plot contrivances and JKR
So, I'm re-reading CoS, and I was talking to Khushi and the whole "can't use magic at home over the summer hols" thing came up, which led to us discussing all the plot contrivances in the HP books.
Contrivance the first, which led to this discussion: Students are not allowed to use magic at home over the hols (according to the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery, 1875, Paragraph C). But ... why? Okay, it makes sense for muggleborn kids, or those who otherwise live in a muggle environment when home for the hols (like Harry), but what about the pureblood kids (as well as those half-bloods who grew up in the wizarding world)? They were using magic, intentionally or not, prior to starting school (Fred turned Ron's teddy bear into a spider because Ron broke Fred's toy broomstick), and suddenly they're not allowed to anymore during the summer? And what about the other hols when kids go home? When they go home for Christmas hols, are they allowed to use magic then?
And how do they know if it was an underage wizard using the magic, especially in a wizarding home? For example, Harry got the warning from Mafalda, even though it was Dobby using the magic. Which leads me to believe that the ministry just knows that magic has been used in that area, and since he's the only wizard, clearly it had to be him. Does that mean that kids in wizarding families can get away with using magic at home over the hols, because the Ministry will just assume that it's either an adult or a not-at-Hogwarts-yet child? And what about accidents? Harry re-grew his hair without realizing he was using magic, when he was younger. Does this mean that if Petunia chopped all his hair off, he wouldn't be able to accidentally grow it back without the Ministry cracking down on him?
Also, I'd like to note that the uses of magic outside of school in the movies (Hermione fixing Harry's glasses in SS and CoS, as well as Harry practicing his wand work under the covers) were only in the movies, and not in the books, so far as I've seen in my re-reads (except for Ron trying to turn Scabbers yellow, but this was also before he was officially a student, since term hadn't started yet, and he didn't have the letter telling him not to use magic; plus, it wasn't even a real spell, so maybe that didn't count). In fact, nobody was shown to be fixing Harry's glasses in the first book, and Mr. Weasley fixed them in the second book, after Harry broke them when he got out of the Floo on Knockturn, instead of Diagon.
Contrivance the second: Hogwarts sent Harry fifty billion owls in those days leading up to his birthday and Hagrid showing up and giving Dudley a pig's tail. Does Hogwarts do this to every kid who doesn't respond to their owl right away? While the kids growing up in wizarding households have better access to owls to send their reply, and they know what Hogwarts is, what about muggleborn kids, or kids like Harry who live in the muggle world and don't have access to an owl to send their reply, or they have no idea what Hogwarts is? Do the owls flood their houses with letters, too? And how do parents of muggleborn kids know that this whole "you've been accepted to Hogwarts" thing isn't just some weird hoax?
I would think that muggleborn kids should have their letters hand-delivered by a representative of the school, who can explain to the family that their child is a witch or wizard, and tell them about the wizarding world and Hogwarts, and bring with them an owl with which the student can send their reply. Perhaps the representative in question would be cleared by the ministry to show a small display of magic to the muggle family, so as to prove that he or she isn't making this all up. But who would these representatives be? Hagrid came to fetch Harry, but he would be a scary figure for ANYONE to suddenly encounter if they know nothing about the wizarding world -- Harry was supposed to at least know about it, since Dumbledore had left a letter for the Dursleys -- so would it be one of the Heads of House? Would there be temp positions for recent graduates of Hogwarts, hired for that one summer to take the Hogwarts acceptance letters to new muggleborn students and explain everything to them? Would it just be ministry personnel?
I'd also assume that this person who comes to explain things to these muggleborn students would also take them to London and show them the Leaky Cauldron and explain how to get into Diagon Alley. (Which also raises the question of how muggleborn kids get into Diagon for buying their things for second - seventh year, if they're not allowed to use magic; do they have to ask someone in the Leaky Cauldron to please let them into the Alley?) And what about getting the muggleborn students onto Platform 9 3/4 on September first? Hagrid didn't tell Harry about that, he was just really lucky that the Weasleys were there.
Discuss. :D
Contrivance the first, which led to this discussion: Students are not allowed to use magic at home over the hols (according to the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery, 1875, Paragraph C). But ... why? Okay, it makes sense for muggleborn kids, or those who otherwise live in a muggle environment when home for the hols (like Harry), but what about the pureblood kids (as well as those half-bloods who grew up in the wizarding world)? They were using magic, intentionally or not, prior to starting school (Fred turned Ron's teddy bear into a spider because Ron broke Fred's toy broomstick), and suddenly they're not allowed to anymore during the summer? And what about the other hols when kids go home? When they go home for Christmas hols, are they allowed to use magic then?
And how do they know if it was an underage wizard using the magic, especially in a wizarding home? For example, Harry got the warning from Mafalda, even though it was Dobby using the magic. Which leads me to believe that the ministry just knows that magic has been used in that area, and since he's the only wizard, clearly it had to be him. Does that mean that kids in wizarding families can get away with using magic at home over the hols, because the Ministry will just assume that it's either an adult or a not-at-Hogwarts-yet child? And what about accidents? Harry re-grew his hair without realizing he was using magic, when he was younger. Does this mean that if Petunia chopped all his hair off, he wouldn't be able to accidentally grow it back without the Ministry cracking down on him?
Also, I'd like to note that the uses of magic outside of school in the movies (Hermione fixing Harry's glasses in SS and CoS, as well as Harry practicing his wand work under the covers) were only in the movies, and not in the books, so far as I've seen in my re-reads (except for Ron trying to turn Scabbers yellow, but this was also before he was officially a student, since term hadn't started yet, and he didn't have the letter telling him not to use magic; plus, it wasn't even a real spell, so maybe that didn't count). In fact, nobody was shown to be fixing Harry's glasses in the first book, and Mr. Weasley fixed them in the second book, after Harry broke them when he got out of the Floo on Knockturn, instead of Diagon.
Contrivance the second: Hogwarts sent Harry fifty billion owls in those days leading up to his birthday and Hagrid showing up and giving Dudley a pig's tail. Does Hogwarts do this to every kid who doesn't respond to their owl right away? While the kids growing up in wizarding households have better access to owls to send their reply, and they know what Hogwarts is, what about muggleborn kids, or kids like Harry who live in the muggle world and don't have access to an owl to send their reply, or they have no idea what Hogwarts is? Do the owls flood their houses with letters, too? And how do parents of muggleborn kids know that this whole "you've been accepted to Hogwarts" thing isn't just some weird hoax?
I would think that muggleborn kids should have their letters hand-delivered by a representative of the school, who can explain to the family that their child is a witch or wizard, and tell them about the wizarding world and Hogwarts, and bring with them an owl with which the student can send their reply. Perhaps the representative in question would be cleared by the ministry to show a small display of magic to the muggle family, so as to prove that he or she isn't making this all up. But who would these representatives be? Hagrid came to fetch Harry, but he would be a scary figure for ANYONE to suddenly encounter if they know nothing about the wizarding world -- Harry was supposed to at least know about it, since Dumbledore had left a letter for the Dursleys -- so would it be one of the Heads of House? Would there be temp positions for recent graduates of Hogwarts, hired for that one summer to take the Hogwarts acceptance letters to new muggleborn students and explain everything to them? Would it just be ministry personnel?
I'd also assume that this person who comes to explain things to these muggleborn students would also take them to London and show them the Leaky Cauldron and explain how to get into Diagon Alley. (Which also raises the question of how muggleborn kids get into Diagon for buying their things for second - seventh year, if they're not allowed to use magic; do they have to ask someone in the Leaky Cauldron to please let them into the Alley?) And what about getting the muggleborn students onto Platform 9 3/4 on September first? Hagrid didn't tell Harry about that, he was just really lucky that the Weasleys were there.
Discuss. :D