www.accio-quote.org/articles/2006/0801-radiocityreading1.html

 

No. JKR has said that it never helped Filch. HP-Lexicon postulates that the testimonials were from witches and wizards who were simply crap at magic (like Merope) as opposed to actual Squibs.

There was no high horse in this thread. I simply stated a bit of canon and drew conclusions from it - conclusions that it appears that JKR backs-up, looking at the post above this one. Whether or not Muggles can build a supercomputer* really has no relevance to their non-ability to make Potions.

I think it's you who need to stop being so defensive. It's a sure sign that an argument is weak if you have to resort to attacking the person rather than coming up with arguments of your own.

*And can Muggles really build a supercomputer? Certainly not in the same way that a wizard can cast a spell or make a Potion. It takes whole teams of people of various specialisms to make a computer, large companies to get the raw materials, manufacturing firms to make the components, other manufacturing firms to make the machines to make the components, programmers and software specialists, and many many more inputs. Whereas to cast a spell, all a wizard needs is himself, a wand and a wandmaker to make that wand.

They could always learn it from a book.

Are they not? Where does this happen?

I would disagree, and apparently so does JKR.

 

Learning the theory behind the subject is all good and well, but actually doing it is something else entirely. If all you had to do was learn the theory behind it and read a lot of books, more people would be adept at potions.

Filch. He is a squib. Hogwarts has muggle repelling wards on it to make it look like an old ruin, and to make muggles think they have appointments to go to. Since Filch works at Hogwarts and is not affected by the wards, we can conclude that muggle repelling wards do not affect squibs.


Also, despite what JKR says, there is no evidence in canon (besides your Kwikspell point) that Potions requires magic. From canon it appears that Potions is entirely dependent on interactions between ingredients, and nothing more. This is very different from Potions in Dresden Files where it does require magic and emotions. Even if JKR says in an interview that Potions requires "something more" I refuse to believe it because there is no evidence for that theory. JKR can say whatever the fuck she wants in all these interviews where she adds "fixes", but if I don't like it or if it seems contradictory to canon (like this does) then I would completely disregard it.

 

That interview was after HBP came out. Besides, it isn't in any of the books, it shouldn't be canon.

Really I'm attacking your idea that Muggles are filfthy dirty little insects, unworthy of being in the presence of a Pureblood Wizard. It just pisses me off, is all.

Building a supercomputer is infinitely more complicated than waving a stick and saying words. The payoff is enormous - a device that can perform trillions of calculations a second. Yeah, a supercomputer isn't really relevant to potion making, but think about. We have medicine, right? How is that any different from healing potions, other than the method used? What's the difference between morphine and a Pain-Numbing Potion?

They also need the knowledge of the spell, something that most Wizards don't seem to have much of. Ask Joe Pureblood to cast a Patronus. He's most likely to say, "Fuck off, lowly Muggle! I shall summon my house elf to remove you from my presence!", then actually cast the bloody thing.

 

I also, respectfully, disagree. Rowling's little post-series filler just doesn't mesh with the rest of canon. I agree that magic is probably necessary to make the potions work, but that doesn't mean it needs a wizard's magic. Who's to say that the process of brewing a potion doesn't draw from surrounding magic ? Wouldn't that go better with you theory on the non-existence of wizard 'power levels' ? Going with those theories, I add the canon evidence of potions being altered/adjusted to brew faster than standard textbook instructions; I can safely assume that there's a slower way to brew them as well, one involving letting the potion simmer and "collect ambient magic" or whatever. Being a wizard simply means you have the ability to fast-track your potion to completion over a squib or muggle, but the magic involved in potion-brewing, at the most basic level, lies in the magic within the ingredients and collection of ambient magic to substitute for muggle chemical reactions - none of which are necessary for a squib or muggle to provide. Wand-stiring and similiar techniques are simply upgrades.

 

But we also know that once a Muggle has passed the Muggle-repelling wards, they are not effected. For example, the Grangers went to Diagon Alley in CoS. After they were into the Leaky Cauldron, the Muggle repelling spells stopped trying to send them away.

I'm going to ignore your vast exaggeration of my position. Which really has nothing to do with the topic of this thread. Go make another Wizard vs. Muggle thread if you want to argue that.

Not always. Harry cast Sectumsempra right on his first try, without knowing anything but the incantation. People can cook meals from a recipe that they find in a book, without having to be taught it.