Muggle Britain != Magical Britain

Just saying. A glass or two of whiskey doesn't seem wrong at all for me, especially considering Sirius' role (cool uncle, not caring about rules, etc.)

 

When did this happen? I have literally no recollection of this. Not even the slightest inkling of a memory.

 

The second scene of chapter 8.

 

I think that the most interesting part of the Harry and Hermione dynamic in this story isn't how Calypso burned the letter. I'm more interested in Hermione because she sees a different side of Harry. At first, she seemed afraid that he might curse Nathan, but as time went on, she started to like talking to him about different things. She has sent him a letter, and we know that they get along fairly well when they meet over the holidays.

She was there when he threatened Ron and admitted to learning the Dark Arts, she saw him curse Ron, and now, she has seen him threaten/intimidate Draco. Hermione wasn't happy when she thought that Harry was giving Nathan and list of Dark Arts spells to learn, but she seems to, generally, not care if Harry knows them. She just seemed scandalized that he would be using her to get Nathan to learn them.

I'm not sure what to make of her to be honest. I could definitely see someone with her intelligence eventually being drawn to the Dark Arts. Especially, if after seeing that Draco incident, she confronts Harry about it during the school year and wants to know exactly what it is that Harry learns in that class. Maybe, it is a stretch, but after reading Vampire!Hermione in Stalking Blood Sack, I've been seeing the potential Dark!Hermione fics in almost everything I read.

 

Oh snap! If this story becomes Harry/Hermione I would be ever so happy :awesome

/trollface at Hermione haters.

 

Oh right. Can't believe I forgot that. Originally I thought the post was referring to a letter Calypso burned without ever reading it, hence my confusion.

 

I would say that Hermione is at her core a practical person. In a world without Voldemort, Death Eaters, Peter, and people actively trying to kill her friends; I would say she would swear off dark arts and any people who practice them. In fact high level attack spells that are lethal or can be lethal she would probably do the same as there is no reason to learn them or associate with people who wish to learn them.

In this world though, there are people who are trying to kill her friends and herself and that changes the game. There is a reason to learn higher level attack spells in order to protect oneself, there is a reason to have a good understanding in the dark arts in order to defend oneself from them, and there is most certainly a reason to make friends with people who dable in these higher battle magics. I don't actually think that she would go much farther than that; I really doubt her morals would allow her to sacrifice a creature just to learn magic...especially a cute bunny. The situation for her to tolerate such things would have to be really bad. This is how I read her character.

I can see Hermione being drawn to Harry for so many reasons. The fact that he is the smartest wizard of this generation is just a small part of it. He offers her the chance to actually be intellectual without being teased or ignored; a person who would actually listen and comprehend what she is saying along with just plain maturity. That is something that none of her peers can possibly offer her. I suppose he also has the dangerous edge that girls like as well, but that dangerous edge is tempered by his good family and her current interaction with him.

I was also thinking that in her mind he might actually be obtainable as opposed to the boy who lived. Even assuming she had a crush on Nathan, that might very well feed into Harry. When someone fantasies about the person they like they often make them smarter, or more understanding, or any other feature that they find attractive. It's kind of ironic that Harry is probably all the things that Hermione might fantasies Nathan to be. So if she has romantic feelings for Nathan I can see her emotions getting muddled by Harry.

I would assume that Lily rather likes Hermione and would welcome one of her boys dating her. If Calypso missteps in her manipulation I could see Lily trying to play match maker. If for no other reason than to get Harry away from the bad influence that is Calypso. I actually like Calypso and want to see her with Harry, but I do like the idea of a little more girlfriend family tension.

 

Well, this is true in canon too and I do not remember Hermione using any "higher level attack spells" there. In fact, I remember her stopping Harry from incapacitating DE in DoM because he had a baby head and so he was a baby, her getting hurt in DoM because her chosen spell to defeat experienced wizards was Silencing Charm, she cast most impressive spell in HBP against Ron, not against DE and in DH she stuck to "Dumbledore-approved" spells too, unlike Harry.

 

I was actually responding to Rakkety Tam about Hermione's possible acceptance or tolerance of Harry's use of the dark arts and other questionable magics. Speaking about how I felt The Santi had written the character. Even so I would stand by what I said even on Cannon Hermione. She is a person who believes in the rights of all creatures and more than likely has pacifist mindset. The fact that she knows any offensive spells that could really hurt some is a testament to the dangers of the situation. I destincly remember her using Confringo a curse that literally causes things to burst into flames on Nagi and using Obliviate rather freely, not just on her parents but on Death Eaters as well. The moral ramifications of memory charms can not be stressed enough. Most of the spell work she uses threw out the series isn't really designed to kill or hurt, but more to disarm and knockout. We really didn't see cannon Hermione being put in a position to really show off any higher level spells. She was never really pushed to her moral breaking point, I believe if she ever had been we would have seen just how much destructive magic she really knew. My view is she knew the magic, but was never fully realized the position they were in. If someones throwing killing curse at you, you don't respond with a stunner, not if you have come to the realization that your really in a war. She's a good person who would undoubtedly find and learn battle magic to protect her friends and herself, but I believe it would take quite a bit for her to really start to utilize the more lethal spells.

 

I don't think anyone in canon used Dumbledore approved spells. Dumbledore was a fucking boss. I don't know what that first spell he used in OotP against Voldemort was, but I'm willing to bet it would have been a very long stay in the hospital for anyone who got hit by it. The power of the spell was enough that it caused Harry's hair to stand on end. Voldemort even asked Dumbledore why he wasn't trying to kill him which seems to imply Dumbledore has attempted to do so in their previous encounters. I'm going to give you the quote from the book as to how Dumbledore replied.

I'm not entirely sure what Dumbledore had in mind here, but it would have certainly not been an enjoyable occasion had Voldemort seen fit to stay around instead of attacking Harry and then when that failed fleeing.

I'm glad the Santi seems to understand this at least. I believe it was the Highmaster who talked about being casually set on fire by Dumbledore. Dumbledore earned his reputation as being someone you didn't want to run into on the battlefield. He could take out a room full of wizards trained to fight with a single wave of his wand. Dumbledore approved spells indeed!

 

Just to clarify, in britain its legal to drink in a private home from the age of 5 with parents, and i believe 16 in a pub with food and also a guardian there. But you can only legally purchase alcohol yourself when you ar 18, altho i guess the age of majority is 17 in cannon. But yeah it is very normal for uncles/parents/family friends to yet kids as young as 13/14/15 to have a few drinks in a controlled environment (and if not many that age are drinking 2 litre bottles of cider in a park. I know i was when i was 13/14

 

Actually, even in a pub I'm pretty sure as long as it's bought by a responsible adult, a five year old could happily have a pint.

 

I sense a paradox.

 

I guess it depends on your moral views. Because in the U.K it is legal in your home with adult consent to drink from five, because it's legal my father had no problem giving my brothers and sister a beer or two when we lived there... Some parents have the view with drinking, if it's legal it's okay.

But he was still a responsible father about it, I mean he never channelled my brother to a binge drinking match until he was fourteen. Father still had limits on what he gave his kids and how much.

So not really a paradox, I think by a responsible adult it just means limits that a parent or guardian have or don't have when it comes to drinking.

 

Not according to these two websites. The limit on licensed premises is 16, not 5, for a pub to serve you a drink, with a meal, in the company of an adult/guardian [no adult/guardian required in Scotland].

5 years and older are allowed to drink at home with parent/guardian permission.

That aside, a pint of anything is a bit much for a 5 year old to drink. Tiny hands and tiny bladder to hold such a big drink.

And... talk about off topic. Are we all agreed that there's nothing unusual about Sirius, a wizarding Brit [which JKR based on muggle British culture], giving his godson a drink? Good, let's move on.

 

..you meant this sarcastically, right?

 

In defense of my fellow resident of Western Australia, there's nothing too unusual with that. It isn't exceedingly common to do so at 14, but I've known plenty of parents who drank their kids under the table at least once during their kid's teenage years. You gotta put the boy in his place when he starts getting all cocky and thinking he's better than he is.

 

True- A lot of families down here do that, my brother respects the fact our father can drink him under the table and at the same time it helped take him down a peg or two.

I mean some of the things we do down in Australia are a little… odd, but they do work.
For example my history teacher was lecturing our class about patriotism and was explaining that Australia considered patriotism in a slightly different way to a few other counties.
He pulled out the Australian flag, put it over his shoulders and struck a proud pose… The class was not very impressed. He then took our flag and proceeded to wipe his arse with it. The class loved it and burst into laughter… he then told us that other schools in other countries might not have the same positive reaction… it was an interesting lesson. Unlike Australians, other counties might not find polishing one's arse with the national flag to be an act of hilarity.

 

Getting back on topic I have two questions for people with a better memory or who recently reread this fic. The first one - do we know what Potters do for living? Or Sirius? Do they have a job or live on their fortunes (though I'm rather sure that Potters don't have that much money in this story).

The second one - I'm a little confused about it, but why Kira was so angry about not going to the Athenian Academy (or should it be the Athens Academy, like mentioned in chapter 6)? It makes sense if she consider it to be superior to Durmstrang and wanted to be there, which I suppose is interesting if it really is, but maybe there is other reason for it?

 

It's because Kira's family is continually rejected from attending the Athens Academy. Presumably it's a point of shame for Kira's family. Calypso mocks her about this.

That's all we know about it.