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A Skirt's Not So Bad [Harry Potter]

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Don Alverzo said:
Well, it looks like they're not going to try and murder innocent students for the sake of raising the stakes this time. The penalty for failing the task is just a disadvantage in the third task, rather than the death of a loved one.
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NSMS pointed out nobody was going to die in canon either. That said, whatever one does or does not know about the lethality of the 2nd task the original books, I don't see how the text of the chapter indicated it would be at a different level in this story.

NSMS said:
There was no danger to the hostages in canon (not one of the champions rescued their hostage in less than an hour, with Harry in particular being massively over, but nobody drowned), and Ron even points out how Harry was being daft believing there was. That part of the poem was just there to motivate them to finish quickly and be dramatic.
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...Say, did anybody ACTUALLY tell the champions ahead of time in canon that the hostages would be released after the time limit if not rescued? Because (at least, based on the movie), Harry thinking fleur's sister was about to die seemed rather justified at the time- after all, he had himself almost died one task ago to the Horntail.
 
General_Urist said:
NSMS pointed out nobody was going to die in canon either. That said, whatever one does or does not know about the lethality of the 2nd task the original books, I don't see how the text of the chapter indicated it would be at a different level in this story.
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The last two lines of the egg's clue changed. In canon it goes "But past an hour, the prospect's black, / too late, it's gone, it won't come back," openly stating that if you don't save your friend in the allotted hour you'll lose them forever (which is apparently a lie, but whatever). That bit is now gone, replaced with "But past an hour — the weight's around your neck, / Too late, in the third you'll be a wreck," implying that the consequences of failure fall on the champions alone, just giving them a penalty in the next task instead of killing their friends.

This is all sort of pointless because apparently the hostages were never in danger regardless of what the egg says, but that's where I was coming from.
 
Don Alverzo said:
The last two lines of the egg's clue changed. In canon it goes "But past an hour, the prospect's black, / too late, it's gone, it won't come back," openly stating that if you don't save your friend in the allotted hour you'll lose them forever (which is apparently a lie, but whatever). That bit is now gone, replaced with "But past an hour — the weight's around your neck, / Too late, in the third you'll be a wreck," implying that the consequences of failure fall on the champions alone, just giving them a penalty in the next task instead of killing their friends.

This is all sort of pointless because apparently the hostages were never in danger regardless of what the egg says, but that's where I was coming from.
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Yeah, in canon the Triwizard Tournament was just the Gaslight Tourney Supreme. Just, filled to the brim with cheating and lying and hurting innocent people for entertainment.

So, The Olympics. :V
 
General_Urist said:
...Say, did anybody ACTUALLY tell the champions ahead of time in canon that the hostages would be released after the time limit if not rescued? Because (at least, based on the movie), Harry thinking fleur's sister was about to die seemed rather justified at the time- after all, he had himself almost died one task ago to the Horntail.
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Nope. They didn't even get specifically told that they'd be specifically retrieving hostages and not random important items when the task started- Harry only knew in advance because Dobby spoiled things for him. That said, thinking that the schools would let uninvolved people who hadn't volunteered for the tournament die with no ability to save or help themselves is the sort of idea that reveals itself as ridiculous with a moment's thought. Harry just got rushed, and so didn't give himself that moment to think; he's barely on time to the start of the task as it is, and literally had to run there after being woken and given gillyweed by Dobby (he'd fallen asleep desperately researching how to breath underwater the night before).
 
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NSMS said:
Nope. They didn't even get specifically told that they'd be specifically retrieving hostages and not random important items when the task started- Harry only knew in advance because Dobby spoiled things for him. That said, thinking that the schools would let uninvolved people who hadn't volunteered for the tournament die with no ability to save or help themselves is the sort of idea that reveals itself as ridiculous with a moment's thought. Harry just got rushed, and so didn't give himself that moment to think; he's barely on time to the start of the task as it is, and literally had to run there after being woken and given gillyweed by Dobby (he'd fallen asleep desperately researching how to breath underwater the night before).
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Also, keep in mind that Harry's had multiple near-fatal encounters every (?) school year, many of which involved innocent bystanders. The idea that the Tri-Wizard tournament might carry a similar level of collateral isn't that far fetched if that's you're default expectation.
 
NSMS said:
That said, thinking that the schools would let uninvolved people who hadn't volunteered for the tournament die with no ability to save or help themselves is the sort of idea that reveals itself as ridiculous with a moment's thought.
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I don't know about that. Considering that Hogwarts is one of the schools in question, I wouldn't really put it past them. Last year they had dementors just causally wandering the school grounds and occasionally attacking students, so the idea that they might spice up the tournament by putting innocent bystanders at risk isn't too farfetched. Like, it's absolutely crazy, but it's the kind of crazy that you worry wizards might go for, you know? Especially if you've been raised by muggles so you don't have a great read on the standards of magical society, and what little understanding you do have has been skewed by the multiple attempts on your life.
 
Don Alverzo said:
I don't know about that. Considering that Hogwarts is one of the schools in question, I wouldn't really put it past them. Last year they had dementors just causally wandering the school grounds and occasionally attacking students, so the idea that they might spice up the tournament by putting innocent bystanders at risk isn't too farfetched. Like, it's absolutely crazy, but it's the kind of crazy that you worry wizards might go for, you know? Especially if you've been raised by muggles so you don't have a great read on the standards of magical society, and what little understanding you do have has been skewed by the multiple attempts on your life.
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At risk, sure. Giving them a literal death sentence, that they themselves have no way to avoid? Not even magical Britain is that bad. If nothing else, Dumbledore's reputation as a good guy plus Harry's own interactions with him should have made it clear that he wouldn't be okay with killing people if their champion fails, at least if Harry hadn't been sleep deprived and panicking.

But this is getting off topic now. What really matters is this: what are Holly and Ginny going to be wearing to the ball, and are they going to colour-coordinate?
 
NSMS said:
Does anyone have any theories about the altered riddle, by the way? The obvious interpretation is that if they fail to return inside of an hour they get some major penalty in the third task, but are there any not-so-obvious ones people can see?
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Well considering the sheer lack of common sense and also being completely literal many times the wizarding world even in canon is, I wouldn't be surprised if they put a literal weight around their necks or some type of rune collar to increase their weight or gravity. I mean these are the same people who created blood and acid pops which are basically what the name implies. One tastes and is very much like blood and the other tends to put holes in peoples tongues and yet because magic can fix a lot they continue to sell and eat these thus the lack of common sense. They could also be forced to carry someone or something through the maze.
 
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I would be able to see Dumbledore not helping Cedric, not due to favoritism, but the end of the year one feast shows there is some, but because of the logic "he's 17, he should already know this stuff" kind of thinking that introduced the age limit for this go at the Triwizard Tournament.
 
Shador said:
Ouch. If just seeing herself on somewhat skimpy clothing is enough to get that sort of reaction I'm surprised she hasn't tried to search for ways to change her body. I mean, polyjuice literally transforms you into a completely different person, so it clearly must be possible in some way. Maybe the problem is with making any changes permanent?
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I'd assumed the disgusted reaction was due to her wearing boys swimwear, personally.
 
Mizu said:
I'd assumed the disgusted reaction was due to her wearing boys swimwear, personally.
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Tekomandor said:
Thinking quickly, she put her things far away from the water and transfigured her uniform into the sort of swimming costume the girls in her swimming classes at primary school had worn. She wasn't really sure what witches wore in situations like these, though it couldn't be too different - although she didn't think wizards had invented the sort of artificial fabrics muggles used.

After she saw herself in the mirror and felt a flash of shame and disgust, she quickly added one of those little skirts some muggle swimming costumes had. That was better, she thought.
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It does say the girls in her swimming class, so I'm guessing a one piece and she felt dysphoric yeah. I still use a swim skirt honestly :p
 
Architect Iront. said:
She's already taking a potion to address that, and while it'll give her curves in its own time, based on Snape's reaction I think she already looks like a witch her age, save in one specific spot; the spot that a swim skirt would cover. No doubt now that it's crossed her mind coming up with another potion to take care of that specific problem is going to be on her todo list, even if she won't make progress until she meets Professor Slughorn.
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Also, even if some variety of permanent transfiguration or potion is possible for that issue, it may be something medically proscribed until the person has finished growing, physically or magically or both.
 
Architect Iront. said:
She's already taking a potion to address that, and while it'll give her curves in its own time, based on Snape's reaction I think she already looks like a witch her age, save in one specific spot; the spot that a swim skirt would cover. No doubt now that it's crossed her mind coming up with another potion to take care of that specific problem is going to be on her todo list, even if she won't make progress until she meets Professor Slughorn.
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From the description earlier it sounds like the present potion will do the whole job; it's just slow.

Tekomandor said:
"Now, as to helping you. I've managed to perfect the potion I talked about - the one that would give you a female puberty. It's similar to the one you currently take, but much more effective - you will only need one dose a month. Now, you will need a dose a month until a better solution could be found and it will have some irreversible effects. I'd like you to read this list thoroughly, and tell me if you still want it afterwards," Pomfrey said.

"Okay, Madam Pomfrey," Harry said, and started to read the list. She immediately began to blush - some of the effects were not the sort of thing she wanted to read about with a matronly adult watching her. She read the whole thing through, paused for a moment, and then nodded. "I - I would like to take it, Madam Pomfrey," Harry said.

"I thought you would, but best to sure for something like this. A dose will be waiting for you at the usual time. Now, I should caution you that this potion will only work at the speed of normal puberty, so it will take some time for you to feel any effects. That's also why I wanted to address another way to help you, if you feel up to it," Pomfrey said.
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Tekomandor said:
"Yeah. I've been, um talking to Madam Pomfrey about it for a while. She made a potion that made sure I wouldn't - so that I wouldn't grow up any more like a boy. Now she's made me one that means I'll grow up as a girl," Harry said, feeling like she was about to die of embarrassment.

"Even..." Lily began to ask. Harry nodded, flushing bright red.
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I'm sure she'd prefer a faster method, but considering the possible consequences of doing it wrong I expect she'll stick with the slow-but-effective potion unless and until she gets word of something faster that she knows will work as well.
 
I appreciate it starting with magical HRT as a trans enby myself. I take HRT myself. Have to do the shots. Stupid insurance. Glad Holly just has potions.
 
Thinking on the full transition issue, there are some species of fish and amphibians (and possible other animals) that change biological sex under the correct conditions. I wonder if that concept could be used as the basis for a potion, not to directly change Holly's body, but to give it the ability to change itself? There wouldn't be instant effects, so a single dose wouldn't do anything, but if she stayed on it for enough time (weeks? months? years? no idea) then it could solve her problem permanently.

Just thinking out loud on how the limitations of potions (they're generally short-term, and their direct effect is non-permanent) could potentially be overcome to help Holly's transition.
 
NSMS said:
Just thinking out loud on how the limitations of potions (they're generally short-term, and their direct effect is non-permanent) could potentially be overcome to help Holly's transition.
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Is that accurate? I thought there were plenty of healing potions that had permanent effects? Skelegrow, for instance, probably isn't temporary.
 
Epsilon Rose said:
Is that accurate? I thought there were plenty of healing potions that had permanent effects? Skelegrow, for instance, probably isn't temporary.
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Skele-grow produces an effect, and then it expires. The effect is simply "grow bone."

HP magic does whatever the narrative requires it to do, and that extends to potions. Aside from that one and the one that restores Voldemort to life (and maybe some other example IDK) all the potions we see in canon produce a temporary effect to overcome a particular problem, because Rowling wasn't developing a system, just a box of tricks.
 
The creation of permanent and active magical effects is possible, but generally presented as more difficult and something that can't be done quickly. It's largely hand waved as something that can be learned but few of the MCs have the time to develop said skills.

Furthermore they are generally tied to an object or location rather than people.

That said magical creatures and hybrids exist, and Hermione's cat-traits lasted well beyond the the time limit of ordinary poly juice. This doesn't mean they were inherently permanent, but it does indicate that longer term changes are possible.

The Animagus process for example violates the normal rules in that it grants a person a persistent magical ability. Now this appears to be a combination of potions and ritual work, same as voldemort's resurrection.

So I would expect a similar combination would need to be developed in order to perform a full change and make it stick.

Hopefully it's simpler than Voldy's.

On the other hand I don't really have an issue with ripping out Vernon or Petunia's skeleton.
 
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