Economy, Aurors and the Bad Times, the next School holidays

[m.bockermann at t-online.de]

No: HPFGUIDX 33984

Alexander Lomski wrote:

>>The only trouble that still remains is the foodstuff and
fabrics. They are still most likely made by muggles and sold
to Wizards for _muggle_ prices. But then they should be
really expensive!


I agree with you, that foodstuff, fabrics and other goods the wizards use
are imported form the MW. But where is the problem?

I can see a problem, if somebody used raw metals to fake wizard money. But I
suspect that there are spells on wizard coins that guarantee they are
genuine - which Ron and Harry apparently dont know. ;-) Using the same
reasoning, I doubt that you could easily melt wizard coins into the pure
metals.

So if there is a firm exchange rate between wizard and muggle money, I dont
see why some goods would be unduly expensive. Id say wizard shop owners
exchange money at Gringots and pay Muggle traders with muggle money. I dont
think every wizard is as helpless muggle money as the wizards. (Though I can
feel with them - I am still converting Euro to Marks in my mind...)


Elkins wrote:

>>Sirius -- no bleeding-heart himself -- says that many of
the Aurors descended to the level of the Death Eaters.
We've heard about the licence to kill; we've heard about
the licence to use the Unforgivables.  God only knows how
many innocent people were interrogated under Cruciatus
in those dark days before Voldemort's defeat.  Or, for
that matter, how many other "special powers" Crouch invested
in his jackbooted thu...er, excuse me, I mean Protectors of
the People, before he was done.  Search and seizure, anyone?
Surveillance without warrant?  Indefinite detention without
arrest?

>>(Am I treading too closely on current political events here?)


Ah, I agree with you completly and then some. When I read POA, when it came
to Sirius recounting of the past I thought: wow, JKR has guts.
Do you know the saying about the violent end of the French revolution: "the
revolution eats its children"? That is what came to my mind (though other
saying and other political and/or historical events went a similiar way).

Let us reflect the situation the wizard world was in when Voldemort was on
the height of his powers:
- it might seem funny that people dont call Voldemort by his name, but they
*are* scared by his name. Considering that names and magic are often
strongly connected in magical lore, I can even understand that.
- people were afraid of each other, they didnt know who was a DE or not
(Hagrid: "Nobody knew whom to trust". Sorry, not an exat quote, I dont have
the books at hand)
- people mistrusted each other, to the extend that Remus blames a former
friend for treason, Peter to commit treason, pitting father against son (the
Crouches)
- for whatever reason, it was necessary for the Potters to hide and to use a
secret keeper.
- people were sent to Askaban without a trial (like Sirius), let alone a
fair trial
- the Aurors were allowed to use the Unforgivables. There is a difference
between an Auror (or in the living world a cop) using mortal force to defend
him/herself and/or to protect others... or interogating people using the
Cruciatus curse (and from what Sirius says, I conclude that this happens).
- others, like Bagman, were exonerated (!) in trials, that did not deserve
this name. And even at the times the books are playing, the wizard world is
not exactly a sunny place: Fudge is an unqualified minister even in peaceful
times (a potentially disasterful in the coming time). Lucius Malfoy -
whatever he has done - was not only exonerated, but is also a respected
citicen who was a member of the school council up to CoS. From what Fudge
says, he donated a lot of money to the community - essentially bribing
himself back into respectability. People like Arthur Weasly who care for
muggles are mobbed and hindered in their work. DD allows "Mudbloods" in
Hogwarts, but Malfoy, and probably a lot of others dispise that fact.
- it might be that the mistreatment of house elfs is the exception - or that
happy house elves like those at Hogwarts are the exception. In any case,
there *are* still some that are mistreated (or do you believe that the
Malfoys will treat their new house elf better than Dobby?) and, according to
Dobby - it had even been worse when Voldemort was at power.
- the wizards use dementors as guardians for Askaban, a pact with the devil
if I ever saw one.
- it was a bad time, and various people like DD, Hagrid, Sirius or Arthur
Weasly still avoid speaking about it before the children.

Considering all that, I dread the things that Harry and the others will yet
(probably) learn.

In a purely heroic world, the people would present a united front against a
common enemy like Voldemort. But in reality, people give in to fear an
oppression, some are tempted by evil, some colloborate... What impresses me
is that JKR does include these unpleasant aspects of human beings.
There are a lot of Sience Fiction or Fantasy novels in which The Evil
Overlord of the day hungers for something: smashing the rebellion, getting
the ring, the sword... of power and he (less often she) supposedly uses all
his power to reach his aims. But only rarely does the author show the impact
this antagonist has on his surroundings realistically or in its full extend.

Which forces me to assume, that the next years will polarize the pupils at
Hogwarts even further: whose parents did what back then - and do their
children agree with them?


Sorry if this has been discussed before: but how do you suppose the Dudleys
will treat Harry during the next school break? Is it possible for them to be
redeemed, by caring at least a little bit for Harry?

I mean they put Duddley on a diet during the last school break and if his
school continued to do so, he might have lost some weight. Did their sons
trouble with his weight (apparently the nurse made her point very clear in
her letter) cause Vernon and Petunia to ponder the possibility that Duddley
might not be perfect after all? And could that cause them to be a little
kinder to Harry?

I mean, they *have* to notice that Harry comes back from school changed:
sad, more silent may, possibly less prone to react to Duddleys teasings and
attacks. Even Vernon or Petunia might ask him: "How was your year?" So what
will they do when he says: "The man who killed my parents has risen again
and has killed a school mate of mine. He tried to kill me and took some of
my blood."

Or will Harry keep silent?

Barbara Jebenstreit