Wizards in a Muggle World (was:Spinner's End as home...)

[horridporrid03]

No: HPFGUIDX 142294

> >>bboyminn:
> Well, of course the analogy is flawed, I'm comparing a fantasy
> fictional world to the real world, but Chinatown does illustrate   
> how on culture can exist somewhat isolated inside another culture.
> <snip>
> So, even knowing that my /illustration/ is flawed, I think it still
> serves are a real world example that one smaller divergent culture 
> can live isolated in another larger more pervasive culture. 

Betsy Hp:
Oh, I realize you weren't trying to draw an exact parallel.  
However, I think the idea of groups of wizards living together 
within a Muggle city or town is heading in the wrong direction.  
Wizards are trying to keep their culture hidden, and large 
gatherings would make that harder, I think.

> >>bboyminn:
> Also note that while it is the objective of the wizard world to   
> remain /secret/, it is not necessarily their objective to remain   
> hidden. We've seen wizards take train and subway rides. We've seen 
> them walk the streets of muggle London. There is no problem with   
> being seen in general, there is only a problem as being seens as a 
> wizard or as magical.

Betsy Hp:
Yes, I agree.  The fact that Amelia Bones exists was not something 
she was apparently trying to hide.  The fact that she was a *witch* 
was a secret, however.  So it was important that any strangeness on 
her part (not having a phone, odd wardrobe choices, etc.) seemed 
like an anomaly rather than part of a larger culture.

> >>Betsy Hp:
> > I get the sense ...that wizards generally *don't* live around 
> > each other.  
> > <snip>
> > And I think it *would* be easier to hide how different you 
> > are from your neighbors if there's only you, or just your       
> > immediate family.
> > <snip>
 
> >>bboyminn:
> I think you've got a good point there. I suspect that part of the
> secrecy protection of the wizard world says the wizards don't     
> gather together around muggles.
> <snip>
> On the other hand, 'birds of a feather flock together'. I can     
> envision a magical family moving into a small obscure London      
> neighborhood, and mentioning to a friend that a house just went up 
> for sale. So the friend buys the house, and the next thing you     
> know wizards dominate the neighborhood.
> <snip>

> >>Sue:
> What an interesting thread! I have always seen wizards as a kind   
> of ethnic group, more or less (the muggle-born wizards are,       
> perhaps, descended from wizards who "married out"). And ethnic    
> groups do tend to congregate in "ghettos", simply because it's
> convenient.
> <snip>

Betsy Hp:
It *is* convenient, and it is natural for, as Steve put it, "birds 
of a feather to flock together".  Which is why I think the MoM may 
well keep an eye on where wizards and witches live.  I think they 
work hard to make sure groups *don't* congregate, as they naturally 
would.

I think it's notable that none of Arthur's brothers live near him, 
and that there were no other pure-bloods living around the Blacks. 
It's notable that there's only one wizarding town in all of England, 
that *everyone* seems to do their shopping in Diagon Alley (or 
Knockturn Alley if that's more their speed <g>).

I was thinking a bit more about the Chinatown analogy, and something 
that came to mind is the underground passages that I vaguely recall 
one or more Chinatowns in California having.  In a sense floo powder 
could be seen in the same way.  It's interesting that floo powder 
was invented around the 1200's (per the Lexicon) which is around the 
time the WW went into deep hiding.  With floo powder there's a built 
in secret passage between wizards' homes.  So the community still 
exists but is so spread out that, on the surface, there's no 
evidence of a community.  And the existance of wizards and witches 
can sink safely into myth.

So maybe your analogy *does* work, Steve.  Only it's a very atypical 
community in that it's not geographically close at all.  But it *is* 
connected by secret passageways (floo powder) and common gathering 
areas (Hogwarts, Hogsmeade, and tiny pockets in London).  If a witch 
or wizard chooses to keep away from the Muggle world, though they 
live surrounded by Muggles, they can stay in their house, rarely 
venturing out, traveling by floo to wizard areas, and being seen as 
an odd recluse by the Muggles around them.  

Or, if they're a bit braver, they can venture out into town or 
amongst their neighbors and impress the local beauties with their 
ability to do card tricks.  Or, (to harken back to the very 
beginning of this thread <g>) a young pure-blood witch could venture 
out into her local town, fall for a Muggle boy and end up marrying 
him.  Of course, this begs the question of how a mixed-marriage like 
that is handled.  Seamus, for example, talks about a wizard cousin 
of his.  Does he hang with his Muggle cousins at all?  Would his 
father's brothers or sisters or parents, etc., know about Seamus's 
and his mother's little secret?

Betsy Hp