Canon question

[rosie_rues]

Um, anyone awake out there and have the books to hand? I'm at work and trying to work out some bits and pieces so I can start the next chapter of Summer of the Dragon at lunchtime, and I've run into details the lexicon doesn't cover.

So, talking mirrors. There's mention of them in CS (the Weasleys have one) and PoA (in Harry's room in the Leaky Cauldron). How do they talk? Is there any mention of them having mouths or do the voices just come out of the glass? Do they have faces?

That's all I'm trying to work out for this chapter, but I've started wondering about them now. Where are their brains? Do they eventually shed their gilt frames and turn into house elves? Who makes them? Can they communicate with other mirrors? Could one act as a spy? Anyone got any thoughts?

As an unrelated query, what happens to a house elf whose family dies without an heir? Do they suicide, revert to the wild or adopt a new family?

Comments

[sambethe.livejournal.com]

I happened to have PoA with me because I needed to look things up myself. There is no mention of how the mirror talks but each time is does mention the tone of voice (first wheezy then sleepy).

I checked the Lexicon as well but all it says is this:

"Tuck your shirt in, scruffy!"
-- the Weasleys' talking mirror

The Weasleys have a talking mirror on the kitchen mantelpiece at the Burrow which, uh, gives advice in grooming (CS3).

There was also one in room 11 of the Leaky Cauldron when Harry stayed there, which spoke in a wheezy voice. When he tried to flatten his unruly hair, it told him "You're fighting a losing battle there, dear" (PA4).

So, not terribly helpful.

Could I ask you a question in return? How do the British spell fantasize? Is it fantasise? For whatever reason, no matter how much I write with British spellings for work, the latter just looks wrong to me (even though it is coming up as right in my dictionary).

[rosemaryandrue.livejournal.com]

Thank you :) I have quite a clear mental image of them with faces incorporated into their frames, but I had no idea whether that was canon or my imagination. Looks like I'll have to be vague.

As for fantasise/fantasize - this is actually more complicated than I realised ^_^ Technically, both are correct in British usage, but -ise is more common, to the extent that it is sometimes regarded as the standard form. The Shorter Oxford Dictionary and my spellchecker here at work both accept -ize, so you're safe to use that. Personally, I use a mixture of both depending on the word, which is probably completely incorrect ^_^

[sambethe.livejournal.com]

Looks like I'll have to be vague.

Or you could just give your description, it sounds pretty logical. I doubt it will ever be anything we are ever told in canon one way or another.

And thanks for the fantasise/fantasize run down. That's about what I came up with as well.

[rosemaryandrue.livejournal.com]

No problem. That odd sort of language problem fascinates me.