obstruction of justice

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 44850

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., Sheryl Garfio <sgarfio at y...> wrote:
> brainattic writes:

> The Weasleys' summer magical exploits are not a violation of the
> Underage Wizardry law because they take place in the Burrow, which
> is not in the Muggle world (except for Ron's flying car in CoS, 
> which was in violation of the Muggle artifacts law as well as the
> Underage Wizardry law, and was quickly detected by the MoM).  
> Magic performed by underage wizards in the WW is perfectly legal.
> 

bboy_mn cautiously replies:
Hummm... I'm not saying your wrong. But I thought they (the school)
warned all students not to perform magic over the summer holiday.
Which would seem to make it not necessarily illegal but against the
rules for ever student. 

We are really dealing with two laws/rules. Underage kids performing
magic, and magic being performed in ways that muggles could see it.
Underage magic in the WIZARD world, I see it as about as serious a
crime as stealing an apple from the neighbor's apple tree. So minor
and insignificant that the Ministry can't be bothered with it. Hardly
qualifing as anything but mischief. So while it may be against the
rules technically, I think it's generally accepted as OK as long as
it's not actually causing a problem. 

Magic with the potential for discovery by muggles on the other hand is
a very serious crime. Probably the most important purpose of the
Ministry is to make sure muggles don't find out about magic and the
wizard world. So they would treat this as top priotity. 

I think they are monitoring Harry very closely because he is Harry,
because he is an important person to the wizard world. Important in
the past, and I think a lot of people know his greatest importance
will be in the  future. So I think they are making a serious effort to
monitor and protect him. The owl arrived so quickly after Dobby
smashed the pudding, that it must have been sitting on the garden
fence waiting. Really, it got there unusually fast. (Sorry, got
distacted; I guess this is more of a side note.)

So, in summary, while I don't agree with you based on a technicality.
I do agree with you in practice. Underage magic in the wizard world is
insignificant; legally not worth bothering with.

Sherry continues and references Jessica:   
> JKR has an outstanding opportunity here to model appropriate 
> loving relationships for young people at a critical time in 
> their development.  Love should be about things like commitment,
> sacrifice, support, nurturing, and relying on each other, not 
> about what happens in the back seat of your dad's car.  I think 
> we can assume from the evidence in Jessica's post that she will 
> take full advantage of this opportunity in any romances that develop.
> 
> Sherry

Very nicely put. I think JKR will do an excellent job at it too. Not
only will she show the important aspects of relationship that you out
lined above, but I think she will show that relationship involve work,
 struggle, and commitment. She will not present them as fairy tale
everything is perfect story book romances. Too many kids think real
life should be like the Disney TV where everything is perfect. She
will not only re-enforce the quality of relationship, but she will
re-enforce the realities of relationships. 

Welcome aboard.

bboy_mn