Spinner's End as home (wasRe: CHAPDISC: HBP 2, Spinner's End

[saturniia]

No: HPFGUIDX 142112

> Potioncat:
> So, how does any Wizarding family keep itself secret? I'm not sure 
if 
> this house belonged to Tobias who worked in the mill, or if it was a 
> converted wizarding house that Muggles couldn't see.

Saturniia:
I think this may be an example of "hiding in plain sight", as much as 
anything else.  All the examples you came up with are, or at least 
were, situations where the Wizarding home fit the socioeconomic status 
of the Muggles living around them.  The Blacks were in a neighborhood 
that has (or at least had) upper-class Muggles living around them; 
their non-magic neighbors would be merchants and bankers, if they 
weren't titled.  The Weasleys live on the outskirts of a village that 
is probably 90% working class people similar to themselves.  The 
Gaunts are of Slytherin's blood, but not of his status, so their 
humble shack is near a road where Muggles wouldn't notice their 
comings and goings, rather than trying to fit in with one specific 
social status.  Snape's probably the exception, since his home seems 
to fit the socioeconomic status of his Muggle parent rather than his 
magic parent.

Anyway, my point is that the families blend in with the Muggles around 
them, and the Muggles are less likely to notice a house than a row, a 
street than a neighborhood, a village than a town or a city.  The more 
discreet the Wizarding world is, the fewer Muggles the government has 
to obliviate, which saves money and manpower.