OOPostsinceReleaseDay -Maternity/Full Moon/Apologies/FawkesFeathers/Filch

[Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)]

No: HPFGUIDX 65917

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M!ndy wrote:

<< Note the absence of a Maternity Department in St. Mungo's. What 
*is* the birthrate in the Wizarding World? You never hear mention of 
someone being pregnant, someone giving birth... no one gets a new 
sibling or niece/nephew... no mention of people getting married 
either... There's like this huge generational gap between the 
Hogwarts generation and the MWPP generation.. No young couples? No 
little babies? Where do these people give birth, at home? or is there 
a separate hospital? >>

I have no answer to the question about where the members of the Order 
were that night, but wizarding family life is sometimes I've been 
thinking about for years. I thought that they gave birth at home, 
with midwives, until someone pointed out on list that if wizarding 
babies have uncontrolled magic like wizarding infants, they could do 
a lot of unintended damage in their protests against being born, so 
then wizarding midwifery would involve a lot of protective and 
shielding spells on the mother and the environment.

If wizarding folk live as long as JKR said in interviews, their 
child-bearing could be very spaced ... a woman could have her first 
child at 20, second at 40, third at 60, and maybe some would have a 
fourth at 80 (unexpected change of life baby!).

Odile asked:

<< And apologies for not remembering, but as the full moon lasts for a 
couple of days, does Lupin change only once, when the moon is at its 
fullest, or does he change for a couple of days? >>

The whole question of Full Moon for werewolves is something that 
JKR needs to explain -- whether it is a couple of days, one 24 hour 
day, one dusk to dawn night ... 

Joe in SoFla wrote:

<< Is it just me, or does there seem to be a pretty acute shortage of 
apologies/forgiveness in the series so far? >>

I think it was Eileen Lucky_Kari who proposed the theory known as 
Real Wizards Don't Apologize: the culture of the wizarding world is a 
warrior culture, in which toughness rules the day. The values are all 
about displaying courage and pride ('proper wizarding pride'), taking 
vengeance, dying heroically: there was a comparison to Livian Rome. 
They do NOT value pacifism, sensitivity to other people's feelings, 
admitting that one might possibly be wrong. Thus, they find apologies 
incredibly embarassing.

Grey Wolf wrote:

<< we know that Fawkes only gave two feathers for wand making (PS).>>

Fawkes gave several feathers as warnings in this one. I wonder if 
they will be given to Ollivander for wand-making?

Wendy St. John wrote:

<< Is there anyone else out there who actually likes Filch (or liked 
him, anyway)? Can he be redeemed? >>

I don't like Filch, but apparently Snape does: go re-read the part of 
PS/SS where Filch is helping Snape bandage his Fluffy-bitten leg. 
Pippin came up with a pile of evidence for a Snape/Filch ship. That's 
not what I want to do with Snape, but I admit the possibility, as 
they do share an interest in torturing the students. An interest 
which often becomes eroticized (often in human beings, I mean). Under 
Dumbledore's rule, the most they could do is fondle the implements of 
torture and fantasize, and I have no idea whether Snape shares 
Filch's desire for the Real Thing. I mean, 1) Elkins thinks he does 
but 2) I wouldn't like him if he did.