Quantcast

Jump to content


Photo

if you could have any thing from the world of harry potter, what would it be?


  • Please log in to reply
405 replies to this topic

#26 Lychee

Lychee
  • 633 posts

Posted 17 July 2010 - 06:02 PM

Philosopher's Stone is too tempting in a way. If you used it to make gold from lead, you would most certainly not be able to live in a first world country with any sort of an income tax; otherwise, you would be investigated for money simply appearing from no where. And you couldn't use it to live forever, because again, eventually the game is up. And once people know about it, well, all the money in the world isn't going to last you very long to afford the kind of protection you'd need from someone trying to kill you or steal the Stone. Hell, even the gold market is going to be against you, because you stand to devalue the price of gold by creating it from nothing, so soon it'd be made illegal to buy from you, and you'd have to go to extra lengths to sell it. Same if you did another high value metal like silver. I think you'd have to run a salvage/scrap company, and boost your recovery with extra scrap coming in. And at small values so as to not arise suspicion. Copper would be good, though - price on that is currently very good.

Furthermore, you could not fall in love or have children unless you planned to likewise give them the Elixir of Life. And your current family members; would you be able to let your parents die when you could keep them alive? And immortal life does not guarantee good health or even a good life. I think Flamel was healthy because he was a wizard (although granted, it never specifically states Flamel is a wizard, but I would assume so). But the more people you give the elixir to, the more people have to know your secret, the bigger chance you'd be betrayed or used. That's unfortunate to think of family, but greed can be a terrible thing. The Philosopher's Stone would only be useful if you could control yourself to use it to create small amounts of gold when you most needed it; and I don't know if it'd be worth the cost at that point.


There would be ways to hide your source of income. I don't want to delve too far into this ('cause it's late and I'm already fuzzy headed with the flu), but I don't think it would be impossible to cover up an large initial creation of gold - getting lucky gambling, for a start, would be plausible, though probably less realistic than a magical way to turn lead into gold. Besides, if you could have one item from the HP world, surely you would also have access to Gringotts and such - which would both be a way to turn gold into usable currency and a way to hide it from income taxes. I imagine there's also a way to stop wizards being investigated - cover jobs to hide their real occupations - so that sort of cover could be employed.

As for loved ones - a whole family living forever would be obvious, but picking just one other person to drink it with you seems manageable. Changing your identity completely, whilst possibly shady, is doable. And, like Flamel, I imagine living forever would eventually start to lose its appeal - that's when I'd start to give it up and settle down for another normal life. With lots of money. Probably monkey butlers. Actually, since this is the future, I would have something superior to monkey butlers. Robot butlers of some form, perhaps.

#27 Puppetmaster

Puppetmaster
  • 905 posts

Posted 17 July 2010 - 06:08 PM

Flying car presumably doesn't trigger any sort of UFO detection when invisible,


But... fuck flying invisible... I'd go to the deep south and mess with all the rednecks! "Hey Cletus... Whadya s'pose dem lights are up in the sky?" :p

Edit: Fixing redneck talk.

Edited by Puppetmaster, 17 July 2010 - 06:10 PM.


#28 Casilla

Casilla
  • 114 posts


Users Awards

Posted 17 July 2010 - 06:19 PM

There would be ways to hide your source of income. I don't want to delve too far into this ('cause it's late and I'm already fuzzy headed with the flu), but I don't think it would be impossible to cover up an large initial creation of gold - getting lucky gambling, for a start, would be plausible, though probably less realistic than a magical way to turn lead into gold. Besides, if you could have one item from the HP world, surely you would also have access to Gringotts and such - which would both be a way to turn gold into usable currency and a way to hide it from income taxes. I imagine there's also a way to stop wizards being investigated - cover jobs to hide their real occupations - so that sort of cover could be employed.

As for loved ones - a whole family living forever would be obvious, but picking just one other person to drink it with you seems manageable. Changing your identity completely, whilst possibly shady, is doable. And, like Flamel, I imagine living forever would eventually start to lose its appeal - that's when I'd start to give it up and settle down for another normal life. With lots of money. Probably monkey butlers. Actually, since this is the future, I would have something superior to monkey butlers. Robot butlers of some form, perhaps.

Well, if you had access to the Wizarding world, you wouldn't need to live in the Muggle one at all.  However, I doubt the goblins would want to buy your gold.  After all, the Philosopher's Stone has the potential to create unlimited amounts of gold, which brings down the price.  They would probably only buy from you in small quantities.  They're not stupid, and would get suspicious of large quantities.  And just like lab-made diamonds versus mined diamonds, there may be a consumer-perception issue within the Wizarding world about gold made from the Stone.  It could be magically detectable, or they may otherwise know you have the Stone, which would make you a target for all sorts of Dark wizards or even the goblins themselves.


It is possible to launder money, of course, and hiding your source of income using foreign accounts.  But if you want to live in US, Canada or most European countries, it's going to be hard to hide the income from the government if you are using it.  If you aren't, and it's just sitting there doing nothing, then that is a completely different story.  But even something as small as buying a house involves a lot of paperwork and documentation.  Gambling?  The same.  You could say you won it overseas, but you'd still have to report it as income, and it would be taxed (which you could be willing to do) but you'd only be able to do that kind of an excuse once.  The US's IRS is especially hard on investigations.  You could get audited for only a few dollars if they had reason to suspect you lying about income.  You could get away with it for a few years, but eventually you'd be caught.  And it may be possible to fake an ID now, but in thirty years?  It may be a great deal harder.  Again, it would be easier to live in a third world country; to be a rich person there could live like royalty.  But people aren't stupid.  You're going to have to have some sort of operation to cover your income.  It could be fake, but any solution could never be permanent.



#29 emerkeng

emerkeng
  • 561 posts

Posted 18 July 2010 - 03:19 AM

I would want a wand not just any wand tho . . . the elder wand so I may be the most powerful man on earth (=


#30 harrypotter1

harrypotter1
  • 56 posts

Posted 18 July 2010 - 05:57 AM

yes, people are not dumb but you could just put everyone under the imperious curse so no one would know anything.

#31 Lychee

Lychee
  • 633 posts

Posted 18 July 2010 - 05:58 AM

Well, if you had access to the Wizarding world, you wouldn't need to live in the Muggle one at all. However, I doubt the goblins would want to buy your gold. After all, the Philosopher's Stone has the potential to create unlimited amounts of gold, which brings down the price. They would probably only buy from you in small quantities. They're not stupid, and would get suspicious of large quantities. And just like lab-made diamonds versus mined diamonds, there may be a consumer-perception issue within the Wizarding world about gold made from the Stone. It could be magically detectable, or they may otherwise know you have the Stone, which would make you a target for all sorts of Dark wizards or even the goblins themselves.


It is possible to launder money, of course, and hiding your source of income using foreign accounts. But if you want to live in US, Canada or most European countries, it's going to be hard to hide the income from the government if you are using it. If you aren't, and it's just sitting there doing nothing, then that is a completely different story. But even something as small as buying a house involves a lot of paperwork and documentation. Gambling? The same. You could say you won it overseas, but you'd still have to report it as income, and it would be taxed (which you could be willing to do) but you'd only be able to do that kind of an excuse once. The US's IRS is especially hard on investigations. You could get audited for only a few dollars if they had reason to suspect you lying about income. You could get away with it for a few years, but eventually you'd be caught. And it may be possible to fake an ID now, but in thirty years? It may be a great deal harder. Again, it would be easier to live in a third world country; to be a rich person there could live like royalty. But people aren't stupid. You're going to have to have some sort of operation to cover your income. It could be fake, but any solution could never be permanent.



You wouldn't tell them what was up. You'd get a job as a curse breaker with one of the wizarding banks. Easy way to hide a lot of gold. You might even be able to pick up how to do some basic spells to transfigure it into artefacts to arouse even less suspicion. And, since it's the only stone in existance, I doubt they would realise you had the stone. I mean, how would a muggle get it? It probably wouldn't occur to them.

And if I were to launder the money in the muggle world (which seems a bit pointless given the above) I would probably do it in the long term how real money launderers do it. With a casino, laundrette or arcade. I'd probably go with the arcade because games are cool. With that, it's incredibly hard for people to check the paper trail - which is why they're used in that manner. And, since I had the money, I am sure I'd be able to procure a new ID at any point in history.

#32 artificial

artificial
  • 186 posts


Users Awards

Posted 18 July 2010 - 06:30 AM

Secrecy sensory (I think it's called). That object which detects when people lie.

Oh the things I would do...

#33 stellanox

stellanox
  • 440 posts

Posted 18 July 2010 - 06:50 AM

Draco Malfoy or Ron Weasley ;)
If it's an item/creature, I'll take a flying broom or Dumbledore's phoenix. The ability to fly anywhere :rolleyes:!

#34 picole

picole
  • 483 posts

Posted 18 July 2010 - 07:45 AM

wanted the invisibility cloak, and the ability to Apparate

#35 Powerrrr

Powerrrr
  • 955 posts

Posted 18 July 2010 - 09:51 AM

On second thought, I might get some amortentia.

#36 Fallon

Fallon
  • 21 posts

Posted 18 July 2010 - 10:14 AM

For me it would have to be Fawkes the Phoenix.

#37 harrypotter1

harrypotter1
  • 56 posts

Posted 18 July 2010 - 12:23 PM

On second thought, I might get some amortentia.


whats that?

#38 Powerrrr

Powerrrr
  • 955 posts

Posted 18 July 2010 - 12:32 PM

whats that?



The most powerful love potion :whistling:

#39 Nonygirl

Nonygirl
  • 99 posts

Posted 18 July 2010 - 12:44 PM

For me it would have to be Fawkes the Phoenix.


Good luck trying to hide that bird.

If the government saw that you had such a crazy unseen species of bird they would be all over your ass to investigate and confiscate the bird. And then probably question you to death.

#40 pabs123

pabs123
  • 498 posts

Posted 18 July 2010 - 02:12 PM

You'll get used to me.


don't worry im the same way (in real life) just hadn't met someone like that in the forums :)

#41 MiladyM

MiladyM
  • 428 posts

Posted 18 July 2010 - 04:44 PM

Wouldnt mind running "into" a wall and having my own personal train station there, waiting to take me to school :p Only problem is I don't go to school, but thats easily solved.

#42 Sweeney

Sweeney
  • 1230 posts


Users Awards

Posted 18 July 2010 - 04:54 PM

I have a sneaking suspicion that this thread gives away a lot more about ourselves than we might willingly reveal :p

#43 pabs123

pabs123
  • 498 posts

Posted 18 July 2010 - 05:17 PM

I have a sneaking suspicion that this thread gives away a lot more about ourselves than we might willingly reveal :p


that every single one of us read at least one of the books in the harry potter series? :unsure:

#44 Sweeney

Sweeney
  • 1230 posts


Users Awards

Posted 18 July 2010 - 05:28 PM

No.

#45 pabs123

pabs123
  • 498 posts

Posted 18 July 2010 - 05:29 PM

No.


okay :(

#46 iargue

iargue
  • 10048 posts


Users Awards

Posted 18 July 2010 - 05:32 PM

I have a sneaking suspicion that this thread gives away a lot more about ourselves than we might willingly reveal :p



You support slavery :(

#47 MiladyM

MiladyM
  • 428 posts

Posted 18 July 2010 - 06:16 PM

that every single one of us read at least one of the books in the harry potter series? :unsure:


Wait, there are books :sarcasm:?

#48 pabs123

pabs123
  • 498 posts

Posted 18 July 2010 - 06:24 PM

Wait, there are books :sarcasm:?


urrg okay maybe i did reveal more than i would've...im the only one that read the books... :(

#49 Raui

Raui
  • 5687 posts


Users Awards

Posted 18 July 2010 - 06:28 PM

This one is tricky, I'd say a strong ability to do magic :)

You'll get used to me.



Oh how I missed those posts :)



#50 tb20

tb20
  • 68 posts

Posted 18 July 2010 - 08:02 PM

The Whomping Willow to silence those pesky loud birds in the morning, possibly positioned in the backyard I guess?


0 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users