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How to Sell a Portkey on the Black Market
May. 9th, 2014 07:35 amSo, I wrote an essay for the Meta Fest over on ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
hp_canon_love. Yesterday it posted! Go and have a look. It was surprisingly fun to write and I hope it at least makes people think.
The original prompt featured three questions about the properties of Portkeys. The first question was, "Would it be possible to create a Portkey that is activated only when the person is in danger, as a way to escape?"
My initial reaction was to say "No. Duh." Because if it were possible, wouldn't they have been employed at some point in the series?
But if All Questions were Answered by the All-Powerful JKR, we wouldn't be here on LJ, writing together, trying to plumb the depths of canon like the angels-on-the-head-of-a-pin-counting medieval philosophers of yore.
So I went deeper. And in the end, I came to the conclusion that, based on what (little) we know about Portkey making, it is theoretically possible to prime an object to behave as a Portkey, but not release its purpose until the needful moment. Like a Muggle grenade. The only requirement for the user is the magical ability to pull the pin, so to speak.*
And if I'm onto something, think of the applications of possessing, and by extension buying and selling, primed Portkeys. Sure, the Ministry forbids unauthorized Portkey travel, but it can't stop same unless it catches perp(s) red-handed. And because unauthorized Portkeys are illegal, badabing! You have a situation ripe for a black market -- controlled, perhaps, by cartels of Portkey-trafficking families who occasionally stage bloody turf wars.
A Portkey Mafia!
If anybody ever writes this as a fanfic, please let me know.
*Yes, I remember Portkeys being used this way in Princess of Gryffindor. I think Aurette Got It. Now imagine a sequel, in which Hermione and Severus go into the Portkey-making business and eventually create a crime syndicate that crushes Wizarding Great Britain and ushers in a new reign of terror. No? What now? You people are never satisfied.
hp_canon_love. Yesterday it posted! Go and have a look. It was surprisingly fun to write and I hope it at least makes people think.The original prompt featured three questions about the properties of Portkeys. The first question was, "Would it be possible to create a Portkey that is activated only when the person is in danger, as a way to escape?"
My initial reaction was to say "No. Duh." Because if it were possible, wouldn't they have been employed at some point in the series?
But if All Questions were Answered by the All-Powerful JKR, we wouldn't be here on LJ, writing together, trying to plumb the depths of canon like the angels-on-the-head-of-a-pin-counting medieval philosophers of yore.
So I went deeper. And in the end, I came to the conclusion that, based on what (little) we know about Portkey making, it is theoretically possible to prime an object to behave as a Portkey, but not release its purpose until the needful moment. Like a Muggle grenade. The only requirement for the user is the magical ability to pull the pin, so to speak.*
And if I'm onto something, think of the applications of possessing, and by extension buying and selling, primed Portkeys. Sure, the Ministry forbids unauthorized Portkey travel, but it can't stop same unless it catches perp(s) red-handed. And because unauthorized Portkeys are illegal, badabing! You have a situation ripe for a black market -- controlled, perhaps, by cartels of Portkey-trafficking families who occasionally stage bloody turf wars.
A Portkey Mafia!
If anybody ever writes this as a fanfic, please let me know.
*Yes, I remember Portkeys being used this way in Princess of Gryffindor. I think Aurette Got It. Now imagine a sequel, in which Hermione and Severus go into the Portkey-making business and eventually create a crime syndicate that crushes Wizarding Great Britain and ushers in a new reign of terror. No? What now? You people are never satisfied.
