[HPforGrownups] Re: Smeltings

[yr awen]

No: HPFGUIDX 41790


Felina said: 
>>>>>>3)      Is it the intention of the Smeltings administration for the 
corporal "training for later life?to take place, or is this simply one of 
those "old school trads?<<<<<<<<

To which Rosie replied:
>>>>>>Well... corporal punishment in *any* kind of school is actually 
illegal in the UK. I don't remember if the students are actually 
beaten by the teachers or if they just hit each other.. in which case 
maybe it's a case of "turning a blind eye" and the sticks are 
actually "walking sticks" or something!<<<<<

PS/SS hasn't been on my bookshelf for the past week <g> The passage is:

'That evening, Dudley paraded around the living room for the family in his brand-new uniform. Smeltings boys wore maroon tailcoats, orange knickerbockers, and flat straw hats called boaters. They also carried knobbly sticks, used for hitting each other while the teachers weren't looking. This was supposed to be good training for later life.'

I think JKR was being somewhat tongue-in-cheek here. Smeltings isn't occupied so much with academics as it is, as Felina suggests, adhering to a ridiculous old school tradition (keyword: riddikulus) *and* focusing on using brute force, as opposed to subtle wit, to get what one wants. Dudley gets a lot of mileage out of his Smeltings stick before school even begins, by cracking his father over the head with it when he wants to see what's in Harry's letter, and whacks him with it repeatedly when he wants his old room back.

The impression I got is that Smeltings is trying very hard to conjure up a vision of Victorian respectibility, complete with knobbly walking/whacking sticks and fails utterly. It's the orange knickerbockers. Gotta be <g>

HF.


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