She didn’t mean James Potter.
She meant Severus Snape.
(First quote: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter Two: A Peck of Owls; Second quote: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Chapter Thirty-Three: The Prince’s Tale)
- J. K. Rowling: I said to Arthur, my American editor - we had an interesting conversation during the editing of seven - the moment when Harry takes Draco's wand, Arthur said, God, that's the moment when the ownership of the Elder wand is actually transferred? And I said, that's right. He said, shouldn't that be a bit more dramatic? And I said, no, not at all, the reverse. I said to Arthur, I think it really puts the elaborate, grandiose plans of Dumbledore and Voldemort in their place. That actually the history of the wizarding world hinged on two teenage boys wrestling with each other. They weren't even using magic. It became an ugly little corner tussle for the possession of wands. And I really liked that - that very human moment, as opposed to these two wizards who were twitching strings and manipulating and implanting information and husbanding information and guarding information, you know? Ultimately it just came down to that, a little scuffle and fistfight in the corner and pulling a wand away.
- Melissa Anelli: It says a lot about the world at large, I think, about conflict in the world, it's these little things -
- J. K. Rowling: And the difference one individual can make. Always, the difference one individual can make.
When people say these books are children’s books, as if to demean them, I balk. These books dealt with themes that even some adults do not fully understand or wish to. They dealt with racism, classism, sexism, homophobia, prejudice, and general ignorance. These books taught us that it doesn’t matter how you were raised, but that you get to choose to be kind, loyal, brave, and true. They taught us to be strong under the pressures of this world and to hold fast to what we know to be right. These books taught me so much, they changed me as a person. Just because they’re set against a fantastical backdrop with young protagonists does not mean that their value is any less real.
>>I decided to make a post in an attempt to explain white privilege:
Imagine it is 100 years after the Wizarding War. Prejudice against Muggleborns has been prevalent even before the War. During the War, Muggleborns were rounded up, forced to register with the government, sent to prison, and often killed purely for being Muggleborn.
Fast forward, imagine Muggleborns have fought hard to establish greater legal rights in their society. They are now protected from some forms of discrimination.
However, prejudice against Muggleborns still runs rampant. They still are oppressed in society. The “Mudblood” word is still used in an attempt to hurt them. Trying to take back the slur “Mudblood,” Muggleborns have begun reclaiming it. They also have begun asking for more legal protections - legal protections that will not fix their oppression, that will not even make them close to as powerful as purebloods are - but will make the gap between Muggleborns and Purebloods in wizarding society a little bit smaller. Some Muggleborns may react in anger to their oppression - they might call purebloods Death Eaters or make up a word (but no word they can ever create will be half as hurtful as the word “Mudblood” - the word people like them were oppressed with)
However, this does not please some purebloods. How dare the Muggleborns ask for protections? How dare it be okay for Muggleborns to say “Mudblood,” when for Purebloods it would be considered offensive? They are angry. They make up a word for something they call “bloodism.” They put it in their dictionaries, and they define it as “the belief that any blood purity level is better than or should be treated different than another one.”
“Ha,” they say to the Muggleborns, ”You’re just being bloodist. You believe your blood purity level has characteristics that mean you deserve to be treated then us.” The Muggleborns are confused. After all, purebloods created the entire system of bloodism that now pervades wizarding society in the first place. The purebloods point to their definition, ignoring the fact that they created that definition in the first place, saying, “You’re just being reverse bloodist. We’re all the same, really. You should just be blood-blind.”
