If JKR had put any effort into considering the greater implications of every spell, the HP spellbook could be a wonder and a marvel.

 

More like philosophers.

Scientists can empirically test something, we can't.

 

I would disagree there. Regardless of the source, we're still arguing inductively rather than deductively. Granted, some philosophical arguments argue inductively, but deductive argument is far more common, as well as far easier to defend, since all inductive arguments can be felled by Hume...

And as I say, the evidence is empirical evidence, it's just set within a fictional world that we access through a book. If you like, the book is like our sensory perceiver (like an eye, or a nose etc), and the story the phenomena that we're viewing (like an object in reality, or a smell).

 

Why is this still in the recycle bin? A lot of people have read it and seem to be enjoying it.


Plus it has a 4 star rating.

 

Please read some of the prior posts; it's explained there.

 

I really, really hate you people. A lot. Please, fuck off.

 

Wow, never thought I'd say it, but Jenkins just said more or less exactly what I was thinking.

 

Who cares as long as Miranda keeps updating.

 

I just had a sudden thought, putting something in the way of an AK stops it right? It destroys the object placed in front of it, no matter what it is and stops there. If so, why doesn't clothing stop the AK? It seems to fit in with the 'spodes everything it touches, nothing more' rule of it. And with spells like they're using now, why can't they just create some sort of passive spell that protects you from AKs by throwing stuff in front of it? Surely they can do it, if they can somehow curse some nonphysical things (Taboos anyone?)

 

Incorrect. In some cases it bounces off. In OotP one AK bounced off one of the statues that Dumbledore had animated, rather than destroying it.

When it comes to spells hitting physical objects in general, it seems to be that in some cases they destroy what they hit, some cases they destroy it and go through, in some cases they bounce off, and in some cases they dissipate. Which outcome seems to be determined by the strength and type of spell, and the size/density of the object that is being hit.

Remember in GoF, Dumbledore cast a disarming charm that smashed right through a door and still worked? I would say with the AK and clothes it's the same. As a physical barrier, clothes just aren't significant enough to stop the spell, so the curse goes through them.

 

OK, that logic is sound enough. Clothes by themselves are not enough, but some sort of armour would certainly work (The AK stopped after destroying a wooden desk in OotP, and wizards have some tough shit). And a passive, word activated spell that gathers whatever it can to put in the path of an AK would still work I believe.


And if Taboos exist, why don't they put one on the unforgivables?
Dumbledore certainly had the power, and correct me if I'm wrong but didn't Hermione say she read about them in a book or something? If so it would be publically viewable information, and any intelligent witch/wizard would try to get one in place.

Of course, witches and wizards aren't intelligent, as seen by the way they ignore most of the possible ways of using magic, like they've been doing for thousands of years.

 

Putting a Taboo on the incantations of the Unforgivables would be problematic, because it wouldn't just pick up on people casting them, but also being talking about them and being taught about them. So unless the Ministry were to make even discussion of the Unforgivables illegal, it wouldn't work.

Though, considering how easy they are to use and abuse, perhaps it wouldn't be such a bad idea to restrict information on the Unforgivables like that. Make it so that the only ones who are allowed to know about them are the Aurors.

 

They wouldn't pick up on people talking about them, because the name of the curse is different from the incantation, such that it's Cruciatus and Crucio, Imperius and Imperio, Killing Curse and Avada Kedavra. It's only in fanfiction that you'll find people talking about "The Imperio curse". When teaching them in school, you could notify the Ministry that you'd be teaching about them X days, in Y locations, during Z time frames.

 

The taboo had to cover the entirety of the British Wizarding World, including places like the Ministry and Hogwarts that have their own defenses. My theory is that the "Taboo" spell (whatever the incantation is,) might simply need a really powerful or highly skilled caster, as well as a continual source of power. In fact, that's why I figure that everyone doesn't have Fidelius on their house, their Gringotts vault, and the fireproof safe where they store their important papers at home. Dumbledore was one of the few people capable of casting it.
I believe that most charms are powered by the caster, and that an ongoing spell is a continual drain. "Enchanting" objects permanently is a very different skill, and a difficult one to learn. Casting a spell over an area of 200k+ sq miles and keeping the spell going continually HAS to be a major undertaking.

Edited to add:
It also seems like a civil rights violation - although I doubt that would bother the Ministry. Based on their observed policies and attitudes, the concept of "civil rights" appears directly linked to the amount of money in one's vault.

 

Also people like Lucius Malfoy wouldn't want it to be tabooed would he. I'm sure that he could somehow "convince" the Ministry not to put a tabbo on them.

 

I wonder if he was tempted to taboo other words like...ferret, dumbles, moldy-shorts, tommy-boy. Not only would it be lulzy but it would be a serious cull on the fangirl population.

 

@Banner: I don't think the Taboo is all that complicted. I'd bet that it works the same way the Hogwarts Quill does - instead of sensing magical births, it senses magical persons saying a certain word. In essence, the word 'Voldemort' became a wandless spell (like apparation), and they just have to track when it happens

 

3 nations, 1 Kingdom.

Also, I agree that the Taboo isn't as complicated as you say. I would say the spell has been cast on the word "Voldemort", not on any area of land.

 

Wouldn't that mean that they would keep getting hits from overseas?

 

Well, by the logic that only the resistance against Voldemort say his name, and that the resistance is located in the UK, then you'd only get hits in the UK.

Of course, the whole assumption that only the resistance say his name is shaky in the first place...but it's what JKR used in canon, so meh.

Alternative answer 1:

Only from countries that speak British English, since the spell is cast upon the language. This isn't too many countries.

Alternative answer 2:

There's some way of ignoring ones from other countries.