[HPforGrownups] Lily and james house, and the word mudblood

[Richelle Votaw]

No: HPFGUIDX 41752

Annechan writes;

> Since James seems to come from an old and rich wizard family, maybe he
> was a Death Eater too... That's why we never read about his last fight
against
> Voldemort. Even if the film is absolutly not canon, the fact that they
> didn't shoot James' death is somehow at least suspect.
>
> I always feel uncomfortable with the fact that most of the people take
> for granted that Gryffindors were the nice guys and that all Death Eaters
> were (are) Slytherins.

I hardly think James was a death eater.  Why would Voldemort have killed
him?  And yes, he did kill him, or his echo couldn't have come out of
Voldemort's wand in the priori incantatem in GoF.  I think it's a stronger
possibility that James was a good Slytherin than a bad Gryffindor.  The film
is hardly a reliable source, and anyhow, most things are seen through
Harry's eyes and Harry's repressed memories (PoA dementor attacks, etc.)
Harry wasn't in the room with his dad when he was killed, as James was
trying to hold off Voldemort to give Lily and Harry more time.

> A point about the word "mudblood"... Is there a polite equivalent to
> that word? I mean, "nigger" is not a really polite word, and you can't
> use it to say "my friend is a nigger, we're going to Africa next week in
> order to visit his other friends-niggers."

I think "Muggle born" would be the "polite" equivalent.

> And what about Voldemort's priority? Is it better to be a "mudblood" or
> to be "muggle"? How many generations do you have to have behind you to be
> called a "pure" wizard?

Well, Voldemort seems to be a sort of  Hitler equivalent in the wizard
world.  He himself is not a pure blood, yet he wants to eliminate those who
are not pure blood.  I don't think he would necessarily concern himself with
true muggles who have no clue he or the WW exists until he's eliminated all
those with "tainted" blood.

> And J.K. Rowlings seems to describe wizards as totally ignorant about
> the muggles' rules... Even Ron, who grow up inside a muggle-lover
> family, is surprised and puzzled to see frozen pictures. So how can
> wizards or witches marry muggles and hide their identities during a long
> period (cf. Seamus' family or Riddle's)?

Ron is from an old wizard family.  Everyone in their family is a wizard
(except for that cousin they don't associate with), so it would make sense
to think that it's just their way of life.  Other wizards do interact more
with the muggle world.

Richelle