SPOILER WARNING: A thread about the Harry Potter books

[Man in the Funny Hat]

Well, the muggles have nuclear weapons and whatnot. But in a Muggle versus Wizard war, I think it'd be quick and decisive for the Wizards. Just my take.

Well when you consider the fact that mass gatherings of wizards, trains, entire REGIONS OF THE COUNTRY are made to go benignly unnoticed by every muggle on Earth, yeah the wizards win. You can't make much use of mukes vs. wizards if the wizards don't first ALLOW you to see where their magical trains tracks are, where the schools are, the ministry of magic, certain infamous alleyways, buildings, London buses, creatures like dragons and griffons and werewolves and centaurs and living willow trees and mermen and the undead and mass murdering warlock dictator wannabes like Valdemort and huge freakin' giant snakes and three-headed dogs and and and... What the muggles DON'T know fills... 6 books and counting. And that's barely scratched the surface of the wizarding world.

 

[Ilium]

Not to mention the fact that most wizards can teleport at will and no muggle building will have any protection against it.

Teleport into the enemy command building, drop off a Boggart, teleport out. Wackiness ensues.

 

[Phoenix8008]

When Hermione picks up books, she is the faster one to grasp the knowledge therein.
When Hermione puts what she read into action, she is the faster and better to achieve results (a point that drove Snape nuts, I seem to remember.)

Agreed. But you also point out in just what ways Harry can be better. Hermione picks up books...and reads...and studies...and studies some more...and days later she can do a spell perfectly. She then goes and shows it to Harry who ends up needing just that exact spell in a tricky situation that night. So he just goes and casts it...based on what he saw and heard from Hermione. It's like the difference between a D&D Wizard and a Sorcerer. She will always have more versatility and knowledge than him, but when it counts, Harry will just DO IT. And do it with such power that vetran wizards will do a double take.

This could be interpreted to mean, simply, that Hermione is brighter than Harry. She's smarter. Simple as that.

Yep. I agree 100%. Much of the time, Harry is just plain dumb! If you look at it D&D wise though, it's more a matter of his low wisdom getting him in trouble as opposed to low intelligence.

It could also mean she has more magical aptitude (akin to real world mechanical aptitude, or mathematical aptitude, or reading aptitude, etc.) than Harry Potter does.
It could mean both of these things.

More aptitude? Sure, why not. But understanding a machine you've read the manual for isn't the same as building a new machine nobody has ever thought of before. In the end, it comes down to this. Hermione's power comes from hard work and study of all that is possible based on what has come before. But Harry is like a great inventor. With new ideas and methods that can reshape and change the world. And like many great inventor's, he's also kinda lazy, absent-minded, and a knucklehead... except in his area of genius. Like an idiot savant sort of.

Anyway, that's my take on it. I've read all the books (trust me, until you have you can't say you get what's happened in 1 through 5. SO MUCH is left out of the movies!) and I'm eagerly awaiting book 7 next July (7/7/07!!!). Hope you enjoy 6 once you finish it. Beware the twist!

 

[Barendd Nobeard]

Sending your children off to school is, apparently, much more common in Great Britain than here in the U.S. Just a cultural difference that (1) doesn't let characters run to Mum and Dad every time something goes wrong, and (2) gets Harry away from the Dursleys.

As for letting House Slytherin still exist, well, the old proverbs are best. Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer.

 

[sckeener]

I'd like to suggest Ars Magica for a RPG system to use in a HP universe. The modern aspect would take some work but I think the magic system would work fairly well.

Of the HP books, I liked Order of the Phoenix the best and Goblet of Fire the least.

The only part of the Order of Phoenix that I didn't like was the love story between Harry and Cho. IMHO, I do not think J. K. Rowling writes men in love well.

In Goblet of Fire, excluding the first challenge, what was the point of attending the events for the 2nd and 3rd events? It must have been boring watching the champions enter and then sitting until it was over.

 

[Storm Raven]

I'd like to suggest Ars Magica for a RPG system to use in a HP universe. The modern aspect would take some work but I think the magic system would work fairly well.

I would probably use something like Big Eyes, Small Mouth to do a Harry Potter game. Maybe a modified version of GURPS: Illuminati University would work too.

 

[sniffles]

However, I've always been annoyed by Dumbledore - there are numerous occasions where he could have shared a little more information a little earlier and things would have been very different. At one point I thought I was reading a Wheel of Time novel, if you know what I mean...

Personally one of the things I find most enjoyable (and frustrating at the same time) about the books is that Rowling's perceptions of people are fairly accurate. People do dumb things and make bad choices all the time. Dumbledore decides not to tell Harry something for reasons that seem good to him at the time he makes the decision, but later it turns out it would have been much better for him to have shared the information at an early stage. That's how things work in real life, too.

I can remember thinking after reading the first book, "How could none of Harry's teachers at Muggle school notice how neglected he was? How could the Dursleys neighbors fail to notice how they were mistreating him? Why didn't Dumbledore do something?" But on reflection I realized that very likely that's how it would have worked out in the real world. Neighbors just don't pay attention. Teachers don't either, or perhaps they're afraid to make a stir. Dumbledore couldn't interfere, partly because of the restrictions on magic in the Muggle world, and partly because of other issues that are revealed in the later books (which I won't discuss in detail because I don't think you've read that one yet, Edena).

Similarly, the relationship between Harry and Snape seems very 'real' to me because it mirrors what real people would likely do. People resent other people for often very trivial reasons, but there's usually very little that can overcome that visceral response, especially not rational thought.

 

[Darth K'Trava]

As to the Hermione-Harry power issue, Hermione seems to be more book-learned, but Harry seems to have the greater natural talent. Since you haven't read all the books I don't know what I can tell you without spoilers. Harry casts several spells that most other kids just plain can't do. He's especially good with the Defense Agaisnt the Dark Arts spells.

Mainly because he's had several teachers who've come in and specifically taught him. Teachers and the research that he's gotten Hermoine to do for him.

[sblock]He's had Snape try to teach him mind-blocking techniques. Not that Harry was quite the learner against Snape. It'd be interesting to see if he really can pull it off in Book 7[/sblock]

In regards to the Snape-Harry conflict, Snape can't afford to look chummy with Potter. As you get to the end of Half-Blood Prince, you'll see why. Snape is playing a very dangerous, high stakes game, and it would likely be blown by getting chummy with Harry.

Getting chummy with Harry might've made people thought him too nice instead of that "Bad Teacher" every kid dreads in school. Harry certainly dreaded Snape's potions classes due to being around Snape and not being really good at making potions. His specialization lay elsewhere: facing Voldemort.

Kinda makes ya wonder what brought on the "Curse of the Defense Against The Dark Arts Teachers"..... talk about the crummy job that you'd think no one would want.... but several have craved it. Including one Severus Snape.

 

[Darth K'Trava]

Not to mention the fact that most wizards can teleport at will and no muggle building will have any protection against it.

Teleport into the enemy command building, drop off a Boggart, teleport out. Wackiness ensues.

Yeah. But they have to be at least a certain age and have a license to do so. And probably rules against such actions. It'd be the same thing as using magic in the muggle world and against wizard law. The same law that got Harry into trouble on at least one occasion.

 

[Tiberius]

Kinda makes ya wonder what brought on the "Curse of the Defense Against The Dark Arts Teachers"..... talk about the crummy job that you'd think no one would want.... but several have craved it. Including one Severus Snape.

Dumbledore addresses this point in Book 6.

[sblock]Tom Riddle, already on his path to immortality and possibly having already created a Horcrux, returned to seek the post as DAtDA instructor. Dumbledore theorized that he was looking to make use of the vast repository of magical knowledge that is the school in his quest. When Dumbledore turns him down for the job, he curses the position. Hogwart's hasn't had a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher for more than a year since.[/sblock]