[HPforGrownups] Re: Half Blood, Pure Blood--Help Pease

[heather the buzzard]

No: HPFGUIDX 129838

finwitch wrote:

>Actually, I've wondered whether a muggle becomes a squib trough 
>gaining a magical child into his/her family, but when Hermione says 
>in OOP -- 'prefect is something they can understand'. - I'd say that 
>a Squib understands magic, having seen it in use in everyday life as 
>a child...
>  
>

I don't see how Hermione's statement has anything to do with Squibness.  
She just means that Prefect is something that *muggles* can understand, 
since muggle schools also have Prefects.  Unless you're trying to say 
that this is evidence that her parents don't understand most everything 
else in the WW and thus could not be called Squibs?

If that's what you're meaning, then I'd agree.  Squibs are, by 
definition, wizard-born but non-magical.  They are the inverse of 
muggle-born wizards (like Hermione).  The wizard parents of a squib are 
still wizards; the muggle parents of a wizard are still muggles.

>What I wonder, is Petunia. JKR tells us (when asked if she's a 
>squib) "no, she's a muggle, but.." - but- since Lily, Petunia's 
>sister, was magical, Petunia *knows* about as much of magic as much 
>as a Squib does. BUT - since Petunia rejected all that magic-business 
>(and married a big muggle like Vernon) including her sister, she's a 
>Muggle. In her case, it's a matter of *attitude* rather than 
>awareness.
>  
>

Like I said above, I don't think 'attitude' has anything to do with the 
label.  And I would argue that Petunia does not know *as much as* a 
squib would... but she certainly knows more than the average muggle.  
But her muggle-ness is her 'birthright', she couldn't become a squib 
even if she became the staunchest supporter of wizards and magic ever 
seen, even if she moved to Hogsmeade and opened a teashop in Diagon 
Alley... she'd still be a muggle. 

Just like a wizard who rejected the wizarding world (or didn't know they 
were a wizard, like Harry, and Tom Riddle even), who lives in the muggle 
world, is still a wizard (whether they know it or not, and whether they 
want to admit it or not).  It's just what they *are*, more than a 
self-described label.

I could live my life as a man, but without major surgery I'd still 
actually be a woman.  :)

heather the buzzard