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Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Magic/Dragon

Overview
Dragons are among the more famous magical beasts; even Muggles know about them and would immediately recognize one. This has meant that memory-modifying charms have been required on more than one occasion, when a dragon was seen by a number of Muggles.

Extended Description
Female dragons are generally larger than males, and often more aggressive, particularly when nesting. All dragons are protected by a very tough hide, which renders them nearly impervious to Stun spells; to Stun a dragon, several wizards must cast the spell simultaneously.

According to the book Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, dragons have been known to inter-breed with other dragon species; the hybrids that are produced are somewhat rare.

Dragon varieties:

 * Antipodian Opaleye: Native to New Zealand, said to be the most beautiful of dragons. Its favourite food is sheep, although it only kills when hungry. This dragon species is not particularly aggressive.

 * Chinese Fireball: With a fringe of golden spikes, and a mushroom-shaped cloud of flames when it is angry, the Chinese fireball is the only Asian dragon. The Fireball is quite aggressive, but it is more tolerant with its own species than most other dragons are. It mainly feeds on mammals, mostly pigs, but one of its favourites is a human.

 * Common Welsh Green: The dragon is coloured to match the grass around its homeland, thus affording it some camouflage. These tend to nest in the hills where a reservation has been established for their protection. Welsh Green eggs are dark brown with green spots. This species' roar is easily recognized. The Welsh Green is not troublesome, as dragons go; it prefers to feed on sheep rather than humans unless provoked.

 * Hebridean Black: Rough scales and brilliant purple eyes. They mostly hunt deer but have been known to eat cattle and large dogs.

 * Hungarian Horntail: Presumed the most dangerous species, the Horntail got its name from the spikes all over its tail. The Horntail will eat goats, humans (whenever possible), and sheep. The Horntail has yellow eyes and is shaped like a lizard. Its flame is the longest of any species and ranges up to fifty feet.

 * Norwegian Ridgeback: One of the rarest breeds. It is more aggressive to its own type and looks like a Horntail. This dragon will feed on large mammals and strangely, water-dwelling creatures. Ridgeback eggs are black.

 * Peruvian Vipertooth: The smallest dragons known to wizards. Copper-coloured with venomous fangs. It is happy to feed on cows and goats at any time, it did, however, develop a taste for humans in the nineteenth century, so the International Confederation Of Wizards was forced to cull the species to a certain extent.

 * Romanian Longhorn: Green scales and long golden horns. The Romanian Longhorn's territory has become the worlds most important dragon reservation. These dragons are in peril of extinction because they are hunted for their horns, which have now become Class B Tradable Material.

 * Swedish Short-Snout: A silvery-blue dragon. It prefers to live 'wild' in mountainous areas. Its skin is used for protective gloves and shields. Its extremely hot flame has a blue colour, and will turn wood and bone to ash.

 * Ukrainian Ironbelly: This dragon is the largest breed known. It has red eyes and grey scales. It is a slower fighter than other species, but is still extremely dangerous. It can crush houses where it lands, and weighs as much as 6 tons.

Many parts of dragons are used in the Wizarding world for their magical effects. Professor Dumbledore has written a quite-well-known treatise on The Twelve Uses of Dragon's Blood. Dragon-hide gloves are mentioned at one point as being necessary protective gear. We hear a witch in the Apothecary muttering about the high price of dragon liver. Hagrid at one point is using a dragon steak on a surprisingly extensive set of bruises he has received. And it is mentioned in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix that powdered dragon claw is treasured as a mental stimulant, making one "come over all cunning for a few hours," according to Ron.

While uses of parts of dragons are mentioned earlier, and Hagrid also expresses his desire to own a dragon, an intact dragon is first encountered in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone when Harry, Ron, and Hermione watch the hatching of Norbert, a Norwegian Ridgeback, in Hagrid's cabin. Hagrid was allowed to win a dragon egg from a hooded stranger in the Hog's Head. We find out later in the book that the intent was to get Hagrid drunk so that he would reveal one of the layers of defence surrounding the Philosopher's Stone, and how to get past it.

Earlier in the same book, Ron mentions that his older brother Charlie is in Romania working with dragons.

In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry was taken by Hagrid to the clearing in the Forbidden Forest where the four dragons for the First Task were being kept. Harry had to face a Hungarian Horntail to retrieve the golden egg in that task, which he completed successfully. The other three Champions, Cedric Diggory, Fleur Delacour, and Viktor Krum, faced a Swedish Short-Snout, a Common Welsh Green, and a Chinese Fireball, respectively. It is suggested that the eyes of the dragon are its weak point, and in fact Viktor uses the Conjuctivitus curse to evade his dragon, but loses points because the partially-blinded dragon damages some of its own eggs.

In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the trio encounters a dragon guarding some of the deep vaults of Gringotts. They end up freeing it and making their escape on dragonback.

Dragon eggs are Class A Non-Tradeable Goods. We also find, in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, that the Muggle Prime Minister must be notified when dangerous magical creatures, including dragons, are imported into England.

Analysis
While dragons do play roles in the story, it seems that dragons are not strictly speaking necessary; there are any number of other magical creatures that could be used similarly. We note that the author does choose to place many mythical creatures into the Wizarding world; apart from dragons, there are also centaurs, hippogriffs, sphinxes, unicorns, trolls, giants, and mermaids, among others. While some of these are significantly different in the Wizarding world than the accepted Muggle beliefs, dragons are not one such. We suspect that needing a large, dangerous creature, the author simply chose to use the already-made dragon. Readers already know what dragons are, even very young ones, so no description is necessary to understand why Hagrid's wanting to own a dragon seems almost comic while still being alarming.

When writing a fantasy novel or series, one of the critical points is making the story believable, giving the impression that despite all the places where things happen that we know couldn't possibly happen, the story remains reasonable. The author manages this largely by having the Wizarding world hide itself. Knowing that it is almost impossible to keep a secret, though, the author chooses to have some magical leakage. The existence of dragons is one such; everyone knows what dragons are, and some have even toyed with the idea of owning one. By including this sort of parallel between our world and the world she has created, the author greatly enhances its believability.

Questions
Note: The following questions are in many cases not covered in the canon. If you use external sources, cite them; identify speculation where you need it.
 * 1) Describe the process of hatching a dragon egg, what traits and qualities you are likely to see in the first 12 months, and what baby dragons feed on.
 * 2) In your opinion, why was dragon breeding outlawed in the Warlocks Convention of 1709?
 * 3) Name the four Triwizard champions and the breed of dragon each champion was assigned.
 * 4) Dragon parts are extremely useful and valued in wizarding society. Name three parts/pieces of a dragon and explain their uses. (For example: Dragon blood has twelve uses including oven cleaner and spot remover)
 * 5) Name four breeds of dragons and their native habitats.
 * 6) How many dragon reserves are there in the Wizarding World? What are their names and where can they be found?


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Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Magic/Ghoul

Overview
The ghoul, while not exactly the best looking of all magical creatures, isn't all that dangerous. It occupies attics or barns owned by wizards, and resembles a buck-toothed ogre. The most harm it can cause is to growl at someone who unluckily comes across it. It often groans and throws things around.

Extended Description
In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, it is mentioned that there is a Ghoul living in the attic of The Burrow, the Weasley home; Ron is rather dismissive of it, saying that it is nowhere near as good as having a house-elf. There is mention of a "murderous old ghoul" elsewhere in the books, which would imply that ghouls can also become dangerous as they get old; possibly, like many animals, they get senile.

Analysis
In the case of the Weasleys' attic, the ghoul is used as part of the ongoing illustration of the Weasley family's relative poverty; the idea, one supposes, is that rich families have house-elves to take care of them. Ron does find out that having a house-elf can be a double-edged sword, though, when he has to deal with Kreacher.

Ghouls are also mentioned in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Ron, with the help of his father, changes his ghoul into a replica of himself with "Spattergroit", so that he can search for the Horcruxes with Harry and Hermione.

Questions

 * 1) What do ghouls eat? Boggarts feed off our fears and so act to inspire fear; what would Ghouls feed off that would cause them to prefer noise? Could it be irritation?

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/


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Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Magic/Grindylow

Overview
The Grindylow is a pale green water demon. It is found throughout lakes in Britain and Ireland, including the lake at Hogwarts. It acts with aggression towards muggles and wizards alike, but Merpeople have been known to domesticate it. Grindylows have long fingers which will allow them to get a good grip, but which are easy to snap.

Extended Description
The Grindylow appears first in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, where Professor Lupin brings it in for his Defence Against the Dark Arts classes. We see it only in passing there, being used only to illustrate Professor Lupin's willingness to communicate with the students in general, and Harry in particular. It reappears as part of the final exam for that course.

The Grindylow reappears in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, as one of the obstacles that Harry must pass in order to complete the Second Challenge. It is in this section that we see that the Grindylow has been domesticated by merpeople; there are some tied up, like dogs, near some of the merpeople's houses.

The Grindylow is also mentioned in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, in order to confirm that it is Harry he is talking to, Lupin asks Harry what was in Lupin's office the first time Harry was in there, and Harry replies, correctly, that it was a Grindylow in a tank.


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Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Magic/Gnome

Overview
The Gnome is a common garden pest found throughout North America and northern Europe. Its body is out of proportion, its head is too big, it has sharp claws and bony feet. It grows up to about 12 inches tall.

Extended Description
The most popular form of removing a gnome from a garden is to pick it up, spin it around until it is dizzy, and then throw it over a garden wall. According to Gilderoy Lockhart, this causes the gnome to become disoriented and he cannot find his way back; however, it appears that their disorientation is only temporary, as Harry sees the Weasley's gnomes making their way back to the garden only hours after using this technique to remove them.

At the wedding in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Luna Lovegood is very pleased that a Weasley gnome bit her finger. Her father, Xenophilius, explains that gnome saliva has many beneficial properties. This is doubtful as the Lovegoods hold many peculiar beliefs about magical creatures.

It may be possible to teach a gnome to speak English, as Ron says at one point that their gnomes "do know quite a lot of excellent swear words," going on to speculate that Fred and George taught them those.

Analysis
The appearance in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets could be seen as a first intimation that Gilderoy Lockhart is not the wizard he claims to be. The technique for eliminating garden gnomes comes straight out of Gilderoy Lockhart's Guide to Garden Pests, and appears to be effective, as the gnomes, once dug out of the garden and flung into the neighbouring field, march away in the wrong direction. But by sunset the same day, when Harry looks out of Ron's window, the gnomes are already sneaking back into the garden.

Having created the gnomes and infested the Weasley's garden with them, the author perforce must make them reappear in the Weasley's garden whenever we see it. To that end, Crookshanks the cat chases one into a boot in one scene, and one is charmed to be the angel on top of the Weasley's Christmas tree in another scene.


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Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Magic/Imp

Analysis
The Imp is a magical creature found only in Britain and Ireland. The height of the Imp is considered comparable to that of the pixie, between six to eight inches, but that is where the physical similarities end. The Imp cannot fly like the Pixie, nor is it as brightly coloured.


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Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Magic/Kelpie

Overview
The Kelpie is a form of water creature that resides in rivers and streams only. It is native to Scotland, though there are similar Irish myths, which give them other names. The Kelpie has the shape of a fish-tailed horse in the water, but can assume the shape of a horse, or a handsome man, on dry land.

Extended Description
When appearing as a man, there will often be something to give away the Kelpie's true nature, such as pond weed in his hair, or horses hooves. Often confused with the Each-Uisge, which takes on the same forms in and out of the water, the major difference is that the Each-Uisge lives in lochs and the sea, not rivers and streams as the Kelpie does, and is usually associated with more terrifying myths than those of the Kelpie.

The Loch Ness monster is neither, as there are no ancient legends of her ever appearing as a horse. Nessie is always described as a serpent, right up until recent times, when American film makers latched onto the terms "kelpie" and "each-uisge" and "water-horse". Real Scottish legends say that Nessie was a beautiful Celtic maiden who was turned into a terrible serpent by a hag called The Cailleach because she left the cover off a spring and the water poured down all day, filling up the valley below, forming Loch Ness. They say this is how the loch got its name, and is the reason why Scots always refer to Nessie as "She". The reason for the assumption that Nessie can shapeshift into an otter comes from the maiden's name, Neasa, meaning "otter" in old Gaelic.

It is mentioned in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them that one of the Kelpie's favoured shapes is a sea horse, often with bulrushes instead of a mane, as described above. According to the author, "Newt Scamander", the largest Kelpie on record is found in Loch Ness, which is in Scotland. The International Confederation of Wizards noticed that it wasn't a serpent when it changed into an otter. As mentioned above, this is possibly an indication that Rowling's perceptions of the Kelpie have been skewed by American film-makers.

Though mentioned in passing in the main books, the Kelpie plays little, if any, part in the story.


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Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Magic/Kneazle

Overview
Kneazles are small creatures that look like large cats, but have spotted fur, large ears and a tail like a Lion. An independent, intelligent creature, capable of aggression which it shows occasionally, a kneazle will make a great pet, if it likes you! It can be relied upon to guide its owner home if they should get lost. A kneazle requires a license for legal ownership.

Extended Description
Apparently Kneazles can interbreed with cats; the resulting cat/kneazle hybrid is relatively intelligent and larger than the ordinary cat. Crookshanks, Hermione's cat, is probably just such a cross-breed. We are led to believe that old Mrs. Figg is actually making a living by creating such hybrids. While we are told that it is necessary to have a license to own a Kneazle, nothing is said about licensing requirements, if any, for cat/Kneazle hybrids. If Crookshanks is one, we can safely assume that no license is required, because Hermione would be certain to get one.

Analysis
It could be said that the author's introduction of the Kneazle and its ability to cross-breed with cats is perhaps less than honest with the reader, that we should know about the possibility of Crookshanks' being not just an ordinary cat. There is no mention of Kneazles in the principal seven books, and thus no mention of the possibility that Crookshanks may be a hybrid. However, it is certainly true that in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Crookshanks acts far more intelligent than an ordinary cat, and introducing the hybrid idea, even if it is done after the fact, may be necessary to explain that intelligence.


text: Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Magic/Leprechaun


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Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Magic/Lethifold

Overview
The Lethifold, a large, flat creature somewhat resembling a dark cloak or blanket, is one of the most dangerous (and mysterious) magical beasts in the wizarding world. It hunts at night, giving it an advantage over the (sleeping) creatures which it preys upon.

Extended Description
In appearance, a Lethifold is quite similar to a motile cloak, which travels by rippling itself across the surfaces it is lying on. It apparently has limited ability to fly by flapping itself through the air. Its chosen attack technique is to surround and smother its prey. The only spell known to stop a Lethifold is the Patronus charm; this was discovered by Flavius Belby, possibly some relation to Marcus Belby. As quoted in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by "Newt Scamander", Belby writes:

 * Near one o'clock in the morning, as I began at last to feel drowsy, I heard a soft rustling close by. Believing it to be nothing more than the leaves of the tree outside, I turned over in bed, with my back to the window, and caught sight of what appeared to be a shapeless black shadow sliding under my bedroom door. I lay motionless, trying sleepily to divine what was causing such a shadow in a room lit only by moonlight. Undoubtedly my stillness led the lethifold to believe that its potential victim was sleeping. To my horror, the shadow began to creep up the bed, and I felt its slight weight upon me. It resembled nothing so much as black cape, the edges fluttering slightly as it slithered up the bed towards me. Paralyzed with fear, I felt its clammy touch upon my chin before I sat up bolt upright.
 * The thing attempted to smother me, sliding inexorably up my face, over my mouth and nostrils, but still I struggled, feeling it wrapping its coldness about me all the while.
 * Unable to cry out for assistance, I groped for my wand.
 * Now dizzy as the thing sealed about my face, incapable of drawing breath, I concentrated with all my might upon the Stupefying Charm and then - as that failed to subdue the creature, though blasting a hole in my bedroom door - upon the Impediment Hex, with likewise availed me naught. Still Struggling madly, I rolled sideways and fell heavily to the floor entirely wrapped in the lethifold.
 * I knew I was about to lose consciousness completely as I suffocated. Desperately, I mustered up my last reserve of energy. Pointing my wand away from myself into the deadly folds of the creature, summoning the memory of the day I had been voted president of the local gobstones club, I performed the Patronus Charm.
 * Almost at once I felt fresh air upon my face.
 * I looked up to see that deathly shadow being borne into the air upon the horns of my Patronus. It flew across the room and swiftly out of sight.

Analysis
The name of this creature appears to be based on "lethe" (sleep) and the idea of enfolding; thus something which enfolds the sleeper.

If should be noted that in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, it was noted that an old robe had tried to strangle Ron while he was helping clean up Headquarters. There has been speculation on several fan sites that the "cloak" may have in fact been a Lethifold. There is nothing in the book that would confirm this belief, the attacking object is never described as anything except a cloak.

The fact that the creature is vulnerable to a Patronus charm, perhaps along with its technique of suffocating its victims, leads us to believe there might be some relationship to the Dementor; perhaps, in time long past, Dementors were created out of Lethifolds.


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Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Magic/Manticore

Overview
The Manticore is one of the Wizarding World's most dangerous creatures. It is a sentient beast, capable of intelligent speech, but has not been classified as a being due to its violent tendencies.

Extended Description
A manticore has a human-like head, a lion's body, and a scorpion's tail with a ball at the end covered in venomous darts. When the Manticore flings its tail the darts detach. Manticore venom is instantly fatal. It uses this as a way to kill its prey, which it then devours while crooning softly. A Manticore's skin repels all known charms.

While Harry, Ron, and Hermione are researching legal precedents for Buckbeak's defence in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, they find a case where a manticore savaged someone in 1296, and was let off... but quickly find that it was because nobody dared to approach it.

In a scurrilous article, Rita Skeeter suggests that the Blast-Ended Skrewts that Hagrid has provided for his Care of Magical Creatures course in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire may be the result of a cross breeding of Manticores and Fire Crabs.


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Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Magic/Niffler

Overview
A Niffler is a small creature about the size of a cat, with a long and pointed snout. They are very attracted to gold and glittering objects.

Extended Description
Nifflers can be very destructive in their search for gold and glittering objects, which is why they can never be kept as pets. When there is nothing that glitters available, they are quite cuddly and friendly. They are excellent diggers, and will dig through the ground very rapidly in search of gold and metals, which they will bring back to their masters.

Analysis
The Niffler plays a fairly minor role in the series. In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Hagrid, as teacher of Care of Magical Creatures class, has the class care for a batch of Nifflers while he teaches what they can do; this is used as a mechanism to allow Ron to discover that the gold he had given to Harry in payment for the Omnioculars at the Quidditch World Cup had been vanishing leprechaun gold, and that Harry had not noticed its departure. The author has confirmed that this is used to contrast Harry's relative wealth and Ron's family's ongoing poverty.

On two occasions, also, Nifflers were introduced into Professor Umbridge's office in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix; on both occasions, her office was destroyed by the creature's incessant search for shiny objects, and both times Umbridge had blamed Hagrid, as he was at the time still the Care of Magical Creatures teacher, and as he apparently had reason to dislike her. In fact, the Nifflers had been levitated in through Umbridge's open office window by Lee Jordan. Umbridge was nevertheless able to use this belief as part of her justification for sacking Hagrid.

The name "Niffler" probably comes from the French verb "renifler," meaning to smell.


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Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Magic/Pixie

Overview
Pixies are small, electric blue flying creatures, the ones we see in the books originate in Cornwall, and are very mischievous.

Extended Description
During a Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Professor Lockhart lets loose a cage full of pixies, in spite of the fact that he has no experience with them at all. Havoc breaks loose while Lockhart tries to control the situation, in vain, and uses the absolutely non-effective spell Peskipiksi Pesternomi (which was most likely made up). Lockhart flees with the rest of the class, leaving Harry, Ron, and Hermione to clean up the mess.

Analysis
Given what we find out about Lockhart at the end of this book, it is uncertain whether Lockhart could have known that the charm he proposed would work. It is certain he had never tried it before. It is possible that some witch had given him the charm, and he had written about it before erasing her memory; but the witch quite possibly knew Lockhart's reputation and had given him a false and ineffective spell.


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Modern Photography/Introduction

Overview

Photography is the process of using light to record an image onto a medium, such as paper or a computer display. It is thought that the ancient Romans possibly made contact prints of objects on paper that was coated with a mush of flower petals or grass or teas, then exposing this to the sun. No evidence exists of this process because the image fades and disappears over time. It was the early photographers Joseph Nicéphore Niépce in the 1820s, and Louis Daguerre and William Henry Fox Talbot in the 1830s and 40s who figured out how to fix the image onto a surface like metal plate or paper with a chemical solution so it wouldn't fade.

You can try this yourself by placing an opaque object, such as a leaf, flower, or some grass, onto a sheet of paper that has been painted with tea or coffee, lemon or orange juice. These are placed into a glass picture frame, then positioned in a sunny window towards the sun for a few minutes, hours, days, weeks, or months, depending on your emulsion sensitivity. When the exposure-development is done, take the paper and object out of the frame to see the result, your first photo! This ordinary process is what causes the fading of objects placed in sunny windows for months or years at a time. With photography, we control the sensitivity of the film, the time of exposure, the quality of development, and focus the image using a lens in a camera.

In traditional photography classes, these are called photograms, using a darkroom with black-and-white chemicals, and exposing black-and-white enlarging paper using room light or an enlarger lamp. Modern computer users can use a digital camera and computer to make a print onto paper at home or use a digital photo lab. An "alternative photographic technique", is to make large negatives using inkjet printers with special transparent media (for overhead projectors). Sandwiched underneath a glass "contact printing frame" with printing out paper, exposed and developed using sunlight for a few minutes, then removed to be washed and fixed with ordinary photographic fixer. This Printing Out Paper (POP) is still manufactured today.

Life vs photography
Many artists use photographs as reference material. But it is the opinion of most art teachers that, when one has the opportunity to use an actual object as the model for a work of art ("working from life"), to do so is vastly preferable to using a photograph.

Why is this? Simply because no matter how detailed or accurate the photo is, it can never contain all the information that is in the actual object.

A photograph can only show us what one photographer saw, from one angle, under one lighting condition, at one moment in time. A photograph can only capture a single moment in time and cannot replicate the full sensory experience of an object in real life. Also a photograph of an object is not three-dimensional; it does not include the tactile sense of that object's weight or texture; it omits interesting details such as the sound the object makes when tapped, or its scent or taste; and, most importantly from a visual artist's perspective, the photographed object cannot be handled and turned about, taken into another room and examined under different lighting conditions, or dissected for further study.

The opportunity to completely examine an object is extremely valuable to the artist. Though the findings obtained through examination of the object may not seem to appear in the content of the artwork (for example, the artist may carefully examine a very red apple and still paint it in black ink), the knowledge gained from examination of the object will produce a richness in the artwork which would be lacking had the artist not examined the object.

Finally, even if the actual object cannot be moved, handled or taken apart, the opportunity to view it from several different angles will improve the artist's understanding of the object's construction.

title: Modern Photography/Introduction


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Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Magic/Plimpy

Overview
Plimpies are apparently aquatic, but are never described in the series, though they are mentioned by both Luna Lovegood and her father Xenophilius.

Extended Description
In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, we learn from Luna Lovegood that Gulping Plimpies can be staved off by means of Gurdy-roots.

In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Xenophilius Lovegood explains Luna's absence by claiming that she is down on the far side of the bridge, catching Plimpies for their supper. He says that many people have asked for the recipe for their Plimpy soup.

In Magical Beasts And Where To Find Them, there is a description of Plimpies. Evidently these are approximately spherical fish with legs and feet. It is mentioned that Merpeople can get irritated by their habit of hovering around, and will tie their feet together. A Plimpy with its feet tied together will drift helplessly until it manages to get its feet untied, which can take hours.


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Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Magic/Puffskein

Overview
A spherical shaped creature, a Puffskein has a custard yellow colour fur and is found worldwide. It loves to be hugged and thrown about. It's very easy to look after this creature. It's a highly popular wizard pet and finds most of its fame with children.

Extended Description
We never actually see a live Puffskein in the books; most of our information comes from "Newt Scamander"'s Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

Mrs. Weasley does mention that she had found an old Puffskein nest under the couch at Grimmauld Place, but we must assume that they perished from neglect during the ten or so years that the house stood empty after Sirius Black's mother passed away.

Fred and George evidently breed a miniature, pastel-colored version, which they call Pygmy Puffs, and sell them from their joke shop.


text: Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Magic/Salamander


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Modern Photography/Exposure controls

Photography is the act of writing with light. A light-sensitive surface is exposed to light coming from the scene through the camera lens. As modern methods allow for this to be done in ever-smaller fractions of a second or over multiple days, we must control exposure—how much light enters the camera.

In order to get a perfectly-exposed image (one that has all of the desired levels of gray from pure dark to pure white) a photographer must balance and coordinate three settings—aperture, shutter speed, and sensitivity—against the scene to be shot.

Level, tone, value
These terms are used interchangeably to describe how light or dark a region of a picture may be. For printed images, the lightest tone available is usually that of the bare paper on which the print is made, and less often a specific white pigment used in some printing methods; the darkest tone results from being fully saturated with black ink/pigment/dye/toner. For images viewed on a screen, the lightest tone occurs at full illumination, and the darkest tone with emitted light being completely obscured, or no light being emitted.

We aim to keep all visible details within the range of tones we can reproduce in print or screen—dynamic range. This range is *much* smaller than the range of tones we encounter in the real world—from full sunlight to complete darkness. Our eyes adjust to changing lighting conditions, instantly and involuntarily. Meanwhile, our cameras must measure more carefully, and determine what exposure settings to apply in response. However, cameras can still operate in conditions that humans would find blinding or too dark, and images can be processed in a way that exceeds the dynamic range normally available.

Contrast
Contrast is the overall difference between light and dark areas. Human vision is more sensitive to changes in brightness than changes in color. So it is that contrast in an image provides clarity through high-contrast edges, and impact through contrast between regions of an image. Images with low contrast can appear dull and uninteresting, or may even be difficult to comprehend. Extreme contrast—where most of the tones are pure white or black—is generally avoided for many images, but can prove very striking, and is also the primary aim of written text.

Key
Key is the predominance of tones in a scene, with "high key" referring to bright tones, and "low key" for dim tones. By necessity, a shot taken in broad daylight will often be high-key, while a shot taken in moonlight will be low-key. The subject may yet be properly exposed with a full range of tone, even though the remainder of the scene is crushed or muddied.

High key can lend a feeling of cleanliness (such as for product photos or architecture) or discomforting sterility (plain white walls of an institution). Low key can emphasize intimacy (a figure in a darkened bedroom) or terror (a forest at night, creatures hiding in shadows). Both can also evoke feelings of isolation or loneliness from a lack of visible surroundings.

This is a different concept from a "key light", the primary light used to illuminate a subject. "High key" here instead means a key light placed above the subject, and "low key" for light from below.

Stops
A stop is a difference of double a lower value, and one-half a higher value. Stops are used because illumination and vision are dependent on this geometric scale. The perceived difference in light between one and two lamps appears greater than the difference between eleven and twelve of the same, but would appear the same as the difference between one hundred and two hundred.

Stops are often used when speaking of aperture, as the term originates from the literal stops that secure the aperture ring along its adjustable range. However, stops can also describe the differences between shutter speed and sensitivity values all the same. Camera controls are typically available in thirds of a stop.

Exposure value
Exposure value is an alternate system of quantifying a scene using a logarithmic scale. Instead of large numbers and fractions, exposure values are given in whole numbers that grow or decrease by one with each stop. This can make calculations easier as one needs only add or subtract, instead of the multiplication or division needed for dealing with stops on a linear scale.

Overexposure and underexposure
Overexposure occurs when too much light is captured for the chosen exposure settings, and underexposure when too little. These are often undesirable when contrast is severely reduced.

Minor exposure problems can be corrected during processing, especially with standard negative film as it is exposed a second time to produce a print. Still, the lowered dynamic range from the original shot may result in a lower quality image.

A digital image processor may simply render over- and underexposed areas as pure white or black—clipping to the maximum or minimum available values. Detail cannot be recovered from clipped areas. Because the sensor is often a permanent part of the camera, it may be damaged by extreme overexposure. Care should be taken to avoid shooting direct sunlight or bright sources of light such as encountered with welding or lasers.

Shooter controls
Before the camera even comes into play, the shooter has an important role in deciding what will be shot in the first place, and adjusting how much light is in the scene.

Composition
Natural lighting comes from the sun, which casts very strong light in one direction. Natural lighting also comes from materials illuminated by the sun. This includes the sky, terrain, buildings, and large objects like trees. Light reflected off of these sources is generally diffuse and comes from multiple directions.

Weather and time of day play major roles in using natural lighting. It is not uncommon for shoots to be planned for a specific time of day or year, or to be cancelled due to undesirable conditions.

Artificial lighting is created by humans for visibility and public safety. This is much less intense than natural lighting. It may even appear in the shooting scene without severely disrupting exposure.

Indoor scenes can be challenging to expose properly because the light level is much lower than outdoors, and daylight from outside can easily overpower. Without adjustment, shots taken indoors may require such long shutter speeds or high sensitivity that the resulting image is undesirable.

Staging
The lighting within a scene may be manipulated by the shooter with various tools. Some shots may require use of a studio, a space where the photographer may more easily control shooting conditions.

Devices such as on-camera flash, studio lamps, and strobes provide additional light for the photographer. Lighting can also be redirected from elsewhere by using reflecting screens. Care should be taken to avoid including these devices in the shot.

Light can be removed from a scene by the use of flags and panels to block light, by closing doors and curtains while indoors, and other obstructions. Screens and scrims may be applied to lighting to reduce their effect on the scene, or applied outside windows to allow outdoor objects to be exposed along with the indoors.

Properties of light such as diffusion and color can be altered with various materials.

Camera controls
Three primary exposure controls are located on the camera. Aperture is controlled by the iris diaphragm inside the camera lens. Shutter speed is controlled by the shutter curtain inside the camera body. Sensitivity is a property of the speed of film chosen, or the digital image sensor used.

Aperture
The aperture is a hole in the camera lens through which light is transmitted from outside the camera. Changing the size of the aperture allows more or less light through as needed. The aperture size also has an effect on depth of field—how much of the scene before and behind the focal plane is in focus. There may also be minor side effects depending on the quality of the lens.

<!-- F stop! I am often amazed at how many “professionals” do not really understand what an f stop is or does. Here it comes, plain and simple. Memorize this and you will be way ahead of the game. When you push the shutter release on an SLR a mirror inside your camera body flips up and the shutter exposes the film to whatever is showing through the lens. Behind the lens is an adjustable opening called the aperture, through which the light passes on its way to the film. The F stop is a measure of the size of this opening. The size of the hole through the lens, f stop, does not change what is in the film frame; it only controls how much light gets through. Full f stops in order from LARGEST HOLE to SMALLEST HOLE are (scale): f/1, f/1.4, f/2, f/2.8, f/4, f/5.6, f/8, f/11, f/16, f/22, f/32. The smaller the number, the bigger the hole. Each successive full f stop allows in half as much light as the next. Example f/4 allows twice as much light through as f/5.6 and f/5.6 allows twice as much light as f/8.

Now, the aperture's diameter is not the same from lens to lens. A lens' aperture is a ratio between an aperture's diameter and that lens' focal length. A 50mm lens' aperture f/2 has a diameter of 25mm. A 100mm lens' f/2 has a diameter of 50mm. But both of these lenses at the same aperture setting allow the same amount of light to reach the film because each aperture's diameter is exactly half of that lens' focal length, 1/2. f/2 is an abbreviation for the formula to find an aperture's diameter where f = focal length of the lens. f/4 for 210mm lens. 210/4=53mm aperture diameter. The real question is: why do we care about f stops? Why not just have a great big hole and let as much light fall onto the film as possible. Because a larger aperture gives a smaller depth of field (explained below). The Aperture Control is a ring located on the circumference of the lens. Some lenses have half-stops as well as the full stops given above.

Example
Uncle Ed is sitting on a bench in the park. Behind him is a yucky old warehouse. We do not want the to capture the detail of the warehouse, so we will use an f 2, big hole, and its corresponding shutter speed for the light conditions. We hit the shutter release button and we have Uncle Ed crisply on film with a warehouse behind him that is soft or very soft and lacking in detail, basically a blur that shows the light and dark areas only and all blurry. Clear as mud? OK, now we are at the beach with a fabulously lovely young woman. Let’s call her Marriah. We want her and the wonderful cliffs a half mile behind her all crisp and in focus. We focus on Marriah, Goddess, and use a “long” f stop like f 22. We then dial in the necessary shutter speed for proper exposure and take the image. Marriah is captured in sharp focus in all her glory as are cliffs way behind her.

Depth of field
Depth of field is the distance, front and back, that is the in focus on the film from whatever we are “hard” focused on. A small f stop (big hole) requires a faster shutter speed so the film does not have as much time to record detail (focus) on object in front of or behind the subject we are focused on. A large f stop (small hole, big number like f 22) allows the light through more slowly so we have to use a longer shutter speed to get the right exposure. Depth of field for each f stop is often shown on as a small bars with numbers on the f stop ring of our lens. This is best learned by looking at a camera lens that has these calibration marks. It will show that if we are focused on something that is 20 feet away for example at f 5.6 then everything between 15 and 25 feet is within the depth of field for that f stop. This is hard to visualize unless you are looking a high quality lens that has the markings.

Now, lets assume that we had enough light for the previous 2 examples that we were able to use a shutter speed of 1/60th of a second or faster (1/125th, 1/250th …) so that we did not have to use a tripod. But how do we know?

A very simple way to set depth of field is to focus on your subject, then set your "f-stop" to the number that best represents how much of the foreground and background you would like in focus... i.e.: Say you are shooting a photo of a child and you want very little of the background in focus, you would firstly focus on the child's eyes or at least his/her face. Next, choose an "f-stop" of the lowest available to the lens you are using. Think of the "f-stop" number as the number of meters in front of and behind the subject you would like in focus. The higher the number, the more in focus.... f2.8 would then relate to about 2.8 meters in front of and behind the subject in focus, f22 would mean 22 meters in front of and behind the subject in focus.

Obviously these meterages are not accurate, not even close but it gives you the train of thought for using f-stops accurately....I have used this method to teach people to think of f-stops with great results. -->

Shutter speed
Shutter speed is the length of time for which the shutter is released, permitting light from the lens to reach the sensor. It is measured in seconds, or fractions thereof. Shutter speed has a direct effect on motion blur captured in the image, whether through the motion of subjects or of the camera itself.

Though normally controlled by a timer, long shutter speeds may be achieved through a "bulb" setting. With long shutter speeds, it may be necessary to use neutral density filters to prevent overexposure during the day. The camera should also be stabilized with a tripod or setting it on a sturdy surface. Very long shots, such as with astrophotography, may even require a tracking mount that counteracts the rotation of the Earth.

Sensitivity
Sensitivity or speed—often given as an "ISO number"—is the rate at which the film or sensor is able to capture or react to light. By changing the sensitivity, the same amount of light can produce different tones in the captured image. Each successive grade (double the number) requires half as much light to be captured for the same resulting tone.

Film
Film manufacturers achieve varying degrees of sensitivity by altering the grain size of the light-sensitive crystals embedded in the film. Slower films will have smaller grain than faster films. The grain size affects how the film captures fine detail, and how smoothly it can reproduce gradual changes of color.

Film speeds are generally obtainable from ISO 100 (slow) to ISO 3200 (really fast). In order for the camera to properly calculate exposure, the matching film speed should be set on the camera body's sensitivity control.

Digital
For digital sensors, sensitivity has an indirect relation with image noise—unwanted variations in color. Higher sensitivity (corresponding with a higher ISO number) allows for quicker exposure but risks increased noise; lower sensitivity requires more time but reduces noise captured. Digital cameras may provide a wider range of sensitivity, from ISO 50 to ISO 12800.

Changing the camera body's sensitivity control changes how the image processor translates the sensor readings, simulating a change in sensitivity. Depending on the quality of the image processor, there may be subtle changes in contrast and color rendition as sensitivity is adjusted.

Metering
The proper exposure settings for the scene to be shot can be determined by 'metering—using a light meter that instantly reports the level of light. The readings may simply inform the shooter while using manual exposure, or they may be used by the camera's autoexposure system to automatically set exposure controls.

Manual exposure
With manual exposure, the exposure controls are set by hand. These cannot be changed by the camera, even if the shot is sure to result in over- or underexposure.

Through-the-lens
The camera body often contains a built-in reflected light meter that measures the amount of light entering the camera through the lens (TTL). The suggested exposure settings are usually indicated in the viewfinder.

To better ensure a proper reading, a calibration card may be positioned in view. An 18% gray card provides a neutral, middle gray tone.

External metering
An incident light meter may be used to measure the actual amount of light present in a scene. The user holds the meter where the primary subject is positioned. These often have a white hemisphere that allows light to be collected from all directions. The meter reports what exposure settings should be used, and allow for locking of certain controls. Some can measure flash lighting by reporting the peak value detected.

There are devices that allow a smartphone to be used as a light meter, with an accompanying app to report settings.

Rules of thumb
Approximate settings can be figured by easy-to-memorize rules:

 * Sunny 16—On a sunny day, set aperture to f/16, and shutter speed to the reciprocal of sensitivity. If sensitivity is ISO 100, then shutter speed is 1/100. The aperture can be adjusted for different conditions, such as overcast clouds or shooting in full shade.

 * Looney 11—When shooting the surface of the moon at night, set aperture to f/11, and shutter speed to the reciprocal of sensitivity.

Automatic exposure
The camera body can use automatic exposure controls using the TTL meter and a programmed shooting mode.

Because scenes vary, the camera offers some basic metering modes:

 * Spot metering: Measures a small field, typically centered with the lens. Spot metering is recommended for use with a calibration card.

 * Center-weighted metering: Measures a larger field to account for areas with high contrast. The reading will split the difference between the brightest and darkest areas.

 * Matrix/evaluative metering: The entire scene is analyzed in sections, with priority given to focused areas. Some camera models may compare readings against a database in order to pick settings.

 * Average metering: All available light in a scene is simply averaged, yielding a crude but quick result.

Exposure compensation
Light meters assume that the subject will be exposed to a middle tone. This may not be the case if you are shooting in excessively bright scenes (snow, sand), or if your subject is strongly colored (dark skin or paint). The meter reading can nonetheless be used by setting exposure compensation that adds or subtracts stops.

On a film camera, the sensitivity control may be used for exposure compensation, by setting it a certain number of stops away from the actual film speed. Setting to a lower speed will increase exposure; setting to a higher speed will reduce exposure. This allows for using the shutter speed and aperture controls as intended.

On a digital camera, there is a dedicated exposure compensation control (+/–). The camera will adjust exposure controls depending on what shooting mode is chosen. Camera customization may allow more than one control to be adjusted to ensure a shot can be taken. In other cases, the camera may refuse to shoot and alert the user that its limits have been reached.

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Example
There, again, is Ed’s sitting on the bench. We have decided that we want a shallow depth of field so the warehouse is not in focus. We need a fast f stop, large hole, shallow depth of field, of f2. So we dial in f 2 on our lens by twisting the f stop ring on our lens. We look through the camera at Ed. We focus on him by using the focus ring on our camera lens or tap the shutter release on auto focus cameras. Our meter says we have too much light! We are staying with f 2 hole size so that we have a shallow depth of field and we cannot change the film speed so there is only one thing to do; we must lessen the shutter speed, how long the shutter is open, down to less and less time until the meter is happy and we know the image will be properly exposed.

Review
The perfectly exposed image is obtained by metering available light onto the light sensor with a set speed of whatever film is loaded. We can then adjust one of two things to make the meter happy and get a proper exposure; either f stop (hole through lens size), or shutter speed (how long the shutter is open). If we want a deep (or long) depth of field (Marriah with cliffs) then we want a long or big f stop (big number, small hole) and a slow shutter speed. If we want a shallow depth of field (Ed but no warehouse) then we want a short or small f stop (small number, big hole) and a faster shutter speed. We adjust and coordinate these two things (f stop and shutter speed) until we have the correct exposure (the meter is happy) and the depth of field we want (deep or shallow or somewhere in between). Remember to avoid hand holding for shots that are longer than 1/60th of a second.

 * Twice the light; half the speed. : Since we know that each full f stop allows in twice or half as much light through the lens as the full f stop next to it and that each shutter speed is twice or half as long as its neighbor we can, and will, coordinate them. Warning! Many camera lenses have 1/s stops. This means that they can and will have a click that is halfway between each full stop. It can be handy to get the proper exposure to use half stops but be aware of what f stop you are actually using. I will insist that you keep notes of film, f stop and shutter speed of EVERY shot for a while.

 * (Full f stops again (scale) in order f 1.4, f 2, f 2.8, f 4, f 5.6, f 8, f 11, f 16, f 22, f 32) : Example: We meter Bob the squirrel and come to the conclusion by playing with our f stop and shutter speed that we can properly expose him on the 400 ASA film we have loaded (and told the camera we have loaded) by using an f stop of f 4 and a shutter speed of 1/125th of a second. We take the shot. So Bob is still sitting there playing with his nuts and we realize that the carving on the other end of the bench of Bob would look cooler in the shot if it were also in focus! Scotty! I need more depth of field! So, we dial in the next larger full f stop of f 5.6 (HALF THE LIGHT!) and we double the amount of time we leave the shutter open to 1/60th of a second and get the shot with the end of the bench also in focus. See they work hand in hand! An f stop of f 5.6 requires twice as much time to capture the same image as f 4 and has MORE depth of field. An f stop of f 4 requires half the time as f 5.6 to capture the same image but f 4 has less depth of field.

Exercises
With some practice this will make sense. I will give you exercises and hands on time that will illustrate these principals in an artistic and understandable way. Not to worry. Remember that when you really understand these principles and how film speed, shutter speed and f stop work in unison then you already know WAY more than most. Once you get the basics down it is all art! Yes it takes a long time to learn it all but you will likely be taking good images and making nice prints of them very soon. Apply yourself. It will be worth it.

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 * If an image is properly exposed using 100 ASA film, f 4, 1/125th of a second; what is the correct shutter speed for the same shot using f 5.6? F 8? F 2.8? Try using the shutter speed scale above.
 * If an image is properly exposed using 100 ASA film, f 8, 1/30th of a second; what is the correct f stop if want to use a shutter speed (no tripod) of 1/60th of a second? 1/125th? 1/250th? Try using the full f stop scale above.
 * I am standing on a train going 427 MPH headed South towards Mexico and am wearing a blue shirt. My last shot on a roll was correctly exposed using 100 ASA film, f 8, 1/250th of a second. The only film I have left is 200 ASA film. I load it. What is the proper shutter speed with this film if I want to stay with f 8? What if I only have 400 ASA film and want to stay with f 8?

title: Modern Photography/Exposure controls


text: Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Magic/Sea Serpent


text:
Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Magic/Sphinx

Overview
Prevalent enough that it has made it into Muggle folklore as well as being a Magical creature, the Sphinx is a creature with a human head on a feline body. In Muggle literature, it first appeared in ancient Egypt. It is intelligent and is very fond of puzzles.

Extended Description
The only appearance of a Sphinx so far in the series is as one of the creatures guarding the Triwizard Cup in the maze that forms the Third Challenge in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. The Sphinx poses a question that Harry must answer before he can proceed.

The same sphinx is mentioned again in passing in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. In discussion with the Muggle Prime Minister, Cornelius Fudge mentions that they had informed the Muggle government two years before when they had imported dangerous magical creatures into England for a Wizarding competition: three dragons and a Sphinx.

Analysis
The Sphinx, though intelligent, is a disinterested party; one gets the idea that it is all the same to her whether the wizard gets by or not, but she has been given the job of setting a puzzle at that passageway, and she will carry out that job. This is identical to the way the Sphinx has behaved in Muggle mythology.


text:
Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Magic/Troll

Overview
Trolls are large, slow, humanoid creatures. They are generally destructive, and wild ones, at least, are generally not smart enough to reason with.

Extended Description
A troll made an appearance in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, when Professor Quirrell let one into the dungeons during the Hallowe'en Feast. A second one, or possibly the same one, also provided by Quirrell, was one of the obstacles guarding the approach to the Stone.

In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, when the Fat Lady returns to watch the Gryffindor common room entrance, a squad of security trolls is recruited to keep her safe. These are apparently not much smarter than the one that broke up the feast two years earlier, but are apparently more biddable. It is mentioned that they seem to be spending a lot of time comparing clubs, but otherwise we hear little of them. While their size is never mentioned, context would lead us to believe that they are not as large as the ones mentioned in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

Fred Weasley has stated that all one needs to do to speak Troll is to point and grunt, earning him "an extremely nasty look" from Percy.

Analysis
It is not immediately made clear how Trolls differ from Giants, but from context we can assume that trolls are slightly smaller, have less brain, and are trainable (security trolls have been used several times, even in Hogwarts, as guards). From the fact that Harry and Ron both commented on the smell when the troll approached them in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, but that neither Harry nor Hermione noted any smell when approaching Grawp in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, would also imply that Trolls are also much smellier than Giants.

There is some small evidence for there being multiple species of troll. The "troll in the dungeons", mentioned in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, is identified there as a "wild mountain troll," is also described as being very large, and having little if any spoken language. The "security trolls" mentioned in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban are apparently smaller, as several of them can fit in the hallway, communicate with each other, though possibly pre-verbally, and are either trained to take direction from the Fat Lady, or else determine for themselves when Sirius approaches, and prevent his entry. It is possible that the author simply thought the concept of a "security troll" would be a good thing to put into the story. At this remove, we of course can't tell whether that was the genesis of this distinct troll type, or whether she had in fact planned for there to be significant diversity in the troll race. The reader might consider whether having multiple distinct troll species explicitly defined would enhance the story.


text:
Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Magic/Unicorn

Overview
The unicorn is a majestic horse-like creature with a single horn on its head. When fully grown, they are pure white, but are golden when foals and turn silver before achieving maturity.

Extended Description
We first hear something about Unicorns in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, when Harry, Hermione, Neville Longbottom, and Draco Malfoy have to serve a detention. Hagrid tells them that something has been wounding and killing unicorns in the Forbidden Forest, and the four of them, with Hagrid and his boarhound Fang, are going to see if they can find out what it is. We learn first that unicorn blood is silvery, and then later that unicorn blood can be used to keep one alive, no matter how close to death they are.

Harry, Ron and Hermione witness a unicorn during a lesson of Care of Magical Creatures taught by a temporary teacher, Professor Grubbly-Plank, in their fourth year. Unicorns apparently prefer a female's touch.

In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, we learn that Hagrid has been collecting unicorn tail and mane hairs that get caught in the bushes. He says they are dead useful for tying things up, very strong. Eventually, in a burst of drunken generosity, he gives the bundle of them to Horace Slughorn, who apparently thinks they are worth about ten Galleons a hair.

A unicorn's horn, blood and hair have highly magical properties. Some wands are manufactured containing unicorn tail hair.


text:
Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Magic/Yeti

Overview
The yeti, commonly known as Bigfoot or the Abominable Snowman, is a troll-like carnivore completely covered in pure white hair. Native to Tibet, yetis fear fire.

Extended Description
In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Year with the Yeti is one of the several supposed autobiographies of Gilderoy Lockhart that are assigned to Harry's Defence Against the Dark Arts class. Harry is selected by Lockhart to play a "yeti with a head-cold" in a dramatisation of one such story.

Analysis
Whilst being largely regarded as a myth by the scientific community, the yeti remains a common feature of fiction and one of the most famous creatures of cryptozoology. True to this, it is mentioned in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them that an International Task Force is based in the Himalayan mountains so as to prevent reporting of Muggle sightings of the yeti, which are apparently numerous.


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Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Magic/Wolfsbane Potion

Overview
Wolfsbane Potion is a potion that will allow a werewolf to retain their intelligence when they transform, thus rendering them less dangerous.

Extended Description
When a werewolf transforms at the full moon, they become basically a wild animal, and will attack anything in the area including humans; of course, the bite of the werewolf is infectious and will result in the bitten person also becoming a werewolf. Wolfsbane Potion is a very recent discovery; if taken regularly once a day in the week prior to the full moon, it results in the werewolf keeping their mind when they transform, thus making them able to lie quietly in private, rather than running mindlessly and striking out at everything.

The potion itself is very difficult to make; apparently Professor Snape is the only one at Hogwarts who is able to brew the potion. It also reportedly has a unpleasant taste, and sugar renders it ineffective. It is unknown whether it contains the plant Wolfsbane (Aconite or Monks-hood).

The potion was evidently invented only a few years before the story starts, by Damocles Belby, the uncle of Marcus Belby. Damocles Belby was apparently taught Potions by Professor Slughorn.

Analysis
The need for this potion, or something like it, becomes obvious as we read through the Shrieking Shack chapters in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. The Muggle understanding of the Werewolf is quite close to the Wizarding understanding of the beast; it is not safe to have a werewolf in human company at the full moon. Thus, when we discover that Professor Lupin is a werewolf, we must also see that there is some way that his monthly transformation can be controlled or corralled. When he was going to school, some ten to fifteen years before, the only way to manage this was to confine him to a place that he could not get out of in wolf shape, and make it distant enough from people that they would not be overly disturbed by the resulting noise. It is uncertain whether this is an option for the more mature Lupin; but the Wolfsbane potion, by allowing him to keep his intelligence through the transformation, also defuses the pure animal rage he would feel at being locked up.

In the story, the Wolfsbane potion in part highlights the ambivalence of Snape's character. When we first see it, Snape is disdainfully presenting a goblet of it to Lupin. Harry is alarmed because the potion is smoking and he believes that Snape would do literally anything, possibly including killing the current holder of the office, to gain the post of instructor of Defence Against the Dark Arts. After Snape reveals that Lupin is a werewolf, Lupin tells Harry that if Snape had really wanted to cause trouble, it would have been extremely simple for him to do so; a single tiny mistake in mixing the potion, and Lupin, transformed, would surely have injured or killed students.

Greater Picture
The fact that the potion must be taken regularly in the week prior to the full moon also proves critical. It transpires that missing even a single dose of the potion renders it useless, so Lupin's having forgotten it once causes him to transform to a mindless beast in the closing scenes of the book. This allows Peter Pettigrew to escape. Pettigrew's escape is necessary for Voldemort's off-scene return from Albania and rise to power later in the series.

We note that Lupin has a continuing presence in the story: he returns as a member of the Order of the Phoenix, having been mentioned as "a member of the old crowd" by Professor Dumbledore at the end of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and we see him a number of times up until his death in the final battle. It is uncertain exactly how he is weathering the lunar cycle during this time; we're told his mission is to infiltrate the werewolves under Fenrir Greyback, and during that interval one supposes he must be running with the pack and so unable to use the potion. However, in the final book, with Snape unavailable to brew the potion, Lupin and Tonks marry and live together, without a word as to how that is being accomplished.


text: Category:Book:Human Physiology

title: Category:Book:Human Physiology


text:
Creative Writing/Introduction

There's a popular misconception that creative writing and its process does not require criticism and academic rigour. This is utterly false; criticism, constructive or otherwise, is an absolute necessity to improve any work, and the application of academic standards can greatly improve the quality of a work. However, keep in mind you still have complete control over your work as the author. If you feel confident that the violation of grammatical conventions strengthens the quality of your work, then do it. Nobody will stop you but yourself.

Creative writing also requires dedication. You must be willing to put time into a work, to edit it, and allow it to be edited. Beyond these, few absolutes can be drawn. Different people write in different ways. Find a method that works for you and finally, the broader your knowledge of the language and the more that you have read, the better your writing will be.

Creative Process
Some people can just sit down and write having something already in their mind. For others, finding something to write about can be the hardest part of creative writing. Assuming you're not in the first group, there are several things you can do to create ideas. Not all of these will work for all people, but most are at least useful tools in the process. Also, you never know when you might have an idea. Write down any ideas you have at any time. You can always expand on them later.

For stories and poetry, the simplest method is to immerse yourself in the subject matter. If you want to write a short story, read a lot of short stories. If you want to write a poem, read poems. If you want to write something about love, read a lot of things about love, no matter the genre or medium. This method can take a long time for people and often produces 'inspired' works.

You can also take a different work that you like (preferably a long one) and start to copy it by hand until you reach a point at which you feel you would say something different from the actual author. At this point, start writing that and discard the other work. You can go back and change the beginning later. This can be excellent practice, but it obviously produces somewhat derivative work.

You can do a simple procedure in which you pick a word, phrase, object, name or something at random and start writing about it. This is also a good exercise, and it can produce excellent poetry. However, some people have just as much trouble picking a word or writing once a word is picked as they have coming up with an idea.

Writing Process
Once you have started a work and have begun to write in earnest, you should remember certain universal writing tips, such as making sure that you write in a non-disruptive environment. Some people find that mapping out what they are writing ahead of time, or preparing rubrics is helpful. While this can help focus your writing, other writers find it restrictive. Experiment to see what is right for you. Most importantly, revise your work and keep copies of the various revisions. If you start to feel that the work is complete, let it sit for a few days and read it again. You'd be amazed at how many changes you want to make. Keep in mind the importance of language and expression, as how you say it can be as important as what you say.

Critical Process
Once you have finished a draft of the work and feel it is ready, you should have other people criticize it. Make sure they tell you what they think and why. Decide if you agree with them, and then act on it. Do this several times, with many people. There are websites which can help you to do this. Remember, you have no reason to make a change unless you agree with it.

title: Creative Writing/Introduction


text:
Creative Writing/Publication

Looking to get published? It can be a daunting task. But in the information age, this is both easy and difficult to do now that access to publishers is much easier.

First, you'll want to compile a list of the books similar to yours and research their publishers. If a majority of them come from the same publishing house, then your best bet is to start there. If not, find more books like yours and repeat.

Second, see the submission guidelines posted on the publisher's website. These need to be followed as carefully as possible, in order to show editors professionalism and seriousness in your intent. Get hold of a guide for information on how to write a cover letter, query, and format your manuscript. Keep in mind many publishers will not accept unsolicited manuscripts, especially novels. They may ask for a query instead, but in the case where publishers don't accept unsolicited queries either, you will need an agent to submit to that house. Unfortunately, finding an agent can be as tough as finding a publisher.

Third, wait. This step can be stressful to the author and the urge to submit to multiple publishing houses may arise, but pay attention to a publisher's policy on simultaneous and exclusive submissions. Not doing so can be harmful to your relations with a publishing house. Fortunately, publishers are becoming more accepting of simultaneous submissions it can potentially take six months or longer for them to respond to an author. Publishing houses that accept simultaneous submissions are a valuable asset to authors and should not be abused. Do not submit wherever it could be inappropriate to.

You will most likely get rejected. It happens all the time and is a part of being a writer. Having gotten a response is an accomplishment on its own, and should serve as an opportunity to refine your work. Most rejected submissions receive a form letter, and if an editor takes the time to comment specifically on your submission, that is a major accomplishment.

After that, repeat the process and don’t give up. In the event that you do, try another field of publishing.

title: Creative Writing/Publication


text:
User:Dr Dnar

I'm not an English major, but I like to think I have better grammar than most people.

I know several dialects of BASIC, and would like to learn C++ and assembly (Z80, 68K, and x86).

And no, I'm not a PhD, or an MD. I made the character for an RPG and decided I liked the name.

title: User:Dr Dnar


text:
Nuclear Physics/Molecules - an Analogy

A theoretical approach for estimating association free energies of -helices in nonpolar media has been developed. The parameters of energy functions have been derived from G values of mutants in water-soluble proteins and partitioning of organic solutes between water and nonpolar solvents. The proposed approach was verified successfully against three sets of published data: (1) dissociation constants of -helical oligomers formed by 27 hydrophobic peptides; (2) stabilities of 22 bacteriorhodopsin mutants, and (3) protein-ligand binding affinities in aqueous solution. It has been found that coalescence of helices is driven exclusively by van der Waals interactions and H-bonds, whereas the principal destabilizing contributions are represented by side-chain conformational entropy and transfer energy of atoms from a detergent or lipid to the protein interior. Electrostatic interactions of -helices were relatively weak but important for reproducing the experimental data. Immobilization free energy, which originates from restricting rotational and translational rigid-body movements of molecules during their association, was found to be less than 1 kcal/mole. The energetics of amino acid substitutions in bacteriorhodopsin was complicated by specific binding of lipid and water molecules to cavities created in certain mutants.

Keywords: binding; thermodynamics; potentials; solvation; membranes; micelles; -helix; entropy; peptides; bacteriorhodopsin; glycophorin A

Abbreviations: vdW, van der Waals interactions • ASA, accessible surface area • PDB, Protein Data Bank • SDS, sodium dodecylsulfate • DPC, N-dodecylphosphocholine • DDMAB, N-dodecyl-N,N-(dimethylammonio) butyrate • DMPC, 1,2 Dimytristoyl-sn-glycerol-3-phosphocholine • GpA, glycophorin A • MS1, QLLIAVLLLIAVNLILLIAVARLRYLVG • L7NL11, RARL7NL11GILIN • L19, RARL19GILIN • L16, KKGL7WL9KKA • Y16, KKGL7YL9KKA • L22, KKGL10WL12KKA • Y22, KKGL10YL12KK.

Article published online ahead of print. Article and publication date are at http://www.proteinscience.org/cgi/doi/10.1110/ps.04850804.

title: Nuclear Physics/Molecules - an Analogy


text:
Jeep Liberty/Limited Slips

Limited Slip is a traction aiding differential that will supply a percentage of torque to the tire with the most traction. It works by binding the two side gears of the differential against the carrier when a set speed difference is reached between the two gears. Essentially, if one wheel starts spinning faster than the other by a substantial amount the clutches will step in and prevent any further spin. Unfortunately, the clutches in limited slips aren't especially strong and are overcome if the slip becomes too great. For this reason, many people opt for a locker instead because it provides 100% lock up.

Posi is a slang term for the limited slip differential. Named after GM' "Posi-Traction" unit, which was built by Eaton.

Front Dana 30a

 * /Detroit TrueTrac/

Rear Chrysler 8.25"

 * /Trac-Loc LSD/
 * /Auburn High Performance/
 * /Detroit TrueTrac/

title: Jeep Liberty/Limited Slips


text:
Jeep Liberty/Lockers

A locker works by locking the two side gears of the differential to the carrier. In a manual selectable locker the two wheels are in 100% lock until the locker is disengaged. In an automatic locker the two wheels are always locked together until one needs to spin faster than the other, as is the case when cornering. Automatic lockers work in the reverse of limited slips in that they're normally locked and only unlock during turns, rather than being normally unlocked and only resisting wheel speed difference during slip. A locker is better than a limited slip because it will give the driver 100% lock and won't give out when a large amount of slip is encountered.

Front Dana 30a

 * /ARB Air Locker/
 * /Aussie Locker/

Rear Chrysler 8.25"

 * /ARB Air Locker/
 * /PowerTrax No-Slip/
 * /Detroit Locker/

title: Jeep Liberty/Lockers


text:
User:TheMuuj

 * TheMuuj on English Wikipedia

title: User:TheMuuj


text:
User:PER9000

Hi all,

I'm pretty much a swede, so please use my Swedish wiki-page: sv:User:PER9000.

title: User:PER9000


text:
User talk:PER9000

I will probably not read this page much so please use my swedish discussion page:. (English, Francais, 13375p34k and Svenska works fine.)

title: User talk:PER9000


text:
User:Blobglob~enwikibooks

See my user page on Wikipedia for now.

title: User:Blobglob~enwikibooks


text:
Biology, Answering the Big Questions of Life/Index

Topic Index
A Atoms B

C Cells Cell division

D

E

F

G Genetics

H

I/J

K

L

M Metabolism Microscopes Meiosis Mitosis N

O

P Photosynthesis

Q

R

S Science

T

U

V

W

X

Y

Z

Question Index
A
 * What is an Atom?

B

C
 * What is a cell?
 * Why is chlorophyll green?

 * Why do plants change color in the fall?

D

E

F
 * Why do plants change color in the fall?

G
 * Why are plants green?
 * How do things grow?

H

I/J

K

L
 * What is life?
 * What is light?

M

N

O
 * What are Organelles?

P
 * What is photosynthesis?
 * Why are plants green?
 * How do plants capture light and use it?

Q

R

S
 * What is Science?
 * Which science studies Life?

T
 * What is a Scientific Theory?

U

V

W

 * What is the world made of?

X

Y

Z


text:
Biology, Answering the Big Questions of Life/About the Book

 Previous < Up > Next : Index

About this book
This book is an Introductory Biology book designed to be easy to read.

If you just wish to get a general understanding of Biological concepts, you might want to try reading just the easy pages.

To browse this book, go to the Table of Contents or perhaps you would like to browse the Topic Index. This book also has an Index of Questions that have been answered in the book to make browsing for specific topics easier.

Completion level
Each chapter is marked with a symbol to show how complete the text is. Completed chapters will be marked with the green block of squares.

100%

Incomplete chapters will be marked by their level of completeness. 75% 50% 25%

This book continues to be a work in progress.

Levels of Detail
Biology is a vast subject. There are many levels of detail that one can cover even within an introductory biology class. In order to make it easy to judge the level of detail covered, the text pages are color coded by difficulty level. Green pages should be easily understood by young or casual readers. Orange pages require a bit of background knowledge. Purple pages are designed for college level students. The pages are marked on the index by colored leaves, and on the pages by a solid bar across the top of the page.

For Future Authors
Feel free to add to this book, but please try to be consistent with the philosophy of this book. The book is designed first and foremost to be an introduction to the topic for those who know nothing about it. The goal is to make it possible for people to understand the major ideas and concepts of biology even if they are young, or new English learners, or unfamiliar with technical language. By phrasing everything as questions, we allow new scientists to get an understanding of the world in the way scientists first discovered them. By asking why, and looking for the reason.

Before adding content, please read the notes in the Foreword discussion section.

Thank you for your help. I appreciate every addition. Rozzychan (discuss • contribs) 16:45, 22 December 2023 (UTC)

 Previous < Up > Next : Index


text:
Wikijunior:How Things Work/Wheel

A wheel is a circular object that, together with an axle, rolls easily. They were first widely used for transport. Wheel can mean lots of other circular objects that turn, like a steering wheel and flywheel.

Who invented it?
The wheel was invented in prehistoric times and probably its discovery was repeated many times independently. The oldest example of a wheel yet found is from the region of Mesopotamia (Iraq), so it may have been invented around the area where Iraq is today. The wheel may have been inspired by a simple observation of a rolling tree trunk. When a number of tree trunks are placed on the ground close together, and a weight is placed upon them, the object can be moved much more easily. The rolling trunks cause less friction than dragging the object on the ground. The first wheels were indeed tree trunks. The next development was to use slices of these trunks joined together through an axle. Later, these wheels became wooden disks cut into a circular shape with a hole for the axle. The oldest wooden wheel archaeologists have found was built somewhere between 3350 and 3100 BC. Because the first wheels were made from wood, and wood rots and breaks down over time, we can assume that other wheels might have existed earlier.

Wheels with spokes were invented more recently. This type of wheel allowed people to make lighter and faster vehicles. The earliest known examples were from chariots built about 2000 BC.

How does it get power?
A wheel has to have some external power source in order to move. When you pick up a wheelbarrow and roll it along in front of you, you are the power source. The engine is the power source for the wheels on a car.

But the reason that the wheel is a very important and useful technology is because of its mechanical advantage. The wheel gains its mechanical advantage because it reduces friction. Friction is the attraction between two objects that are touching each other. It keeps them from separating easily. The wheel's power in overcoming this friction is what makes it so powerful.

How does it work?
A wheel works by rolling. Rolling is a powerful way to reduce friction. When you slide a block across a smooth surface, it will slide for a short distance and then come to a stop. When you roll a ball across that surface, it will roll a long way. Rolling friction is much weaker than sliding friction.

There are two basic parts of wheels; the wheel and the axle. The wheel itself is a round disk. The axle is a shaft positioned in the center of the disk. Sometimes the disk itself spins on the axle. Often the axle is fixed to the disk and the wheel and axle turn together. In either case, the key to making the wheel work efficiently is reducing the friction wherever two surfaces slide against each other.

How dangerous is it?
The only dangers are in the load being carried by the wheel, as it may crush things beneath it, imagine a multiple-tonnage truck, or the wheel's speed of rotation, as in a circular saw.

What does it do?
Wheels roll. When a wheel is rolling along the ground, only a small fraction of the surface touches the ground at any one time. That reduces friction. For example, if you have a box on the ground, the whole box touches the ground. However, if there are wheels, only the bottoms of them touch the ground. In addition to this, rolling allows friction to be reduced by limiting the amount of sliding need to move. By rolling, wheels make it easier to move things from place to place.

There are many forms of wheels, for example water wheels. All depend on the same basic principle of rotation around an axis to help produce usable work with a minimum of effort.

How does it vary?
The invention of the wheel was of great importance not only as a transportation device, but for the development of technology in general, important applications including the water wheel, the cogwheel, and the spinning wheel. More modern descendants of the wheel include the propeller, the gyroscope and the turbine.

How has it changed the world?
The wheel has changed the world in incredible ways. The biggest thing that the wheel has done for us is given us much easier and faster transportation. It has brought us the train, the car, and many other transportation devices.

Aside from the above mentioned advantages wheel brought, it is worth mentioning that its creation help in the discovery of another important invention, the screw. A device similar to the wheel, though many people would count it as a separate invention.

What idea(s) and/or inventions had to be developed before it could be created?
The wheel is a very simple machine, and nothing except the ability to use simple tools was required to make a wheel.

Is it easy to make?
It's not that easy to make a wheel with wood. If you have special tools you can make it.

title: Wikijunior:How Things Work/Wheel