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PaperclipPerfector  6d ago (text post)   20784 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of November 10, 2025

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My biggest problem by far with OOTP was having Harry teach a school subject (including to students older than him). That just felt monumentally implausible. I'd have liked it much more if DA had just been a generic club where the students taught each other and/or practiced spells they'd read about in books from the library etc. Maybe Harry leads a single class on the topic of patronuses.

There's the academic subject of dueling, which has rules and codes of conducts strictly observed by teachers. And there's wizard-war, where all participants are thinking of creative ways to kill each other.

Harry may be younger and less academically experienced than his peers, but at that point he's fought a giant spider, a troll, an evil tree, a basilisk, a board of animated chessmen, death eaters and several incarnations of Voldemort. That is probably more danger than most adults experience in their lifetimes. He has experience of adults trying to kill him (in fact, he's famous for it) with magic and that is probably something that cannot be taught, only experienced. I don't think he was teaching them magic: I think he was teaching his comparatively sheltered compatriots how to fight, ala Wolverines.

Maybe, but IIRC it was mostly focussed on specific spells and academic magic. I think I'd have bought it more if it had been more presented in the way you described.

That is probably more danger than most adults experience in their lifetimes.

IIRC, that's what Hermione said, when pitching it to Harry. But I like ZanarkandAbesFan saying "I'll willingly suspend disbelief for a giant spider, a troll, an evil tree, a basilisk, a board of animated chessmen, death eaters and several incarnations of Voldemort, but I draw the line at 16 year olds accepting lessons from a 15 year old!" (High and low concept elements should be considered separately, but it's still amusing to see.)

That, plus he drilled a lot of unusual combat and utility spells for the Triwizard Tournament in the previous book.

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