[HPforGrownups] Re: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the Contex

[Shaun Hately]

No: HPFGUIDX 105923

On 13 Jul 2004 at 1:27, aleesahn wrote:

> I also really enjoyed, and was enlightened by, your essay! As a 
> California girl I have little life experience with the British 
> public school system, or with boarding schools of any type. In fact, 
> I'm so intrigued that I've come out from a year or more of lurking 
> just to ask this question as my very first post! Reading the 
> responses to your essay, and your subsequent replies, I'm hoping for 
> clarification on some terms you've used:

I'm glad you liked the post, and I'm happy to clarify anything I 
can for you, or anyone else, about what I have written.

> Shaun Hately writes:
>
> > One thing that immediately leaps to mind is the apparent absence of 
> > any fags and fagging... it could have existed at Hogwarts, 
> > historically of course, but I suspect the existence of the house 
> > elves may well have meant there was no imperative for it.
> 
> 
> Would you mind explaining "fag" and "fagging" in the context you've 
> used them? I'm assuming these words have a very different meaning 
> where I come from (slang refering to homosexuals).
> Thank you!
> -Aleesahn

Ah - yes, I really should have thought to explain that.

In the context of public schools "fagging" referred to the practice 
of using younger boys as servants for senior boys. The practice 
differed widely between schools. In some schools, junior boys were 
assigned to a particular senior boy and did things like clean his 
shoes, make him cups of tea etc. In other schools, all the junior 
boys were expected to work for all the senior boys as a group.

Such servants were referred to as "fags" - and in some schools, 
this came to be a generic term used for any junior boy.

At Hogwarts, the presence of the House Elves might have rendered 
such a practice pointless.


Yours Without Wax, Dreadnought
Shaun Hately | www.alphalink.com.au/~drednort/thelab.html
(ISTJ)       | drednort at alphalink.com.au | ICQ: 6898200 
"You know the very powerful and the very stupid have one
thing in common. They don't alter their views to fit the 
facts. They alter the facts to fit the views. Which can be 
uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that 
need altering." The Doctor - Doctor Who: The Face of Evil
Where am I: Frankston, Victoria, Australia