Wormy Musings

This is spun off of a rant on the marginalisation of Peter Pettigrew.

Does anyone know precisely what kind of "blood" Peter is?

I can't recall explicit details about Peter's ancestry. I realise that Rowling believes the whole blood issue to be insignificant and merely a satirical device used to mock real racism and similar prejudices. But if this was the case, then Rowling did not think this through very well at all. It is one thing to be a "half-jew" or "Mexican-Asian mix", none of those bloods grant you any super powers by genetics (and all associated stigmas are purely socio-cultural); but Wizard blood holds an intrinsic magical property that creates children who are demonstratably "different" from the other kids. Part-hispanics can't shoot lightning out of their fingertips. Wizard children CAN.

That Squibs are rarer than children who sponteanously gain the ability to become a witch or wizard from absolutely mundane ancestries (Muggele-born) implies that the Wizard-gene is a dominant and real thing. And just as a child born to a couple of mixed race would most likely take on random genetic traits from both parents instead of one or the other, leading to particular quirks and inherent talents, the same should be true of the Wizarding Bloods. There would necessarily be some kind of genetic difference between a pure-blood, a half-blood and a muggle-born. Some sort of characteristic outside of the individual's control, such as magical talent, calibre or potential, perhaps. Or a subtle difference in how they are affinited to magic.

It is not ALL about what you do, Ms Rowling, and I hate to sound like such a snob, especially to a senior in the literature world, but as an Asian I believe I can safely say that there are some things I simply cannot do by virtue of my ancestry, such as reach the top shelf in the supermarket. I also consider this to be fair ground to disqualify me from positions such as "shelf-stocker" if the market is unwilling or unable to provide me with some kind of step-stool. Don't you think it's a little worse with your characters, since... you know... magic... accidentally shooting lightning from fingertips... that sort of thing?