Criticisms about the Magical World (Harry Potter only)

[One Last Mith]

...most of them isn't useful for military purposes? Any one of them would have all the military forces in the world sell their first born children and their wives. No logictical problems, no supply lines, no need to care about enemy positions, instant retreat and all other things I can't bother to write about.

Click to shrink...

Again, it's not that easy. Many times, things like resisting mind controlling spells and potions is a biological effect. You can edit the minds of people a few times out of their lives and nothing is likely to go wrong. But if you start using mind control long term? Their body begins to adapt. Especially if they're willful. You MIGHT luck out and get someone whose particularly dull or uninterested in breaking that sort of mind control, but that can't account for a large population.

Eventually, that sort of mind control wears off. Especially if it introduces a lot of contradictions. There is even side-effects when it happens to muggles to often. They think they're a week ahead or behind where they actually are. They start acting oddly or have forgotten things. Worse is that in order to perform all those charms? You need to do it in-person or spike a drink or food. Wizards can handle isolated incidents because they attack key points where information bottle-necks.

An example is say, a giant attack.

First, try to cover the giant's attack by say, conjuring a storm. Most muggles will take cover, sheltering them from both the giant attack and reducing eye witnesses.

Second, you have agents who are prepositioned from the MoM within the information infrastructure of the UK. Newspapers, reporters, and other authority figures who approve or disapprove of certain stories. Sure, a few nosey reporters might slip through the cracks and start pursuing magical stories, but they would just look like nutcases or if they ever become dangerous, can be mind controlled to forget or obtain a new hobby.

Third, after you have limited witness exposure and cut off the spread of information, you send in a crew to clean up those who might have evidence or those local people whose testimony could not be ignored. In the end, people forget and move on.

I am talking about the magical problems bothering the mundane. Things like the time where a Giant attack was disguised as a hurricane etc. They clearly prevent and if they can not, cover them. Otherwise we would have Dementors and such creatures feasting on defenseless populaces.

Click to shrink...

Dementors are not natural magical creatures. I believe it was implied that they were unnatural wizard creations.

I could see it. When everything in the Wizarding world is better than computers we have before 2000s people don't bother looking for computers.

In fact that's the exact thing J.K said;

Click to shrink...

Yep, cultural. And that's okay.

Yea? It's a niche field. That's probably one of the reason why there is an economy in the Wizarding World. People are lazy and look for services that can do that kind of stuff. Though how hard it is debatable as we don't ever see how things like flying cars and such created. It could be as simple as waving a Flying charm or like you said individually charming each and every bolt. But still, my point about Wizards knowing about muggle technology and the fact that they have equivalent if not more advanced technology, be it magical or not.

Click to shrink...

Well we know that large concentrations of magic can interfere with technology. Possibly because the very laws that technology requires to function on are in flux. Now, that might not be much an of an issue for a muggle born wizard who has only a few magical items or spells going on at any given time, but for a more traditional wizard or those in more magically focused regions, it's about as useful as trying to listen to music with blue tooth buds next to a highway at peak hours. It's easier to just use a wire connection.

I can't really reply to this because...well I have outsider perspective to UK or US.

Click to shrink...

Outsider perspective on the UK as well, I'm mostly making conjecture based on what little I do know. But Rowling's understanding of our political landscape was horribly flawed and that translated into the work. That's why there is such a different level of effective analogy between her original works and the prequels, at least those set within the United States. It's also why her House system for America is terribly flawed.

 

[killgore444]

Of course, that's why the last two movies were complete shit. Where as the author was able to identify the political splits and the history of the UK, regardless of how you feel about it, she understood the landscape. She does not understand the American landscape.

Click to shrink...

While I disagreed with a lot of what you said,,,
This is so accurate as to be painful.
And it's not just America, it's everywhere outside of England. She had people in Ireland ranting at her stereotypical English attitude towards the Irish. All Pottermore did while it was up was highlight how English schools have failed it's students as bad as America's. She utterly failed to grasp the differences in culture and attitudes.

As for the whole debate, so much of the books relied on the same thing Star Trek relied on. Needs-of-the-Plot and What-would-be-Cool. And that's OK. Just like ST, it worked well enough to gain a massive audience without be so detailed as to turn most people off. Making it worse, people here are constantly bitching about how the magical world makes no sense, or how all the witches and wizards would have done this or that differently. Yet those same people are often the ones who complain about not understanding their (or others) countries and politics.
This isn't a post about real world politics, but if people can't understand real world political reality, how can you expect them to understand a fake one,

 

[King]

Well, that depends on your view.

If you remember, the wizarding populations actually pretty small and probably well dispersed. If you have maybe only one or two wizarding families in a village with people terrified of you consorting with evil spirits, then them forming an angry mob is probably not good for you. In the 90s configuration, that small and dispersed population can actually be an advantage, as the Wizards have the infrastructure and the institutions to address their fears of exposure.

If you were a wizard who lived before they established a Ministry of Magic to go out and brainwash people--then you either had to be really good at illusion and brainwashing or you were SOL if you were uncovered. If you had a rogue wizard running around causing problems, then you had to rely upon a local hero or power wizard to handle the situation--you couldn't just send an owl to the MoM and wait for them to send an Auror squad to take him out.

Once you combine institutions and infrastructure with those potent magical abilities that probably only a minority of their population has (even if it a large minority), then you're in a fantastic position.

Click to shrink...

You remember that every wizard has access to the equivalent of anti-personal weapons with the capacity to learn spells anywhere the equivalent of heavy weaponry to strategic-scale WMDs right?

But most of those aren't actually useful for military purposes. Most forms of cross-continental transportation either requires a portkey (which will work for anyone who touches it--regardless of intent or magical ability) that require their own security and brooms/flying carpets. That's it. Recall that Voldemort had to fly part of the way from Germany to the UK before apparating to the Malfoy's estate.

Click to shrink...

Hahaha... are you shitting me. There are individual items on the list that would completely break the current military paragram.

It really wasn't. The Potter World was pretty much doing its best to stay out of the affairs of muggles. They generally considered them below their notice to involve themselves with. If anything, they considered them more of a nuisance than anything. Hagrid was pretty clear about how the Wizarding world felt about Muggles; they just don't want to be bothered.

Click to shrink...

I would like to note that the wizarding world had unlimited and unknowable access to the top government officials, and the muggle world doesn't even have widespread knowledge of the wizarding world's existence.

Actually, our computers were not a joke. They're pretty advanced pieces of machinery. The fact that they were equal, superior, or inferior to Wizard equivalents doesn't really address the disinterest that the Wizards had. Because the Wizarding world forged its own institutions at an earlier pace and having done so, were far better off than the average person. Most chores could be done with a flick of a wand and communication through familiars and notes was good enough. And when you spend a few centuries looking at a telephone as a sad imitation of say, using a chimney and a spell to communicate, that becomes embedded in your culture.

Especially when said technology is often not very effective around strong concentrations of magic.

Click to shrink...

I'm struggling to remember what we had in late 1990's to early 2000's that was impressive compared to wizarding world equivalent.

Yes, but how much effort and skilled is required to perform these enchantments? It's not that they can't be done, it's the fact that they aren't common. Look at the absurdity of how it was a scandal to enchant a car to fly or be invisible. Despite the fact that everyone and their retarded cousin uses broomsticks. The only groups that seem to have common use of enchanted cars are Ministry agencies. Mister Weasley did his as a hobby.

It could be as complicated as requiring you disassemble half the car to enchant its various parts before re-assembling it. That would require a degree of curiosity and skill with muggle technology that most wizards simply do not have outside of muggle born, who are probably mostly bored with technology when they can perform magic with a wand.

Click to shrink...

Hey, remember how many people built their car from scratch, even before you account of the customer work required for each individual part that will still result in an inferior transportation product.

Again, it's not that easy. Many times, things like resisting mind controlling spells and potions is a biological effect. You can edit the minds of people a few times out of their lives and nothing is likely to go wrong. But if you start using mind control long term? Their body begins to adapt. Especially if they're willful. You MIGHT luck out and get someone whose particularly dull or uninterested in breaking that sort of mind control, but that can't account for a large population.

Eventually, that sort of mind control wears off. Especially if it introduces a lot of contradictions. There is even side-effects when it happens to muggles to often. They think they're a week ahead or behind where they actually are. They start acting oddly or have forgotten things. Worse is that in order to perform all those charms? You need to do it in-person or spike a drink or food. Wizards can handle isolated incidents because they attack key points where information bottle-necks.

An example is say, a giant attack.

First, try to cover the giant's attack by say, conjuring a storm. Most muggles will take cover, sheltering them from both the giant attack and reducing eye witnesses.

Second, you have agents who are prepositioned from the MoM within the information infrastructure of the UK. Newspapers, reporters, and other authority figures who approve or disapprove of certain stories. Sure, a few nosey reporters might slip through the cracks and start pursuing magical stories, but they would just look like nutcases or if they ever become dangerous, can be mind controlled to forget or obtain a new hobby.

Third, after you have limited witness exposure and cut off the spread of information, you send in a crew to clean up those who might have evidence or those local people whose testimony could not be ignored. In the end, people forget and move on.

Click to shrink...

Cool, mine providing examples? 'Cause, the closest we've seen was Crouch Jr. who was exposed to and resisted Imperio for years before starting to develop anything close to resistance, and even then he required Voldemorts help to turntables. Actually, let's look at just how ridiculous their mind control is:

"When Eloise Mintumble travelled back in time to the year 1402, in 1899, there was a major breach of the laws of time, with catastrophic results. For one, Madam Mintumble was stuck in the 15th century for five days, and when she was finally retrieved to the present, her body had aged five centuries and she later succumbed in St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. Also, there were at least twenty-five people (all of them descendants of people Mintumble had met in the past) who vanished into thin air, effectively becoming un-born. Finally, the Tuesday that followed the ordeal lasted two and a half full days, while the following Thursday lasted only four hours."

That's right. They covered up time breaking down.

Dementors are not natural magical creatures. I believe it was implied that they were unnatural wizard creations.

Click to shrink...

Nuadu, are not and are considered just as deadly as Dementors, possibly more given they breathe out plagues.

Well we know that large concentrations of magic can interfere with technology. Possibly because the very laws that technology requires to function on are in flux. Now, that might not be much an of an issue for a muggle-born wizard who has only a few magical items or spells going on at any given time, but for a more traditional wizard or those in more magically focused regions, it's about as useful as trying to listen to music with blue tooth buds next to a highway at peak hours. It's easier to just use a wire connection.

Click to shrink...

The only place we've seen that happen was Hogwarts, which given that we've seen Diagon Alley in the middle of London makes you suggestion seem ridiculous at best.

 

[Redium]

1.) How does wizarding economy not collapse?
2.) What is the power level of wizards?
3.) Can wards protect you from non-magical bombing?
4.) How did they avoid Satellite images?
5.) Why is Homo Magicus not the dominant race given the evolutionary advantages?
6.) What is the reason why invention and inventors are very rare in the magical world?

Click to shrink...

I think people forget how pathetic most wizards are supposed to be.

OWLs are basically GCSEs, Rowling ripped the idea off from the normal exams that British students take wholesale. They even have six letter grades as well. If we assume wizards do as well on the OWLs as muggles do on GCSEs, then:

1. 1/3 of wizards fail to get Acceptable in any subject.
2. Only 1/2 of wizards get an Acceptable in five subjects.

Even then, an Acceptable likely means 'can cast a spell with a great deal of effort and multiple attempts'. It doesn't mean you're necessarily any good at magic. EE is generally needed to take the course at NEWT level. Neville couldn't take Transfiguration at NEWT level due to his grades and his grandmother apparently couldn't take NEWT Charms for the same reason. These are major wanded subjects that people can't study! Apparently commonly! This suggests that many — perhaps even most — wizards have substantial deficits in their magical education.

NEWTS are even worse. Only 35% of people who take their A-levels (muggle NEWT equivalent) are expected to pass with a 'good' mark and that's after you've filtered out the bottom 50% who can barely cast magic!

Things like Apparation is a really niche skill and it was only because of the Death Eaters that as many people learned it as they did in Harry's 6th year. Better you splinch yourself and die as opposed to be captured and tortured. Most people take the Floo if they're going anywhere. Magical objects are ubiquitous since most wizards aren't that great at magic. They need the support to actually socially function. Ministry workers needing Fred and George's shield hats isn't a sign the Ministry is incompetent but an accurate reflection of the average level of magical ability in the community.

We just don't notice this mirage since someone like Harry or Ron is in the top 20% of wizards even through they're not that strong. The fact that they're taking NEWT classes at all means they're substantially better than average and I'm sorry to say, but Harry and Ron are not super impressive.

People like Dumbledore, Voldemort, and Grindelwald utterly upend the scale and can scarcely be compared to the average wizard. It would be like comparing a normal wizard to a muggle.

 

[killgore444]

I'm struggling to remember what we had in late 1990's to early 2000's that was impressive compared to wizarding world equivalent.

Click to shrink...

Despite myself, I'd have to say the ability to not only talk to anyone anywhere in the world ~Real Time~ but to do so with multiple people via the world wide web was better than anything wizards had.
Having said that, the internet was still a NEW thing for the general population, and few average people had it until the late 90's, early 2000's. AOL here in the U.S. helped immensely, I don't know what the British equivalent was. So few underage magicals would understand this advantage, and almost NO adult would.
Now if the books took place today... It'd be much rougher for them.

Hey, remember how many people built their car from scratch, even before you account of the customer work required for each individual part that will still result in an inferior transportation product.

Click to shrink...

I actually know several people who did this.

"When Eloise Mintumble travelled back in time to the year 1402, in 1899, there was a major breach of the laws of time, with catastrophic results. For one, Madam Mintumble was stuck in the 15th century for five days, and when she was finally retrieved to the present, her body had aged five centuries and she later succumbed in St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. Also, there were at least twenty-five people (all of them descendants of people Mintumble had met in the past) who vanished into thin air, effectively becoming un-born. Finally, the Tuesday that followed the ordeal lasted two and a half full days, while the following Thursday lasted only four hours."

Click to shrink...

What's the source on this? I don't remember this from the main books, was this from that idiotic Cursed Child crap?

I think people forget how pathetic most wizards are supposed to be.

Click to shrink...

Sadly, this is as almost correct as accurate as what Old Myth said about Rowling's lack of understanding about American society.

Things like Apparation is a really niche skill and it was only because of the Death Eaters that as many people learned it as they did in Harry's 6th year. Better you splinch yourself and die as opposed to be captured and tortured. Most people take the Floo if they're going anywhere. Magical objects are ubiquitous since most wizards aren't that great at magic. They need the support to actually socially function. Ministry workers needing Fred and George's shield hats isn't a sign the Ministry is incompetent but an accurate reflection of the average level of magical ability in the community.

Click to shrink...

This need's to be repeated far and wide. Those magic shield cloaks are constantly ignored and forgotten throughout fanfiction.
Of course that begs the question: Why the hell didn't the Trio have them on their journey?

We just don't notice this mirage since someone like Harry or Ron is in the top 20% of wizards even through they're not that strong. The fact that they're taking NEWT classes at all means they're substantially better than average and I'm sorry to say, but Harry and Ron are not super impressive.

Click to shrink...

This is the part I sort of disagree with you. They really are kind of are impressive.

People like Dumbledore, Voldemort, and Grindelwald utterly upend the scale and can scarcely be compared to the average wizard. It would be like comparing a normal wizard to a muggle.

Click to shrink...

I once read something rather interesting; a write up of abilities of magicals vs muggles (on a website long gone). In it was the theory that on average, a magical can defeat/kill 100 muggles of The-Same-Basic-Skill-And-Fitness-Level before being defeated.

So a couch potato wizard could kill 100 couch potato muggles before he goes down, assuming he only fights couch potato's. Were as an Auror could take down about 100 members of the more elite police units and the secondary special operations units (I don't think they get the constant training needed to compare to the S.A.S. or S.B.S.) before someone gets lucky.

This may seem amazing, but the problem is that there are more active duty military personnel in the British military than there is canon magicals. And as has been stated on this thread, the vast majority are mildly incompetent at best.
It's an interesting thought experiment to compare the BIG names of the magical world into this. Were would they stand in training/experiance compared to muggle military? Would they actually be able to wipe the floor with S.A.S., or would they be gunned down after a few individual kills?

To-Shape-and-Change is an interesting read. Chapter 23 specifically due to the duel between Dumbledore and Voldemort, but also the dangers of ignoring the threat of muggles.

Spoiler

Both of them end up almost killed by a single VERY lucky muggle.

 

[Renko]

Yeesh! Lots of Magic Supremacists here I think...

Hagrid was pretty clear about how the Wizarding world felt about Muggles; they just don't want to be bothered.

Click to shrink...

Wow.

They generally considered them below their notice to involve themselves with. If anything, they considered them more of a nuisance than anything.

Click to shrink...

Oh wow...

A tension that is not helped by the probable increase in non magicals entering society,

Click to shrink...

Yep! I see...

For all the amazing and fantastical nature of the wizarding world, one should always remember that most of them consider muggles (i.e. us) as their less fortunate lesser dumb cousins that they will mostly ignore and wouldn't mostly lift a finger to help out in times dire of need.

Even "good" guys like Hagrid and Arthur are still a bit condescending towards muggle folk despite the latter's interest in muggle technology.

I can't blame wizardkind for their elitist attitude though. If you find yourself with amazing abiliies while the rest of the people do not, it's kinda hard not to feel superior over them.

Like people here said, the wizards already got the upper hand against muggle technology and the fact that it also doesn't work where there are large concentration of magical energy only adds icing to the cake!

*sigh*

I guess we really are lesser because while they have magic privilege, we don't.

This planet is already ruled by wizards and it's been like for thousands of years. Hell, it may be the only reason why muggles even exists. There are plenty of magical predators and races that would have caused the extinction of muggles without Wizards.

Click to shrink...

Great.

Not only we have to deal with magical supremacists and bigots, we have to deal with a magical illuminati too!?

 

[Maragas]

Great.

Not only we have to deal with magical supremacists and bigots, we have to deal with a magical illuminati too!?

Click to shrink...

Yep, its named Magical World Order not New World Order.

At least that's how I see it when Fudge can show up whenever he wants, boss around Prime Minister, reschedule PMs and some other Presidents schedule (which is implied to be American President) and then reveal the best aid PM had for the last few months has been a wizard and nobody realized it.

 

[King]

Despite myself, I'd have to say the ability to not only talk to anyone anywhere in the world ~Real Time~ but to do so with multiple people via the world wide web was better than anything wizards had.
Having said that, the internet was still a NEW thing for the general population, and few average people had it until the late 90's, early 2000's. AOL here in the U.S. helped immensely, I don't know what the British equivalent was. So few underage magicals would understand this advantage, and almost NO adult would.
Now if the books took place today... It'd be much rougher for them.

Click to shrink...

If we forget the connective mirrors, floor network and the Patronus then sure, but then that would be forgetting everything that they do have that is comparable. In comparison, real-time visual and audio facetiming off the to of my head came out in 2010 or so, which was, for the record, more than ten years after the battle at Hogwarts, discounting the epilogue. So... uh... not really a point against wizards.

I actually know several people who did this.

Click to shrink...

Several people out of how many of all the people you know? I'm honestly curious.

What's the source on this? I don't remember this from the main books, was this from that idiotic Cursed Child crap?

Click to shrink...

Pottermore. It was the fluff surrounding the issues with travelling more the 20+ years into the past.

 

[mannan]

People also forget that the magical world does advance.

Heck we know that mew models of brooms are released every few years. Harry's Nimbus 2000 was supplanted by the 2001 a year after and then by the Firebolt a year or so after that.

It's just the wizarding world has different priorities and their technology takes the form of spells and potions.

While the forefront of mundane research covers genetic engineering, quantum computing, and artificial intelligence wizards are researching time travel, death, and thought.

If you have to set the wizarding world in the 2010s then you also have to add on a further 20 years of spell development than what canon has.

 

[Daonexus]

Oh wow, looks like the thread has been a little active lately, As the thread starter I will give you guys my overall point of view, will be that "Wizards could have put more effort". Because while it may not seem like much, the thing that struck me the most about the wizarding world was the lack of entertainment. While the wizarding world has quidditch, quadpot, I find myself imagining myself getting bored without any TV, or Youtube. Now as many of you pointed out before, they had already invented the means to have video calls as seen with the magic mirrors, so making a TV would have been easy, but it has been largely avoided.

I will admit that computers, as we know them, weren't as advanced in 1990, but if the wizarding world bothered to look into it you would find that it would have been massively helpful in simulating spell models maybe even stopping deaths of people like Pandora Lovegood. They could have even been able to digitise the library and let you use an ebook instead so as to not risk damaging or worse losing the precious books. Just look at the number of books in the room of lost things.

Just how many books would have been hidden there because some ahole who read from a book found it very helpful, but didn't want other magical to have the advantage to have the book so he hid it in the RoR. Now, unfortunately, what I have found is that many books haven't been mass printed ever, so it may very well be one of the last ones. The whole debacle may have set back wizarding innovation for decades.

In summary, there are some things I love in the wizarding world like being able to clean the room, with a few flicks of a wand (I like cleanliness, but I am lazy), or able to make pieces of magic that are so far advanced from the regular world it isn't even funny. But still, I probably would be driven mad, by the very few things to do in the wizarding world.

 

[AMARDA]

Oh wow, looks like the thread has been a little active lately, As the thread starter I will give you guys my overall point of view, will be that "Wizards could have put more effort". Because while it may not seem like much, the thing that struck me the most about the wizarding world was the lack of entertainment. While the wizarding world has quidditch, quadpot, I find myself imagining myself getting bored without any TV, or Youtube. Now as many of you pointed out before, they had already invented the means to have video calls as seen with the magic mirrors, so making a TV would have been easy, but it has been largely avoided.

I will admit that computers, as we know them, weren't as advanced in 1990, but if the wizarding world bothered to look into it you would find that it would have been massively helpful in simulating spell models maybe even stopping deaths of people like Pandora Lovegood. They could have even been able to digitise the library and let you use an ebook instead so as to not risk damaging or worse losing the precious books. Just look at the number of books in the room of lost things.

Just how many books would have been hidden there because some ahole who read from a book found it very helpful, but didn't want other magical to have the advantage to have the book so he hid it in the RoR. Now, unfortunately, what I have found is that many books haven't been mass printed ever, so it may very well be one of the last ones. The whole debacle may have set back wizarding innovation for decades.

In summary, there are some things I love in the wizarding world like being able to clean the room, with a few flicks of a wand (I like cleanliness, but I am lazy), or able to make pieces of magic that are so far advanced from the regular world it isn't even funny. But still, I probably would be driven mad, by the very few things to do in the wizarding world.

Click to shrink...

On the subject of computers, you are probably going to look at a lag time of about ten years, as the early computers are little better then things like self searching books or the like. It's only when you get to say Windows 95 or 98 that things really start to take off in that regard. You show a Wizard a DOS based machine and they would scoff at how worthless it is. You show them a Windows 95 machine and they would start to see the utility of it.

Remember, it's not just Wizards, but all of Humanity that struggles to invision massive paradigm shifting things. Like, when Computers were first taking off, people selling them could not even imagine why the average person would want a computer at all. Hell, you try and explain that in 2010 that every person would have a pocket computer in the 90's and you would be laughed at due to how outlandish is might seem.

 

[One Last Mith]

You remember that every wizard has access to the equivalent of anti-personal weapons with the capacity to learn spells anywhere the equivalent of heavy weaponry to strategic-scale WMDs right?

Click to shrink...

I actually don't. Would you care to present your evidence sir?

Hahaha... are you shitting me. There are individual items on the list that would completely break the current military paragram.

Click to shrink...

Do tell.

I would like to note that the wizarding world had unlimited and unknowable access to the top government officials, and the muggle world doesn't even have widespread knowledge of the wizarding world's existence.

Click to shrink...

Which is great for keeping things contained and avoiding a confrontation in the first place. It doesn't mean that they are able to or inclined to run the muggle world. Because if it were so easy, they would have done it. The truth is they probably lack the ability and they certainly lack the will.

I'm struggling to remember what we had in late 1990's to early 2000's that was impressive compared to wizarding world equivalent.

Click to shrink...

I would recommend studying a history book.

Hey, remember how many people built their car from scratch, even before you account of the customer work required for each individual part that will still result in an inferior transportation product.

Click to shrink...

That's fantastic. Very few of them were wizards though. Muggle technology was never well understood. Ron had trouble understanding how a phone worked. Even his father, who took an interest in what was considered an obscure field, had difficulty using currency or getting on a train. A child could do better.

In fact, the child with him did do better.

Cool, mine providing examples? 'Cause, the closest we've seen was Crouch Jr. who was exposed to and resisted Imperio for years before starting to develop anything close to resistance, and even then he required Voldemorts help to turntables. Actually, let's look at just how ridiculous their mind control is:

Click to shrink...

Yes and his father began resisting the curse within the same year. Or did you forget that Jr had to murder his father to keep him quiet? You're going to have variation on the scale, especially depending upon the skill of the caster. And of course, we can look to the park ranger or grounds keeper at the Quidditch Cup, who had repeatedly had his mind altered and thus began to suffer side effects. And that was in a relatively short time frame.

You keep doing that to someone who works in government and they're soon going to be unable to function properly.

"When Eloise Mintumble travelled back in time to the year 1402, in 1899, there was a major breach of the laws of time, with catastrophic results. For one, Madam Mintumble was stuck in the 15th century for five days, and when she was finally retrieved to the present, her body had aged five centuries and she later succumbed in St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. Also, there were at least twenty-five people (all of them descendants of people Mintumble had met in the past) who vanished into thin air, effectively becoming un-born. Finally, the Tuesday that followed the ordeal lasted two and a half full days, while the following Thursday lasted only four hours."

That's right. They covered up time breaking down.

Click to shrink...

Congratulations, they managed to avoid a scandal almost 40 years before the printing press was invented and almost 400 years before widespread literacy in Europe.

You must be so proud.

Nuadu, are not and are considered just as deadly as Dementors, possibly more given they breathe out plagues.

Click to shrink...

Post some information then.

The only place we've seen that happen was Hogwarts, which given that we've seen Diagon Alley in the middle of London makes you suggestion seem ridiculous at best.

Click to shrink...

Without knowing the full geography of spatial distancing in and around Diagon Alley, you really don't have an argument. The wizards can successfully hide entire train platforms within a relatively small geography, so there is really no telling how much of a buffer space they have between Diagon Alley and the rest of London or what sort of magical precautions are in place.

 

[WargWolf]

Yeah, My theory is that even though the magic gene is super dominant it needs activation conditions like being in a magically rich area for some time etc, which is probably how muggleborn's are born.

Click to shrink...

That's actually not true as Squibs exist. For those who don't know, Squibs are people born from wizard and/or witch parents that... simply lack magic. There's no real reason why they can't cast spells. They just... can't. They weren't born with the gene somehow.

1.) How does wizarding economy not collapse?

Click to shrink...

Goblins. Literally, just the Goblins. They run England's only known "magical bank", which is where most, if not all, English Wizards and Witches store their money and treasure. In fact, thanks to how old Wizarding Society is, it's entirely possible that Gringrotts, or however you spell it, was founded centuries before the start of the books, and that the Goblins have had a looooonnnnngggggg time to get the Wizarding Economy up and running.

3.) Can wards protect you from non-magical bombing?

Click to shrink...

I mean, we know they have defensive spells that can reflect spells back at their opponents. So it's entirely possible that someone made a ward that simply sends bombs flying up into the air and have them explode away from their target. Or they simply could have a ward that makes bombers fly over their houses and make them bomb "muggle" houses and buildings instead.

4.) How did they avoid Satellite images?

Click to shrink...

They already have wizards that guard the Prime Minister with no trouble on the "muggle side" of things, so it's entirely possible that they could charm a satellite so it doesn't pick up anything magical.

5.) Why is Homo Magicus not the dominant race given the evolutionary advantages?

Click to shrink...

... Squibs are a thing, along with "Pure Blood" idiots. So, not only do you have "Pure Bloods" who demean anyone who marries a Muggle and look down upon Muggle-Born, not every kid of a magical person will be born with the ability to use magic.

6.) What is the reason why invention and inventors are very rare in the magical world?

Click to shrink...

They're not. Heck, on their own, at least in the video game adaptation of the Order Of The Phoenix, they managed to make "portable swamps". Plant one down somewhere, light its fuse, and bamb, instant swamp with living plans and actual swamp water. And that's when they where still in Hogwarts. So, magical inventions and inventors aren't rare, it's just that they don't really focus on making things that will help them conquer the planet or colonize other planets or such.

Also, Hogwarts did have history classes. Multiple depending on how you count it.

Click to shrink...

One of which was taught by the ghost of a deceased Hogwarts professor who decided that dying wasn't going to stop him from doing his job. Kinda sad we never got to see him in the movies, even if the books did describe him as being the most boring teacher at Hogwarts. And, as I don't really know what else it could be about, there was also a class called "Muggle Studies", which I imagine was mostly about teaching students about Muggles and non-magical history.

 

[S.I.N]

Oh wow, looks like the thread has been a little active lately, As the thread starter I will give you guys my overall point of view, will be that "Wizards could have put more effort". Because while it may not seem like much, the thing that struck me the most about the wizarding world was the lack of entertainment. While the wizarding world has quidditch, quadpot, I find myself imagining myself getting bored without any TV, or Youtube. Now as many of you pointed out before, they had already invented the means to have video calls as seen with the magic mirrors, so making a TV would have been easy, but it has been largely avoided.

I will admit that computers, as we know them, weren't as advanced in 1990, but if the wizarding world bothered to look into it you would find that it would have been massively helpful in simulating spell models maybe even stopping deaths of people like Pandora Lovegood. They could have even been able to digitise the library and let you use an ebook instead so as to not risk damaging or worse losing the precious books. Just look at the number of books in the room of lost things.

Just how many books would have been hidden there because some ahole who read from a book found it very helpful, but didn't want other magical to have the advantage to have the book so he hid it in the RoR. Now, unfortunately, what I have found is that many books haven't been mass printed ever, so it may very well be one of the last ones. The whole debacle may have set back wizarding innovation for decades.

In summary, there are some things I love in the wizarding world like being able to clean the room, with a few flicks of a wand (I like cleanliness, but I am lazy), or able to make pieces of magic that are so far advanced from the regular world it isn't even funny. But still, I probably would be driven mad, by the very few things to do in the wizarding world.

Click to shrink...

We really don't know what wizards do for entertainment because Harry is the pov Harry doesn't think about that stuff or wizard culture they could have many games and clubs and different types of entertainment. A good examples.the choir is actually canon as is ghoul study's one the choir shows there could be numerous clubs Harry doesn't pay any attention to. Ghoul study's also seems to be extra curricular, wizards also apparently love rugby, Harry knows nothing about this.

 

[killgore444]

If we forget the connective mirrors, floor network and the Patronus then sure, but then that would be forgetting everything that they do have that is comparable. In comparison, real-time visual and audio facetiming off the to of my head came out in 2010 or so, which was, for the record, more than ten years after the battle at Hogwarts, discounting the epilogue. So... uh... not really a point against wizards.

Click to shrink...

Not quite.
The mirrors were invented by the Marauders while they were in Hogwarts. No one else ever found out about them until Harry got one from Sirius. Dumbledore didn't know about them, Malfoy didn't, etc. If no one in a society knows about them, then they aren't relevant to the society as a whole. GPS was invented in the 70's, but it wasn't until the late 90's when it became accessible to anyone outside of the US military/intelligence community, thus not relevant to society. The mirrors are the same.
Likewise, very specifically in the books, Dumbledore invented the way to use a Patronus as communication and told only the members of the OotP. Thus that becomes irrelevant to society. Besides, very few people can cast the Patronus. And even disregarding this, a Patronus spoke outloud, meaning you had no privacy if the recipient was around other people.
As for the Floo network: a] it can only access 1 place at a time. b] It can only access those floo's on the same network. c] There is no indication that they can reach long distance (the only example in canon of anyone leaving England by magic, he flies until he's close enough to appiarate). d] It can't STORE what was said for later reading. Granted, pictures can do that, but the non portrait pictures shown in canon are very limited.
By the mid 90's, while somewhat rare, car phones (and a limited number of actual mobile phones) was available to civilian use, and pagers had become very common.

Several people out of how many of all the people you know? I'm honestly curious.

Click to shrink...

Quite a few actually, but that was the type of people I hung out with then. Of the group of people I was part of in high school, I was the only one who didn't build his own car or motorcycle [back in the day before they were all computerized).
And yes, I know that isn't normal for most people, but then most wizards and witches don't know how to make a vast majority of the enchanted items shown in the books. If they did, then just like cars, there'd be no reason to buy them.

Pottermore. It was the fluff surrounding the issues with travelling more the 20+ years into the past.

Click to shrink...

So not really canon.

As the thread starter I will give you guys my overall point of view, will be that "Wizards could have put more effort". Because while it may not seem like much, the thing that struck me the most about the wizarding world was the lack of entertainment. While the wizarding world has quidditch, quadpot, I find myself imagining myself getting bored without any TV, or Youtube.

Click to shrink...

There is a REASON families such as the Weasleys are so big.
Families such as the Malfoys on the other hand,probably do what the rich aristocrats and nobility did in past years, hold elaborate balls and get togethers. You'd have things like plays, concerts, etc, just like muggles in the past. Wizarding society is shown in canon as being conservative and slow to change. This is made worse when you consider the age of the people making the decisions.
Then there are those that are more into causing pain and misery as entertainment. Think about all items that Mr Weasley was complaining about. Idol hands are the devils playground after all.

Now as many of you pointed out before, they had already invented the means to have video calls as seen with the magic mirrors, so making a TV would have been easy, but it has been largely avoided.

Click to shrink...

And as I point out above, not really.

I will admit that computers, as we know them, weren't as advanced in 1990, but if the wizarding world bothered to look into it you would find that it would have been massively helpful in simulating spell models maybe even stopping deaths of people like Pandora Lovegood. They could have even been able to digitise the library and let you use an ebook instead so as to not risk damaging or worse losing the precious books. Just look at the number of books in the room of lost things.

Click to shrink...

Magic disrupts electronics (maybe non electronic technology as well), so this wouldn't be easy. Besides, when you consider what happened to the Weasley's car, do you REALLY want to put that much magic into a computer?

Just how many books would have been hidden there because some ahole who read from a book found it very helpful, but didn't want other magical to have the advantage to have the book so he hid it in the RoR.

Click to shrink...

And what happens when all that digitized magic knowledge gains sapience and decides to go free like the car? At best, all your secret spells are known to every wizard with a computer, at worst it paints wizards in a bad light as it reveals the magical world to muggles. This is a horrible breach of the SoS, assuming it's even possible.

In summary, there are some things I love in the wizarding world like being able to clean the room, with a few flicks of a wand (I like cleanliness, but I am lazy), or able to make pieces of magic that are so far advanced from the regular world it isn't even funny. But still, I probably would be driven mad, by the very few things to do in the wizarding world.

Click to shrink...

Oh, I agree on this. There are things on both sides that are so far beyond the comprehension of the other side as to be absurd. Any actual open warfare would result in a Pyrrhic victory at best for whichever side could claim it.

I mean, we know they have defensive spells that can reflect spells back at their opponents. So it's entirely possible that someone made a ward that simply sends bombs flying up into the air and have them explode away from their target. Or they simply could have a ward that makes bombers fly over their houses and make them bomb "muggle" houses and buildings instead.

Click to shrink...

While a possibility, the canon portrayal of wizards suggests otherwise. The man who is actually interested in muggle technology doesn't understand, or even know the name of, firearms. On the other hand, Riddle lived in muggle London during the air war over England, so chances are he knows a LOT more than most wizards.

They already have wizards that guard the Prime Minister with no trouble on the "muggle side" of things, so it's entirely possible that they could charm a satellite so it doesn't pick up anything magical.

Click to shrink...

This works until just after 2000 when private companies started putting up their own. Google Earth would come as a complete shock to the ICW. By 2012, they'd need to have so many people in so many different tech firms they'd need to start mandating muggle tech classes in magical schools.

They're not. Heck, on their own, at least in the video game adaptation of the Order Of The Phoenix, they managed to make "portable swamps". Plant one down somewhere, light its fuse, and bamb, instant swamp with living plans and actual swamp water. And that's when they where still in Hogwarts. So, magical inventions and inventors aren't rare, it's just that they don't really focus on making things that will help them conquer the planet or colonize other planets or such.

Click to shrink...

The swamp thing was canon in the books as well. Having said that, magical innovation is very limited and slow. The only ones actually shown doing so in canon are Dumbledore, the twins, and Luna's Mum, who dies doing so. When 1 out of ever 4 innovators dies, it tends to curtail the interest in doing so among the rest of people. And don't even try and claim what the twins were doing wasn't dangerous, that is VERY canon that it is.

 

[mannan]

We know that Wizards do have R&D. The entire department of Mysteries is considered the area where they perform confidential research.

From that, we can affirm that normal R&D efforts are performed regularly.

The Nimbus racing broom company probably has wizards developing better and better.

Its just never really given attention. Harry Is actually quite a jock and usually has other matters.

The daily prophet has a section on it that covers recent potion developments.

The Wizarding world does advance, it's just that it is given just as much attention as research and development are given in the real world, not that much for the common man.

 

[King]

I actually don't. Would you care to present your evidence sir?

Click to shrink...

Peter Pettigrew, who pretty much everyone agreed was a scrub at magic used Confringo to blow up twelve people at once. On the other end of the spectrum, Grindlewald was going to use Protego Diabolica to wipe Paris off the maps.

Do tell.

Click to shrink...

Off the top of my head, you can drop armies on top of your enemies, casually ignore all muggle logistical concerns, have reinforcements from the future.

But really, that's just the sideshow to the mind rape, which...

Which is great for keeping things contained and avoiding a confrontation in the first place. It doesn't mean that they are able to or inclined to run the muggle world. Because if it were so easy, they would have done it. The truth is they probably lack the ability and they certainly lack the will.

Click to shrink...

They lack the will, but their ability to wipe and rewrite memories, mess with, and alter perceptions and just straight up mental domination means that they almost certainly have the ability.

I would recommend studying a history book.

Click to shrink...

I would too, given the fact that you've failed to come up with anything comparable.

That's fantastic. Very few of them were wizards though. Muggle technology was never well understood. Ron had trouble understanding how a phone worked. Even his father, who took an interest in what was considered an obscure field, had difficulty using currency or getting on a train. A child could do better.


In fact, the child with him did do better.

Click to shrink...

Still waiting on flying family car that the hobbyist built that was comparable to what they had in early 2000's.

Yes and his father began resisting the curse within the same year. Or did you forget that Jr had to murder his father to keep him quiet? You're going to have variation on the scale, especially depending upon the skill of the caster. And of course, we can look to the park ranger or grounds keeper at the Quidditch Cup, who had repeatedly had his mind altered and thus began to suffer side effects. And that was in a relatively short time frame.

You keep doing that to someone who works in government and they're soon going to be unable to function properly.

Click to shrink...

Laughs in Gilderoy, who spent most of his life rewriting people's memories without anyone figuring out... actually...

Congratulations, they managed to avoid a scandal almost 40 years before the printing press was invented and almost 400 years before widespread literacy in Europe.

You must be so proud.

Click to shrink...

I see you're projecting since wherever you came from must have seriously poor reading development given that it was explicitly said that the ordeal happened after she returned. I also extend that to writing skills if you seriously think that two world-altering events wouldn't result in everyone and their mother having personal writings about how time broke.

I further extend that to intellectual development given the fact that you fail to get that the wizarding world wiped everyone's memories of the Tuesday that followed lasting two and a half full days, while the Thursday lasting a sixth of a day.

Post some information then.

Click to shrink...

Ah. Apologies its called a Nundu. Anyway it wiki description says:

"It moved silently, despite its "gigantic" size and was considered by some to be the most dangerous creature alive. The breath of the Nundu was toxic and filled with disease so potent that it can wipe out entire villages of people."

It then goes on to say that they were more dangerous than dragons and needed at least 100 wizards to subdue. Also on ridiculously lethal natural magic creatures have the Dementor's natural cousins the Lethifold.

Without knowing the full geography of spatial distancing in and around Diagon Alley, you really don't have an argument. The wizards can successfully hide entire train platforms within a relatively small geography, so there is really no telling how much of a buffer space they have between Diagon Alley and the rest of London or what sort of magical precautions are in place.

Click to shrink...

...Diagon Alley is behind a bar in London. Platform 9 3/4 was in King's Cross station. So... I don't get what you're trying to say?

One of which was taught by the ghost of a deceased Hogwarts professor who decided that dying wasn't going to stop him from doing his job. Kinda sad we never got to see him in the movies, even if the books did describe him as being the most boring teacher at Hogwarts. And, as I don't really know what else it could be about, there was also a class called "Muggle Studies", which I imagine was mostly about teaching students about Muggles and non-magical history.

Click to shrink...

Ancient Studies and Ghoul Studies are the most obvious, admittedly they were noted to be extra-curricular activities. Depending on how you count them you could make an argument on Defense and maybe Ancient Runes both requiring research into history.

Not quite.
The mirrors were invented by the Marauders while they were in Hogwarts. No one else ever found out about them until Harry got one from Sirius. Dumbledore didn't know about them, Malfoy didn't, etc. If no one in a society knows about them, then they aren't relevant to the society as a whole. GPS was invented in the 70's, but it wasn't until the late 90's when it became accessible to anyone outside of the US military/intelligence community, thus not relevant to society. The mirrors are the same.
Likewise, very specifically in the books, Dumbledore invented the way to use a Patronus as communication and told only the members of the OotP. Thus that becomes irrelevant to society. Besides, very few people can cast the Patronus. And even disregarding this, a Patronus spoke outloud, meaning you had no privacy if the recipient was around other people.
As for the Floo network: a] it can only access 1 place at a time. b] It can only access those floo's on the same network. c] There is no indication that they can reach long distance (the only example in canon of anyone leaving England by magic, he flies until he's close enough to appiarate). d] It can't STORE what was said for later reading. Granted, pictures can do that, but the non portrait pictures shown in canon are very limited.
By the mid 90's, while somewhat rare, car phones (and a limited number of actual mobile phones) was available to civilian use, and pagers had become very common.

Click to shrink...

There's also the Protean Charm which let whatever happened to one thing happen to others, which could be used to transmit information and was noted to probably have been used to create the marauder's mirror, but yeah there isn't that may mass communication methods.

Admittedly, I chalked it up to multiple methods of easy transport for wizards if they really wanted to talk.

Quite a few actually, but that was the type of people I hung out with then. Of the group of people I was part of in high school, I was the only one who didn't build his own car or motorcycle [back in the day before they were all computerized).
And yes, I know that isn't normal for most people, but then most wizards and witches don't know how to make a vast majority of the enchanted items shown in the books. If they did, then just like cars, there'd be no reason to buy them.

Click to shrink...

To be fair, laziness always prevails. Theoretically, everyone should know how to cook meals, do plumbing, be an electrician, mechanic and etc. to save money costs... but like, let's be real here.

So not really canon.

Click to shrink...

Written on Pottermore by J.K. Rowling. So...

 

[Maragas]

So not really canon.

Click to shrink...

Canon, especially because it's not just a twitter post.

 

[killgore444]

Peter Pettigrew, who pretty much everyone agreed was a scrub at magic used Confringo to blow up twelve people at once. On the other end of the spectrum, Grindlewald was going to use Protego Diabolica to wipe Paris off the maps.

Click to shrink...

The idea that Peter was actually bad at magic doesn't hold up. That is bashing being done by Sirius, and misremembering being done by McGonegal; "Oh that poor, poor dear. He never was any good at transfiguration (while the poor dear is busy turning into a rat). You have to remember, people in the books are constantly belittling each other. How many times has Ron and Harry called Draco an incompetent moron? How many times as Snape said the same about Harry? Just because someone says someone is bad at magic, doesn't mean he is.

There's also the Protean Charm which let whatever happened to one thing happen to others, which could be used to transmit information and was noted to probably have been used to create the marauder's mirror, but yeah there isn't that may mass communication methods

Click to shrink...

Yeah, that charm is what I always assumed as well, but no one actually recognized it for what it was, so...

To be fair, laziness always prevails. Theoretically, everyone should know how to cook meals, do plumbing, be an electrician, mechanic and etc. to save money costs... but like, let's be real here.

Click to shrink...

We are LONG past the time were that was possible for anyone that has a profession other then working on homes. In the early 90s, before computers had taken over everything, it might have been possible to understand a good chunk of everything needed to keep a modern house working. But there is a reason that handyman is an occupation that pays pretty well. Skill degradation is a thing, and unless you're constantly using handyman skills, you aren't going to be any good at it. Very important if you ever plan to sell your home.

Written on Pottermore by J.K. Rowling. So...

Click to shrink...

Canon, especially because it's not just a twitter post.

Click to shrink...

Link then.
The reason I say that the only thing canon is the first 7 books (besides the movies being crap) is that websites can be edited and changed. What was said can be deleted, and the site can go away. Indeed, that is what happened.
Besides, all Pottermore did was show that English schools failed England as badly as U.S. schools failed us here. At least as far as anything outside of England was concerned.
It's kind of hard to take it seriously when she so messed up the basic culture. She made the magical world of England a parody of England, then made the magical world of the rest of the countries a parody of magical England.
Not something that can be taken as seriously. Even more so since several things she said on it directly contridicted what she said in the books.

 

[Maragas]

Link then.

Click to shrink...

Time-Turner | Wizarding World

 

[King]

The idea that Peter was actually bad at magic doesn't hold up. That is bashing being done by Sirius, and misremembering being done by McGonegal; "Oh that poor, poor dear. He never was any good at transfiguration (while the poor dear is busy turning into a rat). You have to remember, people in the books are constantly belittling each other. How many times has Ron and Harry called Draco an incompetent moron? How many times as Snape said the same about Harry? Just because someone says someone is bad at magic, doesn't mean he is.

Click to shrink...

Sure, but nothing we see contradicts their words. However, if you want another example, Crabbe and fiendfyre then. I'm pretty sure nothing we've seen marks him as being skilled at magic.

Anyway, the original point I was making was that wizards are all hilariously armed, and the old "muggle with a shotgun" is ridiculous fandom bullshit.

We are LONG past the time were that was possible for anyone that has a profession other then working on homes. In the early 90s, before computers had taken over everything, it might have been possible to understand a good chunk of everything needed to keep a modern house working. But there is a reason that handyman is an occupation that pays pretty well. Skill degradation is a thing, and unless you're constantly using handyman skills, you aren't going to be any good at it. Very important if you ever plan to sell your home.

Click to shrink...

I feel that could be pretty much applied to wizards as well.

 

[Sol Mark-1]

I think Wizards even with all of their magic wouldn't have a good time dealing with an Atomic Bomb. We never know if Wizards know of radioactive poisoning.

My personal opinion is that Time-Turners shouldn't have been introduced into the story.

 

[Evillevi]

I think Wizards even with all of their magic wouldn't have a good time dealing with an Atomic Bomb. We never know if Wizards know of radioactive poisoning.

My personal opinion is that Time-Turners shouldn't have been introduced into the story.

Click to shrink...

I'm pretty sure neither would hte millions of muggles, the largest part of the muggle economy, or the head of goverment.

All Wizarding hubs are located right in Muggle capitals (whether economic or political). if their Dimension magic can contain a nuke, it can keep out a nuke. And if it can't everything around it dies.

 

[Sol Mark-1]

I doubt even a lot of the strongest magical defense fields would stand the temperatures, the strength of the wind, or the radiation.

-----
We also have to remember that Rowling loves to retcon things.

 

[mannan]

I think Wizards even with all of their magic wouldn't have a good time dealing with an Atomic Bomb. We never know if Wizards know of radioactive poisoning.

My personal opinion is that Time-Turners shouldn't have been introduced into the story.

Click to shrink...

And I doubt the muggle world can counter their world leaders being imperiused or having a horde of dementors are released into their cities.

In a way it might be even better. At least the dementors would leave the infrastructure intact.

 

[killgore444]

Sure, but nothing we see contradicts their words. However, if you want another example, Crabbe and fiendfyre then. I'm pretty sure nothing we've seen marks him as being skilled at magic.

Click to shrink...

How about the fact that he's actually in NEWT level classes?
All the classes require an EE or better on OWLs to advance to NEWT level. We know he wasn't in potions, and I doubt Hagrid, do to his behavior, allowed him in CoMC, that leaves Charms, transfiguration and maybe runes or arithamicy.
I once read a write up on the books, several pages per book. One of the things noted was that Crabbe was actually pretty good, and Draco knew from year 1, and both Crabbe and Goyle were smarter than people thought. It's never revealed in canon what extra classes they took other than CoMC and NOT Divination, but they were required to take two. Regretfully, the site went away a long time ago. It was a good one to. If I remember right, whoever did was posting her homework assignments on in-depth analysis of books, and she was going for good grades.

Anyway, the original point I was making was that wizards are all hilariously armed, and the old "muggle with a shotgun" is ridiculous fandom bullshit.

Click to shrink...

As I said above, a wizard should be able to take out 100 muggles of roughly the same skill and fitness level in open combat, as long as they aren't all at once, before going down. But no matter how well armed compared to muggles, there is always skill, chance, human error, human will and just random crap that goes into a fight.
And remember, there are a LOT of muggles that have received actual combat training. England's active military is larger than the canon magical population. The number of ex-military is a lot higher.

I feel that could be pretty much applied to wizards as well.

Click to shrink...

I've mentioned that several times in this thread.

 

[Vallan.Mandrake]

- Why is enchanting (even short duration/one use) not more dominant in Fights (Flying projectiles, AK catchers, traps, pokemon) - preparation should be key? Is it actually that difficult (Maybe - brooms appear to be very expensive)?

- Poor wizards. How? Is there an auto-detection system that prevents selling to muggles? Transfiguration/Conjuration not permanent (I would say so)?

- Why do wizards/werewolves etc put up with that discrimination etc - and not just raise/claim etc. an island somewhere (see fic "Island in the sun")? I mean muggles can't because it's expensive and they can't remain hidden from govs till they are strong enough, but these are not wizard problems.

-As GM you need to choose how magic actually works (there are several different examples in fanfic) because 100% will players try to get/create OP magic. The books got away without any explanation, because Harry etc. were normal(ish) kids and not power hungry power gamers.

 

[SuperMod]

how all the students on Quidditch teams dont die of exposure or pneumonia. Theyre up in the back end of scotland, canonically nude save for underwear in the robes (going by snapes pensieve memory) theyre up high, flying at serious speeds and they play in autumn and winter through the wind the rain and the storms, and the matches literally dont end until someone gets the snitch, could be minutes could be the entire day

 

[killgore444]

- Why is enchanting (even short duration/one use) not more dominant in Fights (Flying projectiles, AK catchers, traps, pokemon) - preparation should be key? Is it actually that difficult (Maybe - brooms appear to be very expensive)?

Click to shrink...

Only the really good brooms are expensive.
This is something I agree with though. Harry had access to the twins merchandise, and was specifically shown the Protego clothing line, so why wasn't he wearing some?
I generally like Harry Potter more then Dresdenfiles (although I DO like it), but this is something that Dresdenfiles does right. Every time Dresden has more than a day to prepare for an enemy, he wins.

- Poor wizards. How? Is there an auto-detection system that prevents selling to muggles? Transfiguration/Conjuration not permanent (I would say so)?

Click to shrink...

I would say either was a possibility. They had auto-detect of underage magic.

- Why do wizards/werewolves etc put up with that discrimination etc - and not just raise/claim etc. an island somewhere (see fic "Island in the sun")? I mean muggles can't because it's expensive and they can't remain hidden from govs till they are strong enough, but these are not wizard problems.

Click to shrink...

The ICW.
And the ICW can use magic too.

-As GM you need to choose how magic actually works (there are several different examples in fanfic) because 100% will players try to get/create OP magic. The books got away without any explanation, because Harry etc. were normal(ish) kids and not power hungry power gamers.

Click to shrink...

The books got away with it because it was needed for the plot. Same as with comic books, movies and TV shows. In a game setting this doesn't work, as the players will be pushing things. Even if they're not power gamers, they are a lot less likely to forget what their characters can do than the author of a book series that took a decade to finish.

how all the students on Quidditch teams dont die of exposure or pneumonia.

Click to shrink...

Spoiler: Magic!

Theyre up in the back end of scotland, canonically nude save for underwear in the robes (going by snapes pensieve memory) theyre up high, flying at serious speeds and they play in autumn and winter through the wind the rain and the storms, and the matches literally dont end until someone gets the snitch, could be minutes could be the entire day

Click to shrink...

In the books, the last time being uncomfortable in bad weather was mentioned, outside of quidich, is half way through winter in year one. It seems obvious they learn warming charms at some point year one.
Combine that with pepper up potions, which CURE colds, flu and pneumonia, and general health really isn't an issue.

 

[Greer]

How does Hogwarts teachers convince the parents of muggleborns to send their children to an institution that will make them part of a secret society? I don't think parents go "of course we will allow our 11 year old child to become part of a secret community, person who we have never seen before in our lives" even if the teacher performed magic in front of them does that make the parents comfortable with entrusting their children to a stranger? (and let's not even go to how the parents will react after finding out the attitude towards muggleborns)
Also the whole statute of secrecy seems like a joke. Even if we discount video/satellites (which is a tall order since the "muggle expert" of the ministry does not know what electricity is so they might not even be aware of the existence) I can easily imagine some disgruntled muggleborn or muggleborn parent quietly gathering proof about magic and reaching to the government about this. Hell, all it takes is an obliviator missing a person and the cat is out of the bag.