Wizards and religion, and wizard photographs

[Eric Oppen]

No: HPFGUIDX 23653

With a name like Seamus, in Ireland, Seamus would just about _have_ to be
Catholic or of Catholic background.  I've never been to Ireland (the
Irish-Americans I know are schizophrenic; half the time they talk about
Ireland as though it were heaven, the other half of the time they're
thanking God they got out of that hellhole) but I was reading that even
"nonbelievers" or people who've left their ancestral branch of Christianity
would still be classifed as "Catholic" or "Protestant."

Rules of thumb, as I understand them:  Being named after a Catholic saint or
given a Gaelic name (like Seamus) means a Catholic, while Protestants get
named after people in the Old Testament or given more English- or
Scottish-style names.  In other words, someone named "Ian MacAllister" is
going to be Protestant, while "Seamus O'Rourke" will be Catholic.

As for whether wizards and witches practice Muggle-style religion---why ever
not?  As I understand it, through most of the Middle Ages there were a lot
of "witchy" things you could do that wouldn't get you into trouble with the
law---you got hauled in if people thought you were using magic to hurt other
people, or for some other specific crimes.  Besides, just finding out that
you're a (Muggle-born) witch or wizard wouldn't mean that you'd instantly
abandon everything you'd believed before---I could easily see Hermione, for
example, as a person who combines being a good member of the Church of
England with ambitions to be the _best_ d*mn witch there ever was.

Something that occurred to me about wizard photographs---are there
wizard-oriented girlie magazines?  _Coven Cuties,_ anyone?  I'm in the
middle of writing a _very_ long fic, and I had a lot of fun with a scene
where Hermione's going through one of the boys' trunks and finding one of
these.  "Oh, my god, you guys really _read_ this stuff?  Let's see---'Twenty
Hexes To Help YOU Get Lucky,' 'Best Broomsticks For Picking Up Babes,' and,
oh look, 'Coven Cutie of the Month'---poor thing, she lost her robes
somewhere!"  I seriously doubt JKR would ever bring this issue up in the
books, but since the wizard world exists in parallel with the Muggle world,
I'd assume that something of the sort exists.

One last little point---some of y'all have been contacting me offlist with
ideas about what to do with Voldemort.  Frankly, some of you SCARE me!  I
thought _I_ was a pretty nasty piece of work, but I'd never have thought of,
for instance, taking away Voldemort's powers and making him live for the
rest of his life with the Dursleys!  It _would_ be "the punishment fitting
the crime," but wouldn't it be a lot more humane to just kill the guy?