Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter, #7) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows question


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Hermione and Memory Charms
Naomi Naomi Sep 24, 2013 03:16PM
In Chapter 9 ("A Place to Hide"), when Hermione, Ron, and Harry are found by Death Eaters in the cafe, they decide to wipe the memories of the Death Eaters. Hermione states that she's never done a memory charm but that she knows the theory. Earlier in the book, in Chapter 6 ("The Ghoul in Pajamas"), she says that she's modified her parents' memories. What's up with the discrepancy?



Anna (last edited Sep 24, 2013 05:35PM ) Sep 24, 2013 05:31PM   1 vote
Hermione modified her parents memories and wiped the Death Eaters' memories. Wiping is different from modifying. For her parents, she didn't wipe away their memory, she just gave them new memories of a different life altogether to replace (or modify) their old memories.

"Hermione thoughtfully protected her parents from Death Eater reprisals by modifying their memories, giving them new names (Wendell and Monica Wilkins), no memory that they once had a daughter, and then relocated them to Australia (DH6)." From the Harry Potter Lexicon

For the Death Eaters', she wiped away memories of any life whatsoever, old or new. That's what I'm thinkin' about the "discrepancy".

5894395
Naomi Thanks! That is a very helpful insight.
Sep 24, 2013 05:36PM · flag
17892709
Julia I would think that modifying memories would be harder than wiping memories. (Like repairing something instead of throwing it away). But then, they wer ...more
Sep 24, 2013 07:44PM · flag

deleted member Sep 24, 2013 04:42PM   0 votes
maybe to wizards its harder and muggles aren't.


On Mugglenet, this was pointed out as a mistake in the series. The only other thing I can think up is that the memory spells she used on her parents and on the death eaters were different.


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