THEORY: Hogwarts curriculum

[cubfanbudwoman]

No: HPFGUIDX 112402

Kneasy:
> I  agree; wizards are not benevolent - at best they are 
> patronising, at worst they're Umbridge. And why? Because they can 
> get away with it, that's why.  They have power, magical power and 
> if there's one lesson we can learn from history it's that 
> individuals with power eventually use it for their own benefit.
> 
> You want to break the stranglehold wizards have over others? There's
> only one way - take away their magic powers. For ever. It's a final 
> resolution to the books that I've offered before and so have one or 
> two others that recognise that unless you do so there will always 
> be Malfoys and probably a never-ending succession of Voldys too.
> People are not perfectible. Power will be used; that is its 
> purpose. But since magical power is personal and not delegated by 
> popular consent and withheld by the will of the majority, there is 
> no guarantee that it will be used in beneficent ways; it all 
> depends on the inclination of the wielder. And personally I'd trust 
> no-one that much.


SSSusan:
A truly intriguing proposition.  Everyone loses magical power as a 
great leveler of the power "structure".  I think I understand the 
distinction you're making re: magic being a *personal* power, but I 
still wonder....  If all magical power were suddenly gone, how long 
would it take before the folks who tended toward "pure bloodism" 
or "power-wielding for power-wielding's sake" would find another 
means of gathering power? another means of discriminating and pushing 
down others?  

I thought of US history automatically when reading your post.  
There's been a succession of those promoted [demoted, more 
accurately] as "dogs" of society--Italian immigrants, Irish 
immigrants, Blacks, and on & on--simply because it appears to be 
human nature, when at the bottom of the power [be it political or 
economic or both] base, to want to put someone else lower than you.   

Would the fact that magic isn't totally a "race" or "historical" 
thing prevent this from happening?  Or would the power-hungry amongst 
the witches and wizards simply find some other excuse for banding 
together in order to gain control?

Siriusly Snapey Susan