Where DID the glass go?

[Tonks]

In Chapter 2, The Vanishing Glass, we see the Dursleys and Harry (plus one Piers Polkiss) visiting the zoo. You all probably remember how Harry "talks" to the snake and then all of a sudden, the glass vanishes and the snake slithers away.

Well, did the glass just vanish?

I remember Harry, Ron, and Hermione practicing Vanishing Charms in one of the books (and especially something about Hermione progressing to be able to vanish kittens), but if so, this seems like a bit of difficult magic, and something a little extraordinary to be caused by a wizard who hasn't even begun school.

I suppose it is possible that the glass didn't truely vanish, but if not, then where did it go?

[Rooster]

Well Harry has managed to grow his hair back and blow up his Aunt using involuntary magic. I think that because it's involuntary you don't have to know how to do it - It just happens because it's an impulse thing regardless of your magical knowledge. It kind of makes you wonder how much damage could an untrained wizard do if they were to have a really big breakdown.

[Alz]

Yah with Rooster on this one ...
I think it is about lack on control and also strong feelings ...
I think the more passionate a person feels the less likely they are to think logically and as such are capable of anything ... in Harry's case he performed a perfect vanishing charm and didnt even realise ...

Rooster makes another great point - if someone is magical but never trained - what could they be capable of!
It is scary that magical powers are powers none the less and as such ... if they arent controlled or homed properly - they could be really dangerous ..
I suppose this goes somewhat towards what if someone decides not to go to Hogwarts ... and instead tries to develop their own powers - how much of a danger is it ... but that would also be off-topic :o

[Tinkerbell]

Good one! I wonder if the Dursleys had heeded the information Dumbledore had put in his first letter to them, and they had nurtured Harry then he would have been able to hone his skills rather than perhaps be a litle worried about the odd things he was doing.

As for the glass itself, it must have completely disappeared for the snake to have escaped, not like it was an optical illusion or something - would it have apparated somewhere in the 'ether' for a nanosecond whilst the snake escaped?!

Just a thought!

[MissWhizbee]

Well, there are a ton of magic we have heard about Harry doing while growing up. He apparated to the top of the school, turned his teachers hair blue, blew up his aunt, vanished the glass, grew his hair over night. The thing I noticed about all of this is that all of these things would be very advanced spells for someone to use, but Harry was able to make everything happen just by instinct and agravation.

We know that not all of the students at Hogwarts have displayed nearly that sort of magical ability before they came. Remember Neville talking about how he didn't show any sign of magic until they threw him out the window.

Well I wonder how extraordinary these magic mishaps are. It seems that they may be a little extraordinary even for the wizarding world. Maybe just a small hint at his true powerful nature. Also, if he could do all those spells (transfiguration, apparition, vanishing, etc) without a wand when he was angry or scared, then there would be no reason that he couldn't learn to do the same without a wand on controlled command.

If this happens then the whole Priori Incantantem thing with Voldemorts wand wouldn't matter much. Harry could hold Voldemorts wand useless with his own wand and proceed to do spells without a wand as well. Wouldn't that be spectacular!! :D

[Alz]

You shouldnt discount what Dumbledore (I think??) once told Harry - the night of the attack and Voldemort's demise - he passed onto Harry some of his skills or words to that effect ...
While Harry appears to be really magically blessed - how much of that could have been a kickstart provided by Voldemort?
I think this accounts for Harry's accelerated learning and abilities ... :)

[Tinkerbell]

You shouldnt discount what Dumbledore (I think??) once told Harry - the night of the attack and Voldemort's demise - he passed onto Harry some of his skills or words to that effect ...
While Harry appears to be really magically blessed - how much of that could have been a kickstart provided by Voldemort?
I think this accounts for Harry's accelerated learning and abilities ... :)


Ummmm.... That is an interesting point - what other sort of stuff did Harry get up to when he was younger that could be attributed to this link to Voldemort? Do you think that maybe this would account for the complete horror with which Petunia and Vernon regard the magical world because of the horrendous things Harry did as a kid?

[Weasleyfanforever]

What you said made me think of something: Does Petunia know about the link between Harry and Voldemort? Does she know that some part of Voldemort, be it just some of his powers, or something more, was transferred to Harry the night of the attack? If she does, this might account for some of the way she acts towards him, she might be truly frightened that he is going to turn out like Voldemort and kill them all... Just a bit of an out there thought...