Upon the Existence of Muggles

[terri_testing]

“Any woman can weep without tears, and most can heal with their hands.  It depends on the wound.” Peter S. Beagle, The Last Unicorn

If there is anything certain about the Potterverse, it is that there is an absolute gulf between Us and Them.  There are Muggles and their opposites:  Witches and Wizards.

Comments

[sunnyskywalker]

OMG, talk about paradigm-shattering. Wizards would absolutely flip if someone suggested that they weren't categorically different from Muggles.

But we've known all along the dividing line couldn't be too sharp, because Filch can see ghosts. JOdel posited "Muggle-born Squibs" years ago. I just don't think any of us really took that to its logical conclusion

Confirmation bias

[terri_testing]

What's the thing that's always said about prophecies?

They're self-fulfilling.

Oh my yes, belief in a circle.

The old Purebloods: You have to force magic out of them if they don't show it right away by themselves. And it works sometimes, so you do it more.

Whereas the newer crossbred families, believing their baby the hottest thing since sliced bread, finding confirmation....

And Neville--oh, yes! Sabotaging himself with his own beliefs, and transmitting them to his peers. (Of course his teachers who have old-family ties are probably well aware his family considers him barely above a Squib--it's not like Neville can stay in the British WW and NOT encounter expectations.)

I've long thought--that was one of the things that made Lily seem so extraordinary to Severus. That for her, magic was a thing of joy, not fear.

Fascinating...

[librasmile]

...but I never bought that on-off switch thing anyway. It's not really natural since populations require biological diversity to increase their chances of survival. It's culture and to a degree religion which create the problem. Although I think the split that started separating Christians from magic may have begun much earlier. I think it was a council in the 800s that disavowed a belief in body, soul, and SPIRIT and said there was only body and soul. And I read somewhere that some folks believe it's the SPIRIT that's needed to perform magic

Confessions of a Cornwall Grad, great story!

[terri_testing]

Or beginning of a story, I loved the basic premise. Only read the first two chapters before--just went back and read all three--if you ever take it past three, please let me know!

Especially since some of the things you say in chapter three and in your other fics mirror my independent thoughts--love your thoughts on hags, karosti, etc.--why the heck aren't you posting here more? Is it just that you prefer fic to meta?

A more complex and threatening reality, exactly!

Anyhow, thanks for the pleasure and insight your story has given me, and thanks for posting here.

Re: Confessions of a Cornwall Grad, great story!

[librasmile]

Oh thank you :^) No I love good meta. To me, you're one of the meta writers I can always count on to offer something truly substantive and satisfying. It goes in cycles for me though. Sometimes I'm writing fiction. Sometimes I have to pause the fiction just to develop my own meta/head canon before my fiction can proceed. Add in my uncanny knack for experiencing joblessness and killing computers (let's not even get into TVs; I seem to kill those like goldfish *sigh*) and my presence here or anywhere online is frequently kinda spotty

Re: Confessions of a Cornwall Grad, great story!

[oryx_leucoryx]

How well does the plumber get along with Myrtle?