A Flint?

[fpb]

Although the fight scene between Dobby and Kreacher (ch.19 HBP) is very funny indeed, can anyone tell me what two house-elves are doing fist fighting when they (Dobby, at least) have magical powers strong enough to lay Lucius Malfoy flat on his back?

Comments

[rfachir.livejournal.com]

Why is the USA in a land war? "Balance of power" is a strange beast indeed. (I think JKR likes fist-fights. Lucius and Arthur and Kreacher and Dobby, and all the children at school - lots of violence.)

[fpb.livejournal.com]

That does not quite work out for me. The issue is not whether their powers are equal (and we should remember that Dobby is healthy and nothing suggests he is either aged or weak in any way, while Kreacher is old, creaky and quite senile) but why they do not use them. Otherwise, it seems to me, this would be like arguing that because both Yanks and Rebs had cannon, rifles and bayonets, they should have dropped all their weapons and settled the Civil War with one gigantic fistfight.

[bufo-viridis.livejournal.com]

Yanks and Rebs had cannon, rifles and bayonets, they should have dropped all their weapons and settled the Civil War with one gigantic fistfight.

You made a point, but missed it at the same time: if they had cannon, why bother with muskets? If rifles, then why bayonets? Different tools for different occasions, simply. And yes, a few parts of Civil War were settled by fistfight :) Same for later wars actually :)

There are plenty of instances in the books when they come to blows, instead of firing spells. Also, a wand can be likened to a pistol - and sometimes one just want to smack the other one, not kill him outright.
(of course wand/magical power is not always deadly, but has a great possibility of escalation).

[rfachir.livejournal.com]

Age and guile beat youth, innocence, and a bad haircut every time. (Harry had better hope the wicked geezers like Peter watch his back.)

[fpb.livejournal.com]

If Peter were to watch Harry's back, it would purely be in order to find the best spot to plant a knife in.

Why is the USA in a land war?

[patchworkmind.livejournal.com]

Because air power only works 100% when all the folks you're trying to kill are standing around outside watching you fly overhead and/or waiting to see who's the first that spots the Tomahawk.

[/facetiousness]

Re: Why is the USA in a land war?

[fpb.livejournal.com]

Which is why, in my view, Israel will not manage what it wants till their army physically walks into south Lebanon and comes to grips with Hezbollah armed men. And they must make sure that they cannot escape.

Re: Why is the USA in a land war?

[patchworkmind.livejournal.com]

I have a feeling Israel may do that unless pressured/cajoled by the U.S. and/or the international community to "show restraint".

[patchworkmind.livejournal.com]

Elves v. Humans = Magic, colorful wizardry

Elves v. Elves = Bare fist, Old School smackdown

[izhilzha.livejournal.com]

Maybe elves literally *can't* use their magic against one of their own kind? I'm trying to think of an incident where any of them do, and nothing is coming to mind.... [and this could be anything from a strict code of honor to a literal mental/magical impossibility.]

[lazy-neutrino.livejournal.com]

Is it possible that an elf is not allowed to use his magic in that way while he/she works for (at?) Hogwarts? Dobby used his magic aggressively after being freed from Malfoy but before entering a contract at Hogwarts; I'm not clear what Kreacher's precise position is, but it would make sense for someone to constrain his actions before letting him loose at Hogwarts.

[fpb.livejournal.com]

That is probably the best solution. After all, Hogwarts has 100 house-elves in its service; if there was no protection against any of them running amok or two of them fighting, they could easily tear the place apart, even not wanting to.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

I guess this makes the most sense, but I also like the notion that the grabbing, hitting, and kicking is just so basic and immediate that they fell to that. But it's probably the no-magic-in-Hogwarts thing, indeed.

[lazy-neutrino.livejournal.com]

Yes, sometimes there's nothing as satisfying as as a good physical fight. Human adults would (usually!) regard themselves as too civilised for that, but civilisation is a relative thing and the cultural values of house-elves may be quite different!