Speculation on Potters' Job

[GulPlum]

No: HPFGUIDX 44483

At 20:33 25/09/02 -0500, Richelle Votaw wrote:

<snip stuff re. Voldemort's attack scene in the CTBNBN)

Andrea:

> > Excuse me, but how does that scene tell us that they were living as
> > Muggles?  It shows Voldie arriving at a dark house, Lily holding baby
> > Harry, Lily getting blasted, and baby Harry gurgling at Voldie.  While
> > nothing in there says that they *weren't* living as Muggles, there's
> > certainly nothing that indicates they *were*.  We simply didn't see enough
> > of their home or lifestyle to judge.
>
>Well, I think we can safely say they were living *among* Muggles, thought
>not necessarily *as* Muggles.  If we can count that scene as canon, since it
>was written by JKR, the nursery had an owl mobile over the crib.  I don't
>know any Muggles with owl mobiles.  I suppose you could explain it away as a
>favorite animal or something, but it is a bit on the unusual side.  Hagrid
>did say of Harry "I got him out all right before the Muggles started
>swarmin' around."  Which implies that there were at least nearby Muggles
>that happened to notice that a house fell down.

As far as I'm concerned, the clincher that the Potters were living a Muggle 
lifestyle are the electric lights on the ceiling and bedside table... As 
for the owl mobile; yes, it's certainly unusual. However, the Potters are 
nevertheless a magical family and I'd expect them to have *some* reminder 
of their "other" life in their home, and something as unremarkable as an 
unusual-for-Muggles (though by no means utterly out of place) mobile would 
fit the bill.

--
Richard, who as usual hasn't had a chance to read HPFGU for about a week 
and is now severely behind again! (224 messages left to read and counting...)