Skip to main content

Why are there "dilapidated" buildings in Harry Potter?


Given that a 10 year-old or so Hermione could mend broken glasses, wouldn't it be very easy for an adult wizard to mend/fix walls/doors/etc... in a building? The principle is the same (restoring things to their unbroken form). For another example, see Dumbledore and Slughorn fixing up a room where Slughorn was pretending to be a chair.


Yet, several times, we see wizarding buildings in poor repair, including those where the owners (e.g. the Weasleys) could not be excused with "they are slobs who don't care" like Gaunts or people in Knockturn Alley would.



Answer



Just because it is easy to cast a spell and clean up or make repairs doesn't mean every witch or wizard will have the time, or be motivated to.


Just like Muggles, wizarding families produce the lazy and slovenly. Mundungus Fletcher, for example, is not someone I could see diligently checking his roof to repair broken shingles.


Others, such as Xenophilius Lovegood fall into the category of "eccentric", even by wizarding standards. While that's not to say his house was in disrepair, wouldn't it seem plausible that something as mundane as peeling paint might go unnoticed by him for weeks, if not months?



Still others may have simply chosen "run down" as a stylistic choice. The Blacks, for example, seem to enjoy the "old and dark" aesthetic.


As for the Weasleys, well, they're just busy. With 6 kids (or is it 7?), and Mr. Weasley working hard at the Ministry of Magic, there is only so much time to take care of odds and ends. Even magically assisted chores take time, and chores for a large, active household add up (let's not forget that they don't have a family house elf; that seems reserved for the wealthy wizarding families). Foods that cut themselves up and jump into the pot still take time to cook. Clothes still need to be sorted for washing and mending. Given their focus on "functional and practical" (remember Ron's hand-me-down formal robes), is it any surprise that "intact and working, if a bit banged up" is an acceptable standard for their family home?


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

harry potter - Do the Kwikspell courses work?

In Harry Potter we are introduced to Kwikspell course in The Chamber of Secrets (and never hear about it again). We see Filch taking courses, presumably by mail. The descriptions of Kwikspell make me think it is for people who are weak in magic (kind of like how Neville was supposed to be when he was younger), but had magic in them nonetheless. However, Ron's comments later in the chapter make it sound like it is mainly for Squibs to learn magic. However, it is strongly implied through out all the books that Squibs are essentially Muggles, and will never be able to do magic. How then is a Kwikspell course supposed to work? Do we have any information to know if it works at all? Is it a scam? An answer from any level of canon is welcome. Answer Kwikspell courses are (probably) useful to some wizards, but not to squibs. The Kwikspell course literature comes with two testimonials. Madam Z. Nettles of Topsham writes: ‘I had no memory for incantations and my potions were a family joke...
Post a Comment
Read more

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.
Post a Comment
Read more

star wars - What "exactly" happens when someone turns to the Dark Side?

When I saw the original Star Wars saga as a kid, the concept of the Dark Side imprinted in me was quite simple. You did a bad thing, so you're a bad person so you go to the Dark Side and keep doing bad things. Now, obviously this doesn't hold true in reality. In my mind it is perfectly reasonable for Luke to kill the Emperor and Vader and then just flee the Death Star and rejoin the Alliance. After all they are at war, those are enemy officers that have captured him and are taunting him by threatening with death of all loved ones and the whole operation was intended to kill the Emperor anyway. The same would hold true for Anakin. He could have killed Mace Windu to save the Chancellor and Padme but that doesn't mean he's going to then go mad and kill all Jedis including children. It doesn't add up from a merely psychological point of view. He had a set of objectives and that made him want to keep the Chancellor alive (quite valid by the way, Mace Windu is quite clums...
Post a Comment
Read more

star trek - Warning regarding forward saucer section in Nemesis?

In Star Trek: Nemesis , just before the Enterprise rams into the Scimitar, Picard sends a text message from his captain's chair arm pad to Troi — who is manning the helm in lieu of the crewman who was just blown out through what was once the view screen — indicating that she should put full impulse on standby. (Literally, if you watch the scene closely, Troi's console prefaces the order with "TXT MSG" !) My question is: Did Picard also somehow warn crew members in the forward saucer section about what was about to happen? The ramming of the Scimitar was a heat of the moment decision. Considering that he also resorted to calling the auto-destruct sequence shortly after (which ended up being offline), he probably was of the mindset that any losses would be acceptable in order to hault Shinzon's march to Earth. Still, I'm curious. Answer The original script indicates that he called for the crew to " brace for impact ". Whether that call (or the comma...
Post a Comment
Read more