Raised by Muggles

[Bruce Alan Wilson]

No: HPFGUIDX 175329

JKR said that in the case of Muggle-borns, a Hogwarts teacher or an official
from the MOM delivers the letter and answers any questions the child and/or the
parents had.  Since mageborn children tend to have magical breakouts--think the
sweater incident, the school roof incident, the python incident, Aunt Marge--I
would think that this news would be something of a relief to the parents who had
been plagued with weird things happening around the kid for so many years.  The
program was short-circuited in Harry's case because he was listed as the son of
a witch and a wizard; Hagrid was shocked when he found that the Dursleys had
kept Harry in ignorance.

Almost every fantasy series involving working magic has some variant of Ursula
K. LeGuin's saying in EARTHSEA: "To keep dark the mind of the mageborn is an
evil thing."  Another variant--I don't remember from which author--is "An
untrained sorceress is a danger to herself and others." (Ariana, anyone?)  I'm
sure that whoever comes to explain matters to Muggle parents comes armed with
plenty of case studies.

Bruce Alan Wilson

"The bicycle is the most civilized conveyance known to man.  Other forms of
transport grow daily more nightmarish.  Only the bicycle remains pure in
heart."--Iris Murdoch



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