The Weasleys' Muggle Cousin (Was Re: CHAPDISC: HBP5, An Excess of Phlegm)

[Sydney]

No: HPFGUIDX 144157

> hpfan_mom:
> 
> Page 99, Scholastic version, PS/SS:
> 
> "Are all your family wizards?" asked Harry, who found Ron just as 
> interesting as Ron found him.
> 
> "Er - yes, I think so," said Ron.  "I think Mom's got a second 
> cousin who's an accountant, but we never talk about him."


Thanks for finding the quote!  This is where I get honestly confused 
about what reaction JKR is trying to elicit.  Muggles play this 
weird double-role, where on the one hand they're comic relief, and 
on the other it's really bad to be prejudiced against them.  "We 
never talk about him" is funny because it's a reversal (accountants 
are weirdos), but on the other hand.. well, there's a lot of not-
very-nice associations with 'not talking about someone' because of a 
trait they were born with.  Usually with JKR I would assume the 
ambiguity but, I don't know, it honestly feels JUST like comic 
relief to me here.  

I found this most baffling with the Crup, that shows up in Fantastic 
Beasts-- a Jack Russel-like creature that loves Wizards and hates 
Muggles.   Does that mean it's evil, because it's prejudiced, or 
that it's neat, because it loves imaginative people and hates dull 
ones? Because I get a strong sense that prejudice is bad against 
Muggle-borns, because they're actually just as good as Wizards; but 
it's okay against muggles because they're, well, not. As JKR owns a 
Jack Russel, and gave (probably) a Crup to Ron as a Patronus, I'm 
assuming it's the latter.  Otherwise it seems like just the sort of 
pet a Voldemort supporter would like to have around!  It's a 
peculiar position to wind up in for a book that's at least partly 
about inclusion and the evils of prejudice.

-- Sydney, muggle and proud