Wizard/Muggle "Radar"

[huntergreen_3]

No: HPFGUIDX 108818

Siriusly Snapey Susan (I think) wrote:
>[I'm one of the ones whose pet peeve is people assuming MOLLY will
>likely betray the Order because of her love for her children...but
>who seem to believe Arthur is immune from this! I feel that *any*
>person who deeply loves another is susceptible to this kind of
>blackmail.]

Janet Anderson replied:
>> Whereas, as I've mentioned elsewhere, I believe that *if* Molly 
were to betray the Order it would not simply be "because of her love 
for her children." It would be because her particular manifestation 
of "her love for her children" makes her take too narrow and limited 
a view. This is best exemplified by her insisting on protecting the 
children and denying them (and Harry) access to important 
information, even when it might be beneficial to the greater good, 
i.e. the Second Wizarding War. Remember, she didn't want Harry to 
know the (alleged) backstory about Sirius when they thought he was a 
deranged criminal who was stalking Harry!<< 

HunterGreen:
But not only she was guilty of this. Dumbledore, McGonagal, Fudge 
(although not ESE!Fudge), and possibly Lupin all were aware of the 
situation and chose not to warn Harry as well. Arthur was the only 
one who had any sense. 

Janet continued:
>>I believe it is possible that if her children were threatened by 
Voldemort, she wouldn't stop to consider things like the fact that 
Voldemort's word is worthless, that he's capable of kidnapping and 
killing someone and *then* demanding ransom or information, or even 
that "threatened men live long." She might just fold.<<

HunterGreen:
Having a narrow and overprotective stance of your children doesn't 
necessarily make you stupid though. In that situation I think its 
more likely that she would freak out and demand that her children 
stay in order headquarters (or under the watchful eye of her, Arthur 
or a capable adult wizard) 24 hours a day. I think her paranoia is 
extreme enough that if she did make some sort of deal for her 
children's lives she'd worry herself to death about it not working 
out. I don't think she's capable of trusting something like that. (my 
mother is actually a lot like Molly, and I know that nothing will 
make the worrying stop).

>>The thing about Arthur is that he *does* see the big picture -- if 
he didn't, he wouldn't still be poor and working in an office the 
size of a broom closet, when he could improve his situation with a 
little short-term schmoozing around the Ministry of Magic and 
downplaying his pro-Muggle stance. He won't compromise, he won't 
fold, and he knows what evil is capable of. (Why, yes, I do admire 
Arthur. He reminds me of my own father.)<<

I like Arthur a lot too (in fact he's one of my favorite characters), 
but all those things you say about him seeing the bigger picture and 
not trying to schmooze his way to the top by compromising his values 
can apply to Molly to (by implication). She supports all of those 
descisons, despite it making life a lot harder for her.

SSSusan(?) wrote:
>Anyway, to your question. That's interesting--IS there any kind
>of "wizard detecting" or "muggle detecting" ability inherent in
>witches & wizards? Not that I'm aware of. But did I miss something
>in the books? Is this something Aurors are capable of?

Janet replied:
>>Well, there's one case where muggle detecting seems to occur: when 
Harry does magic and gets nasty letters for it [snip] But I don't 
know how they could tell, any more than I understand the entire magic 
detection system that's in use with Harry.<<

HunterGreen:
That seems to indicate there is some sort of magic 'radar', or 
perhaps wizards between the ages of 11 and 17 are 'flagged' somehow 
(because they can tell when children in wizarding families use magic, 
which would seem impossible if they are around adult wizards all the 
time....or maybe they can't tell, which is sort of unfair for 
muggleborns). That may be the reason that Fudge knew there were no 
other wizards living near Harry....they keep track of where wizarding 
families live.
As for wizards being able to tell a muggle from a wizard, there's 
nothing in the books indicating either way. Personally, I think that 
if a wizard disguised themself as a muggle and strolled up to another 
wizard calling themselves such, that the wizard would be able to 
tell. They might be able to 'sense' magical ability (magic is 
something that is transmitted or 'in the air' somehow, since it 
causes electricity to not work correctly). I'm sure there's a spell 
or potion or something that would *prove* either way, but I wonder if 
they can just 'sense' if someone is magic...