What bugs the fuck out of me is the worldbuilding and the lack of rules concerning magic, along with no one, absolutely NO ONE, calling out that they have effectively mind-raped an entire city. I got to see up close and personal what happening to my grandmother when she had dementia- loss of memory is loss of self. And it happened without their permission. I hate, HATE how muggles are treated in this universe.
I’m going to devil’s advocate at you for a second. As a member of a persecuted community that a MUCH LARGER community thinks is DANGEROUS and tries, repeatedly, to murder individuals of, if not outright destroy – I get where the Wizarding World is coming from and I gotta say, I can’t argue with them. Here’s why:
So, the canon states that people seen as magical(whether that suspicion is founded or not) kinda have a history of being treated fucking horribly by non-magical people, it’s mentioned in the Harry Potter series and apparently is a bigger deal in the US because no matter how big the spell – 5 BILLION non-magical people with bombs and guns and mass force really can take on a tens or hundreds of thousands of magical people. As Jew, I’m a member of a group of people that has likewise been hunted and I get it. I for one am tired of being expelled. And imprisoned. And robbed. And tortured. And systematically raped. And having my relics and homes and buildings and businesses and possessions and texts destroyed. And tortured. And murdered.
So. If Jewish people could do what wizards can do, and hide so totally – make our homes and businesses and world completely invisible and inaccessible to gentiles? Holy shit. I would do it in a HEARTBEAT. If I could take away the memory of every gentile that Jews existed? I fucking would. If I could erase us from existence – and only be known to other Jews unless we CHOSE to be known to select members of society who could be trusted to keep us a secret? I fucking would. Because it’s exhausting and it’s terrifying – to know that people think that you are going to destroy their way of life and are therefore a threat (even if you’re really not).
I agree that there should be regulations on what spells can be cast on non-magical people but in terms of the memory thing? Nope. I get it. And it seems like there ARE regulations. They aren’t allowed to wipe people’s whole lives. They aren’t allowed to change people’s identities. Shit like what happened with Neville’s parents are a fucking crime. But taking away a small period of time? Dude if you say you remember specifics of entire years of your life I’m going to call you a liar because the brain doesn’t work that way to begin with. The oblivate spell as used appropriately (and within the norms that I can see – and granted it has been a LONG TIME since I read the books – so I’m just going with what I can remember and FB&WTFT) takes away an incident, a few days, a few hours when an incident occurs that they weren’t given express consent by a wizard to experience (except with Kowalski which was a point that America is WRONG about the way they treat non-magical people who CAN be trusted by making it a blanket policy) and which therefore violates the regulation of secrecy as a safety measure.
While I get where you are coming from in terms of things like Harry casting that spell on Vernon’s sister needing regulation – things like the short-term memory erasure do not bother me. I don’t care about what is basically the same as an MiB neuralizer because the LIVES of entire community of men, women, children both human and creature, is infinitely more valuable than a few hours or days of time from the memory of millions. I approve. I think it’s smart. I think it’s awesome. I want to steal that power and take it as my own. I envy the safety they have with the fire of a thousand suns and honestly, I don’t give a fuck about how it was done. I really really don’t.
If taking away the memory if a few days or hours would save tens or hundreds of thousands of lives in our world? Like making China forget Tibet and Taiwan was there so that they could live independent, free, and un-harassed for example? Or Russia forget about the Ukraine and the Crimea? Or preventing the devastation of any indigenous community by Europeans ever? I think I’d be in favor of it too.
So, pretty frequently writers screw up when they write about injuries. People are clonked over the head, pass out for hours, and wake up with just a headache… Eragon breaks his wrist and it’s just fine within days… Wounds heal with nary a scar, ever…
I’m aiming to fix that.
Here are over 100 links covering just about every facet of traumatic injuries (physical, psychological, long-term), focusing mainly on burns, concussions, fractures, and lacerations. Now you can beat up your characters properly!
Wound assessment: A huge amount of information, including what the color of the flesh indicates, different kinds of things that ooze from a wound, and so much more.
Location pain chart: Originally intended for tattoo pain, but pretty accurate for cuts
General note: Deeper=more serious. Elevate wounded limb so that gravity draws blood towards heart. Scalp wounds also bleed a lot but tend to be superficial. If it’s dirty, risk infection. If it hits the digestive system and you don’t die immediately, infection’ll probably kill you. Don’t forget the possibility of tetanus! If a wound is positioned such that movement would cause the wound to gape open (i.e. horizontally across the knee) it’s harder to keep it closed and may take longer for it to heal.
General notes: If it’s a compound fracture (bone poking through) good luck fixing it on your own. If the bone is in multiple pieces, surgery is necessary to fix it—probably can’t reduce (“set”) it from the outside. Older people heal more slowly. It’s possible for bones to “heal” crooked and cause long-term problems and joint pain. Consider damage to nearby nerves, muscle, and blood vessels.
General notes: If you pass out, even for a few seconds, it’s serious. If you have multiple concussions over a lifetime, they will be progressively more serious. Symptoms can linger for a long time.
Dislocations: Symptoms 1, 2; treatment. General notes: Repeated dislocations of same joint may lead to permanent tissue damage and may cause or be symptomatic of weakened ligaments. Docs recommend against trying to reduce (put back) dislocated joint on your own, though information about how to do it is easily found online.
Death By Catchphrase 