Where do Vanished objects go?

[fizzybobnewt]

<Harry Potter>
I expect there's a place in the Department of Mysteries where wizards investigate the inconsistencies between Science and Magic. Muggles, after all, must know what they're doing if they can make stuff like fellytones and escapators that work. They would therefore ponder such questions as,
If you cannot interact at all with a memory you are in, how do you breath?
If giants are killing each other out, how did they evolve in the first place?
If lots of "magic in the air" does not mess up the laws of physics, why does it mess up technology?
If two houses are squashed out of the way by one that springs up in between (like No. 12 Grimmauld Place), and a wizard tries to get through the doorway of one of them and cannot fit, but a Muggle who percieves everything as normal can, what does it look like to a Muggle observer?

Post more.

[Lord Seth]

If you cannot interact at all with a memory you are in, how do you breath?

It's a memory, it's not real in the strictest sense. You might as well ask "how do you breathe in a dream?"

If giants are killing each other out, how did they evolve in the first place?

Hagrid says this happened because they were forced to live in large groups due to civilization forcing them into the mountains. Before that, this did not apply, and thus they were not killing each other off nearly as much.

If lots of "magic in the air" does not mess up the laws of physics, why does it mess up technology?

It's magic, you don't have to explain it.

[Traab]

The houses arent "squashed out of the way", you are just able to see the hidden house thats always been there. Nothing moves, you are just now perceiving something new there. I got one for you.

If lilys protection allows harry to burninate voldemort by touching him, then why the hell was a fragment of his SOUL able to hang out on harrys forehead for 16 years?

[fizzybobnewt]

Maybe Dumbledore helped cause the burninate with more magic after the fragment was already in Harry, like he helped with keeping him safe at Number Four. And it was safe coz it was already in?

[Istari]

The houses arent "squashed out of the way", you are just able to see the hidden house thats always been there. Nothing moves, you are just now perceiving something new there. I got one for you.

To clarify, this is something the movies got wrong. In the books, Grimond Place was just an empty lot with an invisible house

[Traab]

To clarify, this is something the movies got wrong. In the books, Grimond Place was just an empty lot with an invisible house

It is? I thought it actually did seem to push the two houses out of the way, but all it was really doing is dropping its camouflage. You basically would never guess that anything COULD be there if its protected by the fidelius, so all you see are numbers 11 and 13 next to each other, and it just looks like a number error instead of there being an apparently empty lot in between.

[irenicObserver]

If lots of "magic in the air" does not mess up the laws of physics, why does it mess up technology?

Because technology is a lot more sensitive than the laws of reality, especially since that magic is not being directed towards breaking it. I should point out that magic doesn't even entirely break the laws of physics either, it just really bends them out of shape to suit the wizards ends. Wizards have their own las of physics after the fact of magic.

If two houses are squashed out of the way by one that springs up in between (like No. 12 Grimmauld Place), and a wizard tries to get through the doorway of one of them and cannot fit, but a Muggle who percieves everything as normal can, what does it look like to a Muggle observer?

The house is not squashed out of the way, it is as Traab described it. Actually Istari, you have it wrong, it would be foolish to give something so obvious for muggles to check out, and the seventh book has a passage about "strange men in hot robes, staring at the space between two houses". It would also ruin the description of the houses as being a numerical error, where it skips over twelve for Grimmauld Place. Because why would they skip over a lot with its space number? I know I would really want to check that out.

[Istari]

Because technology is a lot more sensitive than the laws of reality, especially since that magic is not being directed towards breaking it. I should point out that magic doesn't even entirely break the laws of physics either, it just really bends them out of shape to suit the wizards ends. Wizards have their own las of physics after the fact of magic.


The house is not squashed out of the way, it is as Traab described it. Actually Istari, you have it wrong, it would be foolish to give something so obvious for muggles to check out, and the seventh book has a passage about "strange men in hot robes, staring at the space between two houses". It would also ruin the description of the houses as being a numerical error, where it skips over twelve for Grimmauld Place. Because why would they skip over a lot with its space number? I know I would really want to check that out.

Really, maybe I that's just how I remember reading it, oh well learn something new everyday.

[hamishspence]

It would also ruin the description of the houses as being a numerical error, where it skips over twelve for Grimmauld Place. Because why would they skip over a lot with its space number? I know I would really want to check that out.

Given that real houses generally have alternating numbers (odds one side of the road, evens other side) might this imply that Grimmauld Place only has houses on one side of the road?

So- instead of running 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17 it runs 7,8,9,10,11,13,14,15,16,17?

[Gnoman]

Every single technology that was stated to be interfered with by magic relied on electricity. Obviously, magic intereferes with electricity.

[fizzybobnewt]

"Harry thought, and no sooner had he reached the part about number twelve, Grimmauld Place, than a battered door emerged out of nowhere between numbers eleven and thirteen, followed swiftly by dirty walls and grimy windows. It was as though a extra house had inflated, pushing those on either side out of its way. Harry gaped at it. The stereo in number twelve thudded on. Apparently the Muggles inside hadn't even felt anything."

[Mewtarthio]

If lilys protection allows harry to burninate voldemort by touching him, then why the hell was a fragment of his SOUL able to hang out on harrys forehead for 16 years?

Well, normal people aren't incinerated by the power of love, so we have to assume there's something special about Voldemort that gives him that vulnerability. The answer is obvious: The part of Voldemort's soul that's stuck to Harry is the part that keeps people from being incinerated by the power of love.

[Sarco_Phage]

Well, normal people aren't incinerated by the power of love, so we have to assume there's something special about Voldemort that gives him that vulnerability. The answer is obvious: The part of Voldemort's soul that's stuck to Harry is the part that keeps people from being incinerated by the power of love.

That'd be interesting. It would imply that for years there was a massive soul-war between Lily's love and Voldemort's bits being waged inside of Harry's forehead.

[Mauve Shirt]

Lily's love placed an enchantment on Harry's skin/blood. Voldemort's soul was bound to Harry's soul, which is not part of Harry's skin or blood.

[Tyndmyr]

Well, normal people aren't incinerated by the power of love, so we have to assume there's something special about Voldemort that gives him that vulnerability. The answer is obvious: The part of Voldemort's soul that's stuck to Harry is the part that keeps people from being incinerated by the power of love.

I like it. Love is naturally toxic!

[Fjolnir]

He DOES have headaches and the like that are connected to his scar...

[irenicObserver]

I had a theory about magical evolution. Since the genes for magic seem to exist in all species, and magic can be activated (although largely uncontrolled) towards the desires of the specimen, animals over time used magic in stressful situations and developed such unusual magical traits that became increasingly vital to their anatomy. Also, wizards easily figured out genetic modification and all that.

Given that real houses generally have alternating numbers (odds one side of the road, evens other side) might this imply that Grimmauld Place only has houses on one side of the road?

So- instead of running 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17 it runs 7,8,9,10,11,13,14,15,16,17?

Yes, yes it does. The other side of the road is into a park I think.

Every single technology that was stated to be interfered with by magic relied on electricity. Obviously, magic intereferes with electricity.

Actually that's a common train of thought which is supported partially by the magical parasite that feeds on magic and electricity. I can't help but think Lightning Can Do Anything at that.