[HPforGrownups] Re: If Muggles are unaware of Wizards, why do they agree to send their kids to Wizarding schools?

[Barb]

No: HPFGUIDX 49672


--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, Peter Shea <bebche2 at y...> wrote:
If muggles are protected from knowledge of the wizarding world, why do muggle parents (like those of Hermione Granger and Lily Evans Potter) appear to accept so easily the existence of magic? And, more incredibly, why do they agree to the education of their children in wizarding schools where the children are prepared to live in clandestine wizard communities rather than participate in the wider 
muggle world?

 "Jeana <jayemelle at earthlink.net>" <jayemelle at earthlink.net> wrote:

I'd guess there are probably plenty of Muggle parents who, when their children's school letters arrive, figure the whole thing is a joke and toss them (the letters, not the children) out the window.  In that case, we'd never hear about the "lost students" whose magical careers were over before they began.  (This assumes Hogwarts' single-minded pursuit of Harry in PS/SS was a one-time extra effort to reach someone who was at once helpless to fend for himself and so obviously integral in the WW.)  

 

Me:

There's nothing to suggest that Harry's experience was one-time.  Even though they assumed that he was in fact knowledgeable about the wizarding world (Hagrid expressed surprise that Harry wasn't completely clued-in) when it was clear that none of the letters had reached him, a further effort was made.  Each letter may in fact be enchanted and extras may spontaneously be produced and try to get to the recipient until the potential student finally actually opens it and reads it for himself (without it being snatched away and/or disposed of--Harry did in fact open and start to read a letter, but this is what happened).  Why should we think that some special enchantment was invented for when Harry received his letters, when it was not expected that there would be trouble?  

 

I'm guessing that most parents who toss the first letter in the trash, assuming that it's a prank, soon learn otherwise when more and letters begin to come to the house.  Most people are probably not as anti-magic as Vernon and Petunia Dursley and do not take such extreme steps to avoid the letters.  (And Dudley probably wouldn't be anti-magic at all were it not for his parents--but he'd also probably be trying to get Harry to break the law and perform magic all of the time just to benefit HIM.)

 

 "Jeana <jayemelle at earthlink.net>" <jayemelle at earthlink.net> wrote:

Besides, who's to say all magical children, even the ones from wizarding families, do get magical education?  We know about the existence of Squibs, and apparently there's a possiblity of a child being "not magic enough" (cf. Neville's family's fears about him) to be accepted into Hogwarts.  And, as addressed (I think) somewhere in 
the FAQs, there seems to be some sort of class distinction in terms of who's offered the education in the first place (Stan Shunpike and Madam Rosmerta don't seem to be alumni, although they're clearly magical).  

 

Me:

Upon what are you basing this?  There's no reason to assume that Stan and Rosmerta didn't go to Hogwarts, based on the books.  It's like the old joke: What do you call someone who graduated last from medical school?  DOCTOR.  

 

Just because a witch or wizard may not be setting the world on fire (literally <eg>) doesn't mean they didn't ATTEND the same school as all other witches and wizards in the British Isles.  We don't know anything about their magical prowess, or academic performance, but not everyone can get twelve O.W.L.s, be named Head Boy and land a Ministry job out of school, like Percy.  (Frankly, Bill's job with Gringotts doesn't sound much more glamorous than Stan's--he's not running the bank, after all--and Bill WAS Head Boy and had as many O.W.L.s as his younger brother.)  

 

Rosmerta owns her own business and seems to be quite prosperous.  She's also seen hobnobbing with the Minister of Magic, no less, who strikes me as rather elitist and someone who would NOT consort with a Squib or someone who hadn't even received a partial Hogwarts education (he's also seen with Hagrid, who is still a wizard, regardless of his expulsion).  Hagrid was accepted to Hogwarts; does he strike you as having come from a wealthy background?  Stan is also gainfully employed, and I get the impression that magic is required to work on the Knight Bus (conjuring hot chocolate, among other things).  Non-credentialed wizards, such as Hagrid, are not permitted to use magic.

 

 "Jeana <jayemelle at earthlink.net>" <jayemelle at earthlink.net> wrote:

However, I believe that among children who are 
sufficiently magical and socioeconomically qualified, there have to be some who are accepted to wizarding school but, for some reason or another, don't or can't attend (I'm thinking of economic hardships, family difficulties, illness, etc.).  If an accepted child doesn't show up, I can't see the school having any authority to influence the 
family's decision, or to alter the circumstances that led to that decision--whether those circumstances are nonbelieving Muggle parents or abject WW poverty.


Me:

This doesn't stand up under canon scrutiny, I'm afraid.  As mentioned, there's nothing to imply that Hagrid came from anything but the barest sort of home with his dad, abandoned as they were by his mother. (And his poor dad had to feed a lad of Hagrid's size!  Think of it!)  Plus, we have orphaned Tom Riddle coming to Hogwarts during the earlier part of the twentieth century.  It's possible that the folks running the orphanage knew about his being a wizard, as Muggle parents would, but it's also possible that all they knew was that he'd received a scholarship to go off to a boarding school, thanks to a legacy left him by his mother.  Which may or may not be how he attended; there could be hardship scholarships available for orphans.  (There's nothing to imply that Hagrid couldn't have gone on attending Hogwarts after his dad died--he stopped because he was expelled.)

 

Someone else also said that they suspected that when Lily was accepted to Hogwarts, the Evanses knew there was magic in the family and were in fact Squibs.  There is nothing to suggest that they weren't genuine Muggles.  I believe that that, in fact, is supposed to be the irony in the triumph of Lily over Voldemort.  

 

As for acceptance by Muggle parents (the original question) I believe that it would be akin to winning the lottery for these parents, like receiving an unexpected windfall.  They discover that their child is capable of doing things that seem to defy nature?  Things that will make life far easier for their child than if they couldn't do it?  Of course most parents would welcome this news with open arms.  It's even possible that if Dudley had (god forbid!) turned out magical, the Dursleys would have changed their tune, after all--THEIR child is perfect. <g>

 

--Barb

 


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