The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

Marvin

01:09

0

Q: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Rufus Scrimgeour

In book 7, why didnt aurors in the Ministry go and rescue Rufus Scrimgeour when he was captured by Voldemort at the Ministry? Clearly the aurors can throw off the Imperius Curse, right? Clearly the auror department is the most elite department in the entire Ministry of Magic right? And clearly th...

harry-potter

Marvin

01:24

0

Q: Girl who turns into a cat

I remember reading this book back in 5th or 6th grade (im in 9th now) about a girl who moves into a new house with her mom and sister (maybe dad too i cant remember) but her sister goes missing and this cat gives her powers to turn into a cat i think. It goes through a lot about her figuring out ...

science-fiction-genre

Marvin

03:10

0

Q: What are the meanings of the names in Ice Fantasy?

The characters in Ice Fantasy have names that don't seem to correspond to modern Chinese names. I have a feeling that the names are meaningful (for instance, I suspect Huo Yi, king of the Fire Clan, has a name that contains the character 火 (huǒ, fire). Unfortunately, the Wiki and other resource...

ice-fantasy

0

Q: What form would a boggart take when being observed by a dementor?

Would it turn into a patronus charm? Is that possible? If so, could this be (ab)used by a wizard with an army of boggarts facing dementors?

harry-potter

Marvin

04:26

0

Q: How much did all of the major battles in the MCU cost?

In every film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, there are multiple battles that I assume would cost millions of dollars in damage. I mean, in Avengers: Age of Ultron, an entire city is destroyed. I assume that battles like these would cost millions if not billions of dollars (or pounds or euros o...

marvel marvel-cinematic-universe

Marvin

05:41

-1

Q: What can we tell from the appearance of the pager in Infinity War?

At the end of Infinity War we see But this is no ordinary pager. Of course it's well known that the displayed logo is related to But besides this, what else can we likely infer at this point in time from the pager's appearance?

marvel marvel-cinematic-universe avengers-infinity-war

SQB

06:02

@Marvin okay, I admit, I hadn't thought of that one.

No idea if there's an English equivalent, but there's a Dutch proverb that says, "one fool can ask more than ten wise men can answer".

Come to think of it, that should be Stack Exchange's motto.

Alex

06:23

@Jenayah Do you know anything about La Petite Fourmi qui Allait à Jérusalem or Ah! Tu Sortiras, Biquette?

Jenayah

@Alex nope

Mithrandir

@SQB case in point: the hundreds of questions I've asked across the network ;)

SQB

06:38

Ellen Foley - We Belong To The Night (Countdown, 1979)

►

SQB

06:58

@Edlothiad I've done a partial rollback of your edit that changed grades to assumed ages, since we don't know the school system of the querant. While 5th/6th grade may likely mean 10 or 11 years old, we don't know that.

For instance, if the querant is Dutch and translated "groep" (literally "group") to "grade", they will have been about 8 or 9 when they read it.

Edlothiad

@SQB You're right, it's 10-12

SQB

@Edlothiad or 8-10 if Dutch.

Edlothiad

They seem to be quite clearly American, but sure.

If they were 8/9, and were now 4 years older, there's a reasonable chance they're too young for the site, and should be raised to the proper authorities.

SQB

07:14

They should be raised to be a good citizen (and possibly a SE mod).

Rand al'Thor

07:32

@Edlothiad Why???

Edlothiad

Use of language, time of posting given possible age, use of grade system, etc.

Mithrandir

@Edlothiad Meh. There is no proof of anything (plus nobody except SE has any obligation to report / do anything about underage users).

Rand al'Thor

@Edlothiad It's a sad fact that lots of Europeans speak American English, and lots of countries in the world have a US-based education system. And it's hardly unheard of for teenagers to be up late at night.

Edlothiad

Sure, it's not unheard of for a 12-14 year old to be up until 3 am posting a question about a book they read when they were 8-12 on a SFF Q&A site. And that user also attends a school where they use the American grade system and was also taught american english. But they are statistically far more likely to be an american using the american grade system.

@Randal'Thor Yes lots of countries use the US-based education system, in which Grades 5/6 are aged 10-12. Thank you for your support.

Rand al'Thor

@Edlothiad Doesn't mean they're American though :-)

Edlothiad

07:41

@Randal'Thor That's hardly the deciding point, and a rather pointless piece of information you seem quite hung up on.

Rand al'Thor

Statistically, I suspect there are more non-Americans than Americans in the world who speak AE and use a US-based education system. But meh.

Edlothiad

Oh, :) to make sure I'm not seen as being rude.

Mithrandir

Someone could also, you know, ask where they're from, since that's relevant info for identifying the book anyway.

Rand al'Thor

@Edlothiad You were the one who said it ...

Edlothiad

@Randal'Thor And how many of them are up at the times they said it.

Rand al'Thor

07:43

Daily floof 29-08-2018: hatypus

2

Mithrandir

Are yous sure that's not a niffler?

Edlothiad

Yes I mentioned I thought they were American, but the main point of the edit was the assumption of the use of the American grade system, because of the likelihood thatthey are american.

@Randal'Thor Yes and how many of them are using the SE network and posting at that time of day?

Mithrandir

Can we please drop this rather pointless argument?

Rand al'Thor

^

Let it go, Ed.

Edlothiad

Me? lol

You're the one who asked, I answered

But sure.

Rand al'Thor

07:46

@Mithrandir Do we know what a Niffler looks like? I don't remember a description in canon.

Mithrandir

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016) - The Niffler Scene (1/9) | Movieclips

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Rand al'Thor

I said canon :-P

Mithrandir

It is canon. More than The Cursed Child, at any rate ;)

→ 5 messages moved to Trashcan

Rand al'Thor

Thanks, @Mith.

@Edlothiad @TheLethalCarrot I've noticed both of you recently leaving feedback in comments on posts where you don't seem to actually be familiar with the franchise in question (Doctor Who in both cases, as it happens). I know you like to edit/comment on everything, but could you consider Skipping in cases like this?

It looks silly to ask for a clarification that's obvious to everyone who's actually read/watched the thing, and by extension that makes our site look silly. From a new user's point of view: "do they have no Doctor Who experts on this site, if the only person they could find to give me feedback was someone who knows less about it than me?"

TheLethalCarrot

@Randal'Thor If you mean that one you commented to me on I was giving general feedback to how the question was written. That doesn't require subject knowledge

Rand al'Thor

08:00

@TheLethalCarrot I don't remember the exact context of that Doctor Who thing. It's a general issue though.

TheLethalCarrot

Well if I'm not too familiar I always state as such. i.e. the one you're on about starts with "I may be missing something here because I'm not too familiar with Doctor Who"

Rand al'Thor

You two aren't the only people who do this either, but you're both very active in reviewing new posts.

TheLethalCarrot

Somehow that reads as if that's a bad thing

Rand al'Thor

Nah, it'd only be a bad thing if you were doing bad reviews, or hogging the review queue so nobody else could get a look in.

Edlothiad

@Randal'Thor In the same way that if you're not familiar with the work one shouldn't hammer open clearly opinion based questions?

As it looks rather silly to subject experts who can see it's evidently opinion based.

Jenayah

08:06

@Edlothiad buuuurn

Edlothiad

And with that, I bid you farewell for the day.

The Sound of Music (5/5) Movie CLIP - So Long, Farewell (1965) HD

►

Mithrandir

That... was rather hostile.

Rand al'Thor

@Edlothiad Sure, I guess so. What's this about?

TheLethalCarrot

@Randal'Thor 1) I don't think we do bad reviews though not sure if you are insinuating that or not 2) we don't hog the review queues merely do them as they come in... someone has to after all 3) you say that as if it's a bad thing that someone actually does the reviews....

Mithrandir

@TheLethalCarrot ? Rand was saying that it'd be bad if you were, not that you are

TheLethalCarrot

08:10

The way it is worded and the context of the conversation leads me to believe he is insinuating the latter part of the message but point 3 still stands even if he doesn't mean it

Rand al'Thor

@TheLethalCarrot No, my use of the past subjunctive ("if you were") actually suggests that you aren't. To your last points, "someone has to" yes, but that someone doesn't have to be you :-) Please feel free to Skip reviews on things you're not sure about, e.g. when you don't know the franchise in question, because someone else will always be there to do it instead.

TheLethalCarrot

I do skip quite a lot of reviews, probably more than a lot of people

Though most reviews don't actually require subject knowledge

Jenayah

@TheLethalCarrot agree with that, even if you haven't seen the movie/read the book/etc you can still drop a "could you include a quote? That'd make for a better answer etc"

2

Mithrandir

@TheLethalCarrot Sure... Rand's just suggesting that you be a little more cautious with things when you're not familiar with the franchise.

Jenayah

If it's a one-liner answer which can deliberately use a back-up quote that is :)

TheLethalCarrot

08:14

@Mithrandir Which is fair enough but the one example that triggered this on my behalf, that I'm aware of, didn't appear to need subject knowledge and in fact was solely a comment. I don't think I reviewed the post or even edited

Mithrandir

Commenting e.g. "Could you please add your source for how we know that Nico is a chld of Hades?" on a percy-jackson answer could look kinda silly, and things like that. What needs sources heavily depends on the franchise.

TheLethalCarrot

The comment was fair game to the Q and even got 2 UVs on it so....

Mithrandir

This wasn't about a specific comment, from what I can tell; it's a general caution to be aware of what you're doing when commenting on questions for a franchise you're not familiar with.

Rand al'Thor

Yeah, even "could you include a quote" can look silly in some contexts.

@Mithrandir Yes, this.

Jenayah

@Mithrandir is there a need to specify? Most of the time, the generic "are there further quotes?" kind of imply "Make it as clear as possible even for the dummies out there, may that include me :) ", I reckon?

TheLethalCarrot

08:19

Including evidence is never a silly thing, it is literally what we do on the site all the time

Rand al'Thor

Some answers make perfect sense even without quotes.

Mithrandir

I'll put myself on the line: Does this answer need any quotes? Why isn't Percy more powerful than this character in The Mark of Athena?

I don't think so; all the info in there shouldn't need a source for anyone familiar with the source material.

TheLethalCarrot

> we see many times that older = more powerful

Jenayah

@Randal'Thor detailed ones, yes - most of the one-liners that pop up by inexperienced users, no

TheLethalCarrot

Could probably be backed up

Jenayah

08:21

@Mithrandir not being familiar with Percy Jackson, I'll be the Guinea Pig

Mithrandir

@TheLethalCarrot I don't think it needs to be. This is something that is seen very heavily in the series, and should be apparent to anyone who has read them.

And I do include two examples right after that line.

TheLethalCarrot

Doesn't need to be but without evidence it isn't really that good of an answer. In case of your point I could just say "yup this deffo happened, watch it and you will know"

And it would be fine, arguing against evidence/quotes isn't a smart thing

They are the backbone of our very site

Rand al'Thor

OK, if we're doing specific examples:

1

A: How did River Song know about the meta-crisis Doctor?

I believe that River knew because of the constant diary comparisons with the Doctor. I believe he let something slip, like how River mentioned the crash of the Byzantium in "Silence in the Library".

You don't need quotes to back up the statement that River and the Doctor are constantly comparing diaries.

Jenayah

@Mithrandir as someone who did not read the books nor watched the movies: it's understandable, even if there is "jargon", but as always, a quote would be better - for instance, one to back up the older = more powerful

Rand al'Thor

In fact, the answer does contain an example to back it up.

Adding an actual quote from the episode would just be showing off.

Jenayah

08:24

@Randal'Thor why's that?

TheLethalCarrot

So it's showing off to include quotes now? LOL

Rand al'Thor

And sure, we all do that showing off a lot, but it's not always necessary for a good answer.

@TheLethalCarrot No, not in general ... but in some cases.

Mithrandir

Certain things are and should be taken as "base facts" in a franchise. As someone who's not familiar with the franchise, you don't always know what those are.

TheLethalCarrot

It's not showing off it is literally providing evidence which is what we want here

Rand al'Thor

Like if one was to justify that Harry Potter has his mother's eyes by including every single quote in the books where someone says that.

Or indeed any quotes. That's just a known fact, doesn't need quotes to back it up.

TheLethalCarrot

08:26

Q: Does Harry have his mothers eyes?

Does that need quotes as evidence?

Jenayah

@Randal'Thor every time, yes. Once, as a reminder, I don't think so :|

Rand al'Thor

@TheLethalCarrot Yes, that would.

Mithrandir

(also, general reminder that starring everything in a conversation isn't the best idea)

TheLethalCarrot

If you rely on a "fact" for the basis of an answer (or part of it) you should back it up with evidence

@Mithrandir Thanks I hate it too

Rand al'Thor

But not if mentioning that he has his mother's eyes is just being used as a piece of evidence to back up an answer to a different question.

TheLethalCarrot

08:27

@Randal'Thor Depends how much the answer relies on it but if it's important it should be backed up

Jenayah

6

Q: Why are there so many times Harry was told about him having his mother's eyes?

I can't help but notice that this has been said to him a plethora of times. How many times was Harry told about him having his mother's eyes? Was there something important behind the frequent mention?

harry-potter

Rand al'Thor

@TheLethalCarrot Depends on how obvious it is.

TheLethalCarrot

@Randal'Thor What's obvious to one "expert" might be unknown to another

Jenayah

@TheLethalCarrot aye

TheLethalCarrot

You seem to base your assumption that evidence isn't needed on the fact that you find something obvious and that isn't a good assumption to make

Rand al'Thor

08:30

That might be true with some facts, but there are always things which any expert will know.

TheLethalCarrot

Again an assumption

Please don't make an ass out of u and me ;P

Mithrandir

Does "Anakin is Darth Vader" need a source?

TheLethalCarrot

If it is relied on in support of the answer yes

Mithrandir

And that is where we disagree. IMO, that's "common knowledge" enough that it doesn't.

2

Rand al'Thor

12

A: In what way was Bronn's sword fight against Ser Vardis without honor?

He didn’t fight “traditionally” The traditional duel is probably what you see in films and at re-enactment tournaments all the time. Two knights sparring, one attacks the other defends and then counter attacks and this goes on until one wins. Bronn clearly wasn’t doing that: he was running aroun...

Jenayah

08:32

@Mithrandir for all these questions about "did Yoda/C3PO/whoever knew who he was", I'd say yes. For "why does the dark side do this or that", maybe not

Rand al'Thor

^^ no quotes for most of the points, still a decent answer

TheLethalCarrot

Only cos I forgot to go back to it

On my phone right now and I have a busy weekend but will update with quotes and references when I can. – TheLethalCarrot Aug 18 at 7:41

Rand al'Thor

Ah, fair. I was looking for a different type of example anyway ...

TheLethalCarrot

@Mithrandir Common to you maybe

Mithrandir

@TheLethalCarrot I haven't even watched most of the Star Wars movies and I know that.

TheLethalCarrot

08:34

You both seem to underestimate how little some people know

Rand al'Thor

@Mithrandir Ditto.

Jenayah

Just to clarify. We began this discussion on the premise of a new user answering with a one-liner (even if it was pertinent); someone suggested to include quotes, which might have been phrased better but is still relevant, in showing the ropes to new people, what's a better answer, etc. Now I feel like we're drifting towards "does every answer need a quote?" which is not exactly the same question. Should we agree on what it is we're talking about? :)

Mithrandir

They're related: The main argument here is about whether things that are apparent to people familiar with the source material should be quoted / sourced.

Also, conversations drift all the time... it's what happens :P

Rand al'Thor

Originally this discussion was about skipping reviews when you don't know the franchise well enough to assess the post competently. So it's drifted even more than that :-)

Mithrandir

Conversations drift from related topic to related topic even faster than YouTube autoplay when I'm listening to music.

TheLethalCarrot

08:40

@Randal'Thor And back to the point on that I believe both me and Ed didn't do a review on the posts where we commented that set you to say that earlier message

Rand al'Thor

Whether or not you formally reviewed it through the queue, commenting on a new post is reviewing it.

Jenayah

@Mithrandir this is why we have 5-hour compilations :D

@Mithrandir should we take this to Meta?

Mithrandir

@Jenayah Eh, drifting through Disney > Peter Hollens > One Voice Children's Choir > Caleb Hyles > Jonathan Young > back to Caleb Hyles > The Piano Guys > Lindsey Stirling > Pentatonix isn't a bad thing :P

TheLethalCarrot

@Randal'Thor Well if you want to go to that level sure, but I don't think either comment were bad and reading them again I can't see why it's wrong

Mithrandir

@Jenayah I don't especially care either way; people will do what they do anyhow.

Jenayah

08:43

@Mithrandir sure, but more people might argue their point (and in a more formal way) on Meta, since this chat will probably move on to another discussion afterwards

TheLethalCarrot

Not much point taking it to meta, I doubt it would have any effect on answers anyway and would unlikely reach some sort of clear consensus

Jenayah

@TheLethalCarrot should all Meta always end up in a consensus ? :D

Isn't that why we have a discussion thingy?

TheLethalCarrot

If you want to reach one ahha

Mithrandir

On the other hand, not much point in arguing for no reason ;)

Jenayah

@Mithrandir so there is no reason? Why were we arguing then? :p

Rand al'Thor

08:52

@Jenayah All useful ones, maybe :-P

I guess some good ideas can emerge from discussion even without a clear consensus.

Jenayah

@Randal'Thor do we have a consensus on what's useful? :D

SQB

Looking at the specific doctor-who example, I'd see a quote would be helpful — not for the diary comparison, but for letting something slip. That could do with a quote if available.

Rand al'Thor

@SQB How do you mean?

Of course he didn't let anything slip on-screen. That would've answered the question already.

The argument is that since they're always comparing diaries, he could've let something slip at some point, in one of their many offscreen adventures.

SQB

@Randal'Thor what I mean is that the answer claims two things: they're constantly comparing diaries, and the Doctor may have let something slip. The former is common enough that someone familiar with the story line will know. The latter could use some more supporting evidence; either the quote of that event happening, or at least a quote of a very similar event happening, showing that it is a likely explanation.

Marvin

0

Q: Are there non-magical people born into magical families?

Is there any case in the Harry Potter-verse of someone magic born but having no magic skills? I haven't read enough to know why muggleborns can have magic powers but if it works one way then maybe the other?

harry-potter magic muggles

Rand al'Thor

08:59

I guess the Silence in the Library reference could be replaced by an actual quote.

@Marvin Um, hm. Surely this is a dupe of something?

closes as duplicate of every single question which mentions squibs :-P

Napoleon Wilson

Isn't every HP question? ;-)

Stupid chat!

Mithrandir

> "And what on earth’s a Squib?" said Harry.

To his surprise, Ron stifled a snigger.

"Well – it’s not funny really – but as it’s Filch ..." he said. "A Squib is someone who was born into a wizarding family but hasn’t got any magic powers. Kind of the opposite of Muggle-born wizards, but Squibs are quite unusual. If Filch’s trying to learn magic from a Kwikspell course, I reckon he must be a Squib. It would explain a lot. Like why he hates students so much." Ron gave a satisfied smile. "He’s bitter."

SQB

1

Q: Do Squibs have to be pure-blood?

If a Muggle was born of a wizard/witch and a Muggle, is that person a Squib, or is that reserved to people born from pure-blood families? (Related: Is a Squib a Muggle?)

harry-potter muggles

That one?

Rand al'Thor

4

Q: What factors affect whether you become a squib?

Are there any known factors that have a part in whether you become a squib or not? Or is it just a kind of random process, like is it just a one in a million chance that a squib is born?

harry-potter squib

12

Q: When is a "Wizard" confirmed as a Squib?

What is the defining traits of a Squib? In the books Neville himself (albeit early on) says 'They went for Filch first,' Neville said, his round face fearful, 'and everyone knows I'm almost a Squib.' -CoS At what "magic level" is a wizard or witch confirmed as a Squib? Supposedly Filch is r...

harry-potter squib

4

Q: How late can a Squib show magic?

I was reading my own question and was thinking about @JasonBaker's excellent answer. It says that a Squib is considered a Wizard when they show strong accidental magic, and that's what differentiates late bloomers from Squibs, and leads me to my question. What is the latest a Squib could show ac...

harry-potter squib

SQB

Then again, why not just answer this one first; easy rep for whoever wants it, then search for a dupe.

TheLethalCarrot

09:04

@SQB That's literally the anti goal of SE

Rand al'Thor

Unfortunately, all of these assume the OP already knows the meaning of "squib".

SQB

24 secs ago, by Rand al'Thor

Unfortunately, all of these assume the OP already knows the meaning of "squib".

That's why.

Napoleon Wilson

@Randal'Thor Mightn't that be one of those famous "common knowledge" bits?

TheLethalCarrot

That doesn't make sense in context to your first comment

Mithrandir

@Jenayah want some easy rep? :P

TheLethalCarrot

09:06

If it is a dupe, I don't know if it is, it should be closed not answered

Jenayah

@Mithrandir I'm offended. ._.

Mithrandir

@Jenayah Don't be. You're just the lowest-rep user currently chatting :P

Rand al'Thor

Doesn't mean she's the least capable of earning rep.

Anyway, she's not - Napoleon has less rep than her here.

SQB

Hmm... Do we know who all knew that Filch was a squib? I couldn't find a question about that, so I might ask.

Jenayah

@Mithrandir yeah, but IMO that doesn't justify taking advantage of a "blatant" miss to earn "easy rep"

Mithrandir

09:08

Sure. Was more of a joke than anything

Jenayah

@Mithrandir no worries, no worries

@SQB off the hat, there are at least two "important" Squibs, Filch and Figg

As in important for the plot

SQB

@Jenayah Yeah. I was just wondering who was aware that Filch was a squib.

Jenayah

@SQB raises hand

Mithrandir

Well, I wrote an answer, so might as well post it.

SQB

@Jenayah In the books.

Rand al'Thor

09:14

:-D

Jenayah

@SQB wasn't that in the movies too?

SQB

@Jenayah oh, possibly.

Jenayah

@SQB would be in the second I guess

Quick Youtube search doesn't throw much, though, except for a deleted Kwikspell scene

Alex

@Mithrandir I'm lower.

Jenayah

@Alex you weren't there when Mith said that :p

or lurking :p

Alex

09:21

@Jenayah Depends how you define there.

Jenayah

@Alex "currently chatting, typing stuff etc"

=/= lurking (reading without participating)

Alex

@Jenayah Well I wasn't currently typing; I wasn't reading without participation; I was catching up on the previous 100 comments.

Jenayah

@Alex :p

Marvin

09:44

1

Q: Why are there so few bedrooms in the Burrow?

In The Goblet of Fire, when Harry is staying by the Weasly family, it says that Harry, Hermione, Ginny and Ron were walking up the stairs, and Percy asked them to be quiet. This presumably happened on the first floor above the ground floor. It then says that they then went up three more floors to...

harry-potter

b_jonas

@Marvin Another of these stupid questions that ask why magic can't just solve every problem of the world for free. Great.

Jenayah

@b_jonas "It's bigger on the inside..."

b_jonas

Well no, it turns out the question is actually more complicated than that. It's asking about the apparently impossible geometry or architecture of the Burrows.

Sorry, I misjudged it from the title.

Jenayah

@b_jonas Well, geometry is tightly related to math. And JKR's relationship with math is... well.

b_jonas

@Jenayah Yes, it's probably partly that, partly how magical buildings like Hogwarts really have an impossible architecture, and the book at least says that Harry thinks the Burrow was probably held up by magic, and partly the OP misreading something in the book.

Also, maybe the OP doesn't understand how different buildings are in how much they carry the sound depending on their materials and the pipes and ventillation shafts, and lives in a house with a good isolation of sound.

Marvin

09:59

0

Q: Who knew Filch was a Squib?

In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry and Ron find out that the Hogwarts caretaker, Argus Filch, is a Squib. "And what on earth's a Squib?" said Harry. To his surprise, Ron stifled a snigger. "Well – it's not funny really – but as it's Filch ..." he said. "A Squib is someone w...

harry-potter squib

b_jonas

10:10

@Marvin This makes the point that Umbridge apparently didn't know. But given that Filch was Umbridge's ally, Umbridge may have been covering for him.

Mithrandir

Doesn't really seem like the kind of thing Umbridge would do.

SQB

Umbridge broke all ties with her Muggle mother and Squib brother. I don't think she had any love for Squibs, so why would she cover for them (and remember in the heat of the moment to cover for them).

b_jonas

10:33

scifi.stackexchange.com/q/193748/4918 "[story-id] Movie with a dragon born in an underground laboratory" -- Hmm. I don't think Hagrid's hut could be mistaken to an underground laboratory.

Jenayah

@b_jonas ahah, good one!

@SQB you should include that in the question, I think

b_jonas

@SQB Yeah, it's more likely that Flich never told her that he was a Squib.

But it's not impossible for Filch to ignore his ideas about Squibs when it serves his goals by getting a useful ally, just like how the Dark Lord tells so many tales about blood purity but then one of his most useful servants was the half-blood Professor Snape.

Although I'm not sure if the Dark Lord knew that Professor Snape was a half-blood.

SQB

@Jenayah done.

Jenayah

@b_jonas that's a good point.

SQB

@b_jonas do we have a question about that?

b_jonas

10:41

@SQB Dunno.

Alex

@b_jonas I think you mean Umbridge, not Filch.

b_jonas

Professor Snape was in a good position to keep his family background private from the Dark Lord, due to what I say in scifi.stackexchange.com/a/17046/4918 : Professor Snape was useful to the Dark Lord as a double-agent to Dumbledore, and he had to become such a perfect Occlumens that neither Dumbledore nor the Dark Lord could access his true memories.

@Alex Yes, her.

SQB

@b_jonas voldemort snape half-blood is:q yields nothing resembling that.

b_jonas

I know Professor Snape only became a double-agent later, but that's also when he became so valuable to the Dark Lord.

Before that, the Dark Lord might not have even been interested to inquire about his family history.

Jenayah

@SQB I think we do.

Nevermind it's the other wayy around

Napoleon Wilson

11:01

For someone who's himself a half-blood, Voldemort is quite an ass to mudbloods and the like. There's an odd disparity between the treatment of half-bloods and mudbloods.

b_jonas

@NapoleonWilson Sadly, but I do not find it an odd disparity. And he did at least have as much honesty to mention in a closed circle how he tracked down and killed his Muggle father.

SQB

@NapoleonWilson self-hatred?

Napoleon Wilson

11:21

But the strong racial aspect implied by his treatment of mudbloods would suggest that half-bloods are to be considered significantly inferior to pure-bloods, which in turn would present him with cries for hypocrisy from within the Death Eater faction, too.

Alex

> "Did you know he’s a half-blood too?” said Harry recklessly. Hermione gave a little moan in his ear. “Voldemort? Yeah, his mother was a witch but his dad was a Muggle — or has he been telling you lot he’s pureblood?"

Napoleon Wilson

(You can give up, markdown doesn't work on multiline messages. But why multiline it anyway?) ;-)

Alex

@NapoleonWilson Oh, is that the problem? It's multiline because it's copied and pasted.

Napoleon Wilson

Fixed. ;-)

b_jonas

@NapoleonWilson Yep.

@NapoleonWilson Those cries for hipocrisy were the deciding factor that brought Starlight Glimmer down in MLP S5 E2.

Napoleon Wilson

11:37

Uhuh. o_O

b_jonas

I mean My Little Pony: FIM season 5 episode 1..2.

Just saying in case you want to watch a good fiction story about a dictator brought down that way.

Jenayah

@b_jonas I think I have the answer to this (old) comment of yours:

Incidentally, do we know whether Filch was already at Hogwarts back in Riddle's time? The cat was probably born later, but I presume the diarry Riddle might have already known Filch. — b_jonas Nov 13 '12 at 20:50

3

A: Who knew Filch was a Squib?

TL;DR: various teachers, and at least some students, but not (originally) Diary-Riddle. Word of the attacks spread among the students after Colin was attacked. The news that Colin Creevey had been attacked and was now lying as though dead in the hospital wing had spread through the entire...

There's math involved, though. So no guarantees, but I'd vote towards no.

Napoleon Wilson

@b_jonas I know. ;-)

b_jonas

@NapoleonWilson Yeah, but there are others who might read the chat.

Napoleon Wilson

Sure sure.

b_jonas

11:43

And we have a lot of Harry Potter fans who understand about the Dark Lord's hypocrisy.

@Jenayah Thanks, I'll look.

Napoleon Wilson

@b_jonas That's what I was counting on afterall.

Marvin

0

Q: What was the state of the Hutt military?

While reading about the Hutt Cartel I read that the Cartel had an army and starship fleet: It maintained a personal military consisting of both an army and a starfleet. This got me thinking, What is the state of the Hutt military during the Galactic civil war? The only knowledge I have on...

star-wars weapon

Alex

@Jenayah A shame I can't upvote the answer again for the additional math argument.

Jenayah

@Alex if you really want to, I guess you could set a bounty. :p

Since the Squib thing is only brought up in the second book, I guess that doesn't go against the opposite answers as to whether Mrs Norris was an actual target.

Alex

@Jenayah There's an idea. By the way, further evidence that Filch was not around in Tom Riddle's time: Mrs. Weasley grinned, her eyes twinkling. “Your father and I had been for a nighttime stroll,” she said. “He got caught by Apollyon Pringle — he was the caretaker in those days — your father’s still got the marks.”

Jenayah

11:55

However, in a school full of wizards, a caretaker who can't apparently do magic will likely be deemed a Squib by teenagers. So it's not just a CoS thing

b_jonas

@Alex Ah yes, good point. But on the other hand, IIRC the four Marauders were in school with Squib, which can't have been much later.

Alex

@b_jonas They probably hired Filch specifically to deal with them.

b_jonas

@Alex Lol.

Jenayah

@Alex oh, I thought I remembered Mrs Weasley talking about a former employee, but my research brought up the gamekeeper, not the caretaker - good info! (Though I guess one could argue Filch could've been in training or stuff, but still)

@Alex I'll edit that in the answer when I'm back on a computer, if that's alright with you

It kind of drifts away from the question, though.

Alex

@Jenayah Sure. (You don't need to ask to incorporate my comments.)

Jenayah

12:01

I'll also add the bit about teenagers due to wonder about the seemingly non-wizard caretaker. It's speculation for sure, but that's how school rumors go

@Alex credit where credit's due :)

b_jonas

@Jenayah Then there were rumours about Hagrid's umbrella.

Jenayah

@b_jonas aye

Hagrid might've been seen as a Squib too

b_jonas

The Marauders, or the second Marauders (Fred and George) did a lot to avoid Flich, so thy could have figured out some things about him. Harry certainly heard rumors about his strange connection with the cat.

@Jenayah Yep, the maths works.

That does answer my question.

Jenayah

@b_jonas happy to help ;D

Donald.McLean

Greetings, Earthlings.

Marvin

12:16

0

Q: Star Trek TNG code of honor

Having just watched this episode, how cow on meeting Lutan, Troi sensed his avarice, ambition and strong desire for Tasha, but said nothing? She even told the others later that she'd sensed it, and no one pulls her up on it!

star-trek-tng

b_jonas

@Donald.McLean Hello.

SQB

> Hermione gave a little moan in his ear.

What?

Jenayah

@SQB and we don't get to quote parts of your sentences. Do as I say, don't do as I do, eh? :p

Alex

@SQB It's a quote from Order of the Phoenix but the italics formatting didn't work.

57 mins ago, by Napoleon Wilson

(You can give up, markdown doesn't work on multiline messages. But why multiline it anyway?) ;-)

SQB

@Alex It used to work on multi-line quotes, though.

Alex

12:26

@SQB It works on multi-line quotes, just not on quotes where extra space is used to create multiple lines.

SQB

Ah, right.

Markdown works in mysterious ways. And almost, but not quite, entirely differently in titles / questions and answers, comments, chat messages, multi-line chat message, and chat messages with multi-line quotes.

b_jonas

@SQB Throw in user profile texts and tag wiki texts. Plus some sites get maths formula additions, and I think some sites get extra support for foreign main site language, but maybe that doesn't change the SE parser.

SQB

@b_jonas Yeah, there's that too.

Napoleon Wilson

Multiline quotes are absolutely no problem. Multiline chat messages using SHIFT + ENTER are the problem, quote or not.

SQB

12:44

> _Mutliline_
**chat messages**, quote.

Hm. Did they change that? I thought that worked.

Marvin

3

Q: Short story where a little child lies that the family robot hit her, and mother calls the company?

I read this short story a long time ago. The child asks the robot to give it milk and play chess at the same time, but the robot is designed for single tasks only. Then the child cries and tells her mom that the robot hit her. When the mom calls to complain, the support person tells her about the...

story-identification short-stories

0

Q: Seeing Polyjuice users

Is there a pair of glasses or some ocular device that can see the true person using a polyjuice potion? It's a bit strange that someone using it has no means of being detected other than the potion wearing off.

harry-potter polyjuice-potion

Marvin

13:32

0

Q: Do Betazoids/empaths follow a code of conduct?

In TNG there are multiple species who can, to various degrees, read the mind and/or emotions of other beings. This brings up a host of privacy concerns, and this question made me wonder if we've ever seen this being dealt with on-screen - either by the Federation as a whole, or by the individuals...

star-trek star-trek-tng telepathy morality betazoid

0

Q: Animated series whose main character wears a red gauntlet on his arm

The main character has a gauntlet or a similar gadget in his arm that summons different creatures either for combat or just as companions, and also a yo-yo that he uses in combat and infuses it with the power of the summoned creatures. The sidekick (a girl if I remember correctly) has another g...

story-identification cartoon

TheLethalCarrot

@Jenayah Wasn't [cartoon] added by Fuzzy?

Jenayah

@TheLethalCarrot too much edits at once... My bad!

TheLethalCarrot

Doesn't matter, might as well keep both until confirmed

(Although it is most likely an anime)

Jenayah

@TheLethalCarrot tell you what, edit it out, fix the new info, and clean my mess :p I won't touch it anymore ahah

Alex

13:46

@Jenayah Not terribly important, but you added in section titles and one of them is "not (originally) Diary-Riddle". But (correct me if I'm wrong) the point of that section is not to show that Riddle didn't know (which is mostly irrelevant as he's been out of Hogwarts for ages) but to show that Ginny must have known because Riddle somehow found out even though Filch was after his time. So shouldn't the title more accurately be "Ginny" or something?

Jenayah

@Alex well Ginny as another student would've learned at some point, but the "not originally Riddle" is there to address things like "duh, he's the Dark Lord, he loathes everything's that's not magic so of course he'd go after the Squib" - yes, he would, but he didn't know. He either learned from rumors, or after attacking the cat

Dunno if it's really clear...

Also, Ginny was a vessel at that point - kind of blurry to distinguish between what is what she knows, or what's the result of Riddle's meddling

Riddle could have met Filch at Hogwarts, JKR and chronology don't always hold up.

Alex

@Jenayah Ginny having learned it (before the attack) supports your idea about there always being rumors.

@Jenayah Wait, aren't you the one who argued that he got it from her?

Jenayah

To be honest, while I was cross-cutting the info I was expecting to find yet another "nope, the math won't work, welcome to HP" instance

@Alex yeah, why?

Alex

@Jenayah I'm confused.

2 mins ago, by Jenayah

Also, Ginny was a vessel at that point - kind of blurry to distinguish between what is what she knows, or what's the result of Riddle's meddling

Jenayah

@Alex What I meant is if you look at it quickly, you could think "duh, yeah Voldy knew". No, he didn't, he learned through Ginny - what I don't know is if he knew before the cat attack (which likely spread the rumors of Filch being a Squib) or before that (upset students talking ill of the caretaker)

@Alex yeah, she might've heard "telling you girl, he's a Squib" from a friend. But was Ginny really conscious of everything that was going on during her first year? Having Voldemort in your brain surely doesn't help processing info

user132126

13:57

Was Filch groundskeeper when Riddle was at school?

Jenayah

@WebHead Someone wrote an answer of great quality tackling that. I suggest you read it! :p

15

A: Who knew Filch was a Squib?

TL;DR: various teachers, and at least some students, but not (originally) Diary-Riddle. At least some students Word of the attacks spread among the students after Colin was attacked. The news that Colin Creevey had been attacked and was now lying as though dead in the hospital wing had sp...

user132126

Because i would think that within the wizarding community, most people would know a squib just from understanding what a squib is and experience.

user132126

It's not like Hogwarts would be employing muggles, after all.

SQB

@Jenayah Nice score. Going to cap?

Is probably on the HNQ by now.

Jenayah

@SQB seems so

user132126

13:59

Well, I'm looking for a straight yes/no, not a full answer.

Jenayah

@WebHead no, Filch wasn't caretaker when Voldemort was a student.

SQB

Since there was another caretaker even when Molly Weasley was in school.

Alex

@Jenayah That's my point. Your answer to the question of who knew that Filch was a squib is that students must have known because Voldemort found out through Ginny (however that worked). That Voldemort didn't know is only the proof that students at Hogwarts later knew. (Sorry for driving you nuts over a tiny detail.)

Jenayah

@Alex you're not driving me nuts but I have to read that three times every time to process the info, it's becoming blurry for me too ahah

> Your answer to the question of who knew that Filch was a squib is that students must have known because Voldemort found out through Ginny (however that worked).

Yes.

(and I can imagine Ginny writing down something along the lines of "dear Tom, you know what? Sally told me Filch was a Squib!" in the diary, or just Voldemort fetching the info when he was possessing her)

> That Voldemort didn't know is only the proof that students at Hogwarts later knew.

I don't follow.

Voldemort didn't know by himself because he had never met Filch.

Nor had yet heard rumors about Filch, be it through Ginny or something else.

Alex

@Jenayah Sorry. I guess I wasn't so clear. Let me try again. It will take a minute to write the whole thing out.

Jenayah

14:04

@Alex no problem

Alex

@Jenayah The question that was asked was "who knew that Filch was a squib?" Part of the answer to that is that the current students at Hogwarts somehow found out about it, probably via rumors. Evidence that the current students knew about it can be derived from the fact that Tom Riddle from the diary knew even though the real Riddle would not have known since Filch was well after his time.

If Riddle from the diary knew then he must have somehow gotten it from Ginny (we don't necessarily know how, but it doesn't matter). If Ginny knew, she must have heard it somewhere. Ergo, the knowledge was somehow floating around Hogwarts during Ginny's time.

This whole lengthy argument seems to be meant to show that students at Hogwarts knew that Filch was a squib. The fact that Tom Riddle originally did not know is very incidental to the discussion. It is merely one part of a lengthy proof that the students did know.

Therefore, my original point was that it would make more sense to title the section by what its main point is (namely, that Ginny and by extension other students knew) rather than titling it with the statement that a student from 50 years earlier did not know, which seems not so relevant to the question at hand.

I hope that is clearer, and you can still feel free to disagree.

Good thing I brought this up in Chat and not on the post.

Jenayah

14:22

@Alex ah, then yeah, I guess I see what you mean. But that'd make it redundant with the first section :p and I was addressing the "Tom Riddle/Ginny Weasley knew" thing... Then got dragged in the math... Then encountered the issue in a comment from a 5-years old question... Then it went downhill :D

@Alex ahah yeah!

@Alex it's indeed clearer, but I don't think it justifies yet another bump :p

Marvin

0

Q: Trying to find where this image came from

https://coub.com/view/hk8eb Looking to find the source of the image. Any help would be appreciated.

story-identification movie

TheLethalCarrot

14:40

@Jenayah Didn't mean to overwrite your edit... though they were similar anyway

Jenayah

@TheLethalCarrot aye no problem

b_jonas

@Jenayah Sorry.

Jenayah

@b_jonas nothing to worry about :D

b_jonas

Feel free to post a separate question about whether Tom Riddle knew Filch was a Squib while Tom was in Hogwarts, and why this is relevant with the memory Riddle attacking Mrs Norris.

Jenayah

@b_jonas honestly, this would be a dupe of SQB's (I think)

b_jonas

14:53

Or if you don't want to post it self-answered, I can post it for you.

SQB

Or if Filch was at Hogwarts at all when Riddle was there.

b_jonas

@Alex Ah, that's a good point. That's why it's worth keeping it in the answer.

SQB

Yuri Gagarin - At The Center Of All Infinity (2015, Full album)

►

Does that qualify as science fiction?

Jenayah

There's no need to ask a question for that... it'd be a copy-paste answer, not necessarily a dupe in hindsight, but not constructive

SQB

It does in my book.

Jenayah

14:55

@SQB :o

The song I'm listening mentioned Gargarin right when you posted that

Oh my.

MANAU - J'Voulais Quoi - Clip Officiel 1080p

►

(Armstrong and Gargarin are mentioned in the chorus)

b_jonas

@WebHead Under Dumbledore, all bets are off.

Jenayah

@SQB unrelated but from the 15 seconds I've heard that sounds nice :p

user132126

@b_jonas I don't know. He's still not allowed to violate the secrecy laws.

b_jonas

@WebHead True.

Jenayah

@b_jonas there's a question about that.

SQB

14:59

Ah, "La Tribu de Dana". I recognised that name from somewhere.

Jenayah

@SQB they didn't only sing that one, but everybody seem to have forgotten that :p

Transcript for

The Restaurant at the End of the Univ…