"Pathetic" Muggle-borns (Was: JKR messed up........ no.)

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 178522

> Silmariel:
> Exactly. People flee in war times, if they can, why a full trained
> wizard couldn't? It's far easier to escape from UK by magical means
> than as a muggle, and the world isn't at war, it's just the UK.
> 
> Another plot hole.

Pippin:

Is it? Britain is an island. Most wizards can't apparate over long 
distances, and the Ministry has the means to trace illegal portkey
use. We know from what Hagrid told us that he wasn't exactly
welcome on his journey abroad with Maxime. Since Durmstrang
has a policy of keeping out Muggleborn students, the governments
of the European WW can't be great defenders of Muggleborn
rights either.  Not to mention the language problem. 

Plus, if Muggleborns don't cooperate with the government, then they're
proving they're disloyal -- it's a catch22.

It might be wishful thinking to suppose that because the population
has wands they wouldn't be helpless if they were arrested without
warning. DE's are just as capable of using Expelliarmus as
our hero, right?

Then too there's the demoralizing effect of being turned out of
your home and deprived of all your possessions, something we're 
familiar with here in Southern California (I'm okay, thanks). But
look at Trelawney. No one took away her wand, but she  still
seemed completely unable to cope with losing her job and her
home. 

Also, we don't know how secure the Muggleborns were before
DH. Among the adult wizards Harry meets, who's got a Muggle-
type name? Stan Shunpike and Ernie Prang are all I can think
of,  and crewing the Knight Bus doesn't seem to be a prestige job
or a well-paying one. You probably don't squirrel away a vault
full of galleons with a job like that. Slughorn mentions a prestigious
Muggleborn or two, but they could be the Lena Horne and Jackie 
Robinson of the WW. Lily, we now know, never had to find a job. So 
maybe Muggleborns weren't as well off as we thought to begin with.

One person's plot hole is another's unconscious assumption. I
think part of what JKR wants to do is make us aware of how many
unconscious assumptions we make. Or maybe just uninformed ones.
You think  American citizens wouldn't cooperate with rounding up
a minority and letting them be taken to internment camps? History 
says you'd be wrong. 

Pippin