[HPforGrownups] Re: Blood vs Heritage (was: Voldemort & muggle hating)

[Jesta Hijinx]

No: HPFGUIDX 61031

>       Now, I realize that the muggle/wizard situation is not nearly
>that complicated at the onset. We only have two groups: muggles and
>magic. The complications arise once you start to factor in the
>amount of times unions have taken place between the two. I think
>this was the whole point. It depends on the character's pov. To
>Lucius Malfoy and the others that hold his views, a half-blood is
>anyone who can trace their ancestry to a muggle at any point in
>their family's past generations. That pretty much means most of the
>WW as the books are written. Additionally, to those who are even
>more extreme in their views, if a witch/wizard is born to two muggle
>parents they are still a muggle-no matter how powerful their magical
>talents may be. To the more enlightened of the WW a half-blood is a
>wizard who has one muggle parent and one wizard parent. Period. End
>of discussion as far as they are concerned.
>
>      IMO, by having different characters refer to the same character
>in different ways, JKR is trying to make a point. Prejudice, and the
>terminology that goes with it, is illogical and therefore
>impractical at best.
>
Linda:

No doubt that's the crux of the matter as far as JKR is trying to say - it 
makes no real sense to trace ancestry back to the mists of time since 
wizardry seems to appear spontaneously as a mutation in people like 
Hermione.

People like me and other posters, I think, are simply trying to figure out 
the vague 'rules' - obviously nothing's going to make the Malfoys happy and 
they're going to be spouting their prejudiced nonsense, because they're 
caricatures in some ways.  But I think it's worthwhile, when you note 
someone like Hermione, who is clearly a full-on witch and a very talented 
and good one, to observe that both her parents were Muggles; ergo, the gene 
spontaneously emerged in her (and yeah, I don't think their identities are 
being hidden from us - I think they're just plain Muggle dentists who ended 
up with a witch daughter, surprise, surprise).  She's not the result of a 
union of choice by a wizard or witch deliberately choosing to marry a Muggle 
- so even if that was ever considered questionable practice - perhaps like 
marrying someone of a different faith, maybe not actively resisted after a 
time but not considered a great idea by the family because they think it 
might provoke stress later over the kids or something - but neither she nor 
her parents had anything to do with her being the way she is.  She just is.  
And yes, the unreasonableness of the prejudice in the Malfoy household won't 
even let them step onto the slippery slope of admitting this possibility.

Felinia

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