As for the broom question -- hmm, good point, I'd forgotten that initial scene. OK, how to retrieve this then? Well ... I get the impression that JKR in the broom lesson scene is playing on the "they can smell fear you know!" joke often made about technology -- i.e. the broom is responding (or not) to Hermione's lack of confidence rather than her magic (she manages to fly on occasions later, even if not well). I read Neville's efforts the other way -- he's scared stiff and just points the thing upwards, which is the way to get it to shoot off into the sky, and it's so fast he can't control it. There are a couple of examples of very young children who haven't shown signs of magic yet flying on toy brooms too.
JKR did say something in an interview about Muggles being unable to get more than a spark or two out of a wand, but wands do respond specifically to the user's magic. Cursed objects (biting doorknobs and the like) respond to Muggles, so charmed ones could too. After all, a significant part of Arthur's job seems to have been the recovery of such items that had found their way into the Muggle world. In short, I think there's enough in canon to read the Muggles-on-broomsticks possibility either way depending on what's necessary for a story?
As for the broom question -- hmm, good point, I'd forgotten that initial scene. OK, how to retrieve this then? Well ... I get the impression that JKR in the broom lesson scene is playing on the "they can smell fear you know!" joke often made about technology -- i.e. the broom is responding (or not) to Hermione's lack of confidence rather than her magic (she manages to fly on occasions later, even if not well). I read Neville's efforts the other way -- he's scared stiff and just points the thing upwards, which is the way to get it to shoot off into the sky, and it's so fast he can't control it. There are a couple of examples of very young children who haven't shown signs of magic yet flying on toy brooms too.
JKR did say something in an interview about Muggles being unable to get more than a spark or two out of a wand, but wands do respond specifically to the user's magic. Cursed objects (biting doorknobs and the like) respond to Muggles, so charmed ones could too. After all, a significant part of Arthur's job seems to have been the recovery of such items that had found their way into the Muggle world. In short, I think there's enough in canon to read the Muggles-on-broomsticks possibility either way depending on what's necessary for a story?
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