[HPforGrownups] Re: Chapter Discussion: Chapter Fifteen, Goblet of Fire: Beauxbatons and Durmstrang

[Shelley]

No: HPFGUIDX 192227

On 9/26/2012 5:11 AM, Geoff wrote:
> Shelley:
>> I see the waterways connected by magic the same way that the MOM
>> connected the fireplaces, only set up Internationally.
>   
>> The fireplaces were never explained either, except that they were
>> "magically connected" and that connections could be shut off by the
>> powers-that-be when they wanted to. It's magic- the "how" is mostly
>> assumed.
> Geoff:
> This throws up a lot of questions. I suspect, that if the truth be known,
> JKR didn't put a lot of thought into this - it was just a gimmicky way of
> getting Durmstrang (and Beauxbatons with their coach) to Hogwarts and
> perhaps amuse the reader.
>
> But, tossing a few thoughts into the arena: why did Durmstrang choose
> what appeared to be an ancient type of boat? Why keep one anyway -
> how often did a large group of students leave the school and need
> transport like this?
Shelley again:
To me, the carriage and the boat would be just like the tents that 
appeared at the Quidditch match: a lot of work and thought and magic 
would go into making these items, and even though they weren't used 
everyday, they were dead useful when you needed them. Maybe the boat 
looked ancient because IT WAS- I mean, if you have a perfectly useful 
magic item, you'd just keep using it, wouldn't you? Hand it down through 
the generations? Loan it out to others as needed? I could see family 
vacations on a boat like that, and it's so roomy that you could take 
several other families with you and no one would be in each other's 
hair. We assume that those items belonged to the SCHOOLS, but that was 
not necessarily so. They could have been owned by a wealthy family with 
permission for the schools to borrow to use on field trips (much like a 
school bus or tour bus would be rented in the US) for special events. 
Certainly the headmasters of the schools would know the prominent, 
wealthy families and who would own magical transportation devices to ask 
when they had a need. I could see a wealthy family living out of a boat 
like this if they wanted to travel all over and see the sights, and 
maybe even have a fireplace connected inside to the network of other 
fireplaces- with a ship like this you could see the world and yet still 
go to work every day if needed. Oh the possibilities!