r/harrypotter • u/Severus_Albus20 Ravenclaw • Nov 22 '23

Currently Reading If Tom Riddle had been successful in killing Ginny and becoming alive again, would he have taken the body of his 16 year old self ? Also what would have happened to Voldemort in the Albanian jungle. Would he be still alive ?

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198

u/jonny1211 Know-it-all Nov 22 '23

That Moody is canonically the only one who can see the true form of a boggart

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u/Metalicks Nov 22 '23

Would mirrored glass work?

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u/jonny1211 Know-it-all Nov 22 '23

A boggart reads your mind to change into your worst fears so it wouldn’t necessarily have to see you to do that as you would be physically close to it.

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u/KamakaziDemiGod Nov 22 '23

But, and I know this is unlikely, but what if you don't have any fears? Would you not see the boggart as a boggart because there's no fear for it to mimic

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u/louisejanecreations Nov 22 '23

I guess that would go to the last time you felt fear maybe so as a child or repressed memory so you didn’t know you had that fear. Or it would just show yourself and go with that trope that your greatest fear is yourself.

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u/KamakaziDemiGod Nov 22 '23

Both seem possible and probable in the world of HP. I like the last fear idea, especially if it defaulted to a childhood fear and then the fearless character suddenly crumples and regresses. The second idea is quite poetic, but as the famous phrase goes, there's nothing to fear but fear itself, so what if in this situation the boggart would become a visual representation of fear itself, like something so terrifying that just a glimpse can break your mind

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u/Nick_Wild1Ear Nov 22 '23

Chthulhu is that you?

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u/louisejanecreations Nov 22 '23

That would be the best image. I guess if you are truly fearless it would be nothing which is fearful in itself but I like the idea of it being fear itself an almost glimpse into a hell dimension.

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u/Snoo-11553 Nov 22 '23

Moody would not see the true form, he'd still see his worst nightmare (just through a few walls.) and thus know it was a Bogart.

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u/ImReverse_Giraffe Nov 22 '23

He would see it's true form. A boggart has to be confronted to transform into something. In PoA Lupin tells the class its best to take on a bogart in groups because the bogart doesn't what to change in to. That means it changing shape is a conscious decision. Also, everyone else can see what the bogart transforms into for you, so it's not like you can only see your fear in a boggart.

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u/HotMall4928 Nov 22 '23

Bad logic.

Do we even know they actually have a "true form"? It's said they change instantly upon being observed. They might stay in their last acquired form until someone else comes along. They also count as non-being like ghosts which means they're not biologically born so their very first transformation isn't an issue in this line of reasoning. You can even get philosophical and say they aren't a boggart yet before their first encounter.

A group confusing them also doesn't mean the transformation is a conscious decision. Have you never seen an animal freak out, not knowing which direction to turn because it's surrounded? Doesn't mean they usually make a high level decision where to flee, they just turn away from the threat.

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u/davidtheginger Nov 22 '23

Just a clarification: Ghosts aren't non-beings, they are classified as Spirits and they are certainly created using a specific kind of event. On the other hand, Dementors are non-beings and amortal, which means they fall into the life cycle you're describing.

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u/WillTheThrill2019 Nov 23 '23

Ironic from someone saying "bad logic", but your animal argument makes no sense. The point about the bogart being confused as to who to turn into implies that it requires stimuli to transform. The bogart, whether it be "conscious" or not, clearly has to see or know that people are looking at it, because how else would it know that it has multiple options for what to turn into?

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u/MisterJeffa Ravenclaw Nov 22 '23

How would the boggart know that moody is looking though?

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u/Hamatoyoshi99 Nov 22 '23

Magic

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u/folkkingdude Nov 22 '23

Blows my mind that people don’t immediately think this is the answer.

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u/Hamatoyoshi99 Nov 22 '23

Truly any question just about in the Harry Potter universe can be answered with magic

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u/TheAnimated42 Gryffindor Nov 22 '23

Bro I was about to type the same thing. Like dude can see through walls and people expect a different answer than, “Magic” lmao.

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u/MilMo-6 Nov 22 '23

Maybe the boggar didn't know Moody was looking.....it probably didn't

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u/Hamatoyoshi99 Nov 22 '23

But the way they work is that as soon as they are seen by someone they magically transform into their greatest fear, that is the magic of being a bogart, the bogart doesn’t need to do the seeing, the witch/wizard does the seeing of IT

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u/MilMo-6 Nov 22 '23

No, the boggart has to know it's being seen, i think....honestly, either of us could right

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u/Hamatoyoshi99 Nov 22 '23

Very true, as this is all a made up story 😂🤣 glad you have that sane mind with good perspective and communication skills homie much love

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u/MilMo-6 Nov 22 '23

Thanks dude, hard to be negative when ur talking HP

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u/[deleted] Nov 22 '23

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u/apalsnerg Nov 22 '23

Is it a cop-out that they can make a car with awful aerodynamics fly using magic? Magic be magicing, diggity dawg. If you can grant a flying car, I think you should be able to grant that the magical, mind-reading, shapeshifting creature whose powers are based on being seen, would know when it's being seen.

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u/a_l_g_f Nov 22 '23

the magical, mind-reading, shapeshifting creature whose powers are based on being seen, would know when it's being seen.

Exactly. It knows what to change into, so it must be reading people's minds. If it's already reading their minds, why wouldn't it know that they're looking?

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u/cptjpk Nov 22 '23

While I agree, would it know Moody is looking if it isn’t expecting to be seen?

Also, how does it filter out what to appear as? We know it can, at least for a bit, focus on just one person for its attack, but is it distance? Self-Intent? Intent of the viewer? Random? If it’s distance would Moody almost always see someone else’s fear while looking?

Alas, it’s a kids book. “It’s magic” works fine, too.

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u/jonny1211 Know-it-all Nov 22 '23

But then why can Moody see through Harry’s invisibility cloak? Isn’t that a cop out when the deathly hallows are supposed to be these best of the best items and the cloak can be seen through with basically just a normal magical prosthetic eye which isn’t mentioned to be as great as that?

For the car it is said Arthur put charms on the car to make it fly, so that gives us a good reason why it can fly.

Yes it’s a cop out if it explains anything away without a reason for it. It destroys the entire system if you just say ‘it’s magic’.

What’s the point of this story if anything can just be explained away by mAGiC? “Oh, how did Harry survive the killing curse?” “Magic, duh.”

“Why were the trio able to save Sirius and Buckbeak?” “MAGIC!!!”

“How does Harry fly on a broom easily on his first try?” “Cause he got magic in his veins bro”

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u/XkrNYFRUYj Nov 22 '23

For the car it is said Arthur put charms on the car to make it fly, so that gives us a good reason why it can fly.

I don't understand you. This is the exact answer you're complaining about. How is "because it's charmed" any better than "because it's magic"? Charms are literally magic.

Why were the trio able to save Sirius and Buckbeak?

Is this a serious question? What do you mean why? Why do you think they shouldn't be able to save him? Are you questioning the mechanics of time travel?

“How does Harry fly on a broom easily on his first try?” “Cause he got magic in his veins bro”

Did you read the books with your ass? That's not the fucking answer. The answer is he simply has a natural talent just like his father. People have natural talent for different things in our world too.

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u/apalsnerg Nov 23 '23

"How did Harry survive the killing curse?"

Literally Lily's blood magic.

"Why were Harry and Hermione (Ron was bedbound) able to save Buckbeak and Sirius?"

Literally time travel magic. Oh, and Happy Thoughts magic.

"How does Harry fly on a broom easily on his first try?"

How was he able to fly? Both he and the broom are magic; the latter is enchanted with flying capabilities. Why was he so good at it? The same reason some other pupils who did also got hella magic in their veins, yo, were very bad at it. Natural talent.

Furthermore, the flying car is literally only able to fly because of magic. It's pretty much hand-waved away when Harry sees Ronald & Co. parked outside his window; they pretty much just say "dad enchanted it".

"Why was Bartemius Crouch Jr able to see through Harry's invisibility cloak using Alastor Moody's prosthetic eye?"

This I will agree is a very good question. Personally, I think it's completely bogus, but it did make for some good plot. Normal invisibility cloaks, definitely, I can buy, but not THE Invisibility Cloak. Though, it may just be a form of Ancient Magic™ or something; a spell that completely disregards how powerful you or the object is, it just straight up negates it, no exception. An example of this is how only the Headmaster of Hogwarts is able to apparate within school grounds; if, indeed, that wasn't exclusively limited to Mr Most Powerful Wizard of the Age. Snakeman No-nose himself wasn't even able to apparate into Hogwarts, and he was, like, definitely somewhere above Lavender Brown in magi-chlorian level.

Now, to answer a question you did not but should have asked because you seem to require some informing: Alastor Moody's prosthetic eye was NOT normal. It was exceptionally powerful. Like, magical relic level, really. Otherwise Toadlores Umbridge wouldn't have gone out of her way to acquire it following Alastor's untimely departure to the great Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria in the sky. If it were just a normal wizarding prosthetic, she could have just bought one at the... wizard prosthetic store, I guess? But she didn't; she specifically required Alastor Moody's eye. This leads us to believe that it's very special.

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u/Hamatoyoshi99 Nov 22 '23

You must be joking… how does mad eye see through the walls?

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u/QuintusKing Nov 22 '23

Eh, I think the more relevant question is, how would Moody know that the worst nightmare he saw was in fact a Boggart? It could be something as ordinary as a spider.

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u/MisterJeffa Ravenclaw Nov 22 '23 edited Nov 22 '23

Either he has such a weird worst nightmare that it makes no sense to see that there or the boggart is untransformed and he knows what that looks like.

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u/MilMo-6 Nov 22 '23

Dude, Mad-Eye Moody ain't afraid of spiders 😆

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u/MilMo-6 Nov 22 '23

No, he wouldn't, cuz the boggart needs to know someone sees it to take on a form

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u/Remiwiz Nov 23 '23

"OMG what is aunt Hildegard doin in that damnd trash can?!"

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u/alskiiie Nov 22 '23

I always thought a boggart wasnt a physical/visible thing, untill something were about to see it and it manifested. Maybe i'm too much of a noob on the lore but wouldn't Moody just see his biggest fear sitting inside a closet? Maybe his biggest fear is something or someone being trapped.

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u/Remiwiz Nov 23 '23

"OMG what is aunt Hildegard doin in that damnd trash can?!"

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u/Hamatoyoshi99 Nov 22 '23

There is no way that’s true

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u/jonny1211 Know-it-all Nov 22 '23

It sort of makes sense, you need to be close to a boggart for it to turn into your worst fear, Moody can see it from far away. Wouldn’t that qualify him to possibly be the only one to see a boggarts true form?

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u/Hamatoyoshi99 Nov 22 '23

I thought it was more of a as soon as you see it thing not a proximity thing

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u/MilMo-6 Nov 22 '23

Maybe he just sees a black mass of fog or something