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Vire posted:Also their selection of what mundane things where normal and what was weird never really made sense to me either. Like radios are OK but no phones or internet. Owl communication is such a pain in the rear end you would think they would pick up some of this stuff considering a lot of young wizards and witches at Hogwarts come from Muggle families. I'm pretty sure this was explained away in the sense that magic and electricity always acted a little dicky around each other. In the sense that electricity just stops working. Which makes no sense but then again "a kids book" and "a wizard did it"
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Aug 14, 2010 09:50
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I know it's super spergy but I get annoyed by when Rowling tried to really expand the Wizarding world with the Quidditch World cup. It'd be fine if she wasn't as specific as she was with the 100,000 spectators. From that you can extrapolate that the wizarding world must be much larger than previously hinted at. Romania and Ireland at least must have comparable magic populations to England. Also why is wizard geography dictated by muggle geography (the explanation is obviously to make it more accessible to the reader) but it's a bit funny that you have a whole community that at best thinks muggles are backward yokels but follow their geography despite the magical community predating most national boundaries. Rowling's focus on the UK while expanding the magical world also makes Voldemort come across as more of a local killer than a world wide threat. If he really was such a threat, wouldn't wizards from around the world be willing to help out? Are they too busy dealing with other dark wizards? Hogwarts seems to be either the best magic school in England or the only one - it seems that the size of the wizarding community in the UK would need more than one school + home schooled kids. but yeah, that's all super spergy poo poo that can be explained easily by Rowling not thinking things through to that extent and most people not caring. I recommend that you all read Magicians by Lev Grossman. It's a very similar concept to Harry Potter but treated in a much more adult fashion.
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Aug 14, 2010 12:25
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Paragon8 posted:I recommend that you all read Magicians by Lev Grossman. It's a very similar concept to Harry Potter but treated in a much more adult fashion. I like to think Brakebills and Hogwarts exist in the same shared world 
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Aug 14, 2010 12:50
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I actually like The Magicians better than the Harry Potter series. However, if Brakebills and Hogwarts existed in the same universe, Hogwarts would have no graduates. Maybe Hermione.
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Aug 14, 2010 12:59
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Paragon8 posted:but yeah, that's all super spergy poo poo that can be explained easily by Rowling not thinking things through to that extent and most people not caring. Really you can't think too hard about the Harry Potter universe or suspension of disbelief gets difficult. "You mean to tell me not one of these people thought to bring a shotgun when confronting Voldemort? Avada Kevad*BLAM*" It's just a fun series to read with your brain firmly in the off position.
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Aug 14, 2010 14:36
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IRQ posted:Really you can't think too hard about the Harry Potter universe or suspension of disbelief gets difficult. "You mean to tell me not one of these people thought to bring a shotgun when confronting Voldemort? Avada Kevad*BLAM*" To be fair this never bothered me because it would seem crazy to face Voldemort with out a wand out because of all his non verbal/wandless magic he could do.
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Aug 14, 2010 14:59
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Ah, the Doom 3 dilemma. 
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Aug 14, 2010 15:05
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Paragon8 posted:I know it's super spergy but I get annoyed by when Rowling tried to really expand the Wizarding world with the Quidditch World cup. It'd be fine if she wasn't as specific as she was with the 100,000 spectators. From that you can extrapolate that the wizarding world must be much larger than previously hinted at. Romania and Ireland at least must have comparable magic populations to England. But yeah, given the size of the Quidditch league, St Mungos, the Ministry of Magic etc, there must be a lot of homeschooling going on.
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Aug 14, 2010 15:23
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IRQ posted:Ah, the Doom 3 dilemma. Yeah now where is that roll of duct tape when you need it right.
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Aug 14, 2010 15:58
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Obviously every wizard has bullet-repelling charms stitched into their clothes. 
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Aug 14, 2010 16:48
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I'm pretty sure Rowling's said in an interview that in a one-on-one fight between the average gun-proficient Muggle and the average duel magic-proficient wizard, the Muggle wins. Mind you, she's also said that about 3 people tops in Harry Potter have any common sense.
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Aug 14, 2010 17:05
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John Major was put under the Imperious Curse so handguns would be banned.
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Aug 14, 2010 17:35
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Wouldn't it be Thatcher in the first book?
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Aug 14, 2010 17:40
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Harashaw posted:I'm pretty sure Rowling's said in an interview that in a one-on-one fight between the average gun-proficient Muggle and the average duel magic-proficient wizard, the Muggle wins. Can you provide links for either of these because I don't think you can! Harashaw posted:Wouldn't it be Thatcher in the first book? no.
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Aug 14, 2010 17:40
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Harashaw posted:I'm pretty sure Rowling's said in an interview that in a one-on-one fight between the average gun-proficient Muggle and the average duel magic-proficient wizard, the Muggle wins. Sure works in puppet form! http://www.potterpuppetpals.com/pppmain/Channels/Trouble.htm
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Aug 14, 2010 18:21
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reflir posted:Can you provide links for either of these because I don't think you can! ...Bugger, now I actually look again, I can't.
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Aug 14, 2010 20:00
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Anyone else confused by the number of students at Hogwarts? I mean there's 5 boys at Harry's level in Gryffindor and 3 girls. I understand not mentioning characters because there's already a lot of them but I could just never wrap my head around with how many there really ever were 
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Aug 14, 2010 20:36
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elf pr0n posted:Anyone else confused by the number of students at Hogwarts? I mean there's 5 boys at Harry's level in Gryffindor and 3 girls. I understand not mentioning characters because there's already a lot of them but I could just never wrap my head around with how many there really ever were I'd guess an average of 10 per year. So with 7 years and 4 houses that makes 280ish students. That wouldn't be terribly surprising for a boarding school.
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Aug 14, 2010 20:56
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The question is, is Hogwarts the only wizarding school in Britain? There's a huge society and infrastructure, and yet Olanphonia's estimate puts the number of magic teenagers at roughly 300-350 tops.
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Aug 14, 2010 20:59
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There is only one wizarding school in the UK but Rowling is retarded with numbers. She's said that each year has forty students; five boys and five girls for every House. However, she's also said that there are 'about a thousand' students overall.
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Aug 14, 2010 21:09
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reflir posted:There is only one wizarding school in the UK but Rowling is retarded with numbers. She's said that each year has forty students; five boys and five girls for every House. However, she's also said that there are 'about a thousand' students overall. I guess having 250 people in the common rooms would make things a bit confusing. edit: Thinking about it now too the idea of having 5 boys and girls for each house is really dumb. What if harry picked to be sorted into Slytherin? Would a Slytherin been forced into Gryffindor? Vire fucked around with this message at 21:40 on Aug 14, 2010 |
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Aug 14, 2010 21:27
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Yeah I understand it being a kid's book and all but Rowling couldn't deny the fact that adults enjoyed the books or people like me who started reading them 12 years ago but come on :aspergers:
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Aug 14, 2010 21:30
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reflir posted:I actually like The Magicians better than the Harry Potter series. However, if Brakebills and Hogwarts existed in the same universe, Hogwarts would have no graduates. Now that you mention it, most students at hogwarts did seem exceedingly mediocre at magic. I suppose that's part of Rowling's criticism of standardized testing. But yeah, seriously. Magicians rocks not only for it being a more realistic Harry Potter but for satirizing Narnia too.
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Aug 15, 2010 00:12
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Vire posted:I guess having 250 people in the common rooms would make things a bit confusing. Don't think about such things too hard, like how less than 10 teachers can teach 14 classes (7 years, 4 houses, 2 houses together per class) or where the 12 other dormitories in the Gryffindor tower are. Or Harry being unable to convert his wizard riches into British Pounds during summer when the Granger's did the opposite in book two just fine. Or that wizards apparently even buying their milk, eggs and meat in wizard shops instead of the supermarket judging how stumped they usually are about the normal world. World building is really quite flimsy and usually if it is the choice between "realistically working but boring" and funny Rowling rightly chose funny. Hell, I already would be annoyed living in that world that wizards apparently only sell wizard sweets on the train. I'm sure people would enjoy a Snickers bar just fine even if you don't have to wrestle it down as soon as you open it. Decius fucked around with this message at 07:06 on Aug 15, 2010 |
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Aug 15, 2010 07:02
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Decius posted:Don't think about such things too hard, like how less than 10 teachers can teach 14 classes (7 years, 4 houses, 2 houses together per class) or where the 12 other dormitories in the Gryffindor tower are. Or Harry being unable to convert his wizard riches into British Pounds during summer when the Granger's did the opposite in book two just fine. Or that wizards apparently even buying their milk, eggs and meat in wizard shops instead of the supermarket judging how stumped they usually are about the normal world.  No seriously thinking about the books like that takes it to an entire new level
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Aug 15, 2010 07:38
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The mantras of this thread that everyone should keep in mind are a) It's a children's book b) It's for fun c) A wizard did it Seriously. In fact I might add that to the OP.
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Aug 15, 2010 07:59
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Decius posted:Hell, I already would be annoyed living in that world that wizards apparently only sell wizard sweets on the train. I'm sure people would enjoy a Snickers bar just fine even if you don't have to wrestle it down as soon as you open it. You're forgetting a fundamental aspect of what little world building Rowling did do: Wizards are smug as hell, and so cannot comprehend that Muggles could ever do anything right. "Aeroplanes? Those things that can transport hundreds of people huge distances without the need to time a series of portkey jumps, individual flights and apparitions down to the wire? Useless." "Telephones? Why would I want to contact someone instantly when I can wait until I'm around a fire and I just happen to have floo powder on me?" "Food that doesn't put up a fight, and is instead just there to be eaten? Boring."
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Aug 15, 2010 09:32
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I suspect that The Gun Question is mostly an American one. All of the British people I've known have had little to no contact with firearms, and seem to view them the way we view explosives (confirm or deny at your leisure, old chaps). It's interesting to imagine how the story would be different if it had been written by an American.
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Aug 15, 2010 10:01
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vseslav.botkin posted:I suspect that The Gun Question is mostly an American one. All of the British people I've known have had little to no contact with firearms, and seem to view them the way we view explosives (confirm or deny at your leisure, old chaps). Depending where you are in the US guns are really very rare (I have only seen them carried by police) and explosives are also quite rare (even sparklers are illegal here, although nobody really gives a gently caress if you go buy fireworks out of state). But the fact of the matter is, if I was facing some dork who had to recite a spell to kill me, I'd drive down to Virginia and buy a shotgun and blow his head off. I also did specifically say "shotgun" in my initial post as it is my understanding that our gunophobic friends across the pond still have access to those for hunting foxes or peasants or whatever silly aristocratic bullshit with their corgis and such. But still, you could destroy Voldemort with a loving 16th century musket. I was always willing to accept that the Harry Potter novels took place during the 70s or 80s so that cell phones and the internet didn't exist or whatever, but I just cannot accept that not one mudblood figured they should just drag along a pistol and blow Voldemort away while he's reciting the death curse. :sperg:
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Aug 15, 2010 10:13
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IRQ posted:I was always willing to accept that the Harry Potter novels took place during the 70s or 80s so that cell phones and the internet didn't exist or whatever, but I just cannot accept that not one mudblood figured they should just drag along a pistol and blow Voldemort away while he's reciting the death curse. A CHILDRENS BOOK WIZARD DID IT (also, 1991-1997  )
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Aug 15, 2010 10:15
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Am I the only one who, after reading Order of the Phoenix when it came out, thought Fred and George were on a path to become Healers? All their work with the Puking Pastilles etc was really advanced, I thought for sure that they would get jobs eventually at St Mungos.
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Aug 15, 2010 10:19
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If you really thought that you don't deserve to characterize what you do here as spergin', because it means you've forgotten both a) the qualifications required to become a healer ("ʹIt says here you need at least ʺEʺ at NEWT level in Potions, Herbology, Transfiguration, Charms and Defence Against the Dark Arts. [...]") and b) the fact that Fred and George only got a handful of OWLs between them, and never took the NEWTS. You could make the argument that they'd become unregistered healers but that's exactly the kind of unsupported boring speculation that made me stop arguing about Harry Potter on the internet because that's what it always eventually comes down to.
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Aug 15, 2010 10:29
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IRQ posted:I was always willing to accept that the Harry Potter novels took place during the 70s or 80s so that cell phones and the internet didn't exist or whatever, but I just cannot accept that not one mudblood figured they should just drag along a pistol and blow Voldemort away while he's reciting the death curse. I think this is a problem with any story involving magic in a modern setting. There just aren't a whole lot of normal everyday problems technology hasn't solved. I should test this theory by reading a Dresden novel or something.
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Aug 15, 2010 11:21
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LooseChanj posted:I think this is a problem with any story involving magic in a modern setting. There just aren't a whole lot of normal everyday problems technology hasn't solved. I should test this theory by reading a Dresden novel or something. That's why Magicians was so good. It really dealt with the "welp, we're magicians now what?" Of course it's super spergy to really analyse Harry Potter. It's a little fun though. The whole standardized testing thing is a little off too. Of course it's because a lot of Rowling's readers take GCSEs and A-levels but is it really necessary for the wizarding world to have such bureaucratic oversight. Although that kind of sets up a nice theme of individual vs. society.
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Aug 15, 2010 12:01
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Hedrigall posted:The mantras of this thread that everyone should keep in mind are To quote MST3K: If you're wondering how he eats and breathes and other science facts (la-la-la), Just repeat to yourself, "It's just a show, I should really just relax..." Just replace show with book and we're golden. LooseChanj posted:I think this is a problem with any story involving magic in a modern setting. There just aren't a whole lot of normal everyday problems technology hasn't solved. I should test this theory by reading a Dresden novel or something. Butcher tackles this really well, actually. The faeries in The Dresden files are really affected by cold iron, and so Harry runs off to Wal Mart and buys a bunch of box cutters to arm his little army of defect faries with, so they can cut the poo poo out of the big bad ones. And then there's the scene where one of the normals ends up driving a jeep (I think. It's a car at least) into this monster, pinning it between the car and a wall, and then using a goddamn chainsaw on it. Really, the series marries magic and technology very well. Soysaucebeast fucked around with this message at 18:05 on Aug 15, 2010 |
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Aug 15, 2010 17:55
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Soy Sauce Beast posted:Butcher tackles this really well, actually. The faeries in The Dresden files are really affected by cold iron, and so Harry runs off to Wal Mart and buys a bunch of box cutters to arm his little army of defect faries with, so they can cut the poo poo out of the big bad ones. And then there's the scene where one of the normals ends up driving a jeep (I think. It's a car at least) into this monster, pinning it between the car and a wall, and then using a goddamn chainsaw on it. That's all in book 4, too. It gets better from there. Though you are mixing up a few things. Hitting a monster with a car and using a chainsaw on a monster are two separate occurances, with two separate monsters. I'll forgive you because the two fights do happen as part of the same setpiece.
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Aug 15, 2010 19:00
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ConfusedUs posted:That's all in book 4, too. It gets better from there. Ah, my mistake. It's been a while since I read that book, so I guess it got all muddled up in my head.
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Aug 15, 2010 19:04
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vseslav.botkin posted:It's interesting to imagine how the story would be different if it had been written by an American. That's why I'd love to read a fanfic set at an American wizard school, possibly at the place we Muggles know as Area 51. The so-called "alien cover-up" is actually a wizard cover-up - the UFOs come from the students practicing their magic outside, and the Men in Black come from the U.S. Department of Magic! I'd write that fanfic myself, but I can't think of a decent story to set there. EDIT: Yes, I know that she already mentioned the Salem Witches Institute in Book 4, but I refuse to believe that a huge country like America has only one wizard school.  Plus, even if it really is a school and not a women's association or something, it still sounds like an all-girl's school, and where are all those red-blooded American boys going to go? Finally, the American West, with its vast tracts of uninhabited land, is a much better place to hide a school than crowded New England.
Pththya-lyi fucked around with this message at 22:38 on Aug 15, 2010 |
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Aug 15, 2010 22:36
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Seriously, posters in this thread if you haven't - read Magicians by Lev Grossman. Basically Harry Potter if it was real (ie. the students drink and gently caress like normal teenagers would) and set in a preppy New England boarding school.
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Aug 15, 2010 23:34
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Pththya-lyi posted:That's why I'd love to read a fanfic set at an American wizard school, possibly at the place we Muggles know as Area 51. The so-called "alien cover-up" is actually a wizard cover-up - the UFOs come from the students practicing their magic outside, and the Men in Black come from the U.S. Department of Magic! I'd write that fanfic myself, but I can't think of a decent story to set there. Knowing this country, we'd have 4 or 5, all vying for the top spots on lists for best wizarding schools, and each would be more expensive than the last.
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Aug 16, 2010 01:26
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