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hd_writers2013-01-13 07:33 am
slytherincesss.livejournal.com) wrote in hd_writers2013-01-13 07:33 am
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DID YOU KNOW: OCULUS REPARO
RUH-ROH!
Seriously -- aren't you surprised that Harry didn't break his glasses eleventy-billion times more than he actually did over the course of seven books? There's a nifty little fix specifically for mending broken glasses in Potterverse: Oculus Reparo. This little spell is quick, easy to learn, and dead on useful. It's the spell Hermione uses on the Hogwarts Express when she, Ron, and Harry first meet.
Except not.
Here's what really went down on the Hogwarts Express:
‘Are you sure that’s a real spell?’ said the girl. ‘Well, it’s not very good, is it? I’ve tried a few simple spells just for practice and it’s all worked for me. Nobody in my family’s magic at all, it was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course, I mean, it’s the very best school of witchcraft there is, I’ve heard – I’ve learnt all our set books off by heart, of course, I just hope it will be enough – I’m Hermione Granger, by the way, who are you?’
She said all this very fast.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone -- page 67 -- Bloomsbury -- chapter 6, The Journey From Platform Nine and Three-Quarters
Oculus Reparo is not a canon spell! It does not appear in any of the seven Potter novels, or the three supplemental books. Oculus Reparo is from the Harry Potter movies; Hermione casts this spell on Harry's glasses on the Hogwarts Express in Philosopher's Stone (film) and outside Flourish and Blotts in Chamber of Secrets (film). Oculus Reparo appears very frequently in fan fic; personally, I say go ahead and use this spell in your writing if you'd like to, because it is well-known in fandom, but just be aware, if you're a strict canon purist and do not consider the movies to be primary canon, that Oculus Reparo does not occur in any of the books.
There are instances of sight-related magic in the series. Mr. Weasley repairs Harry's glasses in Chamber of Secrets using an unnamed spell after Harry breaks them while Floo'ing into Borgin and Burkes in Knockturn Alley. In Prisoner of Azkaban, Hermione uses the Impervius spell on Harry's glasses so they will repel rain during a Quidditch match. In Goblet of Fire, Sirius mentions, after the fact, a Conjuntivitis curse as a possible option for fighting the dragon in the first task of the Triwizard Tournament because "the eyes are a dragon's weakest point", and Hermione notes that the Conjunctivitis curse is what Viktor Krum used to fight his dragon in the first task. Of course Mad-Eye Moody's magical eye is a work of genius and an extremely powerful magical object -- Moody can see through Invisibility Cloaks with his eye. In Potterverse, sight cannot be returned or repaired by magic if the natural eye is damaged or sight is poor. Many Potter characters wear glasses.
Did you know?
Now, go polish your glasses!
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Some wounds or afflictions can be healed by magic (growing new bones with Skele-Gro; treating a cold with Pepper-up Potion; putting a leg back onto its body after the leg is accidentally splinched off during Apparition lessons) and some cannot (Moody's eye and leg; the scars on Ron's arms from the Brain Room in the Department of Mysteries; George's ear lost to Sectumsempra).
And, yes, I think you're exactly right -- vision is so intricate and the eyes so delicate, that I can understand why eyesight might not be fixable by magic alone, if at all.
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My last pair of glasses, for example, took the optometrist nearly two hours to calibrate -- and that was after an ophthalmologist had conducted his own, 30-minute exam. (Just FYI, I'm extremely near-sighted, have astigmatism, a significant difference between both eyes, need bifocals AND some obscure prisms worked into the lenses just to bring me up to 80% vision.)
Factor in that eyes don't stop growing until a person is at least 16 (and in rare cases long after that), that vision starts changing again with encroaching age (reading glasses, anyone?), plus the overall cost of sight correction even in the real world, it's hardly surprising that Rowling didn't postulate a "simple" spell, potion or other magical procedure to fix Harry's, or anyone else's, eyesight.
Glasses don't have to be ugly and/or nerdy/geeky. They can be very sexy, there's obviously some way to restore vision (Madeye) and what with HP being a magical world, there's no reason why they can't have the equivalent of protective goggles, contact lenses or even temporary solutions/fixes ... for a price. I doubt the Weasleys could afford it, James Potter may have been too young yet, and I don't think that McGonagall or Dumbledore cared an awful lot.
IMO, sometimes, a bit of extrapolation from what's known can make a lot more sense than a quick-fix deus ex machina way, even in a world of magic. :)
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Anyhow, wow, you do have a very, very complex prescription. I just within the past two years started needing glasses to use for the computer and reading. I'm fortunate that I am able to order cheap glasses online (+ 2.00) and keep a stash of them around the house. My son and husband have more significant eye issues in that they have to wear glasses all the time. You're right -- glasses can be sexy, or pretty, or cute, or fun, depending on what you want. I recently bought a pair with flowers all over the frames.
Agree with your thoughts about there being some ways to restore vision and the possibility of other visual aids that J.K. Rowling just never put into the books.
I, too, prefer extrapolation over deus ex machina.
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*wry grin* Used to be that my glasses just had to be very strong, but as I got older, the complications just started to pile up. And as lazer treatment isn't an option (and I'm in the 10% or so of humanity whose eyes didn't stop getting worse around age 20), I'm now stuck with having to shell out €1000 or so every two years, should my prescription change. Which unfortunately isn't unusual ever since I started needing reading glasses ...
I carry cheap reading glasses in my handbag/keep a pair in the kitchen just so I'm not constantly looking for my "good" pair; I'm wearing contacts for everyday use, and it's simply too much hassle to get those with bifocals as well.
As for coming up with ways around certain problems in fiction, to me that's half the fun of writing; I think the Star Trek:TOS writers once complained that the nifty transporter beam was quite a headache, as they permanently had to invent new ways in which it wouldn't work in any given situation. Same with magic -- if all you need to do is wave your wand, there's a big chunk of possible plots gone. :) (On a tangent -- once when Hermione or whoever needed a makeover and asked whether they couldn't just use "bippity-boppity-boo" instead of all those potions etc, an older witch just sniffed and called it a "silly glamour charm". Could've kissed the author!)
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