Yeah...

So, I've always wondered about two non-descript (I think) spells that appear in the books. Having discovered this site, I took the chance to register and ask. Now, on to the spells:

1. When Peter Pettigrew blows up the street, as described in PoA... exactly how did he do it? I mean, there is not even a mention of such a destructive curse/charm/whatever anywhere in the books. If there was, Voldemort would use it all the time (it does seem his style, blowing things up). The Ministry had made it look so that the muggle media portrayed it as a 'gas explosion' or something... Perhaps Pettigrew actually blew a gas pipe that then went underground or something?

2. The sliver jets of light Dumbledore uses in his office to Stun Fudge, Umbridge, Kingsley and Dawlish in OotP. WTF? They can't be Stunning Spells, otherwise they'd be red. I read in mugglenet or something like that, that it was 'phoenix fire'... but it seems like bullshit to me. It isn't described either wether Dumbledore actually used his magic wand or not. Perhaps one of those weird devices he has in the office opened fire or something

2a. For that matter, the offensive spell Dumbledore used in the Atrium against Voldemort was quite awesome.

So... what exactly was that stuff? What if Pettigrew knew magics Voldemort did not:awesome?

 

Fucking christ; you've stumbled onto the best HP fanfiction site that exists, and *this* is the question you pose? Fuck me.

Just because no one yells out "Explodimundo!" or "Stunthemallicus!" doesn't mean it's uber-mage material. Try Expulso or Confringo from DH, and as for Dumbledore? He's in a league of his own, so I'm not surprised such a fool-proof site like Mugglenet failed to deliver.

 

I don't think you're really going to get a better answer here than that Rowling's work is full of plot holes. There are many details she never thought of until much later, many trivial things that will never be explained.

But one thing you can be certain of is that 'phoenix fire' is utter bollocks.

 

With regards to Pettigrew, as Portus mentioned, I'm not opposed to thinking that it was the "Confringo" blasting curse.

And your statement that we haven't seen magic of that kind of scale is false. The Taboo was over an entire nation; Goyle's Fiendfyre burnt down a cathedral-sized room in minutes.

I'm inclined to think that the spells used by Dumbledore in the instances you menion are custom. I've menetioned on DLP before my idea that Dumbledore's powerful spell in the atrium in OotP was some advanced form of the Stunning charm (this belief formed by A Voldemort's reaction: "You don't seek to kill me?" and B a general theory of spellcasting that you can find in this thread).

I don't consider the theory true (in the sense that whatever JKR has written down, I doubt this is it). However, I do think that it's a good idea with explanatory power which is consistent with the data*.

*By this I mean that the theory satisfy some minimal desiderata for any complete theory of spellcasting. As well as not directly contradicting canon, in particular it should go some way to explaining:

1. How there can be an entire library devoted to magic.
2. Why theoretical knowledge of magic makes you better at using magic.
3. How it is that a spell may have different effects when the same incantation is used, such as the use of the shield charm as both a magical and physical shield on different occasions.
4. The status of incantations. Two noteworthy situations stand out: that Harry was able to cast Sectumsempra without knowledge of its effects, and Flitwick's talk of buffalos in PS.

The theory presented in the thread I linked goes some way to explaining 1 and 3. 4 I have considered elsewhere, though I'm a lot less confident of my ideas on that matter. 2 is very tricky to tackle. I have fanon ideas - complete fabrications entirely ungrounded in canon, but ideas which I like. I don't have any theory of this, however.

 

An hour-twenty Taure? You're getting slow...

 

He's getting slow in his old age, you see.

 

I was curious as to what people here thought. If curiosity is a sin for you... well, shit, mate. And I wasn't suggesting that there was uber-mage stuff in play (WTF is that, by the way?) - rather, some advanced spellcraft which would be interesting to speculate on.

What would be a better, deeper question for you? How do time-turners work? Is magical society a bunch of corrupt fucks who use nightmarish creatures to control the citizenry, and is that wrong or not? Are choices so important in the 'Potterverse' (for that matter, how many characters get a choice on their lives instead of being bound to their families' ideology or somesuch?) ?

Besides, from what we see of how those Confringo and Expulso spells work in DH, they seem to lack the power to blow up a street and kill a dozen people.

As for Dumbledore's stuff in the office... I suppose he did it, whatever he did, wandlessly and without even moving his arm... or he casted the spells so fast, Harry didn't register it.

 

I couldn't say for sure, but I think Portus' main problem is not the fact that you're asking questions about this topic per se. Rather, it's that your OP didn't really bring anything new to the discussion. You just mentioned scenes and said "What's up with that?"

 

There is also the very likely event that since Peter and Sirius met in a muggle neighborhood, that there really was some sort of explosion due to gas pipes or something similar, when Peter used what ever magic it was. Sometimes where the magic hits can have a greater effect, than the actual spell used.

As for Dumbledore's spell, not all magic is found in Hogwarts library (though it most likely has a ridiculously large collection, since there were supposed to be tens of thousands of books). Many wizards and witches create their own spells. Snape was diddling with dark and semidark spells during his time as a student and Dumbledore altered the Patronus Charm to allow them to act as a messenger. The guy must have made at least a few personal spells during his time.

 

If Pettigrew really did blow up a gas pipe I have no doubt that he wouldn't have had time to turn into a rat and even if he did, that rat would have been blown to pieces.

 

We know that Peter cut of his own finger before turning into a rat, but there was never any mention of other injuries. But considering that the damage was so bad that the entire street was described as being blown open and the fact that it did kill 13 people so there must have been a lot of damage and both Sirius and Peter should have had at least some injuries from debris etc.

As for the gas explosion; People tend to survive explosions much better in open areas or areas that are not sealed, because the shockwaves can escape more easily and thus won't exert as much energy into the human body as they would in a closed space.

 

Taure's New TV Show

 

Hmmm, you seem to lack the gene for recognizing snark. Let me try to simplify for single-cell organisms.

You (that's you, ThatBloke) have happened across the best (meaning, well, there are none better) HP (that's Harry Potter) fanfiction site (on teh web), and after doing so (coming here, I mean), your first question (something you asked, usually ending with a question mark, or "?") was about two of the least interesting (as in boring or unworthy of speculation) spells (that's the magic stuff, see) in all of canon (and I don't mean cannon, which is what old-timey ships blasted at each other, and Civil War folks).

A better idea would have been to lurk more before posting something to the effect of, "Hey I read something that wasn't completely spelled out for me, wasn't that cool? Whadda you guys think? Cool huh? Anybody want to discuss spells that go bang and have lights and sounds and are cool?!?"

An infinitely (do I need to keep up the explaining of words?) better question would have been something like, "Whoa, the Taboo spell used in DH was powerful as fuck. I wonder why that was never used on something like the Unforgivables or the Dark Mark?" (It's been discussed here even before I became a member, but rather than link it, I thought you might try searching for it).

Or keep being a dumbass who thinks there might be any chance at all that it's phoenix fire. It's whatever.

"Lack the power"? I know they aren't over 9000, but come on.

Casted. /facepalm

 

This^.

We should add an Ultimate Insult button which posts the video of Ultimate Insult.

 

Ultimately, who cares? Harry Potter magic exists to push the plot forward. Making sense of it is going to take a lot more data than Rowling offers us in the million or so words she wrote on it. Because each book in the series was written as a discrete story unto itself and not written holistically, there are massive problems in how the story unfolds.

 

Very generous of you.

Wow... you arrogant, condescending fuck.

Do I come off as that?

Oh, right... I'm talking to you, so arbitrarily I'm a silly fellow while you are smart^9

It is a rather... privacy-invading piece of magic, so perhaps the Ministry wouldn't do that on regular conditions (though they use Dementors, so...)

I actually called bullshit on that one, so I don't see your point.

Fine, so power is not the adequate word here. What about... dunno, potency, purpose?

It's as good a word as any.

 

No it's not. I went fishing the other day, and I cast my line into the water.

That's me.

 

It's not even a word. Therefore, you are dumb.

Edit: Dammit, Portus. =(

 

Kids, shut the fuck up.

 

Is it HoS time?