PS Chapter Two: "The Vanishing Glass"
Sep. 17th, 2015 10:39 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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deathtocapslock* Maybe it’s just me, but a “vanishing glass” sounds like it ought to be a magical device that causes things to vanish, rather than a piece of glass that happens to get vanished by someone else.
* It’s a good job that the Potterverse runs on narrative requirements rather than the laws of logic and causality, because otherwise Harry’s lifetime of abuse would have ruined him far more than being raised a pampered prince would have.
* Harry’s regularly pressed into service helping Mrs. Dursley in the kitchen, but he doesn’t seem to keep this up after he starts going to Hogwarts, since by DH Hermione’s the trio member who does all the cooking.
* Dudley has difficulty working out what thirty-seven plus two equals, and has to be told by his mother. This is probably meant to be more Dursley caricaturing, but given JKR’s notoriously difficult relationship with maths, maybe she thinks this kind of innumeracy is actually normal.
* Another example of Harry’s upbringing not having its logical effect: he’s glad Mrs. Figg has injured herself (because he doesn’t have to go to her smelly house and look at pictures of her silly cats), when surely he should be upset (because Mrs. Figg, unlike the Dursleys, never actively abuses him).
* So the “strange things” that happen around Harry are clearly meant to be unconscious magic and the point of Hogwarts is to learn how to control it, but why do wands suddenly become necessary for casting spells? I could understand them helping you to control your magic more easily, but people should still be able to do at least some magic without external aids.
* Come to think of it, that would be a good way of showing Voldemort and/or Dumbledore’s power – have them perform unaided a complex spell that would normally require the use of a wand to pull off.
* Harry’s school clearly isn’t very good, if their reaction to somebody climbing a building to escape being bullied is to ignore the bullies and punish the escapee.
* I’d be surprised too if a python winked at me. Not least because snakes don’t have eyelids.
* A few random questions/observations:
- How does the snake know it’s from Brazil? Has it read the sign? If so, how? Is there a snake equivalent of Parseltongue whereby snakes can understand human languages?
- Why does the snake call Harry “amigo”? It’s never actually been to Brazil, where did it learn to speak Portuguese?
- Given the difficulty a boa constrictor would have surviving in England, I suspect it would be better all round if the snake were quickly re-apprehended by zoo staff.
* It’s a good job that the Potterverse runs on narrative requirements rather than the laws of logic and causality, because otherwise Harry’s lifetime of abuse would have ruined him far more than being raised a pampered prince would have.
* Harry’s regularly pressed into service helping Mrs. Dursley in the kitchen, but he doesn’t seem to keep this up after he starts going to Hogwarts, since by DH Hermione’s the trio member who does all the cooking.
* Dudley has difficulty working out what thirty-seven plus two equals, and has to be told by his mother. This is probably meant to be more Dursley caricaturing, but given JKR’s notoriously difficult relationship with maths, maybe she thinks this kind of innumeracy is actually normal.
* Another example of Harry’s upbringing not having its logical effect: he’s glad Mrs. Figg has injured herself (because he doesn’t have to go to her smelly house and look at pictures of her silly cats), when surely he should be upset (because Mrs. Figg, unlike the Dursleys, never actively abuses him).
* So the “strange things” that happen around Harry are clearly meant to be unconscious magic and the point of Hogwarts is to learn how to control it, but why do wands suddenly become necessary for casting spells? I could understand them helping you to control your magic more easily, but people should still be able to do at least some magic without external aids.
* Come to think of it, that would be a good way of showing Voldemort and/or Dumbledore’s power – have them perform unaided a complex spell that would normally require the use of a wand to pull off.
* Harry’s school clearly isn’t very good, if their reaction to somebody climbing a building to escape being bullied is to ignore the bullies and punish the escapee.
* I’d be surprised too if a python winked at me. Not least because snakes don’t have eyelids.
* A few random questions/observations:
- How does the snake know it’s from Brazil? Has it read the sign? If so, how? Is there a snake equivalent of Parseltongue whereby snakes can understand human languages?
- Why does the snake call Harry “amigo”? It’s never actually been to Brazil, where did it learn to speak Portuguese?
- Given the difficulty a boa constrictor would have surviving in England, I suspect it would be better all round if the snake were quickly re-apprehended by zoo staff.
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