Wizarding World and Muggle World relationship

[mountaingirl777]

When I read Harry Potter, I get so confused! I was wondering if anyone could help me with this.

The wizarding world is secret, but they have muggleborns so some muggles do know about magic (the muggleborn's parents, ect). If the purebloods don't associate with muggles (especially those that hate anything muggle) how do they get their food? Are they counted in Britian's population? If so, what are they called? Also, what is a muggle stuff, what is magic stuff (i know, potions and such but I mean food wise), and is there stuff that is inbetween because I know that wizards and witches have combs and toothbrushes and that sort.

[brokenquill92]

Don't worry I'm a little confused too for instance we know that Ottery's St. Catchpole is a mostly muggle village which the the Weasleys have admitted to going into on numerous occasions yet somehow they don't notice ANY muggle tech and gear or have any inclination to find out more about it having lived there their whole lives I call bullshit on that theory

[Kitty279]

There's a lot that doesn't make sense when you put their mentioning in a little scene into a bigger picture, isn't it? How did Molly know how to send a letter by muggle post (even with too many stamps on it) if they have no knowledge? How did she order muggle taxis when they can't even pronounce 'telephone'? How can wizards be so completely ignorant of muggle technology when they adapt trains or radios for their use?

[werewulfking]

Your last question can be answered easily Kitty. It is after all possible for wizards to be ignorant of muggle technology but they still can buy a magical tuned radio. There most likely is a company that builds or tweaks such things.
On the other things: I think there may be an "Tourist Help Desk" in the Ministry of Magic where Wizards can ask questions on how to do something in the muggle world. It would be an explanation at least. Mrs. Weasley went there, got a more or less adequate explanation on how to send a letter from a Wizard who took muggle studies and then botched it up a bit at home. And the same with taxis.

[Kitty279]

You really mean people like Umbitch or Malfoy would accept someone being paid for explaining muggle stuff in the Ministry? The toad would have apoplexy!

[werewulfking]

Yes it is strange to hear but it would give a proper explanation. And even wizards can't ignore muggles totally so yes I think somebody would be paid for it. Most likely understaffed like Arthur's first office but still there.

[19811945]

Aug 28, 2012 5:31:36 GMT -5 Kitty279 said:

You really mean people like Umbitch or Malfoy would accept someone being paid for explaining muggle stuff in the Ministry? The toad would have apoplexy!

I would love to see that. lol.

Maybe we should get Hermoine to explain it better.

[G. Novella]

Pottermore gave some vague explanation I think, can't remember it too much. I always was under the impression that until the Grindelwald war, Wizards probably did adopt a lot of muggle technology and alterred it witb magic, before closing off to save themselves. Later on, they probably stayed away because of the tension. It would explain radios and cars at the least.

[werewulfking]

but wizards closed themselves off much earlier than that. International Statue of secrecy 16.. something isn't it?

[G. Novella]

Yeah, but we don't really hear off them ignoring the muggle world. I meant that they'd probably still observe muggles more openly, and muggle-borns would be heard more.

[dracosfairmaiden]

That's something I've always wondered about. If pure-bloods are supposed to be pure, why do they take a train to Hogwarts? Another thing I've wondered is what kind of food they serve at Hogwarts. Do they eat Muggle foods or is there some kind of wizard's cuisine served there. In the first movie, they were seen eating things like fried chicken and potatoes but maybe it's because the director was American.

[Kitty279]

And do they ever drink something else than pumpkin juice while underage? (Besides the occasional butterbeer) Who is growing the pumpkins to make juice for that many people? Who's growing all that food? Do they do that magically, or do they have to buy it at least partly from muggles?

[mountaingirl777]

Also, I've heard that you can't have electronic stuff at hogwarts because the magic does something to it or visa versa. So, what is different from hogwarts to a magical family's home? Is it te amount of magic or was that an excuse so the students wouldn't be distracted by technology? Or do only muggleborns get the pleasures of muggle technology? Though I don't hear about Hermione or Harry getting a car or other things ( I can understand harry not getting them) unless it was behind the scenes and we only get to see it in fanfics.

[physicssquid]

Aug 28, 2012 13:42:42 GMT -5 Kitty279 said:

And do they ever drink something else than pumpkin juice while underage? (Besides the occasional butterbeer) Who is growing the pumpkins to make juice for that many people? Who's growing all that food? Do they do that magically, or do they have to buy it at least partly from muggles?

I always thought that there was a farm or something on the Hogwarts grounds, making the school self-sufficient. Book 2 did mention a vegetable patch and a chicken coop, so what would stop them having other livestock somewhere?
As for the pumpkin juice, what did they do with the pumpkins that Hagrid grew, after Halloween was over, and what about the bits that were taken out to make the pumpkins hollow? Wouldn't it make sense if some of the pumpkin juice they had came from those pumpkins?

[werewulfking]

And it would be very possible that there is maybe just one farm hidden somewhere that manages to produce all the pumpkin juice because of magical fertilizers isn't it?

[physicssquid]

I didn't mean that. I just meant that some of the juice may come from Hagrid's pumpkins. I don't know about the rest. I'm sure that the pumpkins used at Halloween would produce enough juice for the school for up to a week. Plus individual families may grow their own, and can produce enough for themselves for a few days when the pumpkins are ripe.

[Kitty279]

Indeed, and then? Pumpkins aren't something usually available all year round.

Always thought Hagrid's vegetable patch was more for himself. He's already Keeper of the Keys and Gamekeeper, and later teacher, when on earth is he supposed to take care of that sort of stuff if it's big enough to support a few 100 people? Without magic (he may sometimes use it, but if he does it too blatantly obvious, he'd be in trouble) and without any help?

[werewulfking]

Yes it is very unlikely that they get all their food from the Hogwarts grounds. But I don't think that it is impossible that wizards have an own very small agriculture economy sector. Not just in size but also in people working for it as they can grow much more with smaller space and fewer workers because of spells and/ or magical potions. Or maybe they have special plants that grow the same fruits or vegetables as normal ones but grow much faster.

[mountaingirl777]

what about the families, and hogwarts, that have house-elves? I had always thought that the house-elves did the shopping and such. I don't think they would be going into the muggle world.

[Kitty279]

Indeed - can you imagine the Death Eaters go to the next muggle supermarket to get their food? *snicker*

[brokenquill92]

But this still doesn't explain people like the Weasleys who arent purist in Wizarding tradition yet know nada about muggle when they live and interact with them on a regular basis I mean I know quite a bit about Italian culture because I grew up in a mostly Italian neighborhood even though I'm not Italian so wouldn't it be the same for the Weasleys

[Kitty279]

It really doesn't make much sense, does it? Besides, I find it strange that Arthur is so muggle-obsessed, has a job where he has to do with them, and still doesn't know anything about them. It's as if we are just some exotic animal he likes, but doesn't know anything about.

[werewulfking]

To some extent this was explained by Rowling somewhere, I think it was. I only read about it somewhere but didn't she say that the minds of wizards worked very differently than our minds? I think she answered with this explanation a question about the weird currency system that wizards have. So it would be possible that normal purebloods who aren't raised by muggles can never actually understand them because their minds work so differently.

Because that is really the only explanation for Arthur's mistakes that he is just not able to comprehend muggle technology.

[teflonbilly]

Aug 30, 2012 7:24:00 GMT -5 werewulfking said:

To some extent this was explained by Rowling somewhere, I think it was. I only read about it somewhere but didn't she say that the minds of wizards worked very differently than our minds? I think she answered with this explanation a question about the weird currency system that wizards have. So it would be possible that normal purebloods who aren't raised by muggles can never actually understand them because their minds work so differently.

Because that is really the only explanation for Arthur's mistakes that he is just not able to comprehend muggle technology.

I don't know if it goes so far as what you are describing but I have read the thing about being able to deal with wizarding currency's strange bases without problem.

I don't know if it's that wizards can do phenomenal arithmetic in their heads, way beyond what muggles can, or whether wizards are able to wrap their brains around base17 and base29 and base-whatever numbers without problem.

TB

[Kitty279]

Then it's good I'm not magical, because really - who can work with these stupid numbers on a higher base? Numbers and me just don't go together. Give me the good old decimal system any day!

[Chameleon]

Lol. Whenever I think about Galleons, I'm always unsure how much they're worth, since I always wonder how much worth they are in my currency.

But I imagine that they've got their own cows and that kind of stuff. I'll mean if they manage to have a Ministry of Magic, won't they manage to grow food and that kind of stuff, obviously with magic, to sell to the wizards?

[Kitty279]

JKR said, to my knowledge, that 1 Galleon is supposed to be 5 British Pounds. From there you could convert it into your own currency. (What do you use, btw, Danish or do you have your own?) Though I am not sure that conversion makes much sense. If a wand costs 7 galleons, how can Ollivander live from that bit of money he gets from the first years and the occasional adult who needs a new one?

They have a Ministry that's paid by Death Eaters for looking the other way, so I am not sure that says much

[Chameleon]

So a wand costs around 35 pounds ... That's impossible for Ollivander to live of. Especially when you think about how expensive the costs to make a wand is. We're using Danish, since the country belong to Denmark. Mhew... The politicians have talked about getting free for over fifty years, but nothing happens ... Our Prime Minister is a member of the party that's all about staying with Denmark though.

True, true ... But it's.. you know, food? Every governments need food. x)

[mountaingirl777]

BTW, in Goblet of Fire it shows that the Weasleys don't go into muggle markets because Arthur doesn't know anything about muggle currance, Hermione had to help him....or am I thinking of Titanrules fanfic?

[Chameleon]

That didn't happen. But Harry had to help Mr. Weasley with muggle currency, when they talked with Mr. Roberts, I think. And in OOTP, when they went to Harry's hearing.