If a vampire asks you if they may enter your home, and you answer "you may not" ...
If a vampire asks you if they may enter your home, and you answer "you may not" ...
Can they rush in after the first two words, before you say "not"? Can they enter if they stuff their ears before they hear the final word?
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No. It is magic so they would not be able to enter partway through an answer as doing so would make it clear that the vampire knew it was really a no.
What’s the longest duration between may and not that would be valid in keeping them out?
At least 20 seconds if you yell "psych" afterwards.
I imagine it's the intent, so it doesn't matter how long.
How long until you start questioning if it will work and invite doubt? Or will you assume defeat if the vampire fills the gap with, “why, thank you my good sir”?
My understanding of the idea with many interpretations of magic is they are all just ways of focusing your will on the world.
Ergo, the words aren’t themselves the source of power, your expectation that the words will result in a certain outcome is.
Therefore, if your intention is to deny entry is strong, there could be a fairly good gap.
But on the other hand, playing around to try and see could create doubt and uncertainty, weakening the effect.
If the vampire knows it is intended to be a no then it doesn't matter. The person could never finish it as long as the vampire knows the real answer is no despite the words being stated not matching up.
I admire your confidence
It is a necessity when the vampires keep trying to get in!
They don't know until the third word, they only hypothesize it's a no.
If they are magically forbidden to enter without permission, but also don't know every language or phrasing of 'come on in', then there is a magical way to know intent without needing to hear all the words.
Otherwise they wouldn't be able to work with nods and hand motions from people who cannot speak, shrugs and grunts from drunk college students, etc.
Hmm, this was debated already and in this comment they provided a peer reviewed journal article about intent vs language and understanding. It sums things up better than I could. They clearly cared a lot more than me about this.
The thing with sources is that sometimes it is hard to know how reliable they are, and sometimes they do let you down.