My WOMBAT Reasoning

[Phyllis]

Here is what I chose for each WOMBAT question, and the reasons why:

PART ONE: MAGICAL LAW

1. Which Ministry of Magic Department(s) and/or committee(s) would
you contact to resolve each of the following dilemmas?

Part 1
Your neighbour is concealing a stash of flying carpets, some of which
he is allowing to fly loose around his back garden.
(a) Wizengamot
(b) Department of International Magical Cooperation
(c) Misuse of Muggle Artefacts office
(d) Obliviators
(e) All of the above
(f) None of the above

I chose (c ) because of the reference to flying carpets being a 
muggle artefact in GoF.

Part 2
Your friend C possesses a Muggle Penny Farthing (old bicycle) that
has been enchanted to skim an inch above the ground, achieving speeds
over 100mph. C did not personally enchant the Penny Farthing, never
rides it and merely wishes to keep it 'for sentimental reasons' as it
was her grandmothers.
(a) Department of Magical Transport
(b) Improper Use of Magic Office
(c) Obliviators
(d) Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office
(e)Committee on Experimental Charms
(f) None of the above

Unlike everyone else, I chose (d) because I happen to think that 
Arthur's "loophole" is more of a way for him to justify tinkering in 
his shed than anything else.  Moreover, how does one prove that one 
isn't "intending" to use the enchanted Muggle object?  Arthur was 
fined when Harry and Ron flew the car – Arthur didn't fly the car, 
and perhaps never intended to fly the car, but he was still fined 
anyway.  So I think the "loophole" is a load of old tosh.

Part 3
Your sixteen year old nephew, D, has hexed his seventeen year old
sister, E. E has retaliated with a Stunning Spell that missed D and
hit a Muggle motorist, who has smashed into a lamppost.
(a) Department of Magical Accidents and catastrophes
(b) Department of Magical Accidents and catastrophes and Oblivator
Squad
(c) Department of Magical Accidents and catastrophes, Oblivator Squad
and Improper Use of Magic Office
(d) Department of Magical Accidents and catastrophes, Oblivator
Squad, Improper Use of Magic Office and Wizengamot

I chose (b) because we don't have enough information to know whether 
either the hex or the stunning spell constituted an improper use of 
magic, and the spell wasn't aimed intentionally at the Muggle.

Part 4
Your friends wizard A and wizard B are in dispute over which of them
owns a field in which Mooncalfs dance periodically. A accuses B of
using a nightly Summoning charm to collect the precious Mooncalf dung
which is rightfully A's.
(a) Improper Use of Magic Office
(b) Wizengamot
(c) Pest Advisory Board
(d) Improper Use of Magic Office and Wizengamot
(e) Improper Use of Magic Office and Pest Advisory Board
(f) Wizengamot and Pest Advisory Board

I see the Wizengamot as only trying very major cases.  The only times 
we see the Wizengamot in action in the books, other than at Harry's 
hearing where it's made clear this is a stretch of the Wizengamot's 
usual authority, is at Death Eater hearings in the Pensieve.  I 
didn't see that any pests were at issue here, hence I chose (a).

Part 5
Witch F fed love potion to a Muggle man, who has married her. When
you went around with a wedding gift you discovered she is using him
as an occasional table.
(a) Auror Office
(b) Misuse of Magic Office
(c) Obliviators
(d) Wizengamot
(e) All of the above
(f) None of the above

I chose (b) because this offense didn't involve Death Eaters (which 
ruled out (a)) and didn't rise to the level of the Wizengamot.  
Presumably the Muggle's memory would have been modified once he was 
changed from a table back into a human.

2. Which of the following should be most SEVERELY punished by the
Wizengamot?
(a) The injury of three Muggles due to a poorly performed
Forgetfulness Charm
(b) The death of a chicken due to a poorly aimed Bat-Bogey hex
(c) The use of the Cruciatus curse on a shark about to attack a Muggle
(d) The use of the Imperius curse on a Muggle mugger

I chose (d) since the Imperius Curse is an unforgiveable curse and is 
punishable by a life sentence in Azkaban when used on a fellow *human 
being*.  Since the Cruciatus Curse was used on a shark rather than a 
human, it wasn't as severe an offense.

3. Which of the following should receive the LIGHTEST punishment from
the Wizengamot?
(a) Horns created accidentally on culprit's mother, caused by broken
wand
(b) Jellylegs Jinx performed on threatening Muggle
(c) Breeding fanged Puffskeins
(d) Underage witch performs Cleaning Charms in privacy of own home

I chose (a) since it was an accident and the others were intentional.

4. Which of the following does NOT require a Ministry of Magic
license?
(a) Crup ownership
(b) Sale of Magical Artefacts
(c) House-elf ownership
(d) Apparition

I chose (c) since house elves come with "big manor houses" and are 
therefore inherited and don't appear to require a license.

5. Which of the following wizarding laws, in your view, stands in
most urgent need of change?
(a) The detection of under-age magic in all magic households
(currently impossible)
(b) The ban on goblin possession of wands (ought to be lifted)
(c) The re-classification of centaurs and merpeople (ought to take
their views into account)
(d) The guidelines on house-elf welfare (need to be enforced)
(e) Definitions of `muggle baiting' (need to be made less stringent)

Given the fuss over house-elf rights in the books, I figured (d) was 
the right choice.  Although the phrase "in your view" suggests 
there's no one right answer.

PART TWO: MAGICAL TRANSPORT

6. Which mode of transportation would you advise for a young mother
travelling with one-year old twins with a low boredom threshold, her
grandmother, who suffers from severe motion sickness, and her
husband, who has never mastered the three `D's' ?

(a) Apparition
(b) Broomsticks
(c) Floo powder
(d) Knight bus
(e) Portkey

I chose (e) because it seemed to be the quickest and least motion-
sickness inducing of the 5 choices.  I ruled out (a) because the 
husband has never mastered the 3 D's, but I didn't consider side-
along apparition.  Since we've never seen an instance where side-
along apparition involved more than 2 people, however, I'm still 
sticking with (e).

7. Which of the following unorthodox  means of transport is
considered the most serious breach of the International Statute of
Secrecy

(a) Thestrals
(b) Abraxan horse-drawn giant carriages
(c) Hippogriff
(d) Flying muggle vehicle (eg, car, motorcycle)
(e) Underwater ship

I had no idea, but chose (d) because of the fuss the flying Anglia 
caused.  It seems to me that (a) through (c) would all be potentially 
equally serious if viewed by a Muggle, however.

8. Which mode(s) of transportation could you use to reach/enter each
of the following wizarding institutions?

Part 1 Azkaban
(a) Brooms
(b) Brooms/floo powder
(c) Brooms/Knight bus
(d) Brooms/Floo powder/Knight bus
(e) Brooms/Floo powder/Knight bus/Apparition

Since Stan tells us the Knight Bus "can't do nuffink under water," 
that ruled out (c ) through (e).  I took a guess that Azkaban isn't 
connected to the Floo network, for two reasons: (1) Dementors make 
you cold so presumbably they don't like warmth, which means there 
probably aren't any fireplaces and (2) the Floo network probably 
doesn't extend that far under water.  So I went with (a).

Part 2 Gringotts
(a) Brooms
(b) Brooms/floo powder
(c) Brooms/Knight bus
(d) Brooms/Floo powder/Knight bus
(e) Brooms/Floo powder/Knight bus/Apparition

The problem with this one and the Hogwarts one is the way the 
question is phrased.  I wish it either said "reach" or "enter," but 
instead it says "reach/enter," which presumably means one or the 
other.  I therefore chose (e) because you can reach Gringotts via all 
of these means, although I don't think you'd be able to enter 
Gringotts by apparating or using floo powder.
 
Part 3 Hogwarts
(a) Brooms
(b) Brooms/floo powder
(c) Brooms/Knight bus
(d) Brooms/Floo powder/Knight bus
(e) Brooms/Floo powder/Knight bus/Apparition

If I had used the same logic I used for Gringotts, I should have 
chosen (e) but I chose (d) instead just because how many times have 
we heard Hermione tell us that you can't apparate inside the castle 
or onto the grounds????  Also, we've seen floo powder used on more 
than the one occasion when the students used it to return to 
Hogwarts, including several times when both Harry and Sirius used it 
to communicate with one another and when Dumbledore returns to his 
office to talk to Harry at the end of OotP.

Part 4 Ministry of Magic
(a) Brooms
(b) Brooms/floo powder
(c) Brooms/Knight bus
(d) Brooms/Floo powder/Knight bus
(e) Brooms/Floo powder/Knight bus/Apparition

I chose (e) because we've seen floo powder and apparation both used, 
and it seemed to me that if you could ride Thestrals to the telephone 
booth, you could ride a broomstick or the Knight Bus there as well.

Part 5 St Mungos
(a) Brooms
(b) Brooms/floo powder
(c) Brooms/Knight bus
(d) Brooms/Floo powder/Knight bus
(e) Brooms/Floo powder/Knight bus/Apparition

I chose (e) because there don't appear to be any restrictions on the 
ways in which St. Mungo's can be reached.  But we've really no idea, 
as the only way we've seen it approached was on foot.

PART THREE: EVERYDAY MAGIC

9. Which of the following would, in your opinion, provide the best
security for a convention of broomstick salesman in a large, Fire-
bolt shaped marquee?

(a) Fidelius Charm
(b) Muggle-repelling charm
(c) Confundus charm
(d) Disillusionment charm
(e) Unplottable marquee
(f) Forgetfulness charm
(g) Giant three-headed dog

I guessed (b) as it seemed to be the most effective with the least 
amount of fuss.

10. Which of the following should not be used in cooking?

(a) Alihotsy leaves
(b) Bubotuber pus
(c) Daisy roots
(d) Dragon blood
(e) Mandrake leaves
(f) Murtlap tentacles
(g) Shrake

I had no idea what any of these would do in a stew, but I chose (b) 
because I found the thought of ingesting bubotuber pus revolting.

11. Which of the following would most effectively clean up a spillage
of wart cap powder?

(a) Deletrius
(b) Diffindo
(c) Episkey
(d) Evanesco
(e) Scourgify
(f) Tergeo
(g) Mrs Skower's All Purpose Magical Mess Remover

I was torn between (d) and (e), but chose (e) because Scourgify is 
a "householdy" spell, and therefore seemed to fit the best.  We've 
only seen "Evanesco" used to empty a cauldron of potion, so I wasn't 
sure whether this might be the only use that spell could be put to.

12. A doxy-bite can be healed most quickly and safely using:

(a) Bubotuber pus
(b) Bundimen secretion
(c) Dittany
(d) Dr Ubbly's Oblivius Unction
(e) Murtlap essence
(f) Reparo
(g) Skele-gro
(h) Spellotape

I chose (c ) over (e) because Murtlap essence didn't heal Harry's 
hand (it hurt just as badly after the bowl broke and the essence 
vanished).  Since dittany is an antidote, and FB tells us that one 
should take an antidote after being bitten by a doxy, I thought (c ) 
was the best choice.

13. Which of the following commonly held wizarding beliefs is
actually true?

(a) If an inanimate object appears to think for itself, Dark
Magic has been involved in its creation
(b) The use of magic in front of a Muggle is prohibited unless
the witch or wizard is under threat of personal injury
(c) Releasing a Portkey before it has arrived will result in
death or serious injury
(d) `Finite Incatatum' should be used as a precaution when a
Muggle rings the doorbell
(e) Bad luck can be prevented by turning three times on the spot
and deliberately splinching one's thumbs

I chose (b) since it's the only one that I thought was supported by 
the books.

PART FOUR: THE NATURAL WORLD

14. Which of the following small creatures would you CHOOSE to
accompany you on a perilous journey?

(a) Augurey
(b) Crup
(c) Jarvey
(d) Kneazle
(e) Murtlap
(f) Niffler
(g) Runespoor

I chose (d) because FB tells us kneazels can help you find your way 
home if you're lost.

15. Which of the following is NOT listed as a pest by the Pest
Advisory Board?

(a) Bundimen
(b) Chizpurfle
(c) Doxy
(d) Gnome
(e) Horklump
(f) Knarl
(g) Pixie

This one was tough, because FB only specifically refers to (a), (b) 
and (d) as pests.  I guessed (f), because Knarls seemed a lot less 
pest-like than doxies, horklumps and pixies to me.

16. A dog acting in a suspiciously un-canine manner is most likely to
be:

(a) An animagus
(b) A boggart
(c) A Crup (or part Crup)
(d) A grim
(e) Imperius-ed
(f) Magically trained
(g) A Patronus

I chose (c ) because the Crup looks just like a regular dog but acts 
differently.  I can see how (a) would work, though.

17. Which of the following plants has NO curative, restorative or
protective properties?

(a) Alihotsy shrub
(b) Belladonna
(c) Bubotuber
(d) Snargluff tree
(e) Venomous Tentacular
(f) Wolfsbane
(g) Whomping Willow

I chose (a) through a process of elimination, as I could think of 
curative, restorative or protective properties for (b) through (g).  
However, I've no idea what an Alihotsy shrub is, and can't recall it 
being mentioned in the books (if it has been mentioned in the books, 
could a kind soul please direct me as to where?).

~Phyllis