Rule Britannia!

[Ali]

No: HPFGUIDX 45420

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "lucky_kari" <lucky_kari at y...> wrote: I 
always feel a little hesitant to make these types of posts for fear  
that all the Brits will jump up and say, "That's not how it is at 
all!"

 But it's got to be asked...

We can only disagree after all - and we often agree with each other 
as well!


Eileen asks about a British reading of the wizarding world based c 
1918, when Britain was still a great power:-

<snip>

 Why are the aurors searching Europe for Voldemort?

Think of it this way. Can Tony Blair send special forces with an
investigative capacity (for that is what the aurors essentially are),
authorized to use lethal force and torture across Europe? 

One might reply that the local countries are co-operating. But if that
is so, they are really co-operating. Beyond the point of reasonability
in our world. The aurors are not an international force. Despite the
little jokes about the EU in GoF, Britain is as independent as ever,
and the aurors are controlled directly from the Ministry. They operate
in secret too, and they go everywhere. 


I reply:

I'd have to disagree with you here, Britain is still an independent 
nation. In practice though we are more than ever reliant on our 
European neighbours – and indeed our trading partners in the rest of 
the world. We are very affected by "Globalisation". There are huge 
arguments about our participation in Europe, not least because 
involvement does lead to the loss of sovereignty on many different 
levels. One of which is that many of our laws are now made in Europe 
(they do still have to be re-enacted in our parliament) and judgement 
in Europe is binding on our courts.

In terms of the power of the aurors, I would agree that they seem to 
acting for the British Ministry of Magic alone, although to my mind 
there is also some confusion about the ministry. Whether it is indeed 
just for British wizards, or if its parameters do in fact go somewhat 
further. However, I do not find it a stretch of the imagination to 
have crack aurors out in the field – even if strictly speaking that 
is beyond the boundary of international co-operation. It is entirely 
possible that they were working with local law enforcement agencies. 
Perhaps there are extradition treaties between Britain and Albania's 
wizarding communities. We are not given any instances of them using 
their lethal weaponry when outside the UK, and finally, the wizarding 
community does not act like it's muggle counterpart in internal 
affairs, so must it when it comes to international affairs?

Eileen again:
 

And there's that puzzling question about whether Voldemort was a
threat to Britian, Europe, or the whole world. The evidence is
contradictory. Unless one sees Britian as the wizarding super-power. 

Given that JKR has stated that whilst Voldemort was after European 
domination first, but the world after, I can see no reason why other 
nations what want to harbour such a dangerous fugitive. He did after 
all remain a fugitive rather than a refugee. Perhaps Britain is a 
wizarding super-power, but in this instance I am happy to believe 
JKR; Voldemort was a world threat, but his first target was Britain. 
If Voldemort is to be seen as a terrorist does it matter whether the 
country he targets first is a super power or not? I suspect that he 
will  not respect law whether national or international.

I would agree that the nostalgia reflected in the bizarre currency 
etc seems to hark back to our "golden age", but the picture of 
terrorism and it's opponents is I believe a refletion of our modern 
world.

Ali