Repeatable results, within certain tolerances, are a necessary but insufficient condition for planning. If the world is random and planning does not confer an evolutionary advantage, intelligent life would not evolve.

Photons are strange (of course they're natural, it's our thinking that evolved in the macro-level world that is strange), but when you shine a lot of photons of a certain frequency range onto an item, some of them will be absorbed and some will be re-emitted with different frequencies and if some will get into your eyes you will think the color of that item is some frequency you call some name. If you use Moody's eye, and there is a barrier between the eye and the item you wish to observe, or between the source of the photons and the item you wish to observe, you will not be able to discover the color of the item. Not unless you cause photons to violate some laws of physics.

With apologies to Dostoyevsky, if there are no laws of physics everything is permitted. Limitations are necessary for suspense during conflict. Stories about truly omnipotent characters are boring. Some episodes featuring Star Trek's Q come to mind as examples of bad fiction.

So if you violate some laws of physics but wish to still have limitations on what your characters can do, you must state or imply alternate laws of physics. Or a zombie Jesus riding a dinosaur with laser cannon appears and kills Voldemort.

 

Why would Dumbledore need to study Cloak if he did not need it, either to protect others or to complete Hallows, and just in time where Cloak´s rightful owner had a mad murderer after him, his wife and his heir and he certainly needed every advantage ?

Timing of Dumbledore´s borrowing was REALLY unfortunate.

 

Avada Kedavra can go through magic shields and not physical barriers because of the quantum magic tunneling thingy right?~

 

This. Magic can do a great many things, and it's fun to fantasize about being able to use it, but without limitations, it makes stories boring. At what point does the character simply cast the spell superare vinco (the "I win," charm), and we end the book? Consistency with our universe isn't necessary (well, it is, to a degree), but internal consistency is necessary; or, as wolf550e said,

 

Magic need not be limited for the preservation of conflict. All that is required is that people are limited.

Wizards =/= magic.

 

Good point, but I still stand by my other point about internal consistency - that's just a basic rule of the writing trade: one of those things that helps separate shitty stories from good ones.

 

Your point, Voldemorts' father was a MUGGLE

 

In other words, what I said.

Having magic be limited is safer (and better) than making people stupid or incapable as a rule.

 

Unlike Voldemort Harry actually cares about his family, it's a central part of his character. Have fun trying to explain Harry starting to regard his grandparents and their kind as untermensch that should be brought to heel and made to serve the higher beings with superior blood running in their veins.. oops. :facepalm

 

I don't see what preservation of conflict has to do with whether or not magic should satisfy your cartesian view of how the world works. Just because the magic system is consistent and wizards aren't all powerful doesn't mean magic has to behave entirely rationally. JKR considers that some aspects of her magic doesn't work in an a+b=c manner, and I'm fine with that.

And to get back to the initial point, just because the cloak worked one way doesn't mean the stone should work the same way; for one thing the situations aren't close to identical, for another we're talking about different objects.

But of course, if they don't behave how you think they should, either Rowling is an idiot or "zombie Jesus riding a dinosaur with laser cannon appears and kills Voldemort".

 

I only said you need to have some rules and you can't change them in the middle of the story. I said nothing about how the Hallows appear to or should work.

JKR did change the rules while writing the series, but you can work with her rules, amend her rules, do an AU or whatever you want. A good author will not have problems. It just opens up more possibilities, both for authors and fans who speculate about the future of a given story.

Lois McMaster Bujold, whom I consider the best currently working author of speculative fiction in the world, mentioned the term "skiffy thinking" on her mailing list (a multiple Hugo and Nebula award winning author who actively participates in a mailing list about her work, and has been for years): http://lists.herald.co.uk/pipermail/lois-bujold/2011-February/069876.html

When trying to divine the consequences of actions in a story in which there's magic, you must be very careful when trying to apply real world logic. It doesn't work, even when the writer is good. It obviously doesn't work when the writer is not good or when the writer was concentrating only on describing something cool instead of the internal logic in the story.

 

Yes but Voldemorts father left his mother and ergo is the cause for him being raised in the orphanage, Harrys mother loves him and takes care of him, I highly doubt that he would turn against his mother so get your head out of your ass dumbshit.

 

Wai u sew engray?

 

Harry has already showed signs of arrogance and feelings of superiority towards wizards who cannot protect their own mind against outside magical influence (at the Quidditch World Cup) and towards Ron for being a moronic and inferior wizard. He thinks he is better than others and he wants to prove it so that everyone knows it.

I do not think that what elflorddobby said is likely to happen and you make a fair point as to why it is highly improbable. There is no reason yet as to why Harry would end up disliking, hating, enslaving or even kill of the muggles and muggleborns, though a reason could very well be found just around the corner.

His mother being a muggleborn is a very good reason as to what would prevent him from going down this path but it still does not automatically remove any doubt (hope :awesome) of it happening. Hell, he does not even have to dislike them to start some new form of holocaust.

It would not take more than some sort of societal problem to have Harry start thinking more like Grindewald and it would not be a huge leap for him either to go from wanting to learn about magic to start searching for any possible ways of improving his knowledge and mastery over the arcane even if he has to resort to sacrifices.

Seriously, how Voldemort turns, and Harry may turn, dark/evil(whatever label you want to give them) has not nearly as much to do with their parentage but far more to do with their upbringing.

And for False Morality :facepalm please stop acting like a whiny bitch, condescending people and insulting them for arguing against your flawed logic even if you think it is bulletproof. Fact is, its not and you only make yourself look even more stupid.

 

Now you've got me hoping it happens.

Getting expelled from Durmstrang would certainly be a good twist and create some excellent character development(dealing with how he handles it). Though the reactions of his parents and brother would be even more amusing.

 

If it happens, then I wouldn't expect it until after Harry learns to "sense magic". Kosarev has promised to teach him after Harry completes 7th year charms. Harry is in his 6th year of charms class now. I don't think Santi set that up, without intending to capitalise on it later in the story.

 

From what I can gather by skimming posts, most people here seem to be under the assumption that Dark = 'Genocidal Maniac'.

Just because a wizard/witch is Dark, doesn't mean that they would automatically be Voldemort clones/Death Eaters in-training.

 

That would be the Ron Weasley school of thought. Do we have Weasleys in this thread?

 

I have suggested that Harry somehow finds Grindleward reseach notes, but all these comments about Harry caring about his family made me think. His twin brother is being hunted by a psyhcotic Dark Lord, his first instincts should be to protect him.
So he will train and study to help protect his family, he would also study the dark lord. Any chance, would it lead him to the Gaunt and Riddle house.
Did Tommy boy hide his research in his family home, also if Harry found the ring could he use it to aid his studies?

 

I'm curious, syed, why you keep harping on Grindleward's lost notes/research notes/diaries etc. Why are you so sure that Harry's going to find them?