My point was really that the spell wouldn't have had the right intention. I jumped to a conclusion when I first read the incantation, and that's despite four years of 4.0ing Latin. Harry's an olympic level conclusion jumper. Hermione would have known basically what the spell did instantly. We see how good her Latin is in PoA. Regardless of whether Harry's Latin is at J.K.'s level or the average Latin students, it would have taken him somewhat longer, and the erroneous conclusion would already be in his memory. First impressions and all. 

Zfshiruba, who is far more used to seeing scindo than seco.