TMQ #129 -- The Crystal Cave

[blaqlives]

Discussion of The Magic Quill #129 -- The Crystal Cave by Robbie Fischer.

DOUBLE CHALLENGE

SURVEY: What do goblins have to do with Rigel's companion's escape from the Crystal Cave? (A) They want to mine precious stones from the walls. (B) There is a buried treasure of some kind in there. (C) The man in the cave owes them money. (D) They are actually the man-in-the-dark's house-elves, disguised inside inflatable goblin dolls.

CONTEST: How might an ordinary pet change as a side-effect of living in a magical home?

[Linda_Carrig]

Well, well, well! A fantastic way to enter the New Year, I say--with a new installment of TMQ. Thanks, robbie.

I like the idea of the goblins really being house elves in inflatable goblin suits.

Ordinary pet animals would react in several ways.
1) Cats and dogs would sprout wings.
2) Aquarium fish would acquire human speech.
3) Hamsters would keep changing color.

[Dragonic]

I WON! YES! I WON! WOOHOO!
Survey:
Hmmm... is there a reason the Answer choices say AC/DC instead od A B C D? Either way, I have to say B/C, depending on which you're using (buried treasure)
Contest:
A turtle's shell would become protective in several ways
A- it serves as a shield, like it normally does.
B- It takes the properties of a rubber ball, and bounces off of hard surfaces
C- It can heat up and burn a holder like a hot pan
D- It can grow spikes (or cannons)
E- It fills with air, and can float like a ballon

[greyniffler]

I say C and D. There is something they want in that cave, more valuable to them than the gems. Perhaps it's something that goblin smiths need to wright silver or steel. Or perhaps it's the secret to how the goblin smiths of old did what they did (which might help harden their attitude towards humans who have goblin treasure). If it looks like a gem, it's not an ordinary muggle gemstone, but something particularly precious to wizards, and more precious to goblins. (They might not like to say how precious.) The man in the cave owes them, and they want to use him in some interesting way to find what's in the cave. Perhaps a human, being more skilled with wands, will be able to use some ancient goblin's wand in a way that modern goblins cannot. Or perhaps the Ministry would know that the goblins were using it, and they don't want that ... because they would lose another treasure--a wand of goblin-wrought silver (bronze?) with a core of sphinx's hair. Since the man in the cave owes them something, they see nothing wrong with using him in their service to work off the debt. Perhaps when fleeing Voldemort he left one of them behind? They don't so much begrudge the loss of one of their number as of the valuables he was guarding, I think. Perhaps they are trying to get something back--and this debt could go back to VoldyWar I, or even to his early days.

The pets are sensitive to magic, and either seek it or avoid it. It heightens their abilities, especially their senses and their hunting abilities. It also makes dogs and cats more sensitive to people's moods and more clever in answering them. A cat might bring its master the keys to the neighbor's Porshe instead of a dead mouse; a dog might work the TV remote and have master's favorite channel on before he gets home.

Mice learn to avoid traps and how to steal without being caught. Some of them develop disillusionment abilities, or the ability to snatch the bait from a trap without tripping it. Hamsters burn out their wheels, spiders get smarter at avoiding places where they are not wanted ... but their webs are also stronger and stickier.

[hpscigurl]

I say C. The goblins are always looking for more gold/jewels/anything valuable.

Magical houses have very interesting effects on pets. They turn normal gold fish into fish that change color whenever someone enters the room. They make ordinary dogs and cats feel the need to wear human clothes...but only designer brands, and they make hamsters develop a constant craving for Chinese food.

[Celairiel]

burried treasure always rocks.

Dogs, who posses an amazing ability to ruin furniture, would develop "protection sheen." this would enable them to get on furniture without leaving fur and scratches on it. They would then not get in trouble for laying on the couch! Cats can do this too, I guess.

[h_morgan]

I think D they are really house elves in disguise.
Fish would start doing backflips in their aquariums, dog would start to bark out tunes from the wizarding wireless, cats would start to tapdance, and hamsters would run endlessly in circles (but not in their wheels).

[blaqlives]

Originally Posted by Dragonic

Survey:
Hmmm... is there a reason the Answer choices say AC/DC instead of A B C D?

Oops! I've fixed the problem here and will do the same on the site. Thanks for catching that!

(Maybe Robbie was listening to Back in Black as he was writing? Hmm, unlikely, I think, lol.)

[zanaboo]

SURVEY: What do goblins have to do with Rigel's companion's escape from the Crystal Cave? (A) They want to mine precious stones from the walls. (B) There is a buried treasure of some kind in there. (C) The man in the cave owes them money. (D) They are actually the man-in-the-dark's house-elves, disguised inside inflatable goblin dolls.

D

CONTEST: How might an ordinary pet change as a side-effect of living in a magical home?

An ordinary pet - i.e. a non-magical animal like a cat or dog - would likely develop an unusually intense fear of sticks (as in, small dead bits of tree limbs), due to its associating such 'sticks' being pointed at it with all manner of horrible things happening to said pet over the years. For some reason, the Obliviate spell doesn't work on animals, so there's no way to make them forget all the times the kids have practiced their Wingardium Leviosa spell on them, or tried to change the color of their fur with dodgy charms, etc. Consequently, every time they see someone holding a wand, and every time they see a twig on the ground outside, they go bonkers.

[Echoreyn]

Survey: D! I love the idea of the goblins being house elves in disguise!

Contest: All furry animals would be able to glow in the dark, very handy for shedding light in dark caves...
Fish would be able to survive out of the water for up to 9 days.
Birds (all of them, not just parrots) would be able to recite and perform simple, harmless spells.

[Linda_Carrig]

I think dogs would develop niffler abilities, i.e. first they would tear around the inside of the house destroying anything sparkling which would make the owners furious. The owners would then have to lock the offenders outside. Low and behold, the niffler-like dogs would sniff out buried treasure in the back yard! So, although the dogs have obliterated the petunias and pansies, they have also unearthed a veritable treasure! The dog owners are very happy about that of course.

[FishEByrd]

Linnea Winter writes:

"My theory on this would be: depends on the level of experimentation among the inhabitants. Some animals would make natural subjects for *potentially* illegal charms/ charm practice (illegal if done by an underage wizard, perhaps), fish could easily become the target for transfiguration, engorgement, etc., not to mention what might happen if an inquisitive child dumped a random potion into the fish tank. Cats and dogs could easily ingest potions left unattended, with unpredictable results, and quills, ink, and parchment would not be safe. A Snitch might make an interesting cat toy, on par with a laser pointer, and a wand might be mistaken for a chew toy ( I have no idea what effect being chewed on would have on a wand, likely it would be disasterously unpredictable). So to sum up, unless the pet ingested a potion, or was the target of a spell, I don't think the essential nature of the pet would be much different from one living in a muggle houshold."

[Linda_Carrig]

I like the entry above, but beg to differ. I think any animal living in close vicinity of wizards, witches and wands could very well be affected by the magic in the air. I am writing a fanfic where a litter of piglets are born with wings and fly everywhere. How could this happen? Only by being affected by all the magic floating around which we don't see, but it's there.

I tremble to think what would happen if a dog or cat started chewing on a wand.... If my dog did that he would probably start farting fireworks out of his rear end, or turn blue, or start tap-dancing. Any number of things could happen...

[GuillerminaLynn]

SURVEY: What do goblins have to do with Rigel's companion's escape from the Crystal Cave?

I'll go with C, the man owes them money, and then A or B, he can't pay them so they make him work for them, either A) mining precious stones from the walls, or B) finding a treasure

CONTEST: How might an ordinary pet change as a side-effect of living in a magical home?

Loved what greyniffler said about pets increasing their usual characteristics. I think it would also depend on the kind of magic they're exposed to. I mean, it depends on the kind of wizard they live with. If they live with a magical herbologist, they would end up with branches and flowers and things... if they live with a witch that charms her objects a lot, they would end up tap-dancing ^-^u or having coloured fur, and so forth...

[greyniffler]

If I may speak out of turn, thanks to the people who just posted in response to Robbie's request. You can't collaborate without collaborators, and I enjoy this immensely.

[Linda_Carrig]

Hear, hear, Greyniffler! Me too!

A pet lizard might, for example, grow a pencil sharpener on the top of his head and razor sharp daggers would sprout out of his backbone.

[Snuffleupagus]

SURVEY: What do goblins have to do with Rigel's companion's escape from the Crystal Cave? (A) They want to mine precious stones from the walls. (B) There is a buried treasure of some kind in there. (C) The man in the cave owes them money. (D) They are actually the man-in-the-dark's house-elves, disguised inside inflatable goblin dolls.

D

CONTEST: How might an ordinary pet change as a side-effect of living in a magical home?

The ability to use their tails as primitive wands. The only spell they are able to complete is Expelliarmus. That or the ability to communicate thought processes with the human they are most bonded to.

[snikkio]

I like the house elves in goblin suits... but what if one gets popped?
I don't think that magic would affect the pests, but more their offspring born in the magical home.

[Draugroth]

Survey: D

Challenge: Ordinary pets will begin to take on traits of the magicial owner they are closest too, including appearance, intelligence, and magical ability.

[TWZRD]

C. I think the fellow must owe them money; after all these are goblins we're dealing with. House elves would have been serving tea to everyone on the train, not having it themselves.
As for pets; what a wonderful question! I love greyniffler's suggestion that kitty might bring some Porshe keys. I can just see them dangling from her mouth. Also, Zanaboo has a point about fearing sticks.But if the dogs didn't become adverse to sticks, the next most logical behavior would be to fetch and chew the wands. To quote one of my favorite fan fics, "Draco,...why are you apparently trying to cast an Unspeakable Curse with a springer spaniel?"

Anyway, I think that muggle kitties would get their fur charged with magical static. At odd moments when the weather is dry, little sprays of spells would arc from the cat to whatever is oppositely charged. Sometimes the spell acts on the other thing/being. Sometimes it acts on the cat. Depends on where the positive and negative charges build up, and what sort of spell energy is in play. It makes for lots of surprises. Having the cat brush by you and your polyester trouser legs vanish is one of the most embarassing.