Little Questions Answered v.18

[HedwigOwl]

Originally Posted by BurrowGhoul

The Snape thing makes sense, but did we see anything that would make it seem like Snape wasn't watching him as closely toward the end of the year?

Hermione sets out to watch Snape the night they go down the trap door. But Snape takes Hermione up on her reason for being in the corridor (looking for Prof. Flitwick), and brings Flitwick to Hermione. While Hermione's sidetracked, Snape disappears. It's likely he's checking up on Quirrell's whereabouts, but Quirrell is, of course, already on his way to look for the Stone. Dumbledore's "suddenly remembering" he needs to be back at Hogwarts was likely because of a patronus message from Snape, who suspected things were afoot, both with Quirrell & the Trio.

[BJMJOOO]

How could Luna keep her wand behind her ear? Average wands are about 9 inches long. I bought a wand replica that is 9 inches long and I can't keep the thing there? How does she do it?

[willfitz]

Originally Posted by BJMJOOO

How could Luna keep her wand behind her ear? Average wands are about 9 inches long. I bought a wand replica that is 9 inches long and I can't keep the thing there? How does she do it?

Perhaps it is held in place with her hair.

[merrymarge]

She probably had a special hair clip to hold her wand in place.

[BurrowGhoul]

Most of the commercial wands I have seen are rather thick. It seems to be easier to keep a slender wand behind your ear, so perhaps in the wizarding world the wands are more slender than in the muggle world.

[Kat_Suki]

Honestly, I think wands are generally not as thick as the movies and merchandising show them to be. Harry's wand in Godric's Hollow, for instance, is said to be "thin, pencil-like".

But I dunno, I have a cousin who can't keep a pen/pencil behind his ears, but that's just because his ears stick out funny.

It's possible that it stayed in place behind Luna's ear by some type of uncontrolled/unconscious magic, too. After all, Voldemort used that type of magic to scale a cliff with two Muggle kids in tow, without benefit of ropes. Just another idea to toss in the pot.

[merrymarge]

I don't know anything about movies, but I was wondering, how much of the script is just read from the actors and actresses and how much do they improvise? Like, in HBP, when Dan mentioned the pincers of the spiders, did someone write that in the script, or would that be something Dan thought to include? I get so amazed at how they do each character, I know, I sound like an awestruck fan.

[snapes_witch]

Originally Posted by merrymarge

I don't know anything about movies, but I was wondering, how much of the script is just read from the actors and actresses and how much do they improvise? Like, in HBP, when Dan mentioned the pincers of the spiders, did someone write that in the script, or would that be something Dan thought to include? I get so amazed at how they do each character, I know, I sound like an awestruck fan.

Very little or no improvisation, putting words in the actors' mouths is what Steve Kloves and his ilk are for. An actor with long experience with a character such as Alan Rickman and Snape might make a suggestion to the director, but that's not strictly improvising on the spot.

[BurrowGhoul]

My (7 year old) son asked, could Prof. McGonagall eat Peter Pettigrew?

[willfitz]

Originally Posted by snapes_witch

Very little or no improvisation, putting words in the actors' mouths is what Steve Kloves and his ilk are for. An actor with long experience with a character such as Alan Rickman and Snape might make a suggestion to the director, but that's not strictly improvising on the spot.

I actually read an article recently in which Emma Watson had said that during the seventh film, she, Rupert and Dan had actually crossed out lines and altered them because the directors by then trusted their knowledge of the characters.

[folkdeath279]

Hello!

I apologise if this has been addressed before but I just finished rereading OotP and..

So we know that Hogwarts is very difficult to get in and out of. E.g. not being able to Apparate and Disapparate inside the grounds and all that.

In OotP we see Sirius talking to Harry twice using the Floo Network. And we also hear how Umbridge subsequently has all of the fires except her own watched so maybe we can assume that they go back to being unwatched when she leaves. So why don't people just get into Hogwarts using fireplaces? I'm thinking about Draco and his efforts to fix the Vanishing cupboard. Why not let the DEs come through the Slytherin common room fire?

Even if not that (I can't remember what was going on with the Floo Network in Book 6, probably heavily watched), the number of people who've wanted easy access in and out of Hogwarts - why not?

[Kat_Suki]

I believe there's some type of charm preventing that exact thing. In fact, in order for Harry and many other students to "floo" back to Hogwarts following Christmas in Half-Blood Prince that had to be specially arranged through the Ministry of Magic.

[folkdeath279]

Originally Posted by Kat_Suki

I believe there's some type of charm preventing that exact thing. In fact, in order for Harry and many other students to "floo" back to Hogwarts following Christmas in Half-Blood Prince that had to be specially arranged through the Ministry of Magic.

Ok so perhaps the reason that Sirius is not prevented from talking to Harry and Harry from talking to Kreacher is possibly because only their heads were travelling and not their full person?

Thanks for the reply.

[Kat_Suki]

Originally Posted by folkdeath279

Ok so perhaps the reason that Sirius is not prevented from talking to Harry and Harry from talking to Kreacher is possibly because only their heads were travelling and not their full person?

Thanks for the reply.

No problem and to the forums.

Yeah, I think that's it, but who knows, I could be *gasp* wrong.

The forms of "flooing" they performed was just the heads leaving the body behind, but yeah, I always wondered why Harry didn't just step into the fire and floo to Grimmauld Place to check on Sirius himself. 'Course, Kreacher probably would have clocked him if that had happened.

[Harry23]

The forms of "flooing" they performed was just the heads leaving the body behind, but yeah, I always wondered why Harry didn't just step into the fire and floo to Grimmauld Place to check on Sirius himself. 'Course, Kreacher probably would have clocked him if that had happened.

He might have (if its possible) but Umbridge pulled him out of the fireplace before he really had the chance.

[folkdeath279]

Originally Posted by Kat_Suki

No problem and to the forums.

Thanks! I've been lurking on and off for years. But I thought I had an epiphany with this one so I had to ask

'Course, Kreacher probably would have clocked him if that had happened.

Haha yeah they probably told him, 'If he comes inside, clobber him over the head'.

[willfitz]

Originally Posted by Kat_Suki

The forms of "flooing" they performed was just the heads leaving the body behind, but yeah, I always wondered why Harry didn't just step into the fire and floo to Grimmauld Place to check on Sirius himself. 'Course, Kreacher probably would have clocked him if that had happened.

But of course, he needed to be able to hear the lookouts' warning if Umbridge was coming back. He needed to have a safe route back to Hogwarts if all was OK, and going all the way through wouldn't have allowed for that.

[Kat_Suki]

Originally Posted by willfitz

But of course, he needed to be able to hear the lookouts' warning if Umbridge was coming back. He needed to have a safe route back to Hogwarts if all was OK, and going all the way through wouldn't have allowed for that.

Yeah, I know, but I honestly don't think he could have literally flooed to Grimmauld Place to begin with. Again, the Ministry had to be contacted just to allow for the one-off connection for kids to Floo back after Christmas in HBP.

[WeasleysQueenie]

Originally Posted by BurrowGhoul

My (7 year old) son asked, could Prof. McGonagall eat Peter Pettigrew?

well, of course she could! :')

Here's one I just thought of; Where does Dumbledore sleep? Does he sleep? Strange question, I know.

[willfitz]

Originally Posted by WeasleysQueenie

well, of course she could! :')

Here's one I just thought of; Where does Dumbledore sleep? Does he sleep? Strange question, I know.

Most likely his office. When Harry first visits his office, he thinks to himself that it must be where Dumbledore "lives." This notion is never dispelled, so I think we are to assume that he was right.