GoF CH 4-6 post DH look/ Cauldrons' thickness

[Carol]

No: HPFGUIDX 181764

Montavilla47:
> Of course you're right, Pippin. But you can also see what a serious
problem it is, even with a failure rate as low of three percent.
> <SNIP>
> Honestly, silly as Percy's cauldron-bottom report sounds, it's the
only example I can think of in the entire series where the Ministry
seems to be doing something useful.
> 
> 
> 
> Alla:
> 
> Eh, I was pretty sure that your first reply was a joke; I was even 
surer that Pippin's reply was a joke as well. Now I am starting to 
think that your reply was not a joke (please tell me if it was after
all), while I am still thinking that Pippin was kidding.
> 
> So, am trying to answer seriously. No, not mad, yes am thinking that
this is complete nonsense. Are the accidents serious business? Sure,
they could be if students are getting hurt.
> 
> Is it Ministry business to make their employees to write report on
cauldron's thickness? Not in my opinion. I am trying to find a 
suitable comparison – say that Ministry was making Percy to write a 
> report on whether the ice cream that Fortesque makes is tasty enough 
> or whether it has enough calories.
> 
> Does it make sense? I do not think that cauldron thickness is 
> something that government employee should be concerned about, sounds 
> as if it is cauldron manufacturers' business to me.
> 
> I am rereading my initial post and I am realizing that when I wrote 
> what does it matter at all, it may have given an impression that I do 
> not think that this is important at all. So I am sorry about that, I
think it can be important just for appropriate people IMO.
>
Carol responds:
Hi, Alla. Sorry to present an almost canonless post, but safety *is*
the government's business. that's why the U.S. has the FDA and OSHA
and all sorts of similar agencies. Look at the toys that are being
recalled for having lead in them. It's the same sort of thing.

A melted (or leaky) cauldron in the WW can cause a serious accident,
which is why Snape gets so upset with Neville.

As I said in another post, Percy is a junior official, so he gets
assigned the boring work, but that doesn't mean that cauldron
thickness isn't important. (Remember Mundungus selling "dodgy"
cauldrons? I'll bet they were substandard cauldrons that didn't pass
the thickness test. It would be like selling stoves that could catch
on fire in the U.S. or Britain. (Ice cream isn't dangerous, so it's
not a fair comparison. The recalled beef in recent news is closer.
that could poison people.)

I do think though, that there's an element of parody in the cauldron
reports--bureaucracy as all paperwork and no action, maybe (cf. the
MoM's instructions for protecting yourself from the DEs, which remind
me of the flyers I sometimes find on my door or in my mailbox on how
to prevent car theft). It's exactly the sort of thing that the
government does--only, sometimes, the regulations actually save lives.
(Not sure about the reports and pamphlets, though.)

Carol, quite sure that no one is joking in this thread (though JKR is
probably poking a bit of fun at government red tape)