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Harry Potter Prequel in it's Enitireity-800 Words

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El Sloth

Banned
http://crushable.com/entertainment/the-harry-potter-prequel-read-it-here/

The Harry Potter Prequel, by JK Rowling

The speeding motorcycle took the sharp corner so fast in the darkness that both policemen in the pursuing car shouted ‘whoa!’ Sergeant Fisher slammed his large foot on the brake, thinking that the boy who was riding pillion was sure to be flung under his wheels; however, the motorbike made the turn without unseating either of its riders, and with a wink of its red tail light, vanished up the narrow side street.

‘We’ve got ‘em now!” cried PC Anderson excitedly. ‘That’s a dead end!”

Leaning hard on the steering wheel and crashing his gears, Fisher scraped half the paint off the flank of the car as he forced it up the alleyway in pursuit.

There in the headlights sat their quarry, stationary at last after a quarter of an hour’s chase. The two riders were trapped between a towering brick wall and the police car, which was now crashing towards them like some growling, luminous-eyed predator.

There was so little space between the car doors and the walls of the alley that Fisher and Anderson had difficulty extricating themselves from the vehicle. It injured their dignity to have to inch, crab-like, towards the miscreants. Fisher dragged his generous belly along the wall, tearing buttons off his shirt as he went, and finally snapping off the wing mirror with his backside.

‘Get off the bike!’ he bellowed at the smirking youths, who sat basking in the flashing blue light as though enjoying it.

They did as they were told. Finally pulling free from the broken wind mirror, Fisher glared at them. They seemed to be in their late teens. The one who had been driving had long black hair; his insolent good looks reminded Fisher unpleasantly of his daughter’s guitar-playing, layabout boyfriend. The second boy also had black hair, though his was short and stuck up in all directions; he wore glasses and a broad grin. Both were dressed in T-shirts emblazoned with a large golden bird; the emblem, no doubt, of some deafening, tuneless rock band.

‘No helmets!’ Fisher yelled, pointing from one uncovered head to the other. ‘Exceeding the speed limit by – by a considerable amount!’ (In fact, the speed registered had been greater than Fisher was prepared to accept that any motorcycle could travel.) ‘Failing to stop for the police!’

‘We’d have loved to stop for a chat,’ said the boy in glasses, ‘only we were trying -’

‘Don’t get smart – you two are in a heap of trouble!’ snarled Anderson. ‘Names!’

‘Names?’ repeated the long-haired driver. ‘Er – well, let’s see. There’s Wilberforce… Bathsheba… Elvendork…’

‘And what’s nice about that one is, you can use it for a boy or a girl,’ said the boy in glasses.

‘Oh, OUR names, did you mean?’ asked the first, as Anderson spluttered with rage. ‘You should’ve said! This here is James Potter, and I’m Sirius Black!’

‘Things’ll be seriously black for you in a minute, you cheeky little -’

But neither James nor Sirius was paying attention. They were suddenly as alert as gundogs, staring past Fisher and Anderson, over the roof of the police car, at the dark mouth of the alley. Then, with identical fluid movements, they reached into their back pockets.

For the space of a heartbeat both policemen imagined guns gleaming at them, but a second later they saw that the motorcyclists had drawn nothing more than -

‘Drumsticks?’ jeered Anderson. ‘Right pair of jokers, aren’t you? Right, we’re arresting you on a charge of -’

But Anderson never got to name the charge. James and Sirius had shouted something incomprehensible, and the beams from the headlights had moved.

The policemen wheeled around, then staggered backwards. Three men were flying – actually FLYING – up the alley on broomsticks – and at the same moment, the police car was rearing up on its back wheels.

Fisher’s knees bucked; he sat down hard; Anderson tripped over Fisher’s legs and fell on top of him, as FLUMP – BANG – CRUNCH – they heard the men on brooms slam into the upended car and fall, apparently insensible, to the ground, while broken bits of broomstick clattered down around them.

The motorbike had roared into life again. His mouth hanging open, Fisher mustered the strength to look back at the two teenagers.

‘Thanks very much!’ called Sirius over the throb of the engine. ‘We owe you one!’

‘Yeah, nice meeting you!’ said James. ‘And don’t forget: Elvendork! It’s unisex!’

There was an earth-shattering crash, and Fisher and Anderson threw their arms around each other in fright; their car had just fallen back to the ground. Now it was the motorcycle’s turn to rear. Before the policemen’s disbelieving eyes, it took off into the air: James and Sirius zoomed away into the night sky, their tail light twinkling behind them like a vanishing ruby.​

I'm not sure what to make of this. I do know that Elvendork will probably be the name of my next pet, however.
 

El Sloth

Banned
ascii42 said:
She wrote this about three years back for charity, as I recall.
Yeah, 2008 I believe(same year the article was written). I figured some folks probably never heard of it though.
 

Shanadeus

Banned
I hate how Wizards in the HP books think they're above all laws and can do whatever they want just because they have a magical stick.

No wonder the wizarding society is a fucking mess.
 
Something I never quite understood in the Harry Potter world was this part in the 4th book where the Weasley's were having a bit of trouble trying to dress up like non wizards. I'm sure someone will correct me but don't they dress like normal people every day?

Also does Rowling ever really explain how the wizarding world economy works? These kids leave for wizarding school at a very crucial age and earn a degree which they could not possibly use in the real world. Which means that the only jobs they could get are wizarding jobs and most of the wizarding jobs seem to only relate to academia or wizarding bureaucracy. Hopefully this has been discussed before because it seems bizarre and cricular to me that the entire professional wizarding life is devoted to teaching more wizards to become wizards. So there is no point in really becoming a wizard. It's like an entire world of professors where their only job is to teach kids to become professors and not to do research because the research findings wouldn't be implemented anywhere.
 

Freshmaker

I am Korean.
Salvor.Hardin said:
Something I never quite understood in the Harry Potter world was this part in the 4th book where the Weasley's were having a bit of trouble trying to dress up like non wizards. I'm sure someone will correct me but don't they dress like normal people every day?

Also does Rowling ever really explain how the wizarding world economy works? These kids leave for wizarding school at a very crucial age and earn a degree which they could not possibly use in the real world. Which means that the only jobs they could get are wizarding jobs and most of the wizarding jobs seem to only relate to academia or wizarding bureaucracy. Hopefully this has been discussed before because it seems bizarre and cricular to me that the entire professional wizarding life is devoted to teaching more wizards to become wizards. So there is no point in really becoming a wizard. It's like an entire world of professors where their only job is to teach kids to become professors and not to do research because the research findings wouldn't be implemented anywhere.
The dude that runs the magic shop is proof that there's a healthy capitalist model in place.
 

Verdre

Unconfirmed Member
Salvor.Hardin said:
Something I never quite understood in the Harry Potter world was this part in the 4th book where the Weasley's were having a bit of trouble trying to dress up like non wizards. I'm sure someone will correct me but don't they dress like normal people every day?

Also does Rowling ever really explain how the wizarding world economy works? These kids leave for wizarding school at a very crucial age and earn a degree which they could not possibly use in the real world. Which means that the only jobs they could get are wizarding jobs and most of the wizarding jobs seem to only relate to academia or wizarding bureaucracy. Hopefully this has been discussed before because it seems bizarre and cricular to me that the entire professional wizarding life is devoted to teaching more wizards to become wizards. So there is no point in really becoming a wizard. It's like an entire world of professors where their only job is to teach kids to become professors and not to do research because the research findings wouldn't be implemented anywhere.

They dress as wizards every day.

And there were a lot of different jobs mentioned in the books, though of course not enough for everyone, but that's just how Rowling worked, for better or worse. They're kid's books. She didn't flesh out the entire world and she wasn't always consistent in her portrayal of the things she did try to flesh out.
 

Ushojax

Should probably not trust the 7-11 security cameras quite so much
Salvor.Hardin said:
Something I never quite understood in the Harry Potter world was this part in the 4th book where the Weasley's were having a bit of trouble trying to dress up like non wizards. I'm sure someone will correct me but don't they dress like normal people every day?

This is one of the many illogical things wizards do in Rowling's world. They have survived by ingratiating themselves and their world seamlessly with the Muggle world yet they can't mimic their attire?

The post-Columbus films fixed this by making most of the children wear more Muggle clothes and the adults less spangly robes or normal clothes, and it makes much more sense. Still, these are childrens books, I don't think it was as glaring in the novels as it was in the films.
 

Pollux

Member
Shanadeus said:
I hate how Wizards in the HP books think they're above all laws and can do whatever they want just because they have a magical stick.

No wonder the wizarding society is a fucking mess.

This. Can someone please explain this to me? PLEASE? And why is it that wizards are arrogant as all hell, kinda annoys the crap out of me.
 
The whole "wizarding community is so isolated that they don't know how Muggle society works" thing always bugged me, even as a kid. Wizards are humans too, and places like Diagon Alley are smack dab in the center of the world's major population centers. They survived for hundreds of years by pretending to be normal people.

Then you find out the majority of them don't know how billions of Muggles dress, or that people don't use gold coins anymore. Hell, the Daily Prophet article about Sirius's escape Azkaban had to explain what a "gun" was.

Ushojax said:
This is one of the many illogical things wizards do in Rowling's world. They have survived by ingratiating themselves and their world seamlessly with the Muggle world yet they can't mimic their attire?
Exactly. I understand that they were supposed to have isolated themselves more and more as Muggle technology and philosophy progressed during the Industrial Revolution and Enlightenment, but it's still weird that stuff like magical trains and motorcycles exist yet the concept of just wearing trousers and a shirt, and using paper money, is alien.
 

Apath

Member
You would also think the muggle studies courses at Hogwarts would be mandatory considering knowledge of the muggle world is paramount to living side-by-side with them in secrecy.

And while we're at it, in the first book, Ron's spell to turn his rat yellow was so out of style with the rest of the spells in the HP universe that I have trouble believing even an eleven year old boy would try it after living around wizards all of his life.

zmoney said:


This. Can someone please explain this to me? PLEASE? And why is it that wizards are arrogant as all hell, kinda annoys the crap out of me.
Because they can do fucking magic?
 
Verdre said:
They dress as wizards every day.

And there were a lot of different jobs mentioned in the books, though of course not enough for everyone, but that's just how Rowling worked, for better or worse. They're kid's books. She didn't flesh out the entire world and she wasn't always consistent in her portrayal of the things she did try to flesh out.

It's true she didn't have to but it could have added a lot to her work. What's the point of studying to become a Wizard? What does a Wizard really actually do? In their world either you own a shop to sell shit relevant to the school, join some bureaucratic organization that oversees Wizarding protocol or you become a Wizard and teach students. What wizards are allowed to do with their spells is very limited and any research they would conduct couldn't be used for anything practical. A wizard adds nothing to the wizarding economy.

So it's not about how many jobs exist (which obviously there aren't enough) but that the wizards seem, to me at least, to further the study of wizardry just to keep the wizarding culture alive - which is an economically unsustainable culture because it doesn't actually produce anything.
 

Mad Max

Member
Salvor.Hardin said:
It's true she didn't have to but it could have added a lot to her work. What's the point of studying to become a Wizard? What does a Wizard really actually do? In their world either you own a shop to sell shit relevant to the school, join some bureaucratic organization that oversees Wizarding protocol or you become a Wizard and teach students. What wizards are allowed to do with their spells is very limited and any research they would conduct couldn't be used for anything practical. A wizard adds nothing to the wizarding economy.

So it's not about how many jobs exist (which obviously there aren't enough) but that the wizards seem, to me at least, to further the study of wizardry just to keep the wizarding culture alive - which is an economically unsustainable culture because it doesn't actually produce anything.

Why would you need a job if you're a wizard, though?
 

Verdre

Unconfirmed Member
Salvor.Hardin said:
It's true she didn't have to but it could have added a lot to her work. What's the point of studying to become a Wizard? What does a Wizard really actually do? In their world either you own a shop to sell shit relevant to the school, join some bureaucratic organization that oversees Wizarding protocol or you become a Wizard and teach students. What wizards are allowed to do with their spells is very limited and any research they would conduct couldn't be used for anything practical. A wizard adds nothing to the wizarding economy.

So it's not about how many jobs exist (which obviously there aren't enough) but that the wizards seem, to me at least, to further the study of wizardry just to keep the wizarding culture alive - which is an economically unsustainable culture because it doesn't actually produce anything.

The vast majority of Harry Potter falls apart if you bother to look at it realistically. She went in a sort of fairytale route in that way, I think

I mean, just look at the main character. Realistically he is abused, neglected, starved, lacking in any meaningful social interaction outside of his four hateful relatives for 10 years of his life and yet somehow comes out as a perfectly normal kid. Even when he's introduced to people that care for him, he ends up locked in a bedroom and starved for an entire summer without any of these new, caring people doing more than tsking when they find out.

The story isn't perfect or amazing by any stretch of the imagination, but that's just how it is in the end.
 

stupei

Member
Salvor.Hardin said:
It's true she didn't have to but it could have added a lot to her work. What's the point of studying to become a Wizard? What does a Wizard really actually do? In their world either you own a shop to sell shit relevant to the school, join some bureaucratic organization that oversees Wizarding protocol or you become a Wizard and teach students. What wizards are allowed to do with their spells is very limited and any research they would conduct couldn't be used for anything practical. A wizard adds nothing to the wizarding economy.

So it's not about how many jobs exist (which obviously there aren't enough) but that the wizards seem, to me at least, to further the study of wizardry just to keep the wizarding culture alive - which is an economically unsustainable culture because it doesn't actually produce anything.

Lies! You can also be a professional Quidditch player or by extension someone who manufactures brooms or makes the various charms for brooms used by professional Quidditch players.

Or you can own a joke shop filled with magical shit that you learned to make by studying to be a wizard
even if you dropped out early
.

Edit: Shit, I actually forgot that this was my avatar at the moment...
 

Deadly Cyclone

Pride of Iowa State
I want more Harry (or James) Potter. Give me a full book about James and end it with how they die. I want to know more!

Edit: Salvor you forgot to ad Aurors too, the Men in Black of the Wizarding world.
 

Shanadeus

Banned
zmoney said:


This. Can someone please explain this to me? PLEASE? And why is it that wizards are arrogant as all hell, kinda annoys the crap out of me.
Their arrogance is so bizzare as well when we as outsiders can see how pathetic and puny the tiny wizarding community really is. They have no idea what guns and could possibly be shot to death by one so imagine the danger a nuclear bomb poses to them.
 

Tenks

Member
Shanadeus said:
Their arrogance is so bizzare as well when we as outsiders can see how pathetic and puny the tiny wizarding community really is. They have no idea what guns and could possibly be shot to death by one so imagine the danger a nuclear bomb poses to them.


Scientists are the true wizards.


MNightShamamalan.jpg
 

stupei

Member
Shanadeus said:
Their arrogance is so bizzare as well when we as outsiders can see how pathetic and puny the tiny wizarding community really is. They have no idea what guns and could possibly be shot to death by one so imagine the danger a nuclear bomb poses to them.

Yeah but this is just how people are, isn't it? How arrogant are most human beings despite being such incredibly fragile creatures?

It's just strange to me to see people saying, oh how can wizards have lived so long near this whole other culture and know so little about it. How many Americans know the capitol of Canada?
 

Tenks

Member
Harry's dad was a frat bro of the wizard world. A prequel of his years in Hogwarts would basically be "James Potter and the Keg of Black Nights" or "James Potter and The Bitch Who Said No but Meant Yes."
 
Tenks said:
Harry's dad was a frat bro of the wizard world. A prequel of his years in Hogwarts would basically be "James Potter and the Keg of Black Nights" or "James Potter and The Bitch Who Said No but Meant Yes."

haha so true. He was Mr. Swinging Big Dick on campus. I'd rather they leave his story alone.
 
Shanadeus said:
Their arrogance is so bizzare as well when we as outsiders can see how pathetic and puny the tiny wizarding community really is. They have no idea what guns and could possibly be shot to death by one so imagine the danger a nuclear bomb poses to them.

I would be lying if I said I never contemplated looking online for some fanfiction where the normal world decides to kick the wizarding worlds ass
 

Combichristoffersen

Combovers don't work when there is no hair
Tenks said:
Harry's dad was a frat bro of the wizard world. A prequel of his years in Hogwarts would basically be "James Potter and the Keg of Black Nights" or "James Potter and The Bitch Who Said No but Meant Yes."

James Potter and the Pregnant Hufflepuff Slut
 

q_q

Member
Shanadeus said:
Their arrogance is so bizzare as well when we as outsiders can see how pathetic and puny the tiny wizarding community really is. They have no idea what guns and could possibly be shot to death by one so imagine the danger a nuclear bomb poses to them.
You're generalizing the actions of a few characters to reflect an entire community. You're also attempting to treat a series predominantly written for children and adolescents as if it were written for adults. These books require a certain amount of suspension of disbelief to enjoy.
 

Kai Dracon

Writing a dinosaur space opera symphony
Oddly enough the movies make it seem more plausible to me that the average "wizarding" citizen knows little of the outside world, due to the visual cues. What I mean is, in the films, especially the later films, they make it seem more and more as if the wizards have carved out hidden niches in the world for themselves using magic to create squished space - like the train station thing.

But bear in mind, that it seems almost *everything* in the wizarding world is hidden... Hogwarts is invisible to normal people. Evidently the various towns and hamlets are all cloaked. Working logically from there, it seems as if most of the wizarding world is basically sealed in a pocket dimension and the average person within it never has any reason to leave. May be subconsciously afraid of leaving even; mild xenophobia.

It seems many or most of the officials, teachers, authorities, and "traveled" people do know a lot about muggle affairs, which make sense; they'd be the ones most often leaving their little universe and blending in with the rest of the human population on the outside even if for short excursions.
 

Pollux

Member
stupei said:
Yeah but this is just how people are, isn't it? How arrogant are most human beings despite being such incredibly fragile creatures?

It's just strange to me to see people saying, oh how can wizards have lived so long near this whole other culture and know so little about it. How many Americans know the capitol of Canada?

Capital of Canada is Ottawa. But here's the thing, they live IN the city. Grimmauld Place is IN a muggle neighborhood. That would be like me LIVING IN Ontario and not knowing the capital is Otawa.

And yes I don't know why wizards are so arrogant b/c they really don't do ANYTHING. just shoot em lol
 

Pollux

Member
Harry Potter said:
That would never happen.


I was wondering when you would show up lol. I don't mean that in a negative way, but well, you ARE Harry Potter.

But what would never happen? muggles kicking wizards ass or a fanfiction about it?
 

Shanadeus

Banned
zmoney said:



I was wondering when you would show up lol. I don't mean that in a negative way, but well, you ARE Harry Potter.

But what would never happen? muggles kicking wizards ass or a fanfiction about it?
Muggles would totally kick wizard ass so long as they managed to strike first.
I could see the wizards win if they managed to get to top and managed to mesmerize them or something - stopping the muggles from using their triumph cards (missile strikes, nuclear weapons, biological and chemical weapons).
 
My friend and I would always wonder what would happen if the general muggle public found out about wizards.

What would they do?

We just keep envisioning this scenario where all the wizards are walking down Diagon Alley, doing their everyday stuff and then BAM, an Abrams tank bursts through a wall and marines start pouring out shooting anything that moves.
 
zmoney said:



I was wondering when you would show up lol. I don't mean that in a negative way, but well, you ARE Harry Potter.

But what would never happen? muggles kicking wizards ass or a fanfiction about it?
Muggles defeating wizards. For starters muggles can't find wizards in the first place to kick their ass. And even if somehow they did all it takes is the flick of a wand to wipe their memory. All this being done without violence.
 

stupei

Member
zmoney said:


Capital of Canada is Ottawa. But here's the thing, they live IN the city. Grimmauld Place is IN a muggle neighborhood. That would be like me LIVING IN Ontario and not knowing the capital is Otawa.

And yes I don't know why wizards are so arrogant b/c they really don't do ANYTHING. just shoot em lol

They do most of their travel through fireplaces, not on streets. Hagrid even makes a big deal out of entering Diagon Alley through the street and how unusual that is. He comments on using public Muggle transportation and not really knowing how to do it in the first book.

I mean, once they turn 17 they can travel to pretty much anywhere they want in seconds. Why would they go out into the streets and put in all the effort of concealing their magic from the muggles if they didn't have to?

And I didn't say nobody in America knows the capitol of Canada, but I can promise you that the average American does not. It's human nature to be more interested in things that actually relate to you directly. Does the capitol of their neighboring country impact on their day to day life in any way? No, so they don't care. Same for wizards (especially the older ones, who never took muggle studies I guess) and their non-magic neighbors.
 
Do you guys think that humans could beat the wizards in a massive war? Wizards using their magical powers and humans using technology and weapons.
 

Particle Physicist

between a quark and a baryon
I always wondered why they all weren't hugely fat and lazy. All you have to do to get anything done is flick your wrist and say a spell. Seems to me that it would create a culture of people sitting on their asses doing nothing. Also, why aren't other sports popular as well? Football, American football, hockey, etc. Yeah, they are muggle sports, but they are sports that are played quite differently from each other.... only having quiddich seems like it would get boring.
 

DrForester

Kills Photobucket
Harry Potter said:
Muggles defeating wizards. For starters muggles can't find wizards in the first place to kick their ass. And even if somehow they did all it takes is the flick of a wand to wipe their memory. All this being done without violence.

Sniper Rifles.

Something else about the Potterverse that confused me. They establish Squibs as worthless to Wizard society. I always wondered why Squibs wouldn't all just become master potion makers.
 

Dresden

Member
Fernando Rocker said:
Do you guys think that humans could beat the wizards in a massive war... wizards using their magical powers and humans using technology and weapons.
Too many humans, not enough wizards.

In the 1600's? Wizards would've dominated.

Nowadays, say hello to Chinese shock troopers pushing through the Beijing equivalent of Diagon Alley.
 

Combichristoffersen

Combovers don't work when there is no hair
quadriplegicjon said:
I always wondered why they all weren't hugely fat and lazy. All you have to do to get anything done is flick your wrist and say a spell. Seems to me that it would create a culture of people sitting on their asses doing nothing. Also, why aren't other sports popular as well? Football, American football, hockey, etc. Yeah, they are muggle sports, but they are sports that are played quite differently from each other.... only having quiddich seems like it would get boring.

I think soccer was popular as well. I seem to remember some reference being made to.. West Ham, I think it was? Might be wrong though
 
Fernando Rocker said:
Do you guys think that humans could beat the wizards in a massive war... wizards using their magical powers and humans using technology and weapons.

Yes. There are far too many humans and human armies are far too big for the wizarding community to hold their own. Add to the fact that there aren't exactly thousands of amazing wizards but instead just a handful of academic wizards that can conduct complex deathly spells that require intense concentration and you have an overwhelming defeat at the hands of the muggles.
 
Fernando Rocker said:
Do you guys think that humans could beat the wizards in a massive war? Wizards using their magical powers and humans using technology and weapons.
"Oh so you can shoot me from miles away, eh? Well check out the pinnacle of dueling: knocking a wand out of your hand or making you disoriented!"
 

Pollux

Member
Here's another thing, we never SEE what wizards can actually do. I mean come on, the "war" that they're fighting is no worse then some gang war in LA.
 

stupei

Member
For the record: I'm not saying that large parts of Wizarding society aren't hugely and excessively arrogant. I just think that was a deliberate choice on Rowling's part.

Combichristoffersen said:
I think soccer was popular as well. I seem to remember some reference being made to.. West Ham, I think it was? Might be wrong though

Nah, it's one of the muggle-born kids who is a fan of West Ham and Ron teases him for having a poster on his wall that doesn't even move.

zmoney said:
Here's another thing, we never SEE what wizards can actually do. I mean come on, the "war" that they're fighting is no worse then some gang war in LA.

The three forbidden curses are pretty messed up. You can kill someone with six syllables, take control of their body and actions, or torture them so severely over the span of a couple hours that they're a vegetable for the rest of their life. Not to mention Voldemort raises a zombie army after splitting his soul into several pieces so that he'll (theoretically) never die.
 

Dresden

Member
zmoney said:
Here's another thing, we never SEE what wizards can actually do. I mean come on, the "war" that they're fighting is no worse then some gang war in LA.
That's what happens when the most lethal spell they have is basically the equivalent of a six shooter.
 

Pollux

Member
Fernando Rocker said:
So... I guess an Avada Kedavra has the similar power as a machine gun, for example.



And an Avada Kedavra is as accurate from over 100 yards as an M4 is with a laser sight and a scope?
 
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