Sweeping the shadows into the corners (Was: A sandwich)

[Carol]

No: HPFGUIDX 178707

Betsy Hp wrote:
> <snip> I think JKR was working through some various issues through
her writing of this series.  And I think she got... maybe tired, maybe
 scared?  Anyway, I've never seen a book sweep its shadow characters 
under the carpet so firmly and so quickly.  I think the House Elf 
slavery issue was an innocent by-stander in some ways.  Since JKR 
decided to embrace the close-minded, protectionism of the WW, all of 
its traditions had to be upheld.  Therefore the House Elves remained
slaves, the Centaurs remained in the forest, the Giants remained 
banned, and the Slytherins remained in the dungeons.  Harry changed 
nothing; he just took his place amongst the elite.

Carol responds:
I certainly don't agree that Harry changed nothing. He destroyed
Voldemort and made it impossible to become a Death Eater, paving the
way for changes in Slytherin and the MoM. At the very least, we have a
change to the pre-Voldemort WW in which a talented Slytherin kid like
Severus Snape might have had a chance to use his talents productively.

But as for Centaurs remaining in the forest, isn't that where they
want to be? Remember Firenze's classroom? he wasn't at home in a
building. He needed forest and the open sky. Giants remaining banned?
We saw the giants. The closest we have to a civilized giant is Grawp,
unwillingly uprooted from his home and tamed by Hagrid. Do you think
that the other two giants that came to the battle would endure a
similar taming? They'd kill the wizards who attempted it. I don't know
what the solution is since giants kill each other if they're forced to
live together, but it's sure not sending the giant children to
Hogwarts. I've already talked about the House-Elves, who *want* to
serve wizards and don't want to be freed (even Dobby wanted to work
for wizards, he just wanted "being paid" extremely small wages so that
he could buy socks).

It's not as if the non-human species were human tribes or societies
that could be integrated into wizarding society. Not even the Goblins
want that. (Both the Centaurs and the Goblins view themselves as
superior to the Wizards, so the prejudice is mutual.) And how about
Merpeople? How can they be integrated into human society? They can't,
so why not leave them to their own devices in the lake, with the
company of the Giant Squid (which I wanted to see play some part in
DH!). To force Wizarding ways on nonhuman species, even with the idea
of "helping" them (cf. SPEW) is surely a form of cultural imperialism.

As for Muggles and Wizards, JKR *has* to keep them separate to
maintain verisimilitude--a secret society of Wizards living among us
Muggles. They can't just reveal themselves because no such revelation
occurred in 1998--or will ever occur in RL. So the inventions she came
up with for enforcing WW secrecy--unplottable buildings, Obliviate,
Muggle-repelling charms, the Statute of Secrecy (now dated 1689
instead of 1692 thanks to JKR's failure to check for consistency with
earlier books)--problematic as they are, have to remain in force. That
aspect of the books can't change, except in small ways, like Ron's
getting a Muggle Driver's license and, I hope, improved Muggle Studies
classes as a required subject for every student at Hogwarts.

But setting aside JKR's interviews and DD's statements about the
fountain in the MoM being a lie, if we look strictly at the canon,
there was never much chance of an equal, integrated, utopian WW
society. Giants and humans are not equals. Centaurs and humans, though
equals (as both sides should realize), can never live together because
they have different needs. Separate but equal may have been a bad idea
in the American South, where the people involved were all human and
capable of living and being educated together, but it would work
perfectly well, if fairly implemented, for Wizards, Muggles, Centaurs,
and Goblins. As for House-Elves, let them do what they want to do,
which is to serve Wizards. Just make sure that they're treated fairly
and have punishments for Wizards who abuse them.

Carol, who thinks that the idea of magical nonhumans as "races" is
misleading and the idea of Giants (or Trolls) becoming civilized
(made to act like humans) is unfeasible at best