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?
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?
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.
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.
Some readers might assume a lie, and dissert you.