Xenomorphs in Hogwarts

[Oskuro]

Hmmmm, I'm guessing that magic-infused aliens would, in essence, be magical creatures like so many in the HP novels. So they might gain some simplistic instinctive powers, like the ones exhibited by infant wizards, probably related to their needs (Harry teleported to escape bullies, he changed the color of a teacher's hair in self defense, made a window vanish to help the snake trapped within, and we also had Neville bounce like a gummy bear to avoid death by falling off a window).

Now, getting a facehugger on a Dragon, that would be interesting.

As for how the school would fare, not sure, three 11 year old children managed to defeat a Troll through panicky uncoordinated combat, and by the formation of the DA, students are less panicky in general (Heck, in book 7 it turns out Ginny is a beast in magic combat, it seems), so barring surprise attacks, the aliens might have a tough time. And given that this is a world were bones can be rebuilt overnight, I'm not entirely sure a chestburster would be fatal if the victim can be taken to the infirmary on time.


And what's this nonsense of Hagrid keeping a drone for himself? He'd keep the Queen!

[TithonusSyndrome]

I thought in the original Alien they said the facehugger was keeping him alive while it was attached. Which seems like a lot of trouble to go through if they don't need a live body to incubate in.

Because facehuggers aren't strong enough to throttle a grown man? Besides, killing hosts is only practical if, like I stated, there's a drone around to poke holes in the body for air.

[Darth Paxis]

Was Extinction the RTS one, because you couldn't use corpses in that one, IIRC the Aliens as a default never killed opponents, instead knocking them out, except for the really big one with blades for hands, but that came at the cost of not being able to use the victims for hosts.

[TithonusSyndrome]

What? Do you intend to tell me that after a lengthy slashing from a 7-foot drone, the game would have us believe that the enemy is just unconscious? Either your memory fails you or this game has the most broken gameplay mechanics ever and I regret ever mentioning it.

[Vendetta]

I thought in the original Alien they said the facehugger was keeping him alive while it was attached. Which seems like a lot of trouble to go through if they don't need a live body to incubate in.

Because facehuggers aren't strong enough to throttle a grown man? Besides, killing hosts is only practical if, like I stated, there's a drone around to poke holes in the body for air.

It's specifically stated in Alien that the facehugger is acting to keep Kane alive (and it did this despite breaching his suit on LV426, which was not at that time in possession of a breathable atmosphere). Likewise, every host we've seen in all of the films has been alive until the chestburster comes out. It's a fair bet to say that the Chestburster needs a live host.

[Manus Celer Dei]

In the extended edition of Alien 3 the alien hatches from a dead ox, though it's not clear whether or not it was impregnated before or after it died.

[Oskuro]

Because facehuggers aren't strong enough to throttle a grown man?

It is explicitely stated when they try to surgically remove the facehugger and it clings even harder that it could very well strangle him to death and maybe even pull his face off. That tail looks quite strong, mind you.

As for the bursters needing a live host, don't know, I was under the notion that the burster actually links up to the host's system (wich explains Ripley's sympthoms in Alien 3, as well as the method by wich the aliens get a sample of the host's DNA to incorporate), so a live host would seem necessary, at least during the first stages of the burster's gestation.

[The Romulan Republic]

As for how the school would fare, not sure, three 11 year old children managed to defeat a Troll through panicky uncoordinated combat,

Yes, but one of those was the Chosen One, and it was largely by luck. Also, a troll is big and clumsy and stupid. Xenomorphs are fast, stealthy fuckers who you probably won't see until they attack you.

and by the formation of the DA, students are less panicky in general (Heck, in book 7 it turns out Ginny is a beast in magic combat, it seems), so barring surprise attacks, the aliens might have a tough time. And given that this is a world were bones can be rebuilt overnight, I'm not entirely sure a chestburster would be fatal if the victim can be taken to the infirmary on time.

The DA, if it has been created by the time this scenario begins, does improve the situation a bit. However, I think its rather silly to suggest that someone would be able to survive a chestburster just because they can rebuild bones. My impression from the films is that death is more or less immediate, and probably due in large part to massive blood loss and ruptured organs.

A question: does the Facehugger immediately infect the victim, or is their a time period where you can prevent infection by removing the Facehugger? I'm thinking Transfiguring the Facehugger would be a viable approach. What possible defense would the thing have against that?

[Oskuro]

I'm not sure about lethality in the books. The lighthearted way they talk about very serious injury to other people (like teleportation accidents where people pop up spit in half and Aurors are sent to "sort them") suggests that mortality due to physical means is rather rare, despite the massive risk of injury posed by magic itself. People we see die in the books often do so due to instakill curses (if I remember correctly).

Now, the aliens would be a threat, all I'm pointing out is that even panicky schoolchildren who know a basic binding spell (and they do, since they use those for pranks) are a tougher mark than regular schoolchildren, and panicky also leads to wrongly cast spells, wich leads to unpredictable outcomes in some encounters.
In the end, the aliens would learn to be extremely stealthy in their approach, and to make sure the wands are taken away.
Still, I wonder, wouldn't the aliens just try to move out of the castle and into the forest? It makes a lot more sense, considering that it is a more prey-rich environment.


And, food for thought, how would a Dementor fare when trying to soulsuck an alien? (Keep in mind that, in the book, they need to physically kiss the victim in the mouth)

[phred]

Putting the chest-burster embryo in is either the very first or last thing the facehugger does. The rest of the time it's attached is spent preparing the host and the embryo so the host's body won't reject it before it matures. The teachers need to come up with a way to remove the facehugger quickly and safely. That will be tricky because the facehiugger is basically becoming part of the victim's body for the duration of it's existence. But if they can do that the victim will either not be infected, or reject the chest-burster before it can mature.... probably... I will admit that I'm poking around at the edge of my knowledge both of the Alien verse and human biology here.

[The Romulan Republic]

I'm not sure about lethality in the books. The lighthearted way they talk about very serious injury to other people (like teleportation accidents where people pop up spit in half and Aurors are sent to "sort them") suggests that mortality due to physical means is rather rare, despite the massive risk of injury posed by magic itself. People we see die in the books often do so due to instakill curses (if I remember correctly).

Well Harry almost died from falling off a broom in the middle of a game once (with Dumbledore apparently using some spell to slow his fall). However, I can't think of anyone who has actually died who was explicitly killed by mundane physical damage.

Now, the aliens would be a threat, all I'm pointing out is that even panicky schoolchildren who know a basic binding spell (and they do, since they use those for pranks) are a tougher mark than regular schoolchildren, and panicky also leads to wrongly cast spells, wich leads to unpredictable outcomes in some encounters.
In the end, the aliens would learn to be extremely stealthy in their approach, and to make sure the wands are taken away.
Still, I wonder, wouldn't the aliens just try to move out of the castle and into the forest? It makes a lot more sense, considering that it is a more prey-rich environment.

They could go after the centaurs, who don't seem to be very magical and would therefor be pretty much limited to bows and hooves to fight with.

And, food for thought, how would a Dementor fare when trying to soulsuck an alien? (Keep in mind that, in the book, they need to physically kiss the victim in the mouth)

Well, Dementors' victims tend to be paralyzed by the psychological effects of the Dementors' power (making them relive their worst memories, draining happiness) long before the "kiss" is applied. I wonder if those powers would work on a Xenomorph?

[Molyneux]

Well, Dementors' victims tend to be paralyzed by the psychological effects of the Dementors' power (making them relive their worst memories, draining happiness) long before the "kiss" is applied. I wonder if those powers would work on a Xenomorph?

We've seen evidence of the Aliens having a mind - they have a complex social structure, and are capable of understanding a threat to their eggs (at least in the case of the queens). They presumably have some analogues of "happy" and "unhappy".