Pureblood Half-blood, Red blood Mudblood
I have ranted talked about this to ruien, rea_saint, albichorizon, disarming_smile (closing the MSN window immediately afterward, therefore losing my brilliant exposition) and, most recently, baeraad.
So I figured I should articulate it on LJ to stop repeating myself.
The disjointed "logic" of HP books is frustrating to readers, but more so to fanfic writers who have to reconcile canon facts to their WIP universe.
Like many others, I bitch and moan (and hit a major roadblock) when Snape’s blood status was revealed. Setting aside the question of why half-bloods (Voldemort, Snape, Harry) are so powerful, what irks me most is conflicting claims JKR has made regarding the population of the Wizarding world.
1. JKR has hammered it over our heads again and again that blood discrimination is just like racism.
As ruien pointed once, that would make more sense if she had not simultaneously demonstrated that magic is in the blood. Lily’s blood magic rebounded the AK curse, Harry’s blood was used to resurrect Voldemort, ad nauseam.
2. The Weasleys are supposedly open-minded and accepting of Muggles and Muggle-borns.
If this is true, why are they as pureblooded as the Malfoys? Why do they ostracize their accountant uncle? They treat Muggles like exotic zoo animals, not someone equal to them, no matter what JKR wants us to believe.
3. In HBP, Hermione claimed that Slytherins are filled with half-bloods pretending to be purebloods.
If we are supposed to swallow this as fact, it makes no sense whatsoever that wizards stay so clueless about the Muggle world. And the clueless meter is not just about Quantum Physics and electricity (which would be understandable), but about something so fundamental as wearing a woman’s nightdress in public.
4. The only Muggle-borns in Gryffindor are Hermione and the Creeveys. Half-blood count: Harry, Seamus, Dean (JKR said that his birth father was a wizard killed during the First War). Pureblood count: Neville, Ron, Ginny, Fred, George, Percy, Parvati (she was Pansy's friend so she's most likely a pureblood.)
If the majority of Gryffindors are purebloods, then why are Slytherins, the designated Death Eater house, filled with half-bloods?
5. During past interviews, JKR had drawn parallels between purebloods supremacists and Hitler.
It is understandable for Snape, who had an abusive Muggle father, to renounce his Muggle upbringing and claim his mother’s heritage. However, unless all half-bloods have abusive childhood (Voldemort, Snape, Harry *yawns*), it does not make sense for a Slytherin house mostly filled with half-bloods to swallow the Dark Lord’s agenda. (Not to mention blindly following him into a Cruciatus-filled service, risking life and limbs).
No matter how influential Lucius’ son Draco is, the supposedly numerous Slytherin half-bloods would have easily found a way to shut his mouth real quick. Even though the Mudblood epithet does not apply to half-bloods, it does apply to one of their parents. As we have seen repeatedly in the books, HP characters are awfully sensitive when anyone impugns their parents.
No, it does not make sense for Slytherin House to be filled with half-bloods. While a Potions and Dark Arts genius like Snape might admit to his half-blood status, the other less illustrious half-bloods would keep quiet about their heritage. If the majority of them are half-bloods, it would be like a whole gaggle of noveau riche pretending that they are royalty. If everybody knows that everybody else is also a half-blood, why bother?
P.S. How the hell do these purebloods keep on meeting and falling in love with Muggles anyway? (Wizarding world being insular as it is and Muggleborns being the minority in Hogwarts.) If we are to believe that the majority of the Wizarding world are half-bloods, that is.
I can go on, but I’ll spare you for now. Thoughts?
So I figured I should articulate it on LJ to stop repeating myself.
The disjointed "logic" of HP books is frustrating to readers, but more so to fanfic writers who have to reconcile canon facts to their WIP universe.
Like many others, I bitch and moan (and hit a major roadblock) when Snape’s blood status was revealed. Setting aside the question of why half-bloods (Voldemort, Snape, Harry) are so powerful, what irks me most is conflicting claims JKR has made regarding the population of the Wizarding world.
1. JKR has hammered it over our heads again and again that blood discrimination is just like racism.
As ruien pointed once, that would make more sense if she had not simultaneously demonstrated that magic is in the blood. Lily’s blood magic rebounded the AK curse, Harry’s blood was used to resurrect Voldemort, ad nauseam.
2. The Weasleys are supposedly open-minded and accepting of Muggles and Muggle-borns.
If this is true, why are they as pureblooded as the Malfoys? Why do they ostracize their accountant uncle? They treat Muggles like exotic zoo animals, not someone equal to them, no matter what JKR wants us to believe.
3. In HBP, Hermione claimed that Slytherins are filled with half-bloods pretending to be purebloods.
If we are supposed to swallow this as fact, it makes no sense whatsoever that wizards stay so clueless about the Muggle world. And the clueless meter is not just about Quantum Physics and electricity (which would be understandable), but about something so fundamental as wearing a woman’s nightdress in public.
4. The only Muggle-borns in Gryffindor are Hermione and the Creeveys. Half-blood count: Harry, Seamus, Dean (JKR said that his birth father was a wizard killed during the First War). Pureblood count: Neville, Ron, Ginny, Fred, George, Percy, Parvati (she was Pansy's friend so she's most likely a pureblood.)
If the majority of Gryffindors are purebloods, then why are Slytherins, the designated Death Eater house, filled with half-bloods?
5. During past interviews, JKR had drawn parallels between purebloods supremacists and Hitler.
It is understandable for Snape, who had an abusive Muggle father, to renounce his Muggle upbringing and claim his mother’s heritage. However, unless all half-bloods have abusive childhood (Voldemort, Snape, Harry *yawns*), it does not make sense for a Slytherin house mostly filled with half-bloods to swallow the Dark Lord’s agenda. (Not to mention blindly following him into a Cruciatus-filled service, risking life and limbs).
No matter how influential Lucius’ son Draco is, the supposedly numerous Slytherin half-bloods would have easily found a way to shut his mouth real quick. Even though the Mudblood epithet does not apply to half-bloods, it does apply to one of their parents. As we have seen repeatedly in the books, HP characters are awfully sensitive when anyone impugns their parents.
No, it does not make sense for Slytherin House to be filled with half-bloods. While a Potions and Dark Arts genius like Snape might admit to his half-blood status, the other less illustrious half-bloods would keep quiet about their heritage. If the majority of them are half-bloods, it would be like a whole gaggle of noveau riche pretending that they are royalty. If everybody knows that everybody else is also a half-blood, why bother?
P.S. How the hell do these purebloods keep on meeting and falling in love with Muggles anyway? (Wizarding world being insular as it is and Muggleborns being the minority in Hogwarts.) If we are to believe that the majority of the Wizarding world are half-bloods, that is.
I can go on, but I’ll spare you for now. Thoughts?