Comment author: shminux 29 August 2013 01:51:10AM 1 point [-]

I thought the twins, beyond playing pranks, were not above selling magical trinkets and stuff to fellow students, thus making a bit of profit and so not being completely selfish. Or was it in canon or some other fanfic?

Comment author: hirvinen 06 September 2013 10:47:25PM 2 points [-]

They wanted to be able to testify under veritaserum that they had not been profiting.

Comment author: OnTheOtherHandle 19 August 2013 11:11:52PM 0 points [-]

I don't think we've seen evidence that normal minors can make and enter contracts - I think Harry's just been implicitly granted an exception to all the rules of normal minors because he's the Chosen One. But the bad thing about implicit agreements is that the ones with official power can revoke them when convenient and the other party has no recourse.

Comment author: hirvinen 20 August 2013 03:01:47PM 4 points [-]

I do not recall Harry or Hermione requiring adult input to enter their contract except for McGonagall advising them on the form and possibility of such contract. Granted, it was overseen by the Wizengamot and their legal guardian, but if they could not have done it legally by themselves, we should have seen Dumbledore's explicit approval instead of just lack of overruling it.

Comment author: Roxolan 19 August 2013 09:08:58PM *  1 point [-]

That's not a promise. It's not even agreement.

Besides, Dumbledore could have made him promise more explicitly off-screen and this is just Moody doing the same independently or reiterating it.

This is quite possible. However, it does not sound like Moody's reiterating. And I find it improbable that Dumbledore included the "don't touch a pen" clause (that's more Moody's style), but no other clause, and then Moody independently, coincidentally added that clause and no other clause.

Comment author: hirvinen 20 August 2013 07:19:03AM 1 point [-]

A: "<statement>. [<suggestion/imperative to behave accordingly>] Do you understand?" B: "I understand."

I claim that in normal human communication that type of exchange is viewed as B accepting what A says, unless B somehow signals explicit disagreement. Then, if B knows this, and assumes that A thinks likes this, and only explicitly affirms understanding while withholding knowledge of their disagreement, B is at the very least deceiving A.

Of course Moody should know to be more paranoid in what he forbids Harry from doing. Especially with him having witnessed Harry showing cunning and paranoia on a level he finds promising.

Comment author: Izeinwinter 15 August 2013 09:06:41AM 12 points [-]

He did. He also has never seen Harry without those things on him. I mean, really now? Harry is not going to go anywhere without pen and paper on his person. The real question is why he did not read it.

Comment author: hirvinen 19 August 2013 08:21:09PM 0 points [-]

Do we have evidence that his Eye sees through things like that? It sees in all directions and through hiding-magic but does it see e.g. through walls?

Comment author: OnTheOtherHandle 15 August 2013 04:09:26PM 7 points [-]

I think for the time being Malfoy wants this to happen and chose to accept Harry's right to enter an agreement...but if something goes wrong, I wouldn't put it past Lucius to spin this into an invalid contract due to Harry's age. Or maybe Harry has done so many crazily adult things so far this actually feels perfectly normal, not only to the readers, but the characters.

Comment author: hirvinen 19 August 2013 07:59:24PM 0 points [-]

From what we have seen so far, it would rather appear that Harry's signature is just as valid as if he had been an adult. He can be overruled by Dumbledore but it is not required that Dumbledore signs the papers for him.

Comment author: Roxolan 15 August 2013 01:22:28PM *  27 points [-]

"I had to promise my keepers not to sign anything you gave me. So I made sure to compose this myself, and sign it before I left."

Like hell you did. Mad-Eye Moody just told you not to. But it sure is a game-theoretical advantage to convince the other player that the conditions of the deal cannot be renegotiated at all, and that it's now or never.

"I also promised not to touch a quill while I was in Gringotts,"

Similarly, what a convenient excuse to expose the muggle-hater to a small example of muggle technology just as you're trying to make him realize there may be a lot more to muggles than he thought.

Comment author: hirvinen 19 August 2013 06:53:22PM 1 point [-]

"Do not sign anything that Lucius Malfoy gives you," Mad-Eye Moody said. "Nothing, do you understand me, lad? If Malfoy hands you a copy of The Wonderful Adventures of the Boy-Who-Lived and asks you for an autograph, tell him that you've sprained a finger. Don't pick up a quill for a single second while you're in Gringotts. If someone hands you a quill, break the quill and then break your own fingers. Do I need to explain further, son?"

"Not particularly," Harry said. "We also have lawyers in Muggle Britain, and they'd think your lawyers are cute."

That's close enough to a promise. Besides, Dumbledore could have made him promise more explicitly off-screen and this is just Moody doing the same independently or reiterating it.

Comment author: Kaj_Sotala 22 July 2013 08:18:40AM 0 points [-]

One of the main benefits of a mailing list is that people get informed about new events and happenings even if they don't remember or have the time to check the main site regularly. You don't get that with subreddits or site threads.

Comment author: hirvinen 22 July 2013 08:05:22PM 1 point [-]

We do have RSS.

Comment author: Kaj_Sotala 20 July 2013 09:50:27AM 0 points [-]

The mailing list has 32 members, the FB group 26.

Language subreddits or [lang] tagged threads here if wanted?

Not sure what you're asking.

Comment author: hirvinen 22 July 2013 06:16:01AM 0 points [-]

I think a language/country subreddit or language-tagged threads might better solve the objective of a country/language specific mailing list.

Comment author: ChrisHallquist 19 July 2013 12:46:45AM 5 points [-]

Blaming the Pioneer Plaque for the progressive degredation sounds like it makes sense at first, but the point of the Pioneer Plaque thing is that this Voldemort is supposed to be smarter than canon Voldemort, and a Pioneer Plaque horcrux superior. That theory makes the Pioneer Plaque horcrux inferior. Also I'm pretty sure Voldemort has other horcruxes, including Roger Bacon's diary and quite possibly ones hidden in the other locations Harry suggested when discussing how to get rid of a Dementor.

Comment author: hirvinen 20 July 2013 09:53:57AM 4 points [-]

Blaming the Pioneer Plaque for the progressive degredation sounds like it makes sense at first, but the point of the Pioneer Plaque thing is that this Voldemort is supposed to be smarter than canon Voldemort, and a Pioneer Plaque horcrux superior. That theory makes the Pioneer Plaque horcrux inferior.

Smart people still overlook things. A lightspeed delay problem in horcrux syncing would not have come up ever before, so it could have been easily overlooked even by a very smart person, especially one that is not scientifically oriented. If he had been more scientifically oriented and been otherwise interested in Muggle space programs, this possibility might have occured to him and he could have tested it with the moon missions, if he had come up with a way to detect anticipated problems.

Comment author: monsterzero 19 July 2013 08:59:28PM *  1 point [-]

In 1992, I think Voyager 2 was still closer to the sun than Pluto. Wouldn't the sun still be the brightest star in the sky?

Comment author: hirvinen 20 July 2013 12:14:09AM 10 points [-]

The spell hides current environment, except for a floor/ground "disk." It could be oriented so that the sun is down and thus out of sight.

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