(no subject)

[nny]

Dammit! Just lost the beginning of a Charlie/Remus fic I was writing. Grrrr.

Anyway, I was wondering- this is an issue that has just come up in conversation, and is something I've considered while RPing at the Dungeons.

How do wizards travel internationally?

If it were as simple as being able to floo there, the Weasleys would be able to pop over to visit Bill and Charlie every other weekend, and the trip to Egypt a) wouldn't have been much of an event, and b) wouldn't have required the prize money from the Daily Prophet.*

I suppose there'd the possibility of the Ministry of Magic (which would presumably regulate the creation of Portkeys) having a department to deal with such things. The regulation would certainly be required, to ensure the continued secrecy of the Wizarding World, for a start. So perhaps there's a fee for Portkeys that aren't for organised events such as the Quidditch World Cup. OTOH- can you see the Malfoys submitting to being transported in such an ingracious way?

Flying carpets are out, we know this. Broomsticks are impractical, especially if a family where emigrating, say.

Anyone have any theories they'd like to share?

*r_becca has made a good point- that a holiday for 8 would require a lot of money in terms of accomodation, food, trips etc. *facepalms* Okay. Not too bright.

Comments

[atdelphi.livejournal.com]

Interesting question...if travel were free, one would assume that Bill or Charlie could just apparate home for supper every once in a while.

Portkey-passports? Magic map in the Ministry's customs department?

Re:

[villainny.livejournal.com]

Someone mentioned that they might floo/apparate to the coast, then get boats or planes. They thought that apparating/flooing wouldn't work over water (like hoverboards!). I then started thinking about the classes the Ministry would have to run in order to make sure the Wizards didn't get arrested as terrorists...

There's a story in there somewhere. *g*

Re:

[donnaimmaculata.livejournal.com]

As far as I know (though I'm not sure about the source) JKR said that it is impossible to Apparate long distances such as, say, UK - USA. For my personal universe, I have adapted the view that wizards can't Apparate across water. It is a crude derivation of the traditional assumption that witches can't cross running water. Obviously, in HP they can walk over bridges or go on a boat, but I assume they can't cross water magically, i.e. Apparating/Flooing/Portkeying. They can, however, make use of magically altered means of transport, such as magical ships (cf. GoF).

Just my personal attempt to solve the problem, anyway.

[delirieuse.livejournal.com]

The Draco Trilogy uses "International Floo Hubs", which I suppose is the magical world's equivalent of airports.

[r-becca.livejournal.com]

I was looking at my copy of OotP yesterday, and in the chapter "the Advance Guard," Moody says something to Harry about not wanting to use an "unauthorized portkey" or something.... Don't have the book with me now, but you should check out that reference.

Re:

[neotoma.livejournal.com]

I think it's Remus who says to use an unauthorized Portkey is either "more trouble than its worth" or "more than our lives are worth"... I'd have to find my copy of OotP to be sure.

But that makes me think that Portkeys are VERY tightly controlled by the government -- which makes sense, as they're very powerful and quite mindless magical devices.

Re:

[r-becca.livejournal.com]

That sounds right... Too bad for fanfic writers, though-- Portkeys are pretty convenient. ;)

[isiscolo.livejournal.com]

Quidditch Through the Ages mentions the first Transatlantic broomstick flight. Sounds miserable to me.