felice Posted May 15, 2011 Share Posted May 15, 2011 In the fic, some of the purebloods give the impression of being more powerful because they have illegal underage training giving them a head start on the other kids. Ginny's power could simply be a matter of her being smarter and spending more time studying than her brothers (Ron certainly gets distracted enough being caught up in Harry's escapades, and the twins are more interested in pranks than study). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrueMetis Posted May 15, 2011 Share Posted May 15, 2011 I don't know about magical "power" in the HP world. I always thought Hermione's abilities were related more to her intelligence. She usually learned the spells faster, but once she did, her spells didn't seem to pack any more oomph, e.g. her patronus compared to Harry's and Ron's.That and unlike everyone else she read all her magic books beforehand to make sure she knew what the hell she was doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fionwe1987 Posted May 16, 2011 Share Posted May 16, 2011 I don't know about magical "power" in the HP world. I always thought Hermione's abilities were related more to her intelligence. She usually learned the spells faster, but once she did, her spells didn't seem to pack any more oomph, e.g. her patronus compared to Harry's and Ron's.Ah... but we're told that Patrunuses are Hermione's only weakness. But her spells certainly seem more powerful. That jinx she puts on the sneaky Revenclaw... Umbridge isn't able to take it off, and its still around even a year later. Same with the memory charm she puts on the Death Eaters. Even though Veldemort tortures them, he's unable to break her charm (which she cast for the first time in her life), whereas he was able to do so to the charm Barty Crouch cast, and Crouch is supposed to be "powerfully magical".It seems clear to me there's more than just intelligence and hard work at play here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sci-2 Posted May 16, 2011 Share Posted May 16, 2011 For anybody who has gotten to chapter 9, who are the "Great Fire Ape" and "The Old Bat in a Cape" supposed to be? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyanna Stark Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 Ah... but we're told that Patrunuses are Hermione's only weakness. But her spells certainly seem more powerful. That jinx she puts on the sneaky Revenclaw... Umbridge isn't able to take it off, and its still around even a year later. Same with the memory charm she puts on the Death Eaters. Even though Veldemort tortures them, he's unable to break her charm (which she cast for the first time in her life), whereas he was able to do so to the charm Barty Crouch cast, and Crouch is supposed to be "powerfully magical".It seems clear to me there's more than just intelligence and hard work at play here.I always got the impression that Hermione looks at her spells in a more "scientific" way, as in, she knows what the different components are and she can sometimes add a "twist" to them to make them more efficient, or harder to remove, or whatever. I imagine tht this may be why she manages to outwit Umbrige (of whom we know very little about when it comes to actual magic powers) and Voldemort (who would absolutely assume she was just a teenage nitwit and in his hubris not consider that she might be clever). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starkess Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 I started this and got about 2 chapters in before I wanted to punch stupid Rational!Harry in the face.No thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fionwe1987 Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 I always got the impression that Hermione looks at her spells in a more "scientific" way, as in, she knows what the different components are and she can sometimes add a "twist" to them to make them more efficient, or harder to remove, or whatever. I imagine tht this may be why she manages to outwit Umbrige (of whom we know very little about when it comes to actual magic powers) and Voldemort (who would absolutely assume she was just a teenage nitwit and in his hubris not consider that she might be clever).Nah. Hermione is extremely shocked when Harry deviates from the exact recipe in the potions book. She doesn't seem the type to make changes. Anyway, experimenting on charms and stuff is supposed to be illegal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyanna Stark Posted May 18, 2011 Share Posted May 18, 2011 Nah. Hermione is extremely shocked when Harry deviates from the exact recipe in the potions book. She doesn't seem the type to make changes. Anyway, experimenting on charms and stuff is supposed to be illegal.Yes, but then that was most likely because she couldn't figure out how, and Harry thought of it before her. She also has been known for "modifying" stuff, which isn't exactly experimenting with new charms. She modifies old ones to make them better, which will have to include an element of figuring out how things hang together and then add her own. An example is how she modifies the enlargement charm for her bag to contain an absolute amazing array of stuff, or the spell she put on the golden coin that made boild appear on Marietta Edgecombe's face. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fionwe1987 Posted May 18, 2011 Share Posted May 18, 2011 Yes, but then that was most likely because she couldn't figure out how, and Harry thought of it before her. She also has been known for "modifying" stuff, which isn't exactly experimenting with new charms. She modifies old ones to make them better, which will have to include an element of figuring out how things hang together and then add her own. No. She makes it clear that following the book is the best way, though jealousy of Harry's success certainly played a role.An example is how she modifies the enlargement charm for her bag to contain an absolute amazing array of stuff, or the spell she put on the golden coin that made boild appear on Marietta Edgecombe's face.But none of those are her inventions. Everyone makes these kind of modifications. She modified the parchment the DA signed so anyone who betrayed them would be known. That's hardly unique. Same with the coins, where she used a well known charm on it. Same with her bag, or any number of other things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerraPrime Posted May 21, 2011 Share Posted May 21, 2011 Yes, but then that was most likely because she couldn't figure out how, and Harry thought of it before her. She also has been known for "modifying" stuff, which isn't exactly experimenting with new charms. She modifies old ones to make them better, which will have to include an element of figuring out how things hang together and then add her own. An example is how she modifies the enlargement charm for her bag to contain an absolute amazing array of stuff, or the spell she put on the golden coin that made boild appear on Marietta Edgecombe's face.She also modified the Protean charm for the coin. The better description I think is that she can apply the usual spells in new situations, not that she invents new spells. You get that if you really understand the knowledge. It's what I ask for in my students: can you take this knowledge and use it to solve new problems? It shows a deep level of understanding the core concepts to be able to do that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afterroots Posted May 29, 2011 Author Share Posted May 29, 2011 New chapter just went up. Nice big one as well to help make up for the delay. One of the best chapters in a while I think. I tried juggling all the characters and their possible plots/schemes in my mind and just decided to give up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sci-2 Posted May 29, 2011 Share Posted May 29, 2011 Great chapter - I hope this gets updated more frequently, turning out to be one of my favorite stories this year.Thanks for the heads up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elrostar Posted May 30, 2011 Share Posted May 30, 2011 I started this and got about 2 chapters in before I wanted to punch stupid Rational!Harry in the face.No thanks.You didn't want to punch Rowling's HP in the face? Or did it just take more than two chapters for that feeling to well to the surface? :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starkess Posted May 30, 2011 Share Posted May 30, 2011 You didn't want to punch Rowling's HP in the face? Or did it just take more than two chapters for that feeling to well to the surface? :)No, I love the original series. :)ETA: Maybe in book 5, but that was intentional and the feeling didn't last long! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afterroots Posted May 30, 2011 Author Share Posted May 30, 2011 "Well, if I did snap my fingers under the table, I wouldn't just tell you that -"..had me laughing out loud for an unseemly period of time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yallow Posted May 30, 2011 Share Posted May 30, 2011 A very well thought out book. The writing style is excellent.One of the best things I like about the Methods is Less Wrong's makeover of Quirrel. He was such a loser in the HP series and so completely kickass here. I also liked the fact that Dumbledore isn't perfect and not so wise as Rowling portrays him to be. It's not that I don't like HP, but I like this a whole lot better. Sure, the plot drags toward the middle, but you get over that fairly quickly.The first few chapters were the funniest, although the later chapters have more science. The scene in Madam Malkin's shop had me in stitches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted May 31, 2011 Share Posted May 31, 2011 I'm reading through this as well, but I'm curious as to where the so-called Authors' Notes are--on the TV Tropes page, there was a significant spoiler that was not mentioned in the story thus far, but was apparently confirmed by the author in the AN. Does anyone have any idea how to access this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afterroots Posted May 31, 2011 Author Share Posted May 31, 2011 Ira, the authors notes for each chapter are replaced whenever a new chapter is posted. A bit of an unusual system. To access the current authors notes you just click on the 'Less Wrong' name in the upper left of the page on the fanfiction site. Seeing as you've found the TV Tropes page you probably already know this, but just in case! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galactus Posted May 31, 2011 Share Posted May 31, 2011 I never had the sense that "power" mattered much in the HP-verse: You learned a spell, it has an effect. Green death ray thingie will kill you no matter how good or bad you are at magic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrueMetis Posted May 31, 2011 Share Posted May 31, 2011 I never had the sense that "power" mattered much in the HP-verse: You learned a spell, it has an effect. Green death ray thingie will kill you no matter how good or bad you are at magic.Unless you have the power of love. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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