Have you ever experienced something you couldn’t explain?
I suppose that to a Muggle, magic seems unexplainable. To a Wizard such as myself, there's nothing at all mysterious about magic. It's simply a matter of being born to it, and then receiving the proper education and training so that one learns the most optimal incantations and gestures and potions to use in any given circumstance. While it's true that some wizards may be more gifted than others, magic itself is not much of a mystery. Much the same can be said for the magical beings and beasts that we share our world with. Muggles may believe them to be little more than figments from a child's bedtime story, so when they encounter something such as a dragon or a vampire or even a kneezle they tend to get all flustered and overwrought. Fortunately, we've got a large complement of Obliviators on staff at the Ministry to take care of those unfortunate situations. And honestly, I can assure you that there is nothing at all mysterious about these beings and beasts. Once you've sat on as many committee meetings as I have and have had to listen to all of the vampires whining about having to work day shifts, or farmers complaining about pest removal techniques for gnome infestations while the magical conservationists are all shouting about the loss of magical habitat, and treasuring nasty little pixies and whatnot...well, the mystery of it all wears off very quickly, trust me.
I did see something the other day though that completely took my breath away. It was utterly fantastic. I'd gone to Diagon Alley to do a bit of shopping and just on a whim, I decided to stroll out on the Muggle side of London. I was so isolated from the Muggle world when I was growing up that to this day just walking around in Muggle London feels like an adventure to me. They're always doing such interesting things! But I digress. I wandered into a Muggle shop that was selling electronic gadgets. I had no earthly idea what any of them were. The shopkeeper asked me if I was interested in purchasing something he called an "Eyepod." Well, with a name like "Eyepod," naturally I thought that it was something to do with eyes. But no, it turns out that he was saying, "i" as in the letter "i." I-Pod. The Muggle was all excited. He handed me a tiny metal case that had an even tinier little window of some sort on it, as well as a circle that he said was used to scroll about through songs. That's where he lost me, because for the life of me I did not see a scroll anywhere. He started babbling about earbuds and gig-bites and I thought that the thing must have some teeth on it somewhere, but no. The biting gig thing lives inside the case with the batteries.
Well, that's where he started to lose me. I have seen a battery. My father has a massive collection of Muggle batteries, and they were all considerably larger than this contraption. The Muggle assured me that I could store up to 1000 songs in this little case and 25,000 pictures! Who on earth has 25,000 pictures of anything? Then he went on about earbuds again, and podcasts which, again, I had no earthly idea what that meant, but I can only assume it is some sort of electronic divination technique. And here is where I thought that he was completely off his nut, because he said that they had 11,000 books that I could put in the bloody thing if I wanted to buy them. The gadget fit in the palm of my hand. You couldn't fit one book inside of it, much less 11,000.
Well, that made me mad. I do not like to be made a fool of. I left that shop thinking that the salesman was trying to pull a joke on me, when what did I see on my way back to Diagon Alley but two young men talking about the new i-Pod that one of them had purchased. He was showing it off to his friend and boasting that he already had over 500 songs in it, and a book series that he had conjured out of the ether someone, and pictures of his girlfriend which he then proceeded to display. Honestly, it was like seeing something out of the pages of The Adventures of Martin Miggs, the Mad Muggle. I am still puzzling over it. It was, dare I say it, like magic.
I did see something the other day though that completely took my breath away. It was utterly fantastic. I'd gone to Diagon Alley to do a bit of shopping and just on a whim, I decided to stroll out on the Muggle side of London. I was so isolated from the Muggle world when I was growing up that to this day just walking around in Muggle London feels like an adventure to me. They're always doing such interesting things! But I digress. I wandered into a Muggle shop that was selling electronic gadgets. I had no earthly idea what any of them were. The shopkeeper asked me if I was interested in purchasing something he called an "Eyepod." Well, with a name like "Eyepod," naturally I thought that it was something to do with eyes. But no, it turns out that he was saying, "i" as in the letter "i." I-Pod. The Muggle was all excited. He handed me a tiny metal case that had an even tinier little window of some sort on it, as well as a circle that he said was used to scroll about through songs. That's where he lost me, because for the life of me I did not see a scroll anywhere. He started babbling about earbuds and gig-bites and I thought that the thing must have some teeth on it somewhere, but no. The biting gig thing lives inside the case with the batteries.
Well, that's where he started to lose me. I have seen a battery. My father has a massive collection of Muggle batteries, and they were all considerably larger than this contraption. The Muggle assured me that I could store up to 1000 songs in this little case and 25,000 pictures! Who on earth has 25,000 pictures of anything? Then he went on about earbuds again, and podcasts which, again, I had no earthly idea what that meant, but I can only assume it is some sort of electronic divination technique. And here is where I thought that he was completely off his nut, because he said that they had 11,000 books that I could put in the bloody thing if I wanted to buy them. The gadget fit in the palm of my hand. You couldn't fit one book inside of it, much less 11,000.
Well, that made me mad. I do not like to be made a fool of. I left that shop thinking that the salesman was trying to pull a joke on me, when what did I see on my way back to Diagon Alley but two young men talking about the new i-Pod that one of them had purchased. He was showing it off to his friend and boasting that he already had over 500 songs in it, and a book series that he had conjured out of the ether someone, and pictures of his girlfriend which he then proceeded to display. Honestly, it was like seeing something out of the pages of The Adventures of Martin Miggs, the Mad Muggle. I am still puzzling over it. It was, dare I say it, like magic.