All posts by Cephalon Carstairs

In the real world, yeah, but in the case of the gamekeeper of Hogwarts, they are just the groundskeep and security. The gamekeeper of Hogwarts is not employed to take care of the magical creatures, the professor of Care for Magical Creatures is. Incidentally, Hagrid holds both of these positions, so he is responsible for the creatures as well, but it is not a part of the gamekeeper position, which is just another word for the Keeper of Keys and Grounds.

You're cool. The question is 99.9% valid. Almost all of them are Latin. Just two exceptions, maybe more, but that's all I know of.

That's definitely not Albus's sister. We have known for a long time that Albus had a sister and that she died at age 14. Her name was Ariana and she was killed in a fight between Albus, Aberforth, and Grindelwald. We see her ghost in Deathly Hallows Part 1(?) in Aberforth's house. So the lady on the ship is not her. She's identified as Aurelius's "aunt", but I think it's referencing Albus's aunt Honoria and it's actually his mother.

To summarize since it is official that it is Minerva. We don't KNOW she was born in 1935, all we know is that she has worked there for 39 years as of 1996 and she was 20 when she started working there. We don't know that she worked there for those 39 years in a row. People did the math and arrived back to 1935, but nowhere are we actually told 1935, just October 4th. Dumbledore taught D.A.D.A. in 1927, so we can assume she taught Transfiguration during that time. We know Dumbledore taught Transfiguration though at some point, so it is possible Minerva left Hogwarts doing work for Dumbledore and during this time he took over teaching Transfiguration, then she returned years later and took up the mantle again when he became Headmaster. We don't know the story, but it is clear everyone was wrong when they assumed her birth year.

The actual Gryffindor Common Room itself is the same, but Gryffindor has an entire tower. I'm sure there are different entrances to the tower with their own portraits. Different years likely have different parts of the tower, and while the Gryffindor Common Room is a set place, there are surely study areas designated for certain years, or most people just sit in the library, courtyards, or Hogsmeade. Similarly, Ravenclaw has it's own tower, with a single Common Room and the dorms are probably separated by year, with separate quiet study areas for each one.

Yeah I definitely think they would celebrate it. Especially considering one of their co-founders was a Pilgrim, so he was probably there on the night of the first Thanksgiving feast. I'm sure it's an honored tradition to have a feast on Thanksgiving. Because I'm American, I just love the thought of a wizarding school with American traditions. Just the thought of what the 4th of July would be like with magic. And then memorials like Veterans Day and Memorial Day would surely still be observed. In regards to a series, I don't necessarily want another series like Harry Potter, where they go through the years. Just some background short stories on Pottermore would be great for context and so we can learn about the customs in the American wizarding world. Professors, classes, school layouts, possible MACUSA headquarters in other parts of the country. The British wizarding world is pretty one-toned because it's so small. New York, Maine, and Massachusetts alone are bigger than Great Britain, so I wonder how different things are around the country. Is Woolworth the only MACUSA headquarters or are there others? Hogwarts is pretty massive and it only teaches the students in a country of like 50 million. The U.S. has 330 million, so how big is Ilvermorny? Are there different branches in different parts of the country now? That's the stuff I want to see, not really another 7 years (maybe 8 since legal ages are different in the U.S.) of classes and stories, especially since they would take 2 years each before them. I'm okay with some simple Pottermore stories on Ilvermorny and the American wizarding world in general.

Probably a phoenix or a thestral. Yeah, I'm tacky. I know. I'm a huge fan of the character development and the mystery. The Dumbledores are my favorite, so obviously phoenixes are up there, and thestrals just have this veil of mystery but still seem lively and spry. If we knew more about them or saw one, I would say horned serpent, but as of now there's really nothing related to them. When it comes to beings, I'd have to say pukwudgies. I love the similarities to house-elves, but they're more of an ally or friend than a servant.

I agree, @Good Wizard of the North-West. Torquil Travers even says himself that he knows that Dumbledore has a large circle of informants and friends, but he makes no mention of the Order. During Grindelwald's campaign, these friends may have formed an impromptu organization, but this is not the real Order. They even state in The Philosopher's Stone that Dumbledore was a longtime friend of Nicholas Flamel. He was an ally and an informant, but I think that is all.

It's not the other way around. Dumbledore didn't derive his Patronus from the Order. The phoenix is the symbol of the Dumbledore family, just as the raven is the symbol of the Lestrange family, and the snake is the symbol of Slytherin and his descendents. Many of Dumbledore's ancestors had phoenixes because they sense Dumbledore blood and bond to it, just like the dragons and the Targaryens in ASoIaF. The Order of the Phoenix may have called itself a "secret" society, but it was well known that it existed. We would know if the Order was hundreds of years old. I can see maybe it being 70 years old, and Albus formed an impromptu organization during Grindelwald's reign of terror, but not any earlier than that, and he would've dissolved it after his defeat in 1945. It's not a permanent organization, it was formed to defeat Voldemort, and when they succeeded after the First Wizarding War, it was dissolved and later reconstituted for the Second Wizarding War, and although it was not explicitly stated, it was likely dissolved again after his permanent defeat. There is no need for a permanent organization since the Ministry has the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and other internals. Merlin created the Order of Merlin because these government resources were not available or in short supply back in the Middle Ages. The O.M. award was instituted by the Ministry to continue to honor great sorcerers after the job of the original organization was no longer necessary.

I don't believe that the book means the Order of the Phoenix. We knew Flamel was a friend of Dumbledore, as well as an ally of the Ministry. I couldn't tell for sure, but the witch in the book appeared to be Seraphina Picquery, so it appears he was an ally of MACUSA as well. It is likely similar to the Order, but not the official one. As the Director said in CoG, Albus had a lot of allies, and Flamel was one of them. These allies are what eventually became the Order of the Phoenix in the wake of the First Wizarding War, but they weren't considered an order back then. They didn't meet and discuss things regularly like a real entity. It was a coalition of allies with emergency ways to contact one another, but that's all.

Ah, I didn't realize he was born that late. I thought they were born shortly after the end of the Second Wizarding War, in which case they wouldn't have attended Hogwarts around 2010 or slightly later. I know what you mean about teenagers rebelling, but that usually happens after puberty, around 12-14. And that is represented in years 4 onward in the movies. But you begin attending at age 11. Usually children will still respect and honor their parents beliefs at that point. They only turn into little shits a couple years after that. Of course I think Draco cares about his kid's wishes, but it goes both ways. I think Scorpius still cares about his father's approval, and while family does matter more than legacy, your legacy is how people recognize you at first glance. That's what the Sorting Hat sees prima facie. That's why I like the Ilvermorny sorting more. Multiple houses can choose you then you can choose which ine you want. I like to believe I would be picked by at least Horned Serpent and Thunderhawk, and possibly Pukwudgie. I know I'm not a Wampus, but I get a choice in who I want to be between the other two or three.

However, I don't think saying the spells in your native language would be effective. Control and proper pronunciation are still important to learn magic, so Ilvernorny would not teach magic in English. Uagadou or Mahoutokoro, on the other hand, might have success teaching magic in English, as long as the control, pronunciation, and hand movements are preserved to ensure proper learning. One of the schools, I believe Mahoutokoro, even teaches magic without a wand. All these things are just catalysts that with proper control can be omitted or changed.

EDIT: Correction, it is Uagadou that teaches wandless magic.

With proper hand movements, control, and concentration, I don't see why a foreign student, Japanese for example, couldn't use English words to cast magic.

Well the movie has a lot of deviations from the screenplay, the movies will likely have a different continuity. The screenplay also says the ship sank in 2001, while Credence wasn't born until 2004, according to his adoption certificate. Unless JKR makes a comment about it, I'm sticking to the movie's story, where Credence was born in 2004, and it is not stated that it's Minerva.

I think the fact that Draco raises Scorpius better than Lucius or Abraxas did would make Scorpius want his father's approval even more. And no, not all children are like that, but this doesn't take place in America. These kids were raised in early 2000s Britain. And before you say that doesn't matter, it certainly does. Especially for a wizard. Children there are raised to be more proper and respectful, at least during the late '90s and early 2000s. Children were raised more proper and respectful back then. And for a young wizard pressured with the legacy of dozens of generations, it makes a huge difference.

Spell names don't really mean much. They are a designation more than anything, but they do help with control when you learn, similarly to hand movements. They are not necessary to perform magic though, so translating words a different way would not affect what the spell did, outside of the Floo network, where pronunciation determines where you go.

It's hard for me to choose. It's a tie between Order of the Phoenix, both parts of Deathly Hallows, and Crimes of Grindelwald, although my favorite character is unanimously Albus Dumbledore. Ollivander is a close second though. I love the Dumbledore family in general because they have a very noble position and they are reminiscent of the noble houses like the Starks (Albus = Ned) or Baratheons (Aberforth and Ariana = Robert and Lyanna) in ASoIaF. I'm torn if I like the Fantastic Beasts storyline more or not. I'm leaning towards yes, but I'm still conflicted because of some of the inconsistencies.

Personality is environmental though. You are like your parents, in one way or another. And in the wizarding world, your legacy is all you have. Your name. It is in a child's natire to want to appease and impress your parents. And the Sorting Hat gives you a choice, just as Harry tells Albus at the end of DH2. Scorpius may have the personality of a Hufflepuff, but maybe he has a destiny to be Slytherin or he just wanted his father to be proud of him and chose Slytherin.