[HPforGrownups] Re: Puzzlement of the day

[k12listmomma]

No: HPFGUIDX 166306

> Shelley:
>> My theory is that a Wizard Godfather is the same as a normal 
>> Godfather--someone that
>> is supposed to take care of you if your parents can't and there aren't 
>> other relatives.
>> Thus, if the Dursleys didn't want Harry, Sirius would have been the next 
>> in line to raise
>>Harry. We see Sirius, after he gets out of prison, taking some 
>>responsibility for Harry as if
>>he were a legal gaurdian, which the wizarding world considered him to be 
>>more than the
>> Dursleys.
>
> Except "Godfather" is a Christian designation.  In the mainstream 
> religions with which I am familiar, it is a person who is responsible for 
> continuing a child's spiritual growth.  In that way, it's more than 
> "taking care of."  It's a vow to continue what the parents have begun, and 
> to continue the faith to which they hold.  In that context, I think this 
> is a fascinating question that none of us here will be able to answer. 
> What is the faith of the wizarding world?  Ah now...that is the question, 
> isn't it?
>
> Kim

But in that sense, Sirius would be a perfect Godfather- he'd raise Harry as 
a WIZARD. If it were up to the Dursleys alone, Harry would be raised as a 
Muggle.

As for religion, isn't there hints of it? At Christmastime, Sirius was 
singing "God Rest Ye Merry Hippogriff", and the fact that they celebrated 
Christmas at all (and not Yule, or Winter Solstice) tells me that they must 
have a "Christ" to celebrate his birth, or a Santa Clause to get the idea of 
sending presents. I don't think that religion is all that different between 
Muggles and Wizards, except that the Wizards probably don't attend the same 
churches, unless the Wizards are willing mix in and blend with the Muggles. 
One of the ghosts was the Fat Friar- meaning that it could even be a 
profession for the Wizard, eh? It seems a lot of the traditions are the 
same, just celebrated "wizard style" in the Wizarding world.

Shelley