Squib!Harry in the WW (was:Re: The Scar)

[horridporrid03]

No: HPFGUIDX 160334

> >>Ken: 
> There is no getting around the fact that canon implies that
> intermarriage is reasonably common, the numbers speak for         
> themselves.

Betsy Hp:
How do you figure that?  We have a bare handful of wizard marriages 
described, and an even tinier portion of that are of the non-
magical/magical variety.  Now, I'm not mathametician, but even I can 
see that you have no proper statistics to play with here.  JKR has 
not given us enough information to make those sort of judgements, 
IMO.

> >>Ken:
> As to how happy and successful those marriages are, I was not
> addressing that. We all know muggle/muggle marriages as bad as the
> examples you give, some of us may have been in one.

Betsy Hp:
I've never been in, nor have I known anyone in a marriage in which 
one spouse has such utter and total control over the other. (If my 
friends are able to have their husbands fill in for a missing coffee 
table, they've kept quite quiet about it. <g>)

> >>Ken:
> <snip>
> The WW is *defined* by those who do magic but they have defined it 
> to include others: spouses, siblings, squibs, parents, and the    
> occasional PM.

Betsy Hp:
Ooh, I *fully* disagree.  Hermione, IMO, perfectly demonstrates that 
by entering the WW you leave the Muggle world behind.  Her parents 
have no knowledge of what is going on in her world except for what 
she tells them.  Frankly, every single time there is a Muggle - 
Wizard interaction it is made *very* clear that the non-magical 
person is lesser than.  Any say they may feel they have is purely on 
the whim of the wizard involved.

> >>Ken:
> Harry can fit into that, it is more than speculation on my part.
> At the very least he would fit in somewhere between Hagrid and Mrs.
> Figg.

Betsy Hp:
Harry without magic would possibly equal Mrs. Figg.  He'd never have 
any hope of coming anywhere near Hagrid.  No chance at all.  And 
frankly, as a person whose magic had been forcably removed I think 
he'd be classed lower than Mrs. Figg.

> >>Ken:
> The WW is not our society yet it is comprised of human beings,
> not aliens from another planet. There is no reason to suppose that 
> the WW would turn its back on a disabled member any more than we   
> do.

Betsy Hp:
Yes they do.  If you aren't a wizard or a witch you just cannot hold 
any kind of powerful position.  Harry will never be able to work at 
St. Mungos, Hogwarts, or the MoM unless it was in the most menial 
levels of labor. 

> >>Ken:
> A power-less Harry might not find a place he could accept, not    
> everyone does, but he certainly could find a place in the WW that 
> many would be happy with. 

Betsy Hp:
Who had not graduated from Hogwarts.  Yes, Harry could *survive* I 
think.  But he'd be worse off than his horrified imaginings of being 
Hagrid's assistant in PoA (IIRC).  A non-magical Harry might 
possibly become Filch's assistant.  Though I honestly doubt the WW 
would be thrilled to have him around their children.

> >>Ken:
> <snip> 
> His magical education and experience would allow him to edit books 
> at a magical book publisher,

Betsy Hp:
If only he could work the pens.

> >>Ken:
> it would allow him to work at the Ministry of Magic in a variety   
> of capacities,

Betsy Hp:
If only he were a fully recognized legal member of the WW.

> >>Ken:
> he could help run the twin's budding business empire,

Betsy Hp:
If only he could place fire calls.

> >>Ken:
> he could be a Quidditch commentator,

Betsy Hp:
If only he could use Saronus (I think it is?  That voice amplifying 
spell).

> >>Ken:
> he could be a reporter,

Betsy Hp:
If only he could use the pens.  (I said that before... Ah well, 
anything with writing involved is right out.  It be like a reporter 
in the Muggle world who couldn't use a computer.)

> >>Ken:
> he could emulate his creator and write books,

Betsy Hp:
See above.

> >>Ken:
> he could help Hermione run SPEW

Betsy Hp:
Except that Hermione would have to drop SPEW to work full time at 
getting Harry some reasonable rights as a non-magical person within 
the WW.  (Posterboy -- just what Harry's always wanted to be! <g>)

> >>Ken:
> ... the possibilities are as endless as the human imagination.

Betsy Hp:
Until you run full tilt into the WW's bureaucracy.  Kills 
imagination dead.

> >>Ken:
> His fame would open many doors for him that would be closed to us, 
> or Figgy.

Betsy Hp:
Frankly, I think Harry's fame would be a massive part of the 
problem.  What a horrifying reminder of your worst nightmare to have 
hanging around.  I think more doors would close in the end.

The only way I see a non-magical Harry working is if he decided to 
turn his back completely on the WW and, well, I guess go back to 
high school.  Figure out how planes stay up, etc.

Betsy Hp (determined to change the title of this thread is it's the 
last thing I do! <g>)