Mudblood

[lapin-agile.livejournal.com]

This is an absolutely devastating conversation on Theodore's journal -- I find it completely plausible that a group of boys would think and act in just these ways and that their curiosity would drive them to draw blood. (I love that Draco, at least, is afraid to get himself bloody.)

They aren't sure their experiment was conducted properly -- maybe they'll need to try again.

*shudders*

The gut-punch is this thread.

Ouch.

Order Only

[lapin-agile.livejournal.com]

This isn't a question but an observation.

Zorb's question about the strikethrough convention -- and the moderator's answer -- have made me think about the useful sorts of ambiguity this game has built in. We are told that the strikethrough (which is emerging as an ubiquitous device in this game) is to be read as a smudge which is often unreadable, but might sometimes be decipherable.

It seems to me that the "Order Only" spell is similarly open to uncertainty: we don't yet know that it works, or works uniformly, and even if it does work, it relies on a character's remembering to use it. Does it rely on exact wording? Dumbledore has already tested that proposition, but we don't know the result. [I mean that one possible explanation for Sirius' failure to find his contact in Nice is that the State is able to read all or some of the posts labeled "Order Only."]

Along these lines...

1. I would be surprised if it were Dumbledore who first fails to use the spell properly.
2. I wouldn't be surprised that the Protectorate might keep quiet about it if the spell isn't working ... what an opportunity for surveillance!
3. I don't doubt that Bill Weasley should be able to design an effective spell for this purpose, but I'd also believe that any such spell might require fine tuning and might have been used prematurely.
4. And I'm trying to be alert to the possibility that the spell works, but not equally well for every user.

Tangentially...

a. I'm watching to see whether it is really wise to have included Hermione in the Order filter: there is a lot of information being passed among McGonagall, Sirius, and Dumbledore that she is now burdened with keeping secret.

b. Sirius, at least, seems worried: he has suggested (twice, gently) that she ought not trust Lupin.

c. I would fully believe that a child in Hermione's circumstances might be manipulated into revealing information by someone who treats her kindly. I don't know that it will be Lupin who cracks her reserve, but it would be an interesting, persuasive, and wrenching story line if the game chooses to go that direction.

d. And, of course, it might not be the child who is the weak link at all. Sirius wonders if they have a leak/sneak within the Order. If so, who might it be? It would be nice to know who (played characters and un-cast characters) is on the Order Only journal filter.

deep pedantry about the calendar

[radiotelescope.livejournal.com]

Someone commented on this on a blog post I made, but I thought I'd mention it here:

The game is using the 2008 calendar in some respects. September 16, 1991 was *not* a full moon. Of course, this is well within the bounds of "Just go with it, it's a game thing" but I would be betraying the principles of HP fandom nitpicking if I didn't point it out.

Similarly, in February, game time should experience a leap day (Feb 29 1992) but we won't see it.

ObPamelaDean: Remember to watch for comet Shoemaker-Levy hitting Jupiter in 1994!