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Wasn't it stated in one of the books that people do invent their own spells? Or is my mind playing tricks on me?
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Jan 1, 2015 01:27
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Variant_Eris posted:Wasn't it stated in one of the books that people do invent their own spells? Or is my mind playing tricks on me? It was. Snape and Dumbledore are two examples. That's discounting actual inventions like Fred and George's stuff. Really though, the craziest thing in the series is the Maurader's Map. A complete and perfect map of Hogwarts that gets past all of its charms and defenses to show the exact location of every single person in the school, ignores Polyjuice Potions, sees through the Invisibility Cloak, can be used from anywhere in the world, and was invented by a group of teenagers in high school.
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Jan 1, 2015 01:29
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ImpAtom posted:It was. Snape and Dumbledore are two examples. That's discounting actual inventions like Fred and George's stuff. Fred and George as fascinating characters, because they're horrible at school (because they don't give a gently caress), yet pretty clearly they're excellent at every field of magic we see them try. Hermione, on the other hand, always gets top marks but can't improvise poo poo and reacts poorly under pressure over and over again. The wizard world is pretty hosed up. No one seems to be taught how to actually make spells, and improve/invent potions, so basically the few people who do this are just tinkering with poo poo until it works (or, occasionally, dying in the process like Luna's mom). If it were real, that would be quite frightening.
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Jan 1, 2015 02:15
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There's a Department for new spells in the ministry. I assume there's some actual investigating going on at the Department of Mysteries, too. Who knows how much actual methodical testing is going on though.
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Jan 1, 2015 02:55
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"EY BOB WHERE DO YOU WANT THE NEW SHIPMENT OF MAGICALLY INFUSED HUMAN BRAINS FROM DEAD CHILDREN?" "Shove 'em in the 'what the gently caress is a mind' room you idiot! Same place as last week" *magically enchanted tonka truck backs into the department of mysteries and empties its rear hatch dumping a seemingly infinite number of brains into the big pile of loving disembodied brains* "Hey did anyone get rid of that adult with the baby's head from when those loving kids broke in?"
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Jan 1, 2015 04:25
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PT6A posted:(or, occasionally, dying in the process like Luna's mom). If it were real, that would be quite frightening. I've always assumed that Gringotts also acts as an Insurance company. It would explain why the Lovegoods have a huge tower as a home. Variant_Eris fucked around with this message at 19:47 on Jan 1, 2015 |
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Jan 1, 2015 04:35
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Pidmon posted:
I think in the book his whole body became a baby again. I vaguely remember JK Rowling saying he was given to his family and raised over again. Now there's a weird and awkward thing to grow up with, especially if the guy had kids and a wife.
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Jan 1, 2015 18:41
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jivjov posted:I've always kinda looked at magic, and the process of creating new spells, similarly to how Dresden Files does it. The big thing is the intent of your will pushing out on the magical energy in the world, and the reason spells have names and the like in the Harry Potter universe is because it's literally taught in a primary/secondary school setting. Like everyone learns "swish and flick and wingardium leviosa makes things fly", but a teen with aptitude that had never had instruction could make the same thing happen by saying "swooshy swish" if he wanted, as long as he was envisioning it happening. Magic, in European folklore tradition, isn't really just intent. Magic plays on a hidden set of rules in the world - metaphor and symbolism have power and certain "sympathies" between objects, people, etc. govern their interactions and how magically related they are. While obviously Harry Potter magic is very different from folklore magic, I think it has in common that magic is not just a force to impose your will upon the world but a system to be manipulated. Why else would wizards approach magic in the quasi-scientific (or at least quasi-academic) way that they do? Why does Hermione's studying give her a leg up on everyone else? Why is it that Dumbledore's tremendous academic achievements are the foundation of his status as The Best Wizard? There has to be something there to be learned or a lot of things in the books don't make very much sense. Paragon8 posted:There is definitely a big gap between what we see of magic being taught and what we see practiced at the higher levels. Why do you assume that Snape created anything in the "magical aether" when he invented Sectumsempra? Perhaps the process of spell development is a matter of figuring out what incantations and wand movements (and, for some spells, emotions) get the magic to do what you want it to do. In that case, knowing what a spell does isn't really a requirement for casting it. I think you're right about the incantation language not mattering though. If the faux-Latin was a requirement then Point Me wouldn't work.
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Jan 1, 2015 19:16
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ashez2ashes posted:I think in the book his whole body became a baby again. I vaguely remember JK Rowling saying he was given to his family and raised over again. Now there's a weird and awkward thing to grow up with, especially if the guy had kids and a wife. Nah, he was a baby head in the book as well. I always wondered why they never stuck his head back till he aged again. The department of mysteries was always my favorite part of all HP books. It creates an idea that magic is a lot more powerful and a lot more hosed up than people think.
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Jan 2, 2015 00:36
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Kikka posted:Nah, he was a baby head in the book as well. I always wondered why they never stuck his head back till he aged again. I really wish more had been done with that department...but by the same token, if too much got explored and explained, there's a real risk of things not being mysterious and instead coming off as lame. Boba Fett syndrome.
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Jan 2, 2015 00:55
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Jazerus posted:Magic, in European folklore tradition, isn't really just intent. Magic plays on a hidden set of rules in the world - metaphor and symbolism have power and certain "sympathies" between objects, people, etc. govern their interactions and how magically related they are. While obviously Harry Potter magic is very different from folklore magic, I think it has in common that magic is not just a force to impose your will upon the world but a system to be manipulated. Why else would wizards approach magic in the quasi-scientific (or at least quasi-academic) way that they do? Why does Hermione's studying give her a leg up on everyone else? Why is it that Dumbledore's tremendous academic achievements are the foundation of his status as The Best Wizard? There has to be something there to be learned or a lot of things in the books don't make very much sense. That being said we have the whole pronunciation of leviosa ending up being very important. So you have a lot of conflicting elements in HP. I think The Magicians by Lev Grossman has a fantastic interpretation of the *laws* of magic. With it at first being heavily based on rote learning with specific hand movements and such but some magicians are talented enough that a lot of it becomes second nature. I mean ultimately it's all comes down to what effect Rowling needs in that scene. I doubt she's really thought as hard about her magical system as we are. The twins can produce what we can must only assume be an incredible tricky enchantment to turn someone into a giant canary as a flippant gag that can be mass produced but we also have needing to *mean* curses and emotional frameworks. But yeah unfortunately we never really touch on much magical theory, which it seems like the twins are great at. They can deconstruct magic and such and rework it. That being said Hermione eventually became pretty great at creative magic with her bag of holding and coins. But yeah a lot of stuff is Roald Dahl levels of hosed if you look at it any deeper. For all we know Alzheimers could be linked to being confounded or having your memory magically modified too much. Wizards are the worst.
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Jan 2, 2015 01:50
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I wonder how they're able to ensure that wizards aren't constantly apparating in front of muggles. Designated apparation zones?
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Jan 2, 2015 05:08
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Wizards don't usually go to places frequented by muggles.
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Jan 2, 2015 06:25
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thexerox123 posted:I wonder how they're able to ensure that wizards aren't constantly apparating in front of muggles. Designated apparation zones? You know how sometimes you walk into the kitchen and then stand around unsure of what you came in for? Well, a wizard accidentally apparated into your kitchen and had to use a memory charm on you, and overshot a bit and made you forget what you got up for.
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Jan 2, 2015 07:33
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DontMockMySmock posted:You know how sometimes you walk into the kitchen and then stand around unsure of what you came in for? Well, a wizard accidentally apparated into your kitchen and had to use a memory charm on you, and overshot a bit and made you forget what you got up for. that's brilliant.
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Jan 2, 2015 14:48
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Didn't Hermione do something like mind-wipe her parents, change their identities, and send them to another country? She's panicky under pressure, but she can pull off some seriously scary poo poo. I think the casual danger at Hogwarts (seriously, that troll would have killed her, and how did the entire school staff not know there was a basilisk, petrification only has so many causes) is to weed that sort of thing out.
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Jan 2, 2015 15:19
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Yeah, she sends them to Australia. She's basically a mad professor at that point.
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Jan 2, 2015 15:25
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Like, what's the appropriate response when you wake up one day and realize that your daughter put you in the Witness Protection Plan without your knowledge and/or permission? Do you ground her, can you even try? What if they adopt a child or something while they're over there, because they always wanted to a kid but inexplicably don't have one. Jesus, wizards are scary as shut, maybe we need Dark Lords to keep the magical population down.
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Jan 2, 2015 15:39
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Maybe without Harry and Ron, Hermione would have gone down the Tom Riddle path. Outraged at the system, talented and ambitious etc. I think I just started a fanfic 
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Jan 2, 2015 16:32
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YggiDee posted:Like, what's the appropriate response when you wake up one day and realize that your daughter put you in the Witness Protection Plan without your knowledge and/or permission? Do you ground her, can you even try? What if they adopt a child or something while they're over there, because they always wanted to a kid but inexplicably don't have one. Jesus, wizards are scary as shut, maybe we need Dark Lords to keep the magical population down. Presumably, when she reversed the spells, she added another memory that they'd just had a lovely, long vacation in Australia and were now ready to get back to their normal life.
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Jan 2, 2015 16:59
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YggiDee posted:Like, what's the appropriate response when you wake up one day and realize that your daughter put you in the Witness Protection Plan without your knowledge and/or permission? Do you ground her, can you even try? What if they adopt a child or something while they're over there, because they always wanted to a kid but inexplicably don't have one. Jesus, wizards are scary as shut, maybe we need Dark Lords to keep the magical population down. Well in her defense she was protecting them from magic Hitler and they had no possible defense against magic. Harry's parents were dead and he hated his other relatives, Ron's could defend themselves, only Hermione had non-magical baggage. If anything I'm surprised 'Mort didn't try and torture/kill the Dursley's in a misguided attempt to freak out Potter. It's not like he'd know they were abusive dickheads to Harry. EDIT: Would be an amazing scene of pathos if that had happened. How would Harry feel about even his abusive relatives being tortured to death by Voldy? Would he regret not warning them, putting up magical safeguards? Would he be pleased? Would he remember the good times (if any) and break down? Xachariah fucked around with this message at 17:18 on Jan 2, 2015 |
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Jan 2, 2015 17:13
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He'd go after them. When someone's life's on the line Harry wouldn't shirk away even if it was people who were colossal dicks to him.
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Jan 2, 2015 17:20
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Well yeah but I meant if he arrived at the house cause he forgot something and found they had been Longbottomed or reduced to a charred smouldering corpse by Voldemort. He didn't exactly try and take care of them like Hermione did with her parents, to say the least.
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Jan 2, 2015 17:24
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PT6A posted:Presumably, when she reversed the spells, she added another memory that they'd just had a lovely, long vacation in Australia and were now ready to get back to their normal life. Never finding out she wiped your memory feels even worse. Dance parent puppets! Dance!
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Jan 2, 2015 17:32
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Xachariah posted:Well yeah but I meant if he arrived at the house cause he forgot something and found they had been Longbottomed or reduced to a charred smouldering corpse by Voldemort. I think he told them to get out of the country at the start of Deathly Hallows.
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Jan 2, 2015 17:40
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Xachariah posted:He didn't exactly try and take care of them like Hermione did with her parents, to say the least. The Order took them into protective custody at the start of Deathly Hallows, and oh wouldn't that have been fun to read, Vernon Dursley spending a year being guarded by wizards.
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Jan 2, 2015 17:51
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howe_sam posted:The Order took them into protective custody at the start of Deathly Hallows, and oh wouldn't that have been fun to read, Vernon Dursley spending a year being guarded by wizards. I should stop discussing the books I've forgotten too much about them.
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Jan 2, 2015 17:52
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YggiDee posted:Didn't Hermione do something like mind-wipe her parents, change their identities, and send them to another country? I'm pretty sure later in the book (or the next book idk) there's a scene where the gang decide against altering someone's memory (maybe Luna's dad?) because Hermione isn't good at memory charms and it bugged me a lot because she blatantly is bicycle fucked around with this message at 22:09 on Jan 2, 2015 |
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Jan 2, 2015 21:43
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bicycle posted:I'm pretty sure later in the book (or the next book idk) there's a scene where the gang decide against altering someone's memory (maybe Luna's dad?) because Hermione isn't good at memory charms and it bugged me a lot because she blatantly can New theory: Hermione is the Minister of Magic. She put the entirety of the Wizarding World under her grasp via Memory charms, and the Harry Potter series is a story she made up. The part where they invade the Ministry in book 7? It was really a metaphor as to how Hermione began to control the Wizarding World.
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Jan 2, 2015 21:50
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bicycle posted:I'm pretty sure later in the book (or the next book idk) there's a scene where the gang decide against altering someone's memory (maybe Luna's dad?) because Hermione isn't good at memory charms and it bugged me a lot because she blatantly can It was one of the death eaters and yeah, that was a straight-up plot hole.
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Jan 2, 2015 21:55
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Memory charms are probably harder on someone who knows that memory charms exist.
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Jan 2, 2015 23:16
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ashez2ashes posted:Memory charms are probably harder on someone who knows that memory charms exist. Hermione specifically says "I've never done a memory charm before!"
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Jan 2, 2015 23:17
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Maybe they're easier to perform on Muggles than wizards?
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Jan 3, 2015 00:36
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ImpAtom posted:It was one of the death eaters and yeah, that was a straight-up plot hole. Maybe she can only do memory spells that make you think you're Australian.
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Jan 3, 2015 02:06
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YggiDee posted:Maybe she can only do memory spells that make you think you're Australian. That sounds like exactly the sort of spell to use on every single death eater.
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Jan 3, 2015 02:09
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Maybe she screwed up the Memory Charm and her parents are vegetables...
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Jan 3, 2015 02:24
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I've always found it odd that the Death Eaters didn't take advantage of spell speed/efficiency -It doesn't make sense to keep casting Avada Kedavra when you could cast Reducto much faster, and with a more instantaneous effect. Hell, casting the Cruciatus Curse, and then stabbing the victim would be much more efficient than trying to shoot off a burst of green light and missing. Then again, wizards don't run on logic, so I shouldn't be so bothered about this. Variant_Eris fucked around with this message at 02:52 on Jan 3, 2015 |
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Jan 3, 2015 02:40
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Variant_Eris posted:I've always found it odd that the Death Eaters didn't take advantage of spell speed/efficiency -It doesn't make sense to keep casting Avada Kedavra when you could cast Reducto much faster, and with a more instantaneous effect. Hell, casting the Cruciatus Curse, and then stabbing the victim would be much more efficient than trying to shoot off a burst of green light and missing. Well, a lot of them do. Most of the spells we see in fights are not Avada Kedavra. It's super-rare for anyone to be killed by it (besides people Voldemort explicitly murders.) Most of the deaths are guys who get maimed or crushed or exploded or whatever.
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Jan 3, 2015 02:57
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howe_sam posted:The Order took them into protective custody at the start of Deathly Hallows, and oh wouldn't that have been fun to read, Vernon Dursley spending a year being guarded by wizards. I'd buy that book for sure. Rowling shouldn't have started on other series, there's so much more content in Harry Potter.
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Jan 3, 2015 17:40
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I think Rowling needed the break. She seems much more active now in HP after writing her other novels.
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Jan 3, 2015 17:44
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