Without going back and looking, I want to say that Harry was warned that because Hedwig isn’t a native owl, Muggles would notice if she was seen in a given area on a regular basis, and maybe remark on it – and THAT would draw the attention of unfriendly wizards.
Wow, there have been a LOT of new chapters added since I last visited this fan fic! The last one I’ve read was the one right after the last “Self-Actualization” chapter. I’ve got some reading to do – thanks for posting this!
Owl post is opt in, not opt out.
There are so many plot holes in the books that it’s best not to think of them in the context of the story. They could be valuable logic lessons to discuss with your kids when they bring them to you.
but if you’re going to discuss Sirrius Black, then the biggest one associated with him was his own conviction. Off the top of my head I can think of 4 plot holes: 1) They have the ability to look at the last spell given from a wand which would have exonerated his supposed execution of Worm Tail. 2) They have Veritaserum which would force him to admit to the crime. 3) they can go back in time with a time turner and view the crime to see who did it. 4) he can extract his memories for them to look at.
The problem with a story involving magic is that each spell is like a chess piece and the use of them creates exponentially different possible outcomes which leads to ever greater numbers of plot holes.
Magiver:
Clearly, the Ministry of Magic has some form of due process which makes these methods unusable by the authorities. The trial scenes in the Penseive in book 4, as well as Harry’s own hearing in book 5 don’t use any of the methods you listed, so the same would presumably have been true for Sirius’s trial.
Srius did not have a trial.
I think they should just have done “Accio Sirius Black”
If they wanted him dead, they should have had 4 aurors at remote locations of the globe at a synchronized time all say “Accio Sirius Black!”
Of course, Voldemort should have just said “Accio Prophecy” and avoided a bunch of difficulty as well.
How can I tell if my firewall is owl proof?
Because…SHUT UP!
Yeah, the heck with confronting Voldemort face-to-face. Just inscribe a Symbol of Death on a note and owl-post it to Voldy. Or if that won’t work, have Mr. Weasley owl-post him a Muggle hand grenade.
edit: Remember that scene in the first book, where hundreds of owls arrive all at once with Harry’s invitation to Hogwarts, bombarding the Dursleys? Do THAT to Voldemort with hand grenades.
I like the cut of your jib, sir!
Edited to add hysterical laughter after noticing your user name.
Thing is, the reason in the real world that things are considered not a part of due process is that they don’t work, or have a greater downside than good side. For example, polygraphs are not acceptable because they are so easy to fool. Allowing the avoidance of self-incrimination is allowed to prevent someone from being coerced into a false confession, as well as to create more confidence in the justice system.
What arguments do you make that the above mentioned techniques have similar problems?
BigT:
Veritaserum is known to have antidotes, which those who are prepared will likely take. Time-turners can cause problems if not used carefully enough. Memories can be altered by magical means.
Even without all these, it’s possible that some degree of wizarding law pre-dates certain advances in magic, and wizards are loath to give up their personal rights even if they feel the new innovations are no danger to them. As I recall, we in modern times don’t think too highly of the “If you’re not a criminal you have nothing to fear” rationale for certain expansions of police power into realms currently considered free.
Dear Lord Voldemort,
I prepared Explosive Runes this morning.
Yours,
Vaarsuvius
I never could find a way out of those gaping plot holes. I’m pretty sure that’s when the Guild fell off the Lily for me books-wise.
You can wave your rights to due process at any point if you think doing so will help you. The MoM has such tight rules because “fuck you, we don’t care if you’re innocent or have a valid defence”? So an accused can offer to go through xyz (insert all sorts of scenarios here that are better than sitting in a jail cell with comically inept (when they need to be) dementors for years on end, but the MoM falls back to “your guilty anyway, because fuck you, that’s why.”
They give some prepubescent chick a souped-up Delorian but trained cops can’t use them to investigate crimes?
I’ve read all the books a couple times (used to re-read them before the movies came out up through five or six), so it’s not like I’m against the series in general. But that series of holes was irreparable and made the plots far secondary to the fun world in general.
It may be that it is possible to fake all those possibilities for evidence, undetectibly, and thus they are not admitted in trials.
I agree, Rowling tells a good story, but she doesn’t build a consistent world. Devices or spells appear in one book for one purpose, and then vanish from thought. The time-travel gimmick, for instance, would seem to be something that would have been VERY handy for both good guys and bad guys in the later books: like stopping Dumbledore’s death?
I feel bad for knowing this, but it’s briefly mentioned that they all got smashed during the fight at the Ministry in whatever book it was (Order of the Phoenix?). A convenient excuse but at least there was one.
Just remember to rotate it first. 
Admittedly, this is a weak defense, but it’s very traditional throughout fantasy and folklore for “magic” to work according to arbitrary and capricious rules.
Someone made the first ones. It really isn’t much of an excuse. If anything, the excuse just points to the lack of consistent world building. “oh, noes! they all got smashed” - well, how did the ones that were there come into existence?
Maybe by the time of the books, they hadn’t been made yet - just taken from wizards travelling from the time when they had.
As to the owls - maybe Sirius set up an owl relay, so Hedwig would take a letter to Owl 1, who then took it to Owl 2, and so on. Each owl would only know the location of the next owl in the chain.