As far as I know from canon dueling spells can only be used one at a time.

 

Yes. A shield charm is just a spell like any other. It's not something you're casting continuously, it's something you cast and then it's there. We've seen it used simultaneously with other spells a few times, the most obvious being that it was one of the spells used to protect the campsite in DH.

 

Would Lucius Malfoy want to be the Minister of Magic? Many fics portray him as getting the position, but would he actually want it? Something tells me that Lucius and Malfoys in general would prefer to rule from the shadows rather than in positions like that.

 

Probably not. Him as Minister would make it all about blood politics and rally the muggleborns, halfbloods and 'blood traitors' behind some other candidate. He'd be better off getting a less offensive candidate in his pocket, in the way that Fudge was.

Even the canon version of Voldemort's rule had a patsy as Minister, and the canon version was a long love-letter to Godwin's Law.

 

IMHO there is not enough in canon about him to be sure and it is possible to have him as a aspiring politician, businessman with huge bribe fund or a professional racist.

Note that Lucius was in Hogwarts Board of Governors and thanks to Draco it would be hard to describe it as working from shadows.

 

Pottermore info on the Malfoys says they prefer to be the power behind the throne so that they can get out of dodge when the shit hits the fan.

 

Say that a first year student at Hogwarts would ambush someone in one of the corridors and successfully put them under the Imperius. What about the Trace? Would it be possible to determine who cast the Unforgivable? Would the Ministry detect that this curse was cast in the school?

 

The Ministry would brick themselves that a first year was able to cast that curse.

And since we not once, in any of the seven books read about using the Trace to find out if a student did something, went somewhere, cast a curse/spell, (including the Imperius during a Hogsmeade weekend), and the fact that Harry's ability to cast a Patronus was a complete shock to the Wizengamut (and if Madame Hopkirk's office knew, the way normal office politics/gossip works, everyone would know), I'd say no.

 

IIRC, the Trace was a matter of knowing when and where a certain spell was cast. So they knew that a Patronus Charm was cast in Privet Drive that night, but not by whom. They conclude that it was Harry because he's the only wizard that lives in the area.

Furthermore, because he was penalized for Dobby's use of the Hover Charm, we must also conclude that even if the Trace is attached to the wand, it manages to keeps track of all the magic done in that wizard's presence whether it was cast by him or not.

EDIT: This would also support Dumbledore's assertion that it is for this reason that those who cast magic in what is known to be the residence of an adult wizard are at an advantage.

 

Of course, even if the Trace is capable of being used for purposes other than detection of underage magic (for example, detection of dark magic), there's no evidence that the Ministry does so.

It seems to me that the types of wizards who wield political influence over Ministry policy are the kind of wizards who would be reluctant to allow the Ministry to routinely snoop on magic use. Either because they're doing dodgy things (Lucius Malfoy) or because they don't trust the Ministry to not abuse their power (Dumbledore).

 

They may do so, but I imagine the absurd hypermobility and warding (I know, I know) capabilities of wizards would make it a somewhat moot point. It doesn't matter where or when someone cast an illegal curse if you can't keep them in that exact spot until you get there.

And yeah, privacy rights and all this.

There's also the idea that the Trace is supposed to disappear at 17, so after that age how could they use it to track anyone's use of magic but in the presence of children?

EDIT: It's might be sort of like using children to monitor their parents. A bit Orwellian.

 

Forgive me if this technically doesn't belong here as a Fanon Topic, or it brings up the Unspeakable Sin, but it's been bothering me lately, thanks to a horrific realization that the author of a guilty pleasure of mine (an HP/Percy Jackson Crossover) loves writing about them.

Why the hell are Mpregs so popular on FanFiction?

 

Because adolescent girls that are coming to terms with their own sexuality sometimes prefer to come at it sideways by having two dudes boinking. They've grown up being told that their virginity is precious and special and if they lose it to the wrong guy their vagina will shrivel up and fall out, making heterosexual PiV sex intimidating to them. So, buttfuckin'. Mpreg is just another step towards regular heterosexual relationships without going all the way.

Of course, then it developed into a subculture and a fetish, and shit like twincest and knotting became popular.

 

I was reading the Real HP plot holes thread, and it may sound stupid of me asking, but is it canon that Harry "dying" got everyone in Hogwarts protected like he was by Lily sacrifice?

 

Yes. Here it is:

 

Which is, honestly, stupid. If dying for someone to protect them motivated by Love was enough to protect someone from Dark Wizards, it'd be known by now. Not mysterious and unknown to all but one or two powerful wizards.

Just another plothole in the books. Badly done Deus Ex Machina.

 

Speaking of plotholes, why did Harry have to protect Molly after she killed Bellatrix if he knew that Riddle's curse wouldn't hurt her? Was he just making a Grand Entrance for once?

 

It's not that he died. Merely dying for someone else is not enough. To enact the protection, you have to:

1) Have the real option of not dying but to choose to die.
2) Die not as part of a struggle but explicitly as a sacrifice, in another's stead.

Lily satisfied the two: Voldemort offered her the option of standing aside but she didn't move. She didn't put up a fight, but said "take me instead". Voldemort implicitly accepted the bargain by killing her after a) offering her the choice of living then b) killing her after she offered her life in place of Harry's.

Now let's turn to the Battle of Hogwarts:

We have the exact same circumstances. Harry is given the choice of going to the forest or not, and he decides to go. When he arrives, he doesn't put up a fight but dies willingly, accepting the bargain that Voldemort foolishly offered: if Harry comes to Voldemort and dies, the battle will not recommence.

It should be plain to see that these circumstances are rare indeed. Most people who die for another will do so either as part of a struggle or just by jumping in front of a spell meant for another. Such a situation lacks the offer of being spared -- presumably the person sacrificing themselves is also a potential target -- and the bargain of one life in place of another.

 

Well . . . it is widely known. At least, Voldemort knew about it. In GOF he says he was foolish to overlook it.

 

"Except by One or Two powerful wizards."

Voldemort, Dumbledore. No-one else understands how Harry survived. Remember? He's the 'Boy Who Lived', because his survival of the Killing Curse is so Miraculous and Unexplained that, combined with the destruction of Voldemort, he gains international Wizarding fame.

It's stated in the books a few times that people don't understand how he lived through the curse. That it's not explained and not known.

@Taure: I still contest that if it wasn't a badly done Deus Ex Machina, it would be more known than it was already. Lily Potter wasn't the first magical person with a good soul who would try and sacrifice herself for the lives of others when she didn't have to and wasn't in danger otherwise.

Even if it wasn't fully understood it would at least be known OF. That's not the sort of thing that just goes unnoticed easily. Nor do I think that every Wizard in the history of Magic would have kept it a secret to themselves, especially considering those wizards were likely to be good and thus would want to share the method of protecting others from the Dark Wizards, no matter how terrible a price it may cost.

Now apparently it can be done for entire GROUPS of people, dozens of them all protected by the willing sacrifice of another. That only makes it even less likely that the phenomenon would go unknown. Voldemort wasn't the first Dark Lord, let alone the first terrible Dark Wizard, not by a long shot. From what is suggested in a book there have been several of them! You think similar circumstances haven't happened before?

It's badly done, it's badly plotted out, it's badly explained. It's put there to support an annoying and, arguably, bad moral that turns out to be the entire point of the series. It's bad all around.