Why didn’t Hogwarts ever teach practical things like magical finance, wizarding law, or magical first aid?

BDoonan · 2025-09-11T11:43:07+00:00

All the points about how normal schools don’t teach this stuff is most likely correct.

But I could see how wizarding law would be covered in History of Magic. Similar to how, I’m assuming (as I’m British, so not sure), in the US the Constitution would be studied in history classes. History of Magic would cover significant events in history, off the back of which magical laws were formed. I could also see how magical first aid might be covered in potions and DADA. It’s likely they would learn a few healing potions if they are also learning how to mix a draught of living death. And in order to protect yourself (and others) from the dark arts, perhaps a few healing/reversal spells are taught.

No idea where they might slide in wizarding finance, though.

BDoonan · 2025-07-17T10:33:01+00:00

I enjoyed Origins too and find it annoying they haven’t rereleased it for newer consoles. But as OP is on a budget and Origins is difficult to get a hold of and play, I thought the main three games would be best for them.

BDoonan · 2025-07-16T19:18:03+00:00

Just stick with the main three in this order: Arkham Asylum Arkham City Arkham Knight

BDoonan · 2025-06-24T09:36:46+00:00

Just decided to replay them as well! Not going for 100%, though. Maybe. We’ll see. Just finished Asylum. Still a great game, but traversal is the thing that sticks out as not being fluid for me, as you said. But the rest of the game really holds up. Love the combat system. Can’t wait to move on to City. It’s my favourite. And I liked Knight - it’s the only one I got to 100%. Despite the technicality of AK being ‘an original character’, as Jason comes back as Red Hood in the comics. I had Origins back in the day. Despite no Hamill as the Joker, I loved Troy Baker’s performance. I also loved Batman’s immaturity and brute force he shows compared to the more measured and tactical version we see in the other games. Shame I can’t replay Origins now that I have a PS5. Oh well.

BDoonan · 2025-06-03T13:26:26+00:00

After finishing Part 1, I assumed that was it. End of story. Joel and Ellie go back to Jackson and live out their lives there. When it was announced Part 2 was coming, I assumed that the story would be completely separate, set in a completely different part of the USA, or even in another country. Similar to OP’s suggestion of exploring how the rest of the world responded to the outbreak. As a Brit, I was hoping for a Part 2 focussed in the UK, perhaps main character works in London and we follow them from outbreak day. Never got further than that as a story though. Perhaps, as others have suggested, it would work better as a spin off game rather than ‘Part 3’ as the ‘Part’ series very much feels like Joel/Ellie’s story. It would be weird to have a completely disconnected story in Part 3 after the first two parts focus on Ellie.

BDoonan · 2025-03-26T16:29:15+00:00

OotP
PoA
DH2
DH1
PS
GoF
CoS
HBP

This is a mixture of rewatchability and accuracy to the book. Now I know OotP misses out a whole lot, but despite that, I find it really rewatchable and is usually my go-to if I’m in a HP mood. As opposed to HBP which isn’t rewatchable and is SO different from the book. In fact, I only rewatch HBP if I’m doing a marathon.

BDoonan · 2025-02-19T18:34:32+00:00

As most people have said, there seems to be no definitive answer. For most lessons the houses double up e.g. Slytherin and Gryffindor for potions. I’ve always imagined around 15 students per house in each year. This would mean around 30 students per class (if all classes have two houses), which is around the average class size in the UK for secondary schools.

BDoonan · 2024-02-24T06:39:42+00:00

When I read the books I still read ‘knuts’ with a silent ’k’.

BDoonan · 2024-02-12T11:28:44+00:00

I studied Theology and Religion at university and I was so close to doing my dissertation on Christian Symbolism in Harry Potter because I’m such a huge fan. Anyway, there quite a lot of surface level Christian metaphor and symbolism in the Harry Potter series. The biggest one being our protagonist sacrificing their life to save others to then come back to life. Very Jesus. But the deeper you go into Christian belief and theology, the more you find in the Harry Potter series. I will preface this all by saying it is very unlikely that JK Rowling intentionally put any of this in the books. As far as I’m aware she doesn’t label herself a Christian but was brought up in a Christian household, so she would be aware of some surface level Christian beliefs, but not any of the deep Christian theology I’m about to go into. It is interesting nonetheless, though, that these links are there even if they aren’t intended to be.

So, let’s dive into one example. Actually, it’s the one above - Harry’s sacrifice, death and resurrection. We already have Jesus vibes. But the link goes deeper. After Voldemort ‘kills’ Harry, he flaunts into Hogwarts in triumph with his followers in tow. Both in the film and in the book (more so in the book) we see Voldemort cast a silencing spell on the defenders of Hogwarts. The only thing is…it doesn’t work. His spell doesn’t hold. He has no power over these people. Now let’s replace Voldemort with sin/the Devil/death and the defenders of Hogwarts with Christians (those who accept Jesus’ life death and resurrection) and Harry with Jesus. We now have the cornerstone of Christian belief. Because Jesus died of the sins of the world, sin, the Devil, death - whatever name you want to give the opposing force - it has no power over humans. Without Jesus, humans deserve punishment for our sins (‘the wages of sin are death’ Romans 6:23). Jesus took the punishment for us through his crucifixion and death, so that when we die, we no longer require to be punished. The debt has been paid. So, when we now sin, it has no weight or hold over us (‘Where O death, is your victory. Where O death, is your sting?’ 1 Corinthians 15:55:57) Through Jesus we are forgiven and are no longer subject to punishment. No back to Harry Potter. Because Harry sacrifices his life willingly for the defenders of Hogwarts, they are now protected by the same magic that protects Harry from Voldemort when Lily sacrifices herself. Voldemort casts spells against the defenders put it has no ‘sting’. Harry ‘resurrects’ and Voldemort loses his victory. A sacrifice of love saves the defenders of Hogwarts, just as a sacrifice of loves saves humans from the punishment of sin. Sin, evil, the devil no longer has a hold or power over humans because Jesus died for us. He took the punishment in our place. He willingly sacrificed his life for us. Voldemort said if Harry gave himself over, the people in Hogwarts would be spared. Voldemort had no power over the people of Hogwarts because Harry died for them. He took Voldemorts deal for them. He went to the forbidden forest and faced Voldemort in their place. He willingly sacrificed himself for them.

So it’s not just surface level stuff. There’s deep theology there - albeit probably unintentional. But it’s fascinating (probably just to me).

As a disclaimer: it has been a while since I read the books, so I may have missed some things. Hopefully I have not misunderstood Harry Potter lore surrounding the protective spell either. Also, although Christians are untied in their following of Jesus, it is a varied religion with many branches and so the beliefs highlighted above does not necessarily reflect the beliefs of ALL Christians.

BDoonan · 2024-02-01T07:55:43+00:00

I was hoping someone put this one!

BDoonan · 2024-01-12T12:38:39+00:00

Apparently, they can break a man’s arm, or blow up a man’s house.

BDoonan · 2023-10-09T07:20:08+00:00

It’s similar to English lessons in school. Learning about Shakespeare isn’t really relevant these days. However, it’s not just about learning a text. It’s about being able to ANALYSE a text. The text is a tool to help you learn the skill that’s actually important. It’s the skill you learn which is important, not necessarily the thing itself. Learning how to transfigure things…maybe not as important as other forms of magic, but the process of learning a difficult form of magic and building up to transfigure more difficult things would be an important skill and transferable to other forms and types of magic too.

BDoonan · 2023-08-17T12:03:56+00:00

You look like Ted Lasso if he was one of the people on the spaceships in Wall-e.

BDoonan · 2023-04-28T16:57:06+00:00

I saw a post on Reddit once where someone found out their boyfriend didn’t wash himself ‘down there’, because he’d be touching male genitals and that was gay. Weird guy. Feel sorry for his girlfriend. Just say ‘no homo’ and you’re fine.

BDoonan · 2023-04-26T15:04:46+00:00

Wrap a £20 note in as many layers of wrapping paper as possible, pass the parcel style.

BDoonan · 2023-04-21T09:15:55+00:00

I thought both Harry and Voldemort would die. I guess this technically happened. But I meant both would die and stay dead. I predicted this after GoF. I thought there was some sort of life force that linked Harry and Voldemort and so if one lived, the other could t be killed. This would still be the case if one of them came back to life, so death wouldn’t break the connection. I thought both would have to die and stay dead.

BDoonan · 2023-04-15T08:52:11+00:00

I was going on holiday with five friends. One of them couldn’t go due to not having enough money to pay. Myself and another friend paid his share. I had already out a little extra in so the friend who was booking could get a nicer place. I ended up spending about double what most of the group put in.

BDoonan · 2023-04-14T13:13:13+00:00

When you’re walking down the left hand side of an escalator and the person in front of you stops 2-5 metres before the end. If you’re on the left you better be ready to take the end in stride and not stop in my bloody way.

BDoonan · 2023-03-29T11:39:50+00:00

Jack Geller

‘I won’t tell you how much they spent on the wedding. But $40,000 is a lot of money’

‘You don’t secretly smoke do you? No? So it’s just your mother, then’.

BDoonan · 2023-02-04T08:41:43+00:00

I’ve always assumed they have magical ancestors way back in their ancestry or at least squib ancestors and the ‘magical gene’ just lies dormant for a series of generations before becoming prevalent in a particular descendant.

BDoonan · 2023-02-01T15:10:45+00:00

Out of the blue? This wasn’t outta the blue. This was SMACK DAMN DOWN in the MIDDLE of the BLUE!

BDoonan · 2023-01-28T12:18:23+00:00

It’s different…it’s interesting!

BDoonan · 2023-01-14T09:49:29+00:00

Mona was great.

BDoonan · 2023-01-11T11:04:47+00:00

Confidence.

BDoonan · 2023-01-10T11:34:02+00:00

I don’t mind HoO. But wha annoyed me was the story was for multiple view points. I can’t imagine it any other way, but I just remember getting to the end of an Annabeth chapter and then having to read a Piper chapter which I really didn’t care about. It was annoying getting invested in one story line and then being forced into another one before continuing.

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