I kind of wish I had a better visual imagination or spatial awareness. I tend to have trouble keeping track of the environment in novels. As such, even after going back to the story, I’m not entirely sure where exactly Harry is.
The reason I bring this up is that we are told, explicitly, that the Death Eaters will kill Harry if he stops pointing his wand toward the floor.
But 1 G gravity is FAST, and they might be too surprised to react in time if Harry suddenly falls THROUGH the floor. Which may or may not be an option available to him, depending on his location, by using partial transfiguration to turn a thin section of the floor around him into sand.
1 G is a high acceleration, but it’s not that fast initially. That gives him about half a second before his head falls below ground level (0.64s to fall 2m).
“Have sseveral ssecretss you would consider worth a hosstage, but before that, ssusspect your plan to get rid of me flawed. Am Tom Riddle. Might have accesss to horcruxes. Unlesss grant ssecurity of parentss firsst, will raise wand at minionss; they will casst avada kedavra, sskipping sseveral of your intended ssteps; am gambling on returning from horcrux before you hurt hosstages.”
Nonplussed, Lord Voldemort gestured to his Death-Eaters. “A small change in orders, gentlemen. If the boy speaks in human tongue, makes a sudden move, or raises his wand away from the floor, don’t case avada kedavra on him—cast stupefy inst-”
Before Voldemort could finish his sentence, before the Death-Eaters could switch mental tracks, Harry’s wand—which had never stopped pointing at the floor—finished casting the partial transfiguration. A very thin section of the floor, in a circle surrounding Harry, was now sand. The younger Tom Riddle, along with the piece of floor he had been standing on, quickly fell to the ground below, away from the Death-Eaters’ line of sight.
I kind of wish I had a better visual imagination or spatial awareness. I tend to have trouble keeping track of the environment in novels. As such, even after going back to the story, I’m not entirely sure where exactly Harry is.
The reason I bring this up is that we are told, explicitly, that the Death Eaters will kill Harry if he stops pointing his wand toward the floor.
But 1 G gravity is FAST, and they might be too surprised to react in time if Harry suddenly falls THROUGH the floor. Which may or may not be an option available to him, depending on his location, by using partial transfiguration to turn a thin section of the floor around him into sand.
1 G is a high acceleration, but it’s not that fast initially. That gives him about half a second before his head falls below ground level (0.64s to fall 2m).
True. Which is why my final proposal involved providing something to distract the Death Eaters for a crucial moment.
OK, here’s what I ended up posting:
“Have sseveral ssecretss you would consider worth a hosstage, but before that, ssusspect your plan to get rid of me flawed. Am Tom Riddle. Might have accesss to horcruxes. Unlesss grant ssecurity of parentss firsst, will raise wand at minionss; they will casst avada kedavra, sskipping sseveral of your intended ssteps; am gambling on returning from horcrux before you hurt hosstages.”
Nonplussed, Lord Voldemort gestured to his Death-Eaters. “A small change in orders, gentlemen. If the boy speaks in human tongue, makes a sudden move, or raises his wand away from the floor, don’t case avada kedavra on him—cast stupefy inst-”
Before Voldemort could finish his sentence, before the Death-Eaters could switch mental tracks, Harry’s wand—which had never stopped pointing at the floor—finished casting the partial transfiguration. A very thin section of the floor, in a circle surrounding Harry, was now sand. The younger Tom Riddle, along with the piece of floor he had been standing on, quickly fell to the ground below, away from the Death-Eaters’ line of sight.