prejudice in the WW (was: If I had to choose...)

[nuriaobradors]

No: HPFGUIDX 38235

Hana quoted:
> >This suggests to me that: (a) Ron still has some lingering 
>prejudice against werewolves, Lupin notwithstanding (and don't 
>forget Ron doesn't get another opportunity to interact with Lupin 
>after the Shrieking Shack scene.... and so we don't *know* that Ron 
>does or will do fine with interacting with Lupin after it's 
>confirmed that he is a werewolf), 
Then said:
>I'd be scared if I suddenly had the information that my favourite 
>teacher was a werewolf sprung on me like that when I was already in 
>pain from a broken leg and cornered by a wanted murderer -- think 
>about what had led up to the declaration "Get away from me, 
>werewolf!".  Talk about stress.

It's perfectly logical that Ron shoputs at Lupin in the Shrieking 
Shack - Regarding the first quote, however: When they leave towards 
Hogwarts, one of Wormtail's hands is handcuffed to Ron... and the 
other to Lupin! Would you accept to be tied-to-someone-who's-tied-to-
a-werewolf if you aren't confident that the werewolf won't harm you? 
I don't think so... So I believe Ron was in shock when first 
confronted to Lupin's nature, but holds no grudge or prejudice 
against him once he finds remus is really a good guy the remaining 27 
days of the moon cicle!

Hana: 
> Growing up, H&H would have thought all of the magical creatures 
>were make believe (and probably evil if you think about stories 
>about  werewolves and giants) while the others grew up in an 
>environment where they ~are~ real and have proven to be dangerous in 
>the past.  Sure there are exceptions -- there'd be no Hagrid if 
>there weren't, but when you spend your entire life believing one 
>thing, it's hard to stop without proof to the contrary.

You've got a point here. You really do. We have Cho who's probably 
got asian treats and Angelina who's black, and there's no evidence in 
canon that they're treated differently. The concept of *what* is 
different in the WW may be very far from our own muggle view.

Hana quoted:
> >Heidi said: I also think, in degrees, that Ron's been mean and 
>destructive and certainly prejudiced ("Get away from me, werewolf!"; 
>house elves like work; giants are "not very nice".)<

I disagree. Let's be honest. I consider myself a totally anty-bigotry 
person, but we all are prejudiced in some way. The difference is that 
a bigot will not give the "different" one a chance to prove their 
prejudice wrong, while an open-minded person who meets someone of a 
certain group he/she's not very fond of, will be nice to that someone 
and will give them the chance to get to know them. 
Also, the Weasleys are adorable but they're not a very classy family 
(remember Molly reads... Lockhart! and Skeeter!) so it's not unlikely 
that Ron has been hearing those generalizations about magical 
creatures all his life. 

Cheers

Nuri 

(Anyone knows of any upcoming chat with JKR? I don't go online 
everyday so if the date's near please email me privately? Thank you!)