[HPforGrownups] Relationship between the Muggle & the Wizarding World

Tue Aug 14 23:44:06 UTC 2001

No: HPFGUIDX 24165

mindy,

have you *read* these books at all? every single queston that you have just
railed off has been explained, answered and then explained some more.
wizards have their own currency - their own social systems. they don't need
to rely on muggles - magic takes care of most of the hypotheticals you
posed: plumbing, electricity and emergency services. 

the colour of a dress can be altered through magic.

as for muggles not knowing about / noticing them; i thought that HAD to
have been the most obvious thing about the books. it's an escape from the
mundane. most muggles are too caught up in their cars, their bills, and
what's on tv to notice them. it's beyond their comprehension, that
something so fantastical and different could exsist without needing them or
having them knowing it even was.

and sure, muggles know about wizards, but, as i said above, it's not
commonly thought of as real. fairy tales? hello? 

as for wizarding children not having televisions and video games and other
things to provide them with mindnumbing, thoughtless entertainment - it's a
matter of social pre-conditioning. muggle children GROW UP with these
contraptions, while wizard kids to do not. how can you miss what you never
had? personally i'd rather have my kids read or draw or cast spells than
sit in front of a box, getting fat and shooting people with a pretend gun
all day (videogames).

wizards don't need muggle society, and yet, as i'm reading this rant you've
written, you can't seem to concieve of a world that *doesn't* need muggle
society.

open your mind, man

----------------------------------------------
Original Message
From: "Mindy, a.k.a. CLH"<mindyatime at juno.com>
Subject: [HPforGrownups] Relationship between the Muggle & the Wizarding
World
Date: Tue, 14 Aug 2001 19:06:23 -0400

>I am still quite perplexed by the entire premise of JKR's books. Granted,
>I know that they are fantasy and all, but still, realistically I still
>have a lot of unsettling doubts.
>
>There is a series of books, THE MENNYMS, by Sylvia Waugh, in which a
>family of rag dolls must try their darndest to keep their existence a
>secret from humans. It's actually a fantastic series, and the family
>manages quite well. But, here it's only ONE family... I don't understand
>how an entire POPULATION, an entire WORLD, can manage to always, always,
>keep their existence a secret. Don't they EVER have to go out in the
>'real' world for some thing or other? Do they  live in exclusive villages
>like Hogsmeade, or if they're scattered around London, etc., don't the
>Muggles notice them? Do you mean to tell me, that the big government of
>England, for instance, has never noticed this huge unusual population?
>Isnt' there a census or something? Doesn't every citizen have to pay
>taxes or whatever? You can't just be a 'non-entity'. You exist, and you
>live in this world, and people are bound to notice you. They are not
>entirely invisible. The government of England would know if a 'village'
>of such exists, and if they live mixed, then they are certainly due to
>pay taxes or whatever. And then again their are fire inspections and
>other government - related things you can't wiggle out of. It smacks
>extremely unrealistic and improbable that the wizarding existence is
>totally unnoticed. All it takes is one person to discover it, which leads
>to one magazine article describing it, which leads to one television
>special, and the secrt is out!
>
>Now, the Wizards do not have electricity. but they do have plumbing.
>(Btw, how do they wash their laundry without wash machines?) And let's
>say their toilet breaks down. Do they have their 'own' plumbers, so that
>they don't have to call the Muggle plumbers, etc.? And when something
>like this DOES happen, since the Wizards are totally inept in anything
>Muggle-related, won't their existence suddenly be crystal clear? Say for
>instance, that a nosy neighbor, or a meter reader, or a survey taker,
>knocks on their door. Doesn't a Muggle knocking on a Wizard's door,
>notice that this house is somehow different? No electricity, no lights?
>How does a Wizard deal with a Muggle, when it comes to it, if he is so
>inept in Muggle things? Why, if there are Muggle studies in school, dont'
>we ever read about them? Why is Arthur so excited about 'eklectricity' --
>don't they learn about it in Muggle studies? Do these Wizards think
>they're so smart, knowing curses and potions and charms, when they know
>absolutely zero about the world around them -- biology, science,
>technology, etc.?
>
>Also, I dont' think it's legal to live with a telephone. How, can the
>Wizards contact an ambulance, policeman, or fireman in case of an
>emergency? Do they even HAVE an emergency squad? Or are wizards so
>magical that they can worm their way out of any emergency -- fire,
>burglary, and illness? What if Ginny Weasley went to buy a new dress
>robe, and couldn't decide which color. She can't owl her mother and wait
>two days in the store for an answer! Why dont they have cell phones or
>public phones or something? Even the Amish have public phones!
>
>Don't the Wizards ever have to come in contact with Muggles for survival?
>And when they do, they are totally unprepared. Look what happened at the
>world cup -- Arthur couldn't even count money. When they have to travel,
>what to they do? How does Charlie come in from Egypt all the time? Flying
>broomsticks all the way to Egypt? They DO take the train, though -- the
>Hogwarts Express. If they walk around dressed up in robes on the street
>all the time, aren't they immediately visible? Are they all in Muggle
>clothing when they go to the train station? Don't the people working at
>the railway station notice something weird?
>
>How do Wizards manage to marry Muggles if the Muggle world is so foreign
>and even contemptuous to Wizards? What if the Wizard cant convince the
>Muggle what a lovely world Wizarding is, and the Muggle insists on using
>microwave ovens and watching television even though she is married to a
>wizard? Does a muggle married to a wizard sever all her ties with her old
>world, so as not to betray the secrets of her spouse? Look at Lily Potter
>for instance -- her sister knew full well she was a witch. Did Lily have
>to sever all ties with her friends and mother etcetra, because she now
>belonged to this 'other' world? What about people like Hermione's
>parents? How much do they know of what wizarding is? What does it feel
>like for Hermione to walk back into a Muggle home at the end of term,
>with the computers and Nintendos when she is a Wizard in training and
>possesses 'different' powers? What if a wizard marries a muggle and the
>muggle life is so enticing, he decides to leave the wizarding world and
>become a muggle? Doesnt he take all the secrets with him - -and can
>expose them to the world in one instant?
>
>Additionally, I don't know how the Muggle kids survive without the
>electronic pastimes out kids can't be without. No TV. No movies. No
>computers. No electronic games. No Nintendo. It is highly unrealistic to
>expect all of the Wizarding kiddies to sit and read or play card games
>all day. What a highly boring life. Why would a child want to have such a
>life when there is such an exciting electronic life out there?
>
>Another question that perturbs me is the apparent pride of being wizard,
>and the knocking down of the Muggles. It smacks reminiscent of the Third
>Reich-- WE are the master race, and THEY, are just lowly Muggles. Mind
>you, there are several billion muggles living in this world, and only a
>few thousand Wizards who are not known, and hardly know each other.
>
>Another question I have, is how they manage to support themselves with
>only magical jobs. There are only so many people who can work for the
>Ministry, and only so many people who can have shops in Hogsmeade. What
>if someone wants to be a doctor? A lawyer? A scientist? There are no
>schools of that sort in the Wizarding World, are there? What happens when
>a witch gives birth? Goes only to the St. Mungo hospital? Never to the
>Muggle hospital?
>
>About schooling -- I don't understand why such simple subjects such as
>making objects fly and flying on brooms are only taught at age eleven.
>what did the kids do until then? Went to regular Muggle school? Ginny was
>a teeny kid when Charlie was already disapparating and her father was
>traveling by Floo Powder. Do you mean to say that she didnt catch on to
>any of the spells and charms her family was using? She had to stay in
>chains and wait eleven years to start training to live the life her
>family lives every day? Also, what can be taught in seven full years
>already? don't these teachers run out of materials? How many potions,
>magical creatures, curses, spells, charms and potions can they come up
>with? I think this can all be taught in two or three years. SEVEN years
>worth of learning material? And what are they learning? Just to be
>THEMSELVES? Just to learn to be a wizard -- as opposed to WHAT? As
>opposed to being a muggle? They know NOTHING about muggles! Isn't the
>wizarding life, the life they are living every day? They have to LEARN
>about it -- ad nauseum, ad infinitum?
>
>The very base of the idea of the Wizarding World perturbs me. I don't
>quite understand how the relationship between the  Wizarding and the
>Muggle world works itself out. I have so many questions. These are just
>half of them. I will write more later. I hope this sparks a lively
>discussion.
>
>
>MINDY
>
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