Q. If I am from a Muggle family, how do I know if I am a wizard? A. Chances are good that you might be a wizard. A true Muggle would not even ask that question, since they do not believe in the world of magic and don't know that wizards are real. As you remember Harry Potter had many unusual experiences when he was young that pointed to his being a wizard, but he didn't not realize it at the time. For example, when I was a child my father always took me to the county fair on my birthday. He would try to win a prize for me at the different games. Sometimes he won, but most of the time he didn't. So after riding the rides, just before we left we would go to a booth with a large wheel. The object was to guess what number would come up when the wheel was turned. I would guess one time and win. Year after year this happened, and I would go home with a nice stuffed animal. It was not untill years later that I understood that this was an indication that I was a wizard. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Q. If I am from a Wizarding family, how do I know if I have the gift to be a true wizard, or if (God forbid) I might be a squid. A. Often you will have indications that you are a wizard from an early age as noted above. But, this is not always true. Sometimes the gift lies waiting to be awakened. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Q. How do you become a witch, or is it just natural? A. This is a harder question than you think. When is somethng natural and when isn't it ? Everybody with two arms and eyes has the ability to swing a baseball bat at a baseball. To be a good hitter requires a lot of work, but no amount of work will make a person good enough to hit fifty home runs a season in the Major Leagues. I managed to hit a pop fly in solfball in seventh grade gym class, and everybody was so startled that I hit the ball that it dropped in and I got a single. That is the extent of my accomplishments. In the Chronicles of Harry of the House of Potter, illustrious student at Hogwarts, the chronicler (that is, the historian recording the momentous events) states that children qualify for admission to Hogwarts on account of having a natural talent for magic. Not every child in the world seems to be eligible and that seems to mean that some children do not have a natural talent for magic. It could also mean that the children not accepted at Hogwarts may have a natural talent for magic, but it is a very weak talent, that is to say, about as much talent for magic as I have for hitting a baseball. It is my impression that the term "muggle" is used of people who have either no talent for magic whatever or, at best, a talent so negligible that it is not worth the time of Professor Snape and his colleagues to draw it out, just as not even the batting coach of the Chicago Cubs would try to help me develop my "talent" as a hitter. So a person, regardless of one's religious persuasion, does not have a choice as to whether or not he or she has a natural gift of magic. If you have the gift, the question becomes "What do you do with the gift? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Q. If I am 11 years old and it is the end of the summer and I have not gotten a letter from Hogwarts yet, how do I know if that is because my family is just keeping it from me? A. Perhaps you are a muggle after all. Don't blame your family. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Q. Can a person be a wizard and a Christian? A. If you are born with the gift of wizardry, then you are a wizard. You can't stop being a wizard by being a Christian, or a Jew, or a Muslim, or a Hindu, or a Buddhist, or any other religion. If you are a Christian and you find that you also have the gift of wizardry, then you have to do what any other Christian has to do with any other kind of gift. That is to say, you should use your gift of wizardry to do things that go along with the teachings and personal example of Jesus and you should try very hard to avoid doing things that are the opposite of the teachings and personal example of Jesus. For example: A person who is big and strong can't stop being big and strong by being a Christian. But this strong person can decide to use this strength to threaten people for personal gain (like demanding lunch money) and punching them in the face if they refuse, or this strong person can use this strength to carry sick people to the hospital. Anyone who knows anything about Jesus knows which choice follows the example of Jesus and which one does not. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Q. If I have the gift of wizardry, can I do anything I want? A. If you have the gift of wizardry, you have a very important responsibility to use that gift wisely. You should not use it to bully people you don't like or to make people do things for you. You should use it only to help people. For example, if a friend of yours is a werewolf, it would be nice to make a potion for your friend to keep him or her from turning into a wolf in th middle of a class at school. If a mountain troll threatens your freinds, then it would be nice to knock him out and let a friendly giant carry him back to the mountains where he belongs. Another example: Unicorns are nice creatures and, on the whole, it would be nice to cast a spell that brings one to you. However, you should still think carefully about this. If you get a unicorn to appear in the middle of arithmetic class, your teacher and principle might get upset. Before inviting a unicorn to appear in your back yard, make sure your parents don't mind having a unicorn around. Also make sure that you will have the time and resources to take care of a unicorn. Most important: cast a spell that INVITES a unicorn to come. Don't cast a spell that MAKES a unicorn come. You wouldn't like it if a wizard FORCED you to appear to him or her in a different world and then told you what to do. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Q. Can I be Jewish and a wizard? A. If you are born a Jew and a wizard, then you already are Jewish and a wizard both. As to what you should do and not do is a question that should be answered by your Rabbi. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Q. Can you practice magic if you are a Christian? A. (1) Magic may only be practiced by a Christian if it the magical energy comes from the right source. One should never, never ask the devil for a gift of magic. (Of course one should never ask the devil for ANYTHING! Remember, the devil NEVER wants what is good for ANYBODY.) Now in the research into Wizard Culture that Professor J.K. Rowling has done thus far, no instances of getting magical powers from the devil have been noted. If further reserach should uncover any instances, I am sure that the wizards getting magical power in this way will be the very worst wizards, the sort you would never want to meet! If the source of magic is an inborn gift, then the source is okay and it is a matter of doing good with it. (2) The things that are okay for a Christian to do with magic are pretty much the same things that are okay for Muggles who are Christians to do as well. For example, some wizards know how to light up a room with magic. Muggles have to wire a room with electricity and turn on the switch. It is perfectly okay to light up a room. If you are a wizard, then you should use your magic and save on the electricity. You can use the money you save to buy the next Harrry Potter book or you could give the money you save to the Red Cross or another charity that helps people. Likewise, if you can use magic to cook a meal, as Mrs. Weasley can, then by all means use magic. Cooking a meal for other people is a good thing to do and wizards and muggles should do it in whatever way is best for them. Now , even with a natural gift of magic, there are some terrible things a wizard can do which a Chrsitian should never, never do. For example, you should never, never turn a human being into a toad (or anything else). And you most certainly should never use magic to injure somebody, let alone kill somebody, as Voldemort does when he can. (A real Christian will never want to be like Voldemort!!) In short, we should use what gifts we have to help other people because God loves everyone. Remember, it was the love on the part of Harry Potter's mother that has kept Harry alive and good so far. Love is not a magic spell. Love is something that God wants of all wizards and all muggles. |
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