bright Mars / multiculti / religion / Veela species / Muggle clothes

[catlady_de_los_angeles]

No: HPFGUIDX 40726

Ezzie wrote:

<< It is important to note that Mars was exactly in the middle of 
Aries at this time. Astrologically speaking, when in Aries, Mars is 
"at its strongest" in terms of expression of energy. >>

I don't think JKR had any idea where Mars was in the astronomical or 
astrological sky on that night; after all, she puts Full Moons 
wherever they suit the plot, and is not consistent about the days of 
the week, and in particular seems to dislike astrology. She has said 
she doesn't believe in astrology (altho' I can't find the reference) 
and mocks it via Trelawney. So she was just damn lucky that Mars was 
in the right place that night, as you generously took the trouble to 
look up for us. As for what the centaurs meant, I'm like all those 
other people who know that Mars was the Roman god of war and just 
assumed that they meant that war, violence, and troubles were on the 
rise.

Eloise wrote:

<< On another level, I feel that it is implying an assumption that 
all races living in Britain should conform to the European magical 
tradition. (I know that JKR's particular brand of magic is an 
invention of her own, but she *portrays* it as a European tradition, 
doesn't she?) We don't assume that all races should follow European 
traditions of religion, dress, cultural customs, etc. So why magic?>>

I understand that it's very politically incorrect to speak of 
'assimilation' or to suggest that there might be a 'melting pot', 
but, look, I don't speak a word of Yiddish and Tim doesn't speak a 
word of Gaelic. We both wear jeans, and eat with knife and fork 
(sometimes Tim uses chopsticks, so I accuse him of showing off), 
changing the fork to right hand to put the food in our mouths with
it, and we are pretty much obsessed with the Constitution and the 
Bill of Rights (and the Treaty of Guadelupe Hildago, but that's 
another thing) even tho' none of our ancestors were in USA yet when 
those were signed...  I don't seem to be able to say clearly what I 
mean in this thread!

Pippin wrote:

<< If the wizards were so liberal in the year 1000 as to think 
religious affiliation a purely private matter >>

They may have *had* to, because they couldn't decide between Druidism 
and Christianity as the official religion by one side killing off the 
other, because wizarding folk are too hard to kill. Druidism and 
Christianity and religio Romano and the Viking gods?

The random monkey wrote:

<< So, if a veela and a human can have a baby, and the baby can have 
a baby, than they must be the same species. So either Fleur Delacour 
is sterile, or veela and humans are the same species. >>

It seems perfectly possible to me that Veela could be witches who 
inherit a couple of extra (should I have corrected my original typo 
"sextra"?) mutations that only work in females. One for automatically 
casting an Imperius Curse "Desire me!" on all male humans in the 
vicinity, and another for automatically being a big-vicious-bird 
Animagus. Or, my preferred explanation: it's magic.

Heather wrote:

<< I think every adult wizard in the books is described as wearing 
wizard's robes (except for the QWC), and the students at Hogwarts 
also wear robes. However, the Weasley kids are described as wearing 
muggle clothes during the holidays in GoF, which I took to mean 
things like jeans and t-shirts (or whatever else would be normal 
clothes for a kid). Do all magic kids wear "muggle" clothes when not 
in school? If so, why do adults bother to wear robes? More 
importantly, why don't adults know how to dress properly as muggles? 
>>

I personally think it's a matter of fashion. You know how teens and 
pre-teens have fashion trends that elderly parental-aged people like 
me don't understand at all? I still don't know where backwards ball 
caps came from, but I read long ago that the baggy jeans with no 
belt, that hang low and show the boxer shorts, came from California 
Youth Authority -- that's the juvenile prison system, where the 
immates are not allowed to have belts lest they be used as weapons, 
and the jail uniform jeans issued to them aren't carefully fitted. 

I suggest that the wizarding folk ignored Muggle clothing for 
centuries, until the current generation adopted sort-of-current 
Muggle clothing. One way this could have occurred is if they 
celebrated the Fall of Voldemort (Nov 1 1981) by having a fad for 
Muggles; that might be when Ron's MARTIN MIGGS THE MAD MUGGLE comic 
book was invented, and there might also have been a romantic play 
like ROMEO AND JULIET, about a beautiful brave young pureblood witch 
who defied her bigotted parents to marry her beloved brave and 
talented Muggle-born wizard, and his Muggle family were depicted as 
kind and brave altho' comically ignorant. And some teens decided to 
wear the unusual (and parent-annoying) styles that they saw in these 
depictions of Muggles, and other kids decided to dress like those 
trend-leading kids, and it turned out to be a fashion that lasted. 
Perhaps Bill Weasley was one of the kids who originated that trend.

Another way this could have happened is if they didn't have a fad of 
Muggles, but they did start making a big deal abaout the surviving 
Muggle-born mages, inviting them to parties and stuff to demonstrate 
how anti-Death Eater they (the hosts) were. Some of the Muggle-borns 
might have played along by wearing their Muggle clothes, and dressing 
their children in Muggle clothes, and been imitated. I would have to 
invent some excuse why the mages who were suddenly so eager to invite 
the Mudbloods to their parties for the first time would dress their 
children in Muggle clothing but not themselves.

I think we have canon evidence of one previous change of fashion of 
this type: from Roman togas, Greek chitons, and blue paint (woad: 
that's a joke) to medieval style robes. I further believe, without 
canon evidence, in a smaller but more recent change of fashion, 
between the Dumbledore and old Archie generation and the McGonagall 
generation, when wizarding folk adopted wearing some Victorianish 
looking underwear. That would have them adopting that style after the 
Muggles had abandoned it... I attribute to a play that had a scene 
with the heroine dressed in her camisole and bloomers... 

As for the question of whether all the kids wear Muggle clothing when 
not in school -- Draco and his buddies don't, unless by this time it 
has been sort of forgotten that these styles are Muggle styles rather 
than merely Youth styles. They wouldn't buy them from Muggle stores, 
but either wizard-made imitations or Muggle-made clothes imported 
by Muggle-born or Half-blood mages who can cope in both societies.