Butterbeer is a butterscotchy drink that gets house elves drunk but not humans. Weird, no? I think JKR made up that last part because she didn’t want the parents to complain…I always envisioned it with a very low alcohol content that only gave the kids a slight buzz.
They can listen to music on the Wizarding Wireless. They play music sometimes, and there is at least one wizarding rock group. They also play magical games like Exploding Snap. Who needs video games when you can entertain yourself with your own magic?
Wizards don’t understand that sort of thing. I imagine they have the same sort of aversion to it that I have to text-messaging. (I’m just a little too old to have gotten in on that, and it’s totally weird and unnecessary to me.)
I think it’s there, we just don’t hear about it.
This…I don’t know. Never really thought about it either!
I think there’s something we don’t yet know about the Potters that made them really wealthy. JKR has hinted as such. We don’t even know what they did for a living, at this point. Another good question: why isn’t Harry curious about what they did? Surely he’d have asked by now…
So it goes. I guess American wizards are xenophobic?
No, Voldemort disappeared when Harry was one year old. V. knew bits of the prophecy at that point, but not the whole thing. He tried to kill Harry when he was just a wee baby, but the curse rebounded and left Voldemort a shadow of his former self. Vapormort, if you will.
Sorry if I’m answering your questions, Revenant Threshold; I’m just another HP nut with a little extra time on my hands!
I just figured that they took out a good life insurance policy that would pay out as a trust fund for Harry. Of course, the question is who would issue life insurance when Voldie’s running around or whether or not the wizarding world has insurance. (See my questions about credit and interest.)
I’ve also wondered if maybe they were Aurors. Maybe there’s a fund that pays out money to the families of Aurors killed in service. (Maybe Neville’s due for a bunch of money when his parents kick it!) That’s a lot of maybes, but I’m going to go crazy waiting for Book 7 if I don’t come up with all sorts of lines of wild speculation.
With all due respect to the OP, posting this thread here is very much like my popping into the Supreme Court and announcing, “Hey - any of you guys need legal advice?”
We seem to have a fair number of HP experts about.
[QUOTE=633squadron]
[ol][li]Economy (as another post said): How did HP’s parents leave him all that moohla? Is the Muggle government giving the wizards money to not make trouble?[/ol][/li][/QUOTE]
And why is it kept in the form of gold coins in the equivalent of a safe-deposit box, rather than as a notional balance in an interest-bearing account? Have wizards, or the gnomes of Gringott’s Bank, never caught on to the concept of fractional reserve lending?
True. And a lot of people have already answered most of the questions so far; that’s fine! If you know the answer, don’t wait for me to post it, feel free to answer it yourself
I imagine JKR thinks it’s a better word? I can answer questions, but sadly I can’t read her mind
Dumbledore’s pretty busy at this point; if you’ve got a) evil wizard on the loose, causing mayhem and killing people all over the place, recruiting giants and dementors, and b) evil teacher who may injure children, but will stop short of killinng them, I know which i’d choose to put my priorities on.
As for advice, same thing. He’s away most of the time that year. And it does seem as though he’s warned the other teachers that she could be trouble.
As for why he doesn’t tell Harry…Dumbledore is trying very hard that year NOT to talk, or even look at, Harry, because he fears that (and is proved correct) that Voldemort may try to posess Harry through the link they share. He felt that if he were to be around Harry much, it would be all too tempting for Voldemort to posess Harry, kill Dumbledore as him (because Dumbledore can’t kill Harry, both emotionally and factually, according to the prophecy). Indeed, the times when Harry is with Dumbledore he feels as though “a snake is welling up inside of him” and he “longs to sink his teeth into his neck”.
Also, Umbridge also only poses a threat to Harry, really, because she punishes anyone who claims Dumbledore is back. Hermione and Ron et al are all smart enough to not say anything in front of her; Harry’s too angry and full of a sense of justice to say nothing, but I think Dumbledore expects him to be a bit smarter than this.
JK’s said that if she does write another book, it would probably be along the lines of an encylopedia of the HP Universe. But hey, we can always live in hope she’ll write more, eh?
It’s unlikely there are wizard farmers for food; they can conjure it. There may, and it’s likely that, there are farmers for potion ingredients.
What would wizards need factories for? Household appliances can be bought in muggle shops, but most of what they do can be done by magic. Clothes can be bought in wizard or muggle shops. House-elves are forced (sort of magical slavery, except they enjoy it- they’re quite odd) to work for a family in their home, so it’s unlikely they’re used for production.
Shitwork in old families is done by house-elves, and in Hogwarts too, yes. Filch is a janitor, really, and he’s a squib, but it’s safe to assume some magic users do work in these jobs. Also, cleaning spells are very easy to do; no one needs cleaning staff unless you have too large a building to walk around cleaning.
It’s never come up in the books. I personally would imagine that it’s the same as reality - among muggle borns, there may be a higher percentage of agnostics, but it depends on how they were raised. Pure-bloods are probably mostly agnostic.
Hogwarts begins at age 11; muggle borns go to muggle schools before that (seeing as how normally they don’t know they’re magic). People from magic families are taught at home by their parents. So the basics are covered.
More complex stuff just isn’t needed; you don’t need science, most of it has no impact on wizards, who can circumvent most laws of nature.
Muggle history likely is studied, in the subject of…Muggle Studies! It’s considered to be a “soft option” at Hogwarts, much like David Beckham studies, or Video Game Studies, would be here. Some of it must be of use, though, and it’s people who take this subject that often work in the few muggle relations jobs.
To expand on previous answers, during the times of Voldemort’s first takeover bid, a prophecy was made (to Dumbledore) that a child would be born that would have the power to stop Voldemort. The two wizard children this could have applied to (Harry and Neville) were therefore dealt with; Voldemort went to kill Harry now, while he was young, and (uncertain) sent the lestranges to kill neville. The lestranges definetly tortured neville’s parents into insanity, possibly due to this. However, Voldemort’s spy did not hear part of the prophecy; the child would have “power he knows not”. Voldemort breaks in, kills Harry’s dad, and approaches Harry’s crib. He tells Harry’s mother to get out of the way; she refuses. Voldemort kills her, and then tries to kill Harry. However, Harry’s mother sacrificing herself in order to protect her child is an ancient form of magic (that Harry’s mother didn’t know of, btw, and Voldemort knew of but discounted because love is something he feels is weak) and the curse rebounds off of Harry and hits Voldemort. Voldemort is…sort of killed, and flees. So in the books, he’s trying to get back at Harry because a) harry caused him pain and annoyance, and b) it makes him look weak if he doesn’t do anything to Harry.
Who says they haven’t? It’s not mentioned, but why shouldn’t the magic anking community do this too? It’s just good economics!
As to why they need a physical currency, think about it; how easy would it be to conjure up money? To hex a paper or computer with your account on, so you’re always in the red? Wizard money is physical so that anti-copying and so charms can be placed on them, and so you have a complex enough item of currency that forgeries can’t be made. Same as if paper money in reality had no watermarks or holograms or whatever.
I always assumed that – until I learned (forget which book) that the meals that magically appear in the Hogwarts dining hall are not created by magic, but prepared by house-elves working in the basement kitchen. If magic can’t cook food, it probably can’t create it either.
But what use is that? I mean, how would you exchange wizard currency for Muggle currency while still keeping the existence of the wizarding world a secret?
[ol]
[li]Why is whatever spell Wormtongue used to wipe out a whole street not listed as an “unforgivable curse?” What spell was it, anyway?[/li][li]Why in the world would even a somewhat shifty school like Durmstrang openly hire a known Death Eater who only got off by turning State’s Evidence, as their headmaster?[/li][li]Why did Harry not mention to McGonagall that Umbridge was subjecting him to outright torture during his detentions?[/li][li]Why does the wizard world make a concerted effort to conceal its existence?[/li][li]Why does the wizard world make a concerted effort to conceal the existence of magical creatures?[/li][li]How is it even remotely possible that they are able to conceal the existence of dragons and giants, both of which are said in the books to live in the wild?[/li][li]Whatever happened to Sirius’s flying motorcycle?[/li][li]How could Dumbledore and others possibly have believed that Sirius, rather than Wormtail, was the traitor? Didn’t Sirius even attempt to defend himself?[/li][li]When did Lupin get bitten and infected by the werewolf?[/li][li]Are there pick-up quiddich games at Hogwarts? How do young people get good at quiddich if they’re not allowed to use magic outside of the school?[/li][li]Who chooses the Minister of Magic? Is he elected?[/li][li]Why is there even a Slytherin house in Hogwarts, considering it is effectively a terrorist spawning ground?[/li][li]Has anything good ever come out of Slytherin?[/li][li]What house was Tom Riddle in?[/li][/ol]
There are American wizards; they just don’t do much in the story owing to it being set in Britain. At the World Cup camp, there’s a contingent of witches from Salem, and Quidditch Through the Ages has a bit about a peculiar sport played by American wizards.
And there is some mention of computers: Harry tells of Dudley throwing his Playstation (a sort of computer one uses to play games) out a window. We’re not told to what extent a wizard would have a clue what he was talking about, though.
As for interest-bearing bank accounts, it’s quite possible the goblins are familiar with the concept, but as long as their clients aren’t, they don’t have to offer it. Besides, they have rather a monopoly on the wizarding banking industry, and even if you don’t get interest, you need someplace to keep your galleons secure. I somehow get the impression that a startup competitor would find things a bit… difficult.
And then Scupper has to come in with a whole bevy more questions.
Wormtail’s curse: We know of other “blasting”-type spells (Reducto, for instance). Presumably, these are allowed, since they have other, legitimate purposes. But Avada Kedavra is purely for killing.
Harry and Umbridge’s quill: He felt that to ask anyone else for help (even his fellow students) would be to give in to the torture, and he refused to do that. Hermione was able to figure out something was up, but he didn’t tell her outright.
Secrecy: Hagrid says in the first book, that if Muggles by and large knew of wizards, that we’d always be pestering them to solve our problems. Historically, there’s also been a fair amount of (attempted) persecution of wizards by Muggles.
Sirius’ innocence: He went on a guilt-trip, and convinced himself that it was his fault that Wormtail (not tongue) was chosen as secret-keeper. Since nobody else knew, nobody was able to talk sense into him.
Lupin’s bite: He was bitten shortly before he started at Hogwarts. He and his parents were afraid that that would disqualify him, but Dumbledore was more accepting. We eventually meet the werewolf who infected Lupin, a very evil sort, and he enjoys biting them young, as a way of “recruiting”.
Quidditch training: There are certainly pick-up Quiddich games outside of school; the Weasleys play some at the Burrow. Wizarding children are allowed to use magic outside of school, so long as they’re not seen by Muggles; they’re just not allowed to do magic.
Slytherin House: Slytherin was one of the Founders, and the others probably don’t have the authority to remove his house. Even if they did, they wouldn’t want to, on the principle of keeping your enemies closer. The only folks we know were from Slytherin are bad, but there’s plenty of folks whose house we don’t know; I suspect that Ollivander (the wand-maker), for instance, was a Slytherin alumnus. And yes, Riddle was in Slytherin.
I’d say the indications are pretty clear that wizarding Britain is a majority-Christian society, historically and culturally, though it may be a largely secular one in practice. There are a few references to wizards singing religious-themed Christmas carols like “O Come All Ye Faithful,” the main magical hospital is named after a saint, JKR says on her web site that Harry had a christening, etc. (We don’t actually know that they DON’T have chapel services at Hogwarts, just that they aren’t significant to the plot. We never hear anything about Harry brushing his teeth either.)
Flying a broomstick outside of school is allowed (the Weasley kids play pickup Quidditch in the orchard, and there are a couple of little toddler wizards zipping around on toy broomsticks at the Quidditch World Cup). The restrictions on underage sorcery seem to apply only to casting spells, not using magical objects.
[quote]
Why is there even a Slytherin house in Hogwarts, considering it is effectively a terrorist spawning ground?
[/quote
Rowling dealt with this one in the fantastic [Leaky Cauldron / Mugglenet interview]
(http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/extras/aa-jointerview1.html), which answers a lot of the picky little questions about the Potterverse. Basically, she said that while most of the Slytherins who have registered on Harry’s radar are nasty little pieces of work, it doesn’t mean that they’re all like that – the Junior Death Eater squad is a very vocal minority within the house.
Well, even if you think Snape is genuinely evil (which I’d consider a highly debatable proposition at this point), both Regulus and Andromeda Black seem to have turned out OK in the end, and Slughorn isn’t really a bad sort.
[QUOTE=Scupper]
[list=1]
[li]Why is whatever spell Wormtongue used to wipe out a whole street not listed as an “unforgivable curse?” What spell was it, anyway?[/li][/QUOTE]
I don’t recall offhand, and that’s a very good question!
Perhaps the folk of Durmstrang value strength and success over ethics and justice. Or perhaps they just can’t get good help in the cold frozen north.
It says in the book that Harry decides that this is a private battle between himself and Umbridge. He doesn’t want teacher involvement–Ron pleads with him to tell someone and he refuses.
As has been stated elsewhere, it is hidden to prevent Muggles from abusing magic and making wizards do Muggle’s work.
Not all magical creatures are hidden, unless you mean from Muggles. But afterall, we have all heard legends of mermaids, unicorns and the like, so they aren’t all that hidden…
IMO, this is Rowling harkening back to those bits of old maps that say, “from here on, land unknown” or some such. Og knows just what is in remote regions of the world. Some people think that Noah’s Ark is located on Mt Ararat (sp?)–so why not dragons etc?
Excellent question, and I want to know this, too. I bet it shows up in book 7–the visual of Harry riding it is too good to pass up-also, it will help him feel closer to Sirius, and it is now Harry’s, afterall.
Circumstantial evidence and an almost perfect set up by Voldemort. What else were they to believe?
As a child–age unknown.
Ron mentions (as does Ginny or Hermione in reference to Ginny) the pick up games in the Weasley’s back yard or nearby field. I have a feeling that the ban on magic applies only to Muggle-borns.(there are probably restrictions on wizard kids as well–St Mungo’s features a small child with wings or some such in GOF. Parents can’t stop their lil wizards and witches from all magic.)
Looks to me like he is appointed, but I dunno. There is another thread around that covers this much better.
IMO, all 4 Houses represent aspects of character (loosely). Slytherin’s are not always bad or evil or immoral–they seek power and are opportunists. That said, I do think that they are almost caracitures at times.
We don’t know enough of the history of that house to say. I am sure that not all Slytherins were horrible. Phineas Nigellus (the portrait in AB’s office and Sirius’ great great grandfather-wasn’t he a Slytherin?) and that new DADA guy-forget his name.
I read Umbridge as a deliciously evil mixture of Whackford Squeers from Nicholas Nickleby and Cruella de Vil from 101 Dalmations and a metaphor for government interference in the education system to boot.
The explanation that was used as a cover for muggles was that there was a gas explosion; it’s possible Wormtail used a “fire” spell of some sort on a petrol station, or on a gas pipe underground.
Being an Ex-Death Eater, he must have known a good deal of dark magic, which Durmstrang does not just teach defense against, but the actual using of. Plus, he can’t go back to Voldemort; he betrayed him, and if Voldemort came back, he’d kill him (which, indeed, he does do once he’s returned).
Harry was too proud; he wanted to deal with this by himself, so he didn’t tell anyone, not even his best friends. I believe Ron and Hermione only found out about it when one of them noticed the scars on his hand, something he’d tried to keep hidden. He refused point blank to go to another teacher.
Because magic can do so many things, what motivation would muggles have to work? It’s possible that magic-users could become a second-class race, expected to solve all problems while muggles sit back and relax.
Imagine vampires, dragons, evil giants, etc exist. Now imagine you can’t do anything about that, and you have no defence against them. Muggles could be scared out of their minds if they knew such things existed, and that only magic users had a chance of defending against them.
Reservations are set out, in the case of dangerous endangered creatures like dragons, or rare creatures like mooncalves, which have anti-muggle charms and similar things on them - much like the Quidditch World Cup Stadium was. These reservations could be huge areas, or as small as a forest. Of those creatures which possess a human-like mind, some go out of their way to avoid muggles; Centaurs prefer to keep to themselves, not even seeing wizards that much, while Merpeople have shown to be a bit friendlier to wizards. As regards Vampires, we’ve seen one which appears to be somewhat house-trained. It’s also possible they prefer to feed on wizards. Ghosts can only be of magic-users, and thus mostly often haunt their own homes, or a battlefield; and plenty of people believe in them, anyway. Werewolves are human most of the time, and are mistrusted by the magic community as a whole, but a recent potion invention can allow them to keep their own minds during their transformation. Think of that more like horrible, horrible period pains once a month . Feral werewolves are a problem; Lupin’s biter is somewhat of a leader, and is a very evil person. We don’t know how they’re controlled.
No idea, but as Sirius left Harry everything in his will, it belongs to Harry now.
The Potters were protected by a Fidelius Charm; this means that the secret is hidden in one person’s soul; in this case the potter’s location, and that secret can only be found if that person chooses to divulge it. For example, Dumbledore was the secret-keeper for the location of the HQ of the Order of the Phoenix, and without him telling you (or seeing the secret in his writing) the house could not even be seen - and i’m not talking about leaving a blank space, either.
The secret-keeper for the Potters was going to be Sirius, but he persuaded them to change to Peter in the belief that no-one would suspect him of being it. The change was made “at the last moment”, so most people did not know of it. A street full of people believed they saw Sirius kill all those people. Wormtail’s finger was found at the scene. Most people would agree that the Potters would choose Sirius, Harry’s Dad’s best friend, as the keeper. A very elaborate frame-up.
As a child, by Fenrir Greyback, who makes it his mission to convert as many people as possible to werewolves. He has a policy of biting children, so that he can raise them away from their parents and teach them to hate wizards. Lupin’s father had offended him in some way, and he lay in wait outside their house before the change (the potion of keeping his mind not having been invented yet) so that he could bite him.
There’s practice for teams and pick-up games at Hogwarts. Children can use broomsticks at home, as long as they aren’t seen; their parents are depended on to keep them in check.
No idea. It would seem he’s selected, rather than voted for by the wizard public.
Because not all Slytherins are bad - we only see the bad ones. And Slytherin house represents ambition, cunning, and a willingness to do whatever it takes to succeed. These qualities all make up a person, in whatever amount, and so they’re just as important as the others.
There’s been a few people in Slytherin who weren’t evil that we know of - but again, we only get told about the evil people, because they’re more interesting!
He was the Heir of Slytherin, so it’d be a fair guess that he was in Slytherin.
as for harry’s money. james potter was the only child of oldish parents from an old wizard family. he got the money the old fashioned way, inheritance. i had the feeling that there was a wizard patent (s) that kept the money going.
harry also has inherited his godfather’s old family estate as well.
the “poor little rich boy” thing, has everything but family and love.
Presumably within the Wizarding legal code there are some hitherto unmentioned gradations between legal and unforgivable for curses. Maybe the curse Wormtail used is merely unconscionable which while not as bad as unforgivable is worse than, say, unseemly or inexcusable curses.
As for the possibility of books about the post-Hogwarts lives of the main characters, I can’t wait for Harry Potter and the Acrimonious Divorce.
