Wizarding kids, their parents, and their choices

[Mike]

No: HPFGUIDX 184000

> > Marianne:
> > But the WW is far different than the muggle world. Perhaps 
> > her parents realized that she was more a part of the WW 
> > than muggle world and accepted it.  

Mike:
Let us not forget that in this alternate universe witches, wizards 
and magic exists and has existed for a long time. There were likely 
records of magical world that still remained in the Muggle world. If 
nothing else, the stories would have been passed down through the 
ages. 

Many Muggles would probably considered them fanciful exaggerations 
and have come up with logical explanations (in their minds) for 
magical occurences, like a sudden, unforseen and untracked hurricane 
popping up in the north country. Damn weathermen can't ever get it 
right, can they?

But with Muggleborns seemingly born every year, the existance of the 
WW stays alive in the Muggle world. Wizards don't memory charm away 
this knowledge from family or even guardians. And don't you suppose 
that not all of those Muggle family members are exactly discreet with 
this knowledge? So other Muggles without magical family members could 
know that magical people exist, even if they don't know any 
personally. Lily's parents were happy and proud to have a witch in 
the family and it doesn't appear to have come as a complete shock to 
them. Is that because they had other magical family members (a great 
uncle, a distant cousin) or that they had heard about wizards and 
weren't as skeptical as Hermione about this hidden society? Ironic 
for Hermione, isn't it? ;-)

What I'm trying to say is that Muggle parents that have wizarding 
children must know that those children are not going to be staying in 
their Muggle world. All they have to do is look around them and 
realize that the WW does not have a presence in their Muggle world. 
So Hermione's parents had to know that their daughter was sooner or 
later going to distance herself from them and become a member of that 
other hidden world. Knowing what a precocious daughter they'd begat, 
they had to know it would happen sooner rather than later.



> Potioncat:
> I think we need to keep the plot requirements in mind as we 
> evaluate the Granger family. The thing is, JKR needs Hermione
> to be there for Harry, so her presence doesn't reflect on her
> relationship with her parents. Hermione needs to be there at
> that time and she is.

Mike:
I don't really have a problem with Hermione hanging with the wizards 
instead of the Muggles, after all she's one of them. 

Think about it, you're a 16-year-old witch who helped form and is 
currently training in an underground magical fighting club. How do 
you want to spend your Christmas vacation? Going skiing with your 
parents or spending it at the magically hidden HQ of a serious 
organization with your soon-to-be wizard boyfriend (hopefully) and 
his magical family that's just had a traumatic event happen to them? 
Oh yeah, throw in the most famous wizard boy, your good friend, and a 
pretty cool, on-the-run godfather to that boy. Kind of looks like a 
no-brainer to me. So you tell your parents a little white lie and 
head off on the magic bus to 12 Grimmauld Place.


> Potioncat:
> I think she's done a very nice job of writing interesting adult 
> characters, but her younger characters have to be the heroes and 
> have to have certain liberties.

Mike:
Which brings up another point. I think we sometimes forget that these 
younger characters are just kids in near adult bodies with near adult 
magical abilities. So they don't always make the most logical or 
mature decisions.

So Hermione does the best thing she can think of to protect her 
essentially helpless parents. And in typical Hermione fashion, she 
relies on her prodigious magical talents without taking too much else 
into account.

The same thing happens to Harry in the Ravenclaw tower. If you're a 
17-year-old boy who gets a free shot at a sadistic adult that's been 
torturing your friends all year (and you've just seen the beat up 
face of one of them and was shocked), tell me you wouldn't take the 
oppurtunity to clobber him with a baseball/cricket bat? I know all 
the arguments against Harry's Crucio, and I agree with some of them. 
But I can tell you that if you were to put my 17-y.o. self in that 
situation, I'm swinging that bat into Carrow's private parts. Kids 
that age are not that much in control of their emotions.

Really, other than in some fictional world, who would put the fate of 
their world on the shoulders of three 17-18 year olds? Oh yeah, 
Dumbledore!


> Potioncat, once again posting late at night after a long day of 
> work, and hoping this is coherent.

Mike; huh,... what'd you say PC? I don't get it ;-))