Original Order, Imperius and Inheritence and traits

[Jen Reese]

No: HPFGUIDX 108126

> Eustace_Scrubb:
> As Amey said, blood (genealogy) in and of itself means little.  
But as
> you add, that doesn't mean that _history_ means little.  Many of 
the
> problems the WW has are a result of the failure to record and
> disseminate knowledge of its history.  Just as Harry (and Tom 
Riddle,
> also) know little of their own heritage, the Wizarding World as a
> whole tends to ignore its history, particularly anything 
unpleasant. 
> Whatever we may think of the curriculum at Hogwarts, it's clear 
that
> the history taught there is boring and nearly useless.  I doubt 
that
> Binns was much better at teaching it when he was alive, but I think
> the lack of value placed on the subject is pretty clear--not only 
did
> Binns  just continue on his merry way not noticing that he'd 
become a
> ghost, the Headmaster (whoever it was at the time) didn't bother to
> fill the position with a living professor.
> 
> In the WW as a whole, the tendency is to ignore conflict 
(treatment of
> house elves, relations with centaurs) and to create false symbols 
of
> magical unity (the statue in the lobby of the MoM), avoid 
discussion
> of  potential problems (the fact that Voldemort's demise was far 
from
> certain after Godric's Hollow) and to forget the past rather than 
try
> to learn from it.
> 
> So Harry is quite representative of the Wizarding World as a whole 
in
> his lack of knowledge of his past and his failure to ask important
> questions.  The latter is a pet peeve of many readers and has
> sometimes been seen as a convenient if sloppy authorial tool to 
keep
> the reader in suspense.  Maybe it's much more than that.  Maybe 
it's a
> critical part of the overall story...and just maybe Harry will 
have to
> overcome this to prevail in the end.

Jen: I think you have the WW pegged here, Eustace! Why do so few 
people in the WW just take this glaring omission as reality? 
Dumbeldore is the only person to explicitly point out the flaws in 
the system. Aack--I'm reminded of the Fisher King again, can't get 
away from that story, but there's a similarity with the vast 
wasteland that can't be healed until an innocent arrives at the 
castle, asking whom the Grail serves or 'what ails thee?' to the 
wounded Fisher King. 

Maybe Valky is right and the WW is under an ages-old spell that can 
only be undone by whatever it is Harry is there to do (to simplify 
Valky's theory just a little <g>).

Jen