Underage Magic at the Weasley's (and in general)

[Alex]

No: HPFGUIDX 53327

>harrydraco42 said:
> > Perhaps in wizarding households like the Weasley's and the Malfoy's, 
> > there is too much "everyday" magic for the underage magic that Fred 
> > and George do to be detected.  Also, children growing up in a 
> > wizarding household must know some basic magic, if that is the way 
> > things are done in their life.  

to which misstresskathy said:
> I agree.  Plus Fred and George inventing things like canary creams, 
> etc.  Wouldn't they need to use magic to do that?  Or would this 
> perhaps fall under Professor Snape's potion classes?  Wouldn't they 
> get in trouble for underage magic?  Or because they live in a Witch 
> household its not as big a deal as where Harry lived with Muggles?  

Indeed, we see a lot of underage magic going on outside of school...Harry's 
encounter with the snake at the zoo, there's a child blowing up a slug in the 
campground in GoF, and how does Hermione know how to repair Harry's 
glasses on the train in SS/PS if she hasn't practiced magic ever before, and 
therefore broken the ban on underage magic? I think it's another continuity 
error by JKR (see my previous post, 53296).

I believe the first we learn about this rule is at the end of SS/PS, when Harry is 
told he can't  do any magic to keep Dudley in line (or am I wrong?). JKR had a 
reason for coming up with this "rule" ...to keep Harry miserable every summer. 
Why? It makes him want to go to Hogwarts every year. Perhaps there is 
another reason, or maybe it was just an arbitrary decision she made at the 
time and once it was published, she had to work it into canon.

Fudge laughs it off after Harry escapes at the beginning of PoA, but he gets in 
trouble after Dobby flies the cake at the beginning of CoS, which are obvious 
contrdictions...which can perhaps be explained because Fudge is concerned 
more about the damage that Sirius could have done to him than a silly rule, 
but a contradiction is still a contradiction.

Indeed, wouldn't underage wizards in non-muggle households and areas 
have to learn a little about magic before they start school at Hogwarts? 
Wizards seem as dependent on magic as we are on electricity and running 
water. We still don't know if there is a wizard primary educational system, but I 
think one has to exist. Don't these children have to do homework, though, and 
wouldn't this violate the edict?

If the rule applies only to people like Harry, wouldn't it apply to Hermione? 
(But it doesn't seem to...)

As far as the entire series goes, the large elements and the essential plotline 
holds together, but the fine details sometimes get messed up. We can discuss 
it and debate it as much as we want to, but JKR is god in her world and she 
decides what ultimately happens, even if it doesn't make sense or contradicts 
canon she's previously created, so I guess we just wait and see what 
happens!

~~aesob