Uncle Alphard / Aberforth / Apparation / wizarding New World /

[Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)]

Tory Santillie wrote in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPFGU-OTChatter/message/23998 :

<< I have a question from Chapter 6 when Sirius and Harry are looking
at the Black Family Tree. Sirius is pointing out where his name was
blasted out and telling Harry about when he ran away from home.

". . .and then when I was 17 I got a place of my own. My uncle Alfad
(Alfaad?) had left me a decent bit of gold. He's been wiped off here
too. That's probably why . . .anyway, after that I looked after myself."

Has there been any discussion about Uncle Alfad on the lists? (snip) I
wonder what Sirius was thinking? >>

As per your next post, his name is Alphard, which is the name of a
star, thus carrying out the Astronomical Name pattern of some of the
Blacks. According to
http://www.ras.ucalgary.ca/~gibson/starnames/starnames.html?o=0 Alpha
Hydrae is named "Alphard or Cor Hydrae [meaning] "the solitary" or
"heart of the hydra"". 

When I made a Black family tree, Alphard ended up what I think is
called a second cousin once removed (Sirius's grandfather's sister's
son) rather than a literal uncle (Sirius's grandfather's son). I
figured ALphard was unmarried and childless (foreshadowed by his name
"the solitary") so he had to choose an heir.

About that quote, I think it MEANS: "He left me a decent bit of gold.
That's probably why he's been wiped off here, too." but Sirius didn't
say it like that because he mentioned Uncle Alphard, which reminded
him to look at Alphard's place on the tapestry, where he was surprised
to see a burn mark so he mentioned it "He's been wiped off here, too"
then he mentally connects the two thoughts and fills in "That's
probably why".

Human Tupperware wrote in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPFGU-OTChatter/message/24000 :

<< Aberforth is the bartender at the Hog's Head and has innappropriate
relations with goats......this new character sounds waaaaay to
dignified to be him.....If Aberforth is going to be in the new book, I
think he will be doing more vaguely innappropriate things...... >>

Or it might turns out that the dinginess and goat smell are a DISGUISE
(and "I'm not sure he can read" was just a JOKE) and Aberforth REALLY
is that dignified man. 

Julie wrote in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPFGU-OTChatter/message/24003 :

<<  IMO, the distance between Massachusettes and the British Isles is
not that great in the Wizarding World because of the ability to
apparate. Who's to say that when the witch fever spread in Salem that
the "real" wizards in the Potterverse didn't apparate to Britain/Europe >>

Steve lots_of_Y!names already pointed out the limits of Apparation.
I'm here with the supporting quote. It's from QUIDDITCH THROUGH THE
AGES chapter 9: "[The Oakshaft 79] will always be remembered as the
broom used in the first ever Atlantic broom crossing, by Jocunda Sykes
in 1935. (before that time, wizards preferred to use ships rather than
trust broomsticks over such distances. Apparation becomes increasingly
unreliable over very long distances, and only highly skilled wizards
are wise to attempt it across continents)." Across the Atlantic is an
even longer (and wetter) distance than across North America, so I
imagine that wizard immigrants to the New World were almost as far
from home as Muggle immigrants to the New World.

My idea of Potterverse magic is that the wizard folk could hide
themselves quite successfully from us Muggles, so they could just hide
and not have to flee from witch hunts. And also that, by using magic,
they could avoid poverty better than Muggles do; even Weasley poverty
is not utter destitution. Two important reasons why people emigrated
were fleeing persecution and fleeing poverty, so my imagination is
that a lower proportion of wizards would emigrate than Muggles.     

But JKR seems to have a different idea. In QTTA chapter 8, she
mentions "[t]he great caution exercised by wizard settlers, many of
whom had hoped less prejudice in the New World".

<< which could be one explanation why in the Potterverse we do not
hear of any wizarding schools in the colonies. >>

My recollection is that in GoF, Ron tells Harry that Bill once had a
pen-friend in "a school in Brazil". My joke: La Terra Nova (all
Portuguese speakers on list will shout at me for using Spanish) is
still the New World. 

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPFGU-OTChatter/message/24048 :

<< I'm not familiar with the Women's Institute. >>

http://www.womens-institute.co.uk/

Acccording to my memory, the scene in GoF is several middle-aged
witches in lawn chairs under a banner reading 'Salem Witches'
Institute'. If it WERE a school, why no students on the outing to
Quidditch World Cup, like the Beauxbatons students chaperoned by
Madame Maxime? Of course, it could be a women's prison, like
http://www.doc.state.nc.us/dop/prisons/ncciw.htm