Chapter 51: Set Backs and Terms III
( Ravenclaw Common Room )
"You can always sit next her too; I can always help you after class if need be," he said, remembering how the lions often treated her like an outsider. Maybe that action would help them bridge that gap?
"Ok. I will have to talk to her about it to see if she's ok with it. Will you be fine without me?" She asked, referring to how he often used her as a shield to keep away their more annoying classmates, who only wanted to leach off his hard work and ability.
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He waved her concerns away with a causal flick of his hand. "I'll be fine, just as long as you are ok. I'll just have to ignore them. It's only for the lessons we have with the grifs anyways, so it won't matter too much.
Besides, you could always send Lavender over to sit next to me, I'm sure I'll be able to handle her for one lesson or two and her being there will scare everyone else way," he replied with a smile. "Besides, I desperately have talk to her about next season's fashion trends. It's always nice to know what the next big thing is," offering her an easy smile and an outrageous wink.
Padma couldn't help but laugh at his explanation and the thought of him and Lavender talking seriously about fashion. When her laughing subsided, she responded, "Yeah, I can just see it now. It's a shame that we don't have a general purpose common room where all the houses can meet, at least that way we could all hang out together. We're so isolated by the houses."
"There probably was one when the founders first created the school and the house system. Or some type of neutral ground at least. I wouldn't be surprised if at some point a headmaster or headmistress thought that it wasn't needed anymore and had it removed after the houses became so insular," he mused.
"It probably occurred due to a series of events building up from the start of the Slytherin/Gryffindor rivalry from the founders themselves," he said sagely, seeing that he still had Padma's attention, before carrying on with his nascent theory.
"Then probably at some point a Pureblood elitist thought of it as a means to further separate the 'elite', i.e. Purebloods, away from the commoners, i.e. first generation magicals, due to politics and personal beliefs. After all Slytherin is the only house that does not accept them at all, whilst the puffs and lions receive most of them." Once again elaborating on a theory he was working on to pass the time.
"First generation magicals... that's a new one," she said in an inquiring tone, raising an eyebrow at this new term.
He smiled mischievously as he answered, "Yeah, it is. I just thought saying 'muggleborn' sounded disrespectful, especially with my mother being one and having Penny as a good friend." He answered, looking over to see Padma nod in agreement, accepting the explanation before asking his own question. "Do you know where the term 'muggleborn' comes from?"
She blushed slightly at her ignorance of such a commonly used term, "No, I don't. I suppose I just never thought about it. Just accepted it, like everyone else did," offering her joint explanation slash excuse to why she had never thought much about it.
"The only reason I know is that my mother looked into its etymology," he admitted, before continuing on.
"Simply put, back in the founders' day, when first generation magicals entered magical society, most of them lived in very primitive conditions such as mud-huts and other unclean environments. Hence they were dirty, unclean, even unable to read or write in most cases, whilst wizards, due to our spells, runes and enchantments, were relatively clean and much better educated as a whole." Stopping to check that she was still following, he continued his explanation.
"Another theory for its origins was that druids considered these new magical to possess new, fresh, fertile blood. Mud was fertile for growing crops, so the term became mud-bloods, or fertile blood. Much more positive connotations in that regard, especially in the context of an agrarian society. Naturally, due to the passage of time, not many are aware of this the term's original meaning anymore. It's just been forgotten and its meaning changed over time to become what it is today." he lectured, rather enjoying himself.
"You have to remember that this was when Hogwarts was first founded, and society as a whole was built on a strict class system, and arguably still is. Historically magical families were stronger due to their blood containing magical inheritances from their ancestors, giving them traits and abilities due to their cumulative ancestry, hence the root of the pureblood ideology.
Most wizards and witches just saw them as an underclass in the pecking order, a commoner to them, whilst individuals like yourself would be considered nobility of the highest order, due to your education, magical strength, and long history of magic in your family," he stated, putting down his book carefully, before continuing.
"Remember at this time society was ruled by power, both in terms of your own individual abilities as well as your family's prowess, but also your allies and the various followers you had in your service. Order was kept by the Wand, by might, not by the law."
Waiting to see Padma nod, he continued on, "Therefore, due to their blood being considered weak from not having any inherited abilities or traits, as well as being filthy, dirty and uneducated when they entered the wizarding world, the terms, like muggleborn, or insults, like mud-blood, were coined. It was likely intended to act as a constant reminder of one's place in the magical pecking order throughout one's life. To remind them that they were beneath another.
It has stuck ever since and acts as a source of control. Of course there are exceptions to every rule, but no one likes being challenged, no one likes the idea of losing their power and being replaced. So whenever some first generation magicals tried rising above his or her intended station, they were ruthlessly put down by factions that feared them. They served as an example to the rest, as well as a pretext for additional laws limiting their rights, reinforcing their position."
"This ingrained prejudice became even greater when the witch hunts began, and fear of magic spread amongst the non-magicals; that's why the laws so strongly favour the old families.
It's all aimed at controlling and suppressing this challenge to their authority and power. It's probably the reason why historically ravens and snakes have been allies and have their own inner house politics," he said carefully.
"Hold on" she said, holding up her hand to stop him from continuing. "What do you mean by ravens and snakes? I accept the explanation about terms such as muggle and everything, and why it continues, but what do you mean by snakes and ravens having house politics?" obviously not making the connection.
"Think about everything I have said," he said carefully, challenging her to keep up, "about Lions and Badgers historically receiving most of the first generation witches and wizards."
Several minutes passed and seeing that Padma still hadn't connected the dots, he decided to give her the answer, "Think about it, how are we sorted and divided and what does each house value? The ideology of Ravenclaw and Slytherin are based mostly on one's ability.
Think about it, the vast majority of magicals throughout history were better educated compared to their muggle counterparts. And then you have ambition. Because these magical families had trained their children from birth, they had the desire to rise to a higher status and rank, whilst first generation magicals, who didn't even know how to read or write, had neither assets, nor necessarily any money.
These new magical were primarily used to performing manual labour, sports and fighting, skills for which you don't necessarily need to be intelligent to be successful in. Hence they were historically sorted into the badgers or lions, since they were the only houses that would accept them at the time," he explained, hoping Padma could keep up with his explanation, before continuing on.
"Now that the non-magical world has a basic education system in place, available to all regardless of socioeconomic standing, these new magicals have been much better educated prior to coming to Hogwarts for their studies in magic. It has allowed for more first generation magicals to meet the minimum necessary requirements to be considered for placement in Ravenclaw house, hence resulting in more first generation witches and wizards being sorted there, when historically they had not been.
In our own way, Ravenclaw is just as elitist as Slytherin, as we value knowledge and education in our members, whilst the snakes value one's blood purity in its internal house caste system. Historically, the first two years at Hogwarts were designed to give first generation magicals a chance to catch up and learn how to read and write, that's why we have so many free slots in our first two years now.
It's also why, historically, Ravenclaw has had the majority of their lessons with the snakes. It's only been in the last 40 or so years that the headmaster has broken with that tradition," he lectured. "Probably under some insane idea to encourage unity between the houses, but as you see that hasn't exactly worked out even after four decades."
"Fair point, but I see no such structure in Ravenclaw," she said while looking around the near empty common room.
"Of course not, we're only first years. We're not considered a challenge to that hierarchy, and neither are the 7th years because they're far too busy with their studies to care about such things. Like any place or group of sufficient number, there is a social order, whether explicit or implicit.
In the future, the top birds in here will be those that are considered the smartest and the most respected. Just watch the common room and look at the layout of the room. The 6th years have prime positions, whilst we sit in the corridors, in the shadows looking in," gesturing to each group.
"Look there, you see that girl," gesturing towards the one with obvious Chinese heritage. "See how she is at the centre of attention? If you watch and listen carefully over the next couple of weeks you will notice that she is a bit of bully.
She doesn't use fists, as that would be too crude for Ravenclaws to respect; she uses words to put people down. In time, if she grows more popular, she will grow more sure of her own supposed superiority, and become an even bigger bully. In the future, she may even decide that we are targets," he lectured, after all there was an advantage to being a bit empathic.
"What do you mean by we are targets," she questioned, clearly concerned about being the subject of future bullying.
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