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Colin was absolutely bullied and didn't have any friends outside his younger brother. Who he told everything and ends up at school with him later. Hermione follows the rules but has told her parents (then mem-wipes). Lily Potter used magic with her sister around and in view of others, but it was okay I guess. And that's it for muggle characters. She didn't write many of them. Tom Riddle is forced back to the orphanage in the summers where he previously had tortured others and that one doesn't make any sense. In the books it was to make Harry relate to Voldie more, because they both had bad summers.
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Dec 8, 2020 18:14
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1st_Panzer_Div. posted:Colin was absolutely bullied and didn't have any friends outside his younger brother. Who he told everything and ends up at school with him later. Hermione follows the rules but has told her parents (then mem-wipes). Lily Potter used magic with her sister around and in view of others, but it was okay I guess. There’s also the whole thing about them both getting screwed over in their childhoods by people in their lives who meant well. Dumbledore & co. never bothered to check back in on Harry to make sure that the Dursleys were at least treating him decently until he was old enough to get the letters from Hogwarts, and Tom was left with literally nothing to his name after his mother sold off everything of value that she had for an absolute pittance.
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Dec 8, 2020 20:41
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amigolupus posted:There's no way to erase your wand's browsing history, right? I just remembered that during the time Harry had to go to the ministry for his trial, he had to present his wand for inspection to get in. So presumably everyone will find out how much of a kinky fucker you are. Is there a limit to how far back the wand search can go? And I mean hell even if there isn't, you could totally be an rear end in a top hat and just spend the night before your trial spamming something incredibly innocuous hundreds or thousands of times, so it takes the inspectors all loving day to scrub through your wand history.
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Dec 8, 2020 21:01
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Classic marauder's prank, load your wand up with "spawn 500 flying dicks" spells then ask Snape to check the log.
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Dec 8, 2020 21:06
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Edgar Allen Ho posted:It’s weird that all the muggle borns seem to completely abandon muggle society. You’re telling me Colin Creevey (rip, went offscreen and died) goes home for the summer he doesn’t visit his old pals and realize the wizards don’t have anything as cool as a PlayStation? I like to imagine that by mid-2000s, Muggleborns just choose to stop going to Hogwarts because learning magic isn't that attractive when it means you lose access to technology. Oh, you want to teach me how to send messages to other people using a Patronus? We already got text messaging and video chats for that, idiot! josh04 posted:Classic marauder's prank, load your wand up with "spawn 500 flying dicks" spells then ask Snape to check the log. I appreciate the pun you did there. 
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Dec 9, 2020 11:22
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I mean pretty much all the technology that would lure you away from Hogwarts already existed in the 90s, even if they weren't as mainstream as they would later become. On top of the first book actually putting effort into the wonder of the world of wizardry despite the later books getting boring about it, Harry was a deprived kid who wouldn't miss TV or the internet or video games because he never had them. The wizarding world doesn't seem to have much media to offer to make up for that, although to be generous not a lot of people want to read a book about a normal kid enjoying kid stuff. It does leave me to wonder more about what Harry was doing with his time if he didn't care much about learning more magic and he didn't have anything dumb to waste his time on like I did as a kid.
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Dec 9, 2020 18:43
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IIRC there are some throwaway lines in the first book after Harry gets locked in the cupboard that he's annoyed because normally when the Dursley's go out he gets some brief respite and can watch TV/play video games in Dudley's room until they get back.
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Dec 9, 2020 19:00
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I finally finished the last book for the first time, and boy was the final fight anti-climactic and dumb. "Actually, Snape wasn't the master of the wand because Draco disarmed him first so therefore Draco was the master BUT then I disarmed Draco of a different wand! Wand law chapter 8 subsection B clearly states that the disarmed wand and all previous wands, known or otherwise, are thereby forfeited to the disarmer. So I am the master of the wand because I disarmed him of a different wand. Kablamo!" Five minutes later: "Hey if I just bury this wand and die without getting murdered, the wand isn't magic anymore right? Nothing else could make this wand loyal to someone else other than murdering me?" "Yep, I'm dumbledore"
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Dec 9, 2020 19:30
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If harry ever trips over in his life then the wand belongs to the floor. The next guy who punches the floor gets the wand. This is wand magic.
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Dec 9, 2020 19:41
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Wand loyalty is stupid, the midichlorians of Harry Potter
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Dec 9, 2020 22:20
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Sydin posted:IIRC there are some throwaway lines in the first book after Harry gets locked in the cupboard that he's annoyed because normally when the Dursley's go out he gets some brief respite and can watch TV/play video games in Dudley's room until they get back. the really funny part is that it's trying to be contemporary but fucks the timeline up and so dudley has a playstation in 1991
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Dec 9, 2020 22:59
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What? Are you telling me JK Rowling wrote something without putting much research or thought into it?
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Dec 9, 2020 23:04
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Werewolves are a metaphor for aids! Here's a Werewolf that purposely infects people to get his rocks off.
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Dec 9, 2020 23:06
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Given the choice between technology and not having to get up to get things I'd choose the later, though it would markedly cut down on the things what I'd have been getting up to get.
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Dec 9, 2020 23:42
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When I was an 8 year old reading these I thought "See if I got my Hogwarts letter I would master magic but still keep up with technology so I'd have a huge leg up in both worlds. I can't believe no one else has thought of this". The wizard of the blockchain, they'd call me.
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Dec 10, 2020 15:23
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josh04 posted:Classic marauder's prank, load your wand up with "spawn 500 flying dicks" spells then ask Snape to check the log. Is there scripting for wands? Can they do batch spells? Can I program a skeleton computer to do magic?
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Dec 11, 2020 00:38
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Buttchocks posted:Is there scripting for wands? Can they do batch spells? Can I program a skeleton computer to do magic? Magic 2.0 is the book series you're looking for here. 
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Dec 11, 2020 05:05
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1st_Panzer_Div. posted:Ron is a bit of a mess. He's super poor, except he gets 1%er vacations, has his own room, and is only affected by it a couple times (broken wand, bad sandwiches). He goes from a good chess player to magical world historian/cultural expert (but fails these classes because he's a worse student than Harry). Book 5-6 his character basically exists so Harry has someone to talk to and his response is 'whoah harry, that's cool you're the greatest'. i always assumed it was one of those he is "poor for a wizarding family" type deal. like are there "homeless" wizards because i feel like magic and poo poo can take care of basic needs and you can like make a tree turn into a house in like a day or two.
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Dec 11, 2020 07:01
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Buttchocks posted:Is there scripting for wands? Can they do batch spells? Can I program a skeleton computer to do magic? They probably covered that in Ancient Runes and/or Arithmancy, but of course Harry, being a lazy idiot, never took those classes. Dapper_Swindler posted:i always assumed it was one of those he is "poor for a wizarding family" type deal. like are there "homeless" wizards because i feel like magic and poo poo can take care of basic needs and you can like make a tree turn into a house in like a day or two. IIRC, the only reason Ron and his family got to go on a family vacation to Egypt was because they won a ministry lottery for 1000 Galleons. They also spent most of that money on their vacation rather than saving it up or investing it, which makes me think that the Weasleys are just terrible with money in general. But if you want an example of an actual poor/homeless wizard, there's Mundungus Fletcher, and Rowling wrote him as an unreliable ally and a thief.
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Dec 11, 2020 08:25
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Regret to inform you that canonically, Arithmancy is just Divination without the incense. Dumbledore runs a clown school where there are two courses for the same thing with different names.
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Dec 11, 2020 10:29
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I always took the books' version of arithmancy to mean more than divining the future with numbers. Part of arithmancy, for example, was figuring out that 7 was the most magically powerful number. Most of it is probably regular high school and college math and number theory but with magic. Also Calculators from FFT. Ancient ruins is translating dead written magical languages. The runes, when used properly, might have intrinsic magical power themselves. Allegedly the Pensieve, which is just a stone basin but is etched in runes, was found in the area where the castle of Hogwarts was built. Most of the hacks probably come from a combination of disciplines. Like using potions, alchemy and transfiguration to make yourself permanently and more intrinsically powerful/smart/whatever, or charming and transfiguring or otherwise creating objects to make them into artifacts like the Hallows or Deluminator or Founders' objects. The other hacks seem to be researching obscure and difficult magic like wandlore, spell creation, whatever materials science is (probably alchemy). Then there is disciplining yourself to use actually use such things like with occlumency, sensing "known" magic, nonverbal magic or even magic without a wand (not as powerful but still works). Making less noise or light effect while using magic is also something that might be learned as Dumbledore can disapparate with a pop or no noise at all whereas it is usually a loud crack. There are other examples.
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Dec 11, 2020 11:35
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amigolupus posted:IIRC, the only reason Ron and his family got to go on a family vacation to Egypt was because they won a ministry lottery for 1000 Galleons. They also spent most of that money on their vacation rather than saving it up or investing it, which makes me think that the Weasleys are just terrible with money in general. I think it's the whole deal that they'd rather have good memories of a family holiday than some extra money in the bank.
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Dec 11, 2020 15:24
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If a hundred galleons is a life-changing amount of money, then I assume they'd have enough to put aside as well as having a vacation and buying Ron a new wand.
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Dec 11, 2020 15:53
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Did Ron actually ask for a new wand or did he just tape up his old one and hide it for a year like an idiot twelve year old?
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Dec 11, 2020 16:05
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Storyline wise, he needed to break it on Day 1 of the school year in September so that it would backfire on Lockhart on the last Day of the School Year in June. 
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Dec 11, 2020 16:13
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josh04 posted:Regret to inform you that canonically, Arithmancy is just Divination without the incense. Dumbledore runs a clown school where there are two courses for the same thing with different names. Well, poo poo. I thought Arithmancy was supposed to be like high school math but with magic, but it's actually just a complete sham. MikeJF posted:Did Ron actually ask for a new wand or did he just tape up his old one and hide it for a year like an idiot twelve year old? The day after Ron broke his wand, he got a Howler from his mom telling him off in front of the whole school for crashing the car and almost costing Arthur his job. Then when Harry said Ron should ask his parents for a new wand, Ron was afraid and said he'd rather deal with a faulty wand than risk having his mom send him another Howler for it.
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Dec 11, 2020 16:40
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Weird that Hogwarts has no classes that teach interdisciplinary magic.
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Dec 11, 2020 18:22
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Edgar Allen Ho posted:Weird that Hogwarts has no classes that teach interdisciplinary magic. Well that’s what magical university is for
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Dec 11, 2020 18:39
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amigolupus posted:Well, poo poo. I thought Arithmancy was supposed to be like high school math but with magic, but it's actually just a complete sham. Even funnier is that it's pretty heavily implied traditional divination is not something you can actually learn. Either you have the gift or you don't, and if you don't then the best you can be is the equivalent of a bullshit spewing palm reader. So really if you want to "teach" divination, then what should be happening is one person who has the gift tests all the students in batches to see if they have it, and the few who do can take the elective where they refine their skills. But instead it's an elective anybody can take even though it is a waste of time for the majority of the class, and also it is taught by somebody Dumbledore knows is a sham outside of the occasional seizure prophecy.
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Dec 11, 2020 18:41
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There's some value in learning divination even if you personally cannot perform divination, because it teaches you to recognize the same divination scams and bullshit you use to pass the class
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Dec 11, 2020 18:45
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Sydin posted:But instead it's an elective anybody can take even though it is a waste of time for the majority of the class, and also it is taught by somebody Dumbledore knows is a sham outside of the occasional seizure prophecy. And the worst part is that Dumbledore decided that the best way to protect her once he realized that she was in grave danger if anyone else ever found out that she was the one who made the prophecy was to put her in a pretty public posting in the school, teaching a course that she was otherwise grossly unqualified for. Especially since, as we saw in OotP, that plan was contingent on him being around to keep her safe.
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Dec 11, 2020 19:03
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JethroMcB posted:There's some value in learning divination even if you personally cannot perform divination, because it teaches you to recognize the same divination scams and bullshit you use to pass the class The only one who really does that is Hermione though. Harry and Ron just completely zone out in the class, and then you have people like Lavender and her friend who completely buy into the bullshit hook line and sinker.
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Dec 11, 2020 19:05
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Harry and Ron actually successfully perform divination though. They just don’t realize it because they’re dumbass jocks.
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Dec 11, 2020 19:50
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Do they? If so I completely forgot about that bit. I just remember all the "comedy" scenes of them trying divination on each other and making up a ton of bullshit when the teacher came around to their table to make her go away.
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Dec 11, 2020 19:59
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Sydin posted:Do they? If so I completely forgot about that bit. I just remember all the "comedy" scenes of them trying divination on each other and making up a ton of bullshit when the teacher came around to their table to make her go away. That’s exactly it. In I think the fourth or fifth one they make up bullshit about the tea leaves or whatever, and end up getting their best grades in divination. Because the bullshit all ended up happening. It’s a much more interesting version of magic than “pronounce the latin correctly to shoot your phaser”
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Dec 11, 2020 20:05
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Regalingualius posted:And the worst part is that Dumbledore decided that the best way to protect her once he realized that she was in grave danger if anyone else ever found out that she was the one who made the prophecy was to put her in a pretty public posting in the school, teaching a course that she was otherwise grossly unqualified for. Especially since, as we saw in OotP, that plan was contingent on him being around to keep her safe. To be totally fair to Dumbledore (although I mean, why would you?) a lot of what goes on at Hogwarts seems contingent upon the whims of a bunch of dumbass parents, tradition, and the government (sort of like real schools). So it's probably one of those things where Dumbledore knows divination is the stupidest class but it's a state requirement for wizard school certification and a bunch of townie parents who are like Lavender and Parvati and buy into this poo poo/have fond memories of their own divination class angrily shout down any legislation to remove it. Also while Dumbles is super well respected it's repeatedly shown how while there are few die hard people -- specifically the OotP -- who will go to bat for him hard, as soon as he does poo poo that makes the average wizard even slightly uncomfortable they all start tripping over their (incidentally it worked, basically only Harry, Snape and Dumbledore ever even knew she was important at all, and they even get a second bonus prediction out of her in Harry's third year)
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Dec 11, 2020 21:55
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Edgar Allen Ho posted:Weird that Hogwarts has no classes that teach interdisciplinary magic. alchemy is taught in 6th and 7th years if enough students show interest. Only Draco Malfoy cared enough.
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Dec 11, 2020 23:06
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The Moon Monster posted:When I was an 8 year old reading these I thought "See if I got my Hogwarts letter I would master magic but still keep up with technology so I'd have a huge leg up in both worlds. I can't believe no one else has thought of this". The wizard of the blockchain, they'd call me. Magical power crackles through the air, the earth shakes, the towers of Hogwarts begin to crumble at the magical energy oscillating around them. Professors find the student casting the spell and shout out to them, "What on Earth is this spell you're casting?! Why do you need so much power?!" The student replies, "Oh, I need to do an impossibly large amount of calculations to assign mathematically unique identifiers to a bunch of tokens that could be transferrable digitally without the need for some kind of prior trust relationship and serve as a new fiat currency without the need for government or precious metals." Not fully understanding computers, math, or fiat currency, the professors decide to throw the student out the window to save the school. They go to the book of student deaths for the year and write down one more name.
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Dec 12, 2020 01:35
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Magic might be real but state power is enforced out of the barrel of a gun Mr Potter now that will be ten points from griffydorp.
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Dec 12, 2020 03:36
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Regalingualius posted:And the worst part is that Dumbledore decided that the best way to protect her once he realized that she was in grave danger if anyone else ever found out that she was the one who made the prophecy was to put her in a pretty public posting in the school, teaching a course that she was otherwise grossly unqualified for. Especially since, as we saw in OotP, that plan was contingent on him being around to keep her safe. Thinking about it, Trelawney should've been the teacher that Voldemort kills in front of his Death Eaters at the start of book 7. At least that would've had some kind of impact for the readers rather than killing the Muggle Studies teacher that we've never even seen before.
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Dec 12, 2020 14:31
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