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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Merlion" data-source="post: 3110379" data-attributes="member: 10397">I'm not really sure why the issue of the danger of sending kids to Hogwarts even comes up, given the physical, emotional and pyschological danger and damage people send their children into in regular, real life school every day. I have yet to meet someone who has come through compulsory "education" without considerable scarring.As far as the Harry/Hermione thing they pretty much state that Hermione is better than Harry at everything save Flying and Defense Against the Dark Arts. The world of Harry Potter seems to have very little concept of "raw power" in magic, like we find in most fantasy. We know that Dumbledore and Voldemort are considered vastly more powerful than most other Wizards, but beyond that its not gone into much. Since we rarely see magical combat, and since the magic is almost always based on predefined spells rather than personal direct usages of magic, its hard to define.I'm not sure I entirely believe in the "Great Author" concept. How good a story is is almost entirely a matter of opinion, and even technique is subjective. I enjoy her writting, and I think she is a great "plotter" a skill I greatly lack as a writer. Even though I have never read Mystery fiction, she seems to me more like a Mystery writer, with her intricate plots, and all the twists, and the fact that especially in the early books, there is usualy a "whodunit" mystery of some kind, or more than one.  I think J.K. Rowling's work has had a huge impact on literature and culture, and will long be remembered. I think the impact is mostly positive.  For those of us who are hardcore fantasy fans, there are some flaws. Mostly coming, I think, from the fact that she doesnt really seem to be a "fantasy author." She has never really defined the nature or workings of magic in her world, explained the difference or split-off point between Muggles and Wizards, or really developed a mythology for the magical aspects of her world. However, she has made magic powerful, and its created a few inconsistencies, like why the Weasleys despite being poor, would have issues with broken down or tattered possessions, since its obviously easy to repair and alter things with magic.   I personally dislike the fact that she pulls a Star Wars RPG type thing and catagorizes almost any spell that does real harm or could kill someone as "Dark" or "Forbidden" magic. I dont personally consider violence or even killing as inherently evil things...some times one must do such things in defense of yourself or another. It also seems a little odd...I wonder if killing another person, regardless of circumstances or how you do it, automatically lands you in Azkaban, since using Avada Kadvra against another person does so, again regardless of circumstances.  I also dislike that most magical creatures have been "dumbed down" into basically animals. But those are all just my tastes...I think Rowling is a very talented writer.I definitely agree with the statement that although there is a LOT of magic in the books, they arent about magic. Honestly the magic is mostly plot devices and window dressing...some times to much so for my taste. I'm not sure it specifically tries to do that, but it may nevertheless. I think its mostly pointless to even speculate, because the two are so totally different. Rowling has thrown a lot of magical stuff in with seemingly little regard for its implications...DND on the other hand careful weighs things before including them (unless its Divine stuff of course.) In any world featuring mage-types that wield magic capable of doing nearly anything, and in which there are large numbers of said mage-types, they almost certainly could rule said world if they wished, unless there is a larger limitation at play. In Earthsea for instance, Wizards are powerful enough to rule the world, but their knowledge of the Pattern and Balance prevents them from doing so. Its hard to say in Harry Potter, mostly again because of Rowling's odd aproach to magic. Huge pocket-dimension tents are commonplace, yet there is almost no offensive magic..Just some of my thoughts..</blockquote>

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