Timothy Bruening
2016-07-17 01:55:06 UTC
Sorry for the subject heading, I couldn't resist. :)
Arthur Weasley -- possibly my favorite character, after Lupin --
marvels at the Muggles' ability to get by without magic. Yet there are
many modern technological conveniences that the magical world seems to
be very much without. I don't intend to list them all here, because I'd
like to discuss one: the absence of a "search engine," be it via the
internet or even the Dewey Decimal System.
As an example, let's take Harry's frantic search for some way to
survive underwater for an hour. WHY didn't he find some reference to
the Bubblehead Charm? If two out of three of the others chose that
method, it's obviously a relatively common charm. Yet for all their
searching, Harry, Ron and Hermione found nothing of the kind.
Why isn't there some kind of reference system? Why isn't there some
kind of charm that sends wands floating along the books, stopping when
a book contains key words or such? For all the magnificence of the
Hogwarts library, it does little good to own thousands of volumes if
you don't know how to find what you need.
I too was amazed that Harry et al couldn't just look up the subject "Underwater Breathing" in the card catalog's subject section, or look up the subject "Nicholas Flamel" in book 1.Arthur Weasley -- possibly my favorite character, after Lupin --
marvels at the Muggles' ability to get by without magic. Yet there are
many modern technological conveniences that the magical world seems to
be very much without. I don't intend to list them all here, because I'd
like to discuss one: the absence of a "search engine," be it via the
internet or even the Dewey Decimal System.
As an example, let's take Harry's frantic search for some way to
survive underwater for an hour. WHY didn't he find some reference to
the Bubblehead Charm? If two out of three of the others chose that
method, it's obviously a relatively common charm. Yet for all their
searching, Harry, Ron and Hermione found nothing of the kind.
Why isn't there some kind of reference system? Why isn't there some
kind of charm that sends wands floating along the books, stopping when
a book contains key words or such? For all the magnificence of the
Hogwarts library, it does little good to own thousands of volumes if
you don't know how to find what you need.
Why didn't they try looking for books about previous Triwizard Tournaments? Such books would surely describe how previous contestants survived underwater!