Imperius & Religion

[sing2wine]

No: HPFGUIDX 34416

Barb writes:	

Harry needed to learn to overcome Imperius to confront Voldemort, 
and this is how he learned. There's no logical reason for Crouch to 
do this. I doubt it would even be in character for the real Moody, 
so he doesn't have that excuse either. JKR quite simply needed for 
Harry to learn to do this and she failed to come up with a plausible 
rationale for it.

	I have two theories on this. Crouch as Moody was teaching a 
lesson on all the curses and had to include this....or....it was a 
plot detail to make the shock of finding out Crouch was Moody even 
more intense - JKR loves these kinds of surprises and hasn't yet 
explained a number of them (Sirius' mad laughter...would you have 
thought he was a "good guy" with the scene at which that is 
mentioned?...Crouch Jr.'s pleading at the trial...would you have 
thought he was a seasoned death eater?)

	
Judy wrote:
I'd guess that 
there are no practicing Jews or Muslims at Hogwarts. I just don't see 
what they'd eat. (Can't see what a devout Buddhist or Hindu would 
eat, either. Maybe the Patils only avoid beef?) 
Well, maybe Hogwarts would make accomodations if any students need 
them. But since we haven't seen any special foods, I doubt that any 
students have asked for them, which makes me suspect that there 
aren't 
any practicing students of religions with dietary restrictions. Food 
is one of the best-described elements of the Potterverse, and we 
haven't seen any special foods. Like you said, this is something the 
other kids would probably notice.

As has been pointed out, we only see things through Harry's eyes. I 
think the Jews are in Ravenclaw (if there are any..) - they have a 
separate table. And the Patils could be Christian Indians rather than 
Hindu ones - my daughter's friend from daycare is - she wears a 
crucifix.
 		
	

	Pippin writes:
I kind of 
like the idea that the Wizards have stuck to the Old Religion, but I 
don't see much support for that in canon.

Maybe I'm just too Jewish but perhaps wizards and witches are kind of 
like Conversos - Jews forced to convert to Christianity in 
Inquisition Spain (they share being burned alive for not doing so...).
They clandestinely kept their "old" practices while outwardly 
appearing to be observant Christians...It fits the wizarding world in 
more ways than one...


Bonnie / sing2wine