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and it's making me have thoughts about that series again.
Lots of varied ones, most of which aren't worth delving into, but there is one question I'd like to see answered.
As we all know, Wizarding England is obsessed with two things: blood status* and Hogwarts House affiliation. I know, in school stories everything is a Big Deal and SO Important, but to carry over that attitude into adulthood, and late adulthood - well, that's something else.
Ever think that the muggleborns at Hogwarts get together and talk about the fact that wizards are super juvenile on this point? Like, they go to the mutual self-help society (because nobody else is helping them figure out the unwritten social rules of Wizards, such as they might be), pass around the popcorn, and start in on "Seriously, the gamekeeper was glaring at the first year Slytherins and declaring that they're all going to be evil. How would he even know that if it's true?" and "I heard two teachers arguing, and they kept calling each other house names. Geez, get over it, you're ancient!" or "My dormmate got a nasty letter from his parents because of where the Hat put him. That's crazy, right?"
* No, the good guys are manifestly not off the hook. The Weasleys have a cousin they don't even talk about because he's an accountant. Maybe if they talked to him, they'd find a way to manage their finances better. Maybe if all the wizards talked to accountants they wouldn't have to rely on Gringotts bank, and boy did I whoosh past that nasty little bit of stereotyping the first time around. Just didn't have the knowledge to grasp the context. Back to the Weasleys, that's there. That's right in the first book - "everybody knows we need muggleborn wizards or we'd die out, only bad sorts hate muggles, well, we do have a cousin we don't talk about because he's an accountant". It's there, and nobody ever calls Ron out on it! Not even the narration! It just sits there like a candy covered turd in a bag of M&Ms. Also, JKR, what's your deal with accountants? Is this an early sign of her well-documented phobia of math? (Maths.)
Lots of varied ones, most of which aren't worth delving into, but there is one question I'd like to see answered.
As we all know, Wizarding England is obsessed with two things: blood status* and Hogwarts House affiliation. I know, in school stories everything is a Big Deal and SO Important, but to carry over that attitude into adulthood, and late adulthood - well, that's something else.
Ever think that the muggleborns at Hogwarts get together and talk about the fact that wizards are super juvenile on this point? Like, they go to the mutual self-help society (because nobody else is helping them figure out the unwritten social rules of Wizards, such as they might be), pass around the popcorn, and start in on "Seriously, the gamekeeper was glaring at the first year Slytherins and declaring that they're all going to be evil. How would he even know that if it's true?" and "I heard two teachers arguing, and they kept calling each other house names. Geez, get over it, you're ancient!" or "My dormmate got a nasty letter from his parents because of where the Hat put him. That's crazy, right?"
* No, the good guys are manifestly not off the hook. The Weasleys have a cousin they don't even talk about because he's an accountant. Maybe if they talked to him, they'd find a way to manage their finances better. Maybe if all the wizards talked to accountants they wouldn't have to rely on Gringotts bank, and boy did I whoosh past that nasty little bit of stereotyping the first time around. Just didn't have the knowledge to grasp the context. Back to the Weasleys, that's there. That's right in the first book - "everybody knows we need muggleborn wizards or we'd die out, only bad sorts hate muggles, well, we do have a cousin we don't talk about because he's an accountant". It's there, and nobody ever calls Ron out on it! Not even the narration! It just sits there like a candy covered turd in a bag of M&Ms. Also, JKR, what's your deal with accountants? Is this an early sign of her well-documented phobia of math? (Maths.)
