The Rest of England During the War

[queenie]

One of the most widespread complaints about the seventh book as a culmination is that Harry spends about eighty percent of it camping. Aside from one brief, gutwrenching scene at the Ministry of Magic, we know very few concrete details about the state of England during the period from late August 1997 to early June 1998. Where were the upright Aurors? Where did everyone get their wands if Ollivander's was closed? What became of all those Muggle-born wizards? Where was the United States while all this was going on - indeed, did the US even know anything about this? Were the arts suppressed, and how?

My idea for this thread came, actually, from a very specific musing. It's a little conclusion I came to when contemplating the seventh book, especially Dora Tonks's pregnancy. Putting aside JKR's plot decisions and whatever else, it kind of bothered me. Tonks always came off to me as someone who's very professional and competent. A career woman, if I may say so, who knows she does a dangerous job. There's got to be some kind of Contraceptive Potion on the market, and I think it would be simply foolish to not use it when you're a regular combatant in a war. There are numerous reasons why, and I don't need to go into them.* So why would Tonks be so foolish as to allow herself to get pregnant?
If she did it in the hopes that Remus would stay with her, then my opinion of her as a character drastically lowers. If one supposes that she just wanted a child, well, I can understand that, but then it looks even more like JKR rewrote her character and Remus' to set up their tragic deaths, as she does not seem the type to put her biological clock above the needs and dangers of the world.

However, I had a thought - an inspiration, maybe? - on this topic. Maybe Tonks had no choice. We know that the Ministry of Magic was undergoing subtle changes and subversions for a long time before Scrimgeour fell -- loosening the foundations so that it would all topple like a house of cards at Voldemort's signal. It makes sense to assume that the Death Eaters have been infiltrating other aspects of Wizarding life, too.

I mentioned above that a Contraceptive Potion must be in existence. It makes sense. However, like the Animagus transformation, one can imagine the slightest mistake in this recipe could have very, very bad consequences. So it follows that there may be potions sold at apothecaries, or over the counter at St. Mungo's - professionally made, either mass-produced or tailored to the individual (this could make a cool fanfiction or essay topic.)

Now fast forward to the Death Eaters working to make England their own country, a model for the rest of the world to follow (albeit a work in progress.) I can see Bellatrix or another pureblood nut saying, "the first thing we do, let's stop the sale of contraceptives." Wizards are, to their mind, the Master Race. Wizards need to make more of themselves. Any wizard who doesn't is probably a blood traitor and we should hunt them down and kill them.
Hence, whether sold or distributed at St. Mungo's, all contraceptive potions, charms, or what-have-you are stopped. Dora's good with potions, but like we said, a Contraceptive Potion is something that could go badly wrong, and it only takes one time to, ah, continue the circle of life.

So, that's what I have to contribute on what was happening to England during the war. Any other thoughts?

* Though I do feel an urge to start quoting Bob Dylan.

[Author By Night]

Regarding Tonks and a contraceptive potion, perhaps as with muggle ones, there's still that .1% chance you'll get pregnant anyway. Is it likely? No, but it can happen. There's also cases where a couple overlooks something. And let's face it - even if Tonks is a responsible career woman, she's still a human being. Sometimes human beings make mistakes, particularly in times of stress.

Your theory on contraceptives being banned is interesting, but I don't think Death Eaters seem to have a "let's have loads of children" mentality. Draco is an only child, and we never hear of Crabbe, Goyle, or Pansy Parkinson having siblings. In fact, the only large family we've met is the Weasley family, and they're noted for having a lot of children. So clearly, Death Eaters use contraceptives.

[queenie]

True - for themselves every Death Eater seems to prefer small families, but it's hard to imagine them looking favorably on a pureblood couple that's deliberately not having children. You'd think they'd want as many purebloods as possible - even if not all in the same family - to keep the race of wizards afloat, so that eventually they can overpower Muggles entirely. But then again, maybe they'd rather have the wizards as a superior minority, than have a world full of wizards? Which would the Death Eaters prefer?

[MWPP]

I had a problem with Tonks being so "love sick" in the first place. She is supposed to be the equivalent of "Black Ops", yet here she is allowing her magic to be affected publically (blowing her own cover to the real world). If she was really that weak, why is she on such an elite team? Such a weakness can be used against the Order or even individuals by the bad guys.

I thought the pregnancy was a device JKR used to make Remus irredemable to the slash fans. There were a couple interviews circa OotP where JKR seemed a bit annoyed at all the sexualization of Remus and Sirius.

Another concept, all the love story fan fics seem to go where the writer wants to go irrespective of logic and established canon. So, perhaps, JKR went all Madam Pudifoot because she wanted to. Too bad Tonks is an Auror in the middle of the worst situation in twenty years, too bad Remus is the tortured loner.

There are more ways to avoid pregnancy than chemicals. I don't like the argument that BC Potions are the whole ball of wax. There'd be all the ones avilable to Muggles (if the Magical World knows about them) and parallel magical ways, spells, etc. If these wizards can completely dry their clothes and warm up with a spell or clear up a broken nose, they can deal with contraception in ways that aren't dependent upon swallowing something. That, therefore, makes Tonk's pregnancy intentional.

Molly sort of hints at not-well-thought-out marriages and such during wartime. I suppose that is what JKR was using this for, and to make their demises more of a tear-jerker.
(Personally, I have a theory that all the ones who created the Marauders' Map doomed themselves to untimely deaths by using the dark magic to create it, and this was one loose end JKR actually tied up, with Tonks along for the ride.)


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During V's prior play for power there was a lot of strife in the Muggle world about Viet Nam and the goings on in Africa, and when Grindlewald tried for dominance the Muggles were busy with WWII. I don't remember much in the late 1990s that was a world-wide event. What covered all the strife and chaos this time?


.

[birdg]

I think JKR got Remus and Tonks together because she wanted Teddy to exist and she had a good idea she was going to kill of Remus but wanted to give him a bit of happiness before he went.

As for Tonks jeopardizing missions because of her personal issues, I don't see how anything she did was worse than what Snape or Dumbledore did because of their issues.

There are more ways to avoid pregnancy than chemicals. I don't like the argument that BC Potions are the whole ball of wax. There'd be all the ones avilable to Muggles (if the Magical World knows about them) and parallel magical ways, spells, etc. If these wizards can completely dry their clothes and warm up with a spell or clear up a broken nose, they can deal with contraception in ways that aren't dependent upon swallowing something. That, therefore, makes Tonk's pregnancy intentional.

Since they require potions for a whole range of medical issues, I don't know why pregnancy would be any different. I've read fics where witches use Contraceptive Potions but wizards have Contraceptive Charms that I assume work the way condoms do.

I don't remember much in the late 1990s that was a world-wide event. What covered all the strife and chaos this time?

Not much world-wide but there were various things such as:
- The collapse of the Soviet Union
- Iraq War 1.0
- Various Intifadas in the Middle East
- The Rwandan genocide
- The war/genocide in the former Yugoslavia
- Tensions in Northern Ireland
- Tensions between India and Pakistan
- Various Al-Qaeda attacks around the world
- Anti-globalization protests.

[Mirabelle]

I know of a child who was conceived even though his parents used three forms of birth control--condoms, the pill, and I think the diaphram. They thought they had all their bases covered so they were very surprised when the mother found out she was pregnant. Tonks could have been on a contraceptive potion, used a charm, and also used Muggle contraceptives and she still could have gotten pregnant. All it takes is one sperm.

She is supposed to be the equivalent of "Black Ops", yet here she is allowing her magic to be affected publically (blowing her own cover to the real world).

Tonks appearance was affected but what indication is there that her ability to do any other magic was similarly affected? She managed to heal Harry just fine. She survived the first battle at Hogwarts unscathed.

[dancingpony]

It's been well publicized that JKR initially intended to kill off Arthur Weasley during Order of the Phoenix, but she changed her mind at the last minute. She still wanted to kill off a father, though, as a lesson about the sacrifices of war. Who else did she have among the "good guys?" I've always thought she made Remus Lupin into a father with the sole intention of making him that sacrifice.

[queenie]

Because, you know, the rest of Book Seven just is not gut-wrenching enough.

I think that's a sign of pretty poor writing. As far as I can tell, I understand that JKR wrote Harry Potter in a very structured way. The Epilogue was meant to parallel much of Harry's first visit to Nine and Three Quarters, for example. Many characters have a deliberate foil, a deliberate journey that they must take to become more balanced individuals. There is much structure between the characters and their plot. However, the first few books (I won't say exactly how many) didn't feel structured at all. They felt very natural, and were all enchanting.

But this "have to kill a father figure" - this insistence on a structure to the point where she writes her characters in ways that seems to violate their previously established personalities - that loses the natural flow that the action had. Since she couldn't or didn't justify these character inconsistencies within the text, they appear to be flimsy or poorly-written, no matter how justified it may be in her own head. And the pages and pages of fans justifying what characters did also irritates me, almost making me think that we're putting more thought into Book Seven than she did.

It makes me think, if she wanted some father figure to die, she could have made Dumbledore, one of Harry's closest father figures, be wrong, or at least called to task on all the manipulation and lies he's pulled through all seven books. That would be a death worse than the other - and yet also a catalyst for forgiveness.
Response that I imagine: "But Dumbledore is too multilayered to be just reduced to a father figure, especially in his relationship with Harry!"
To which I would answer, "I thought that Remus was like that too."

Sorry. Bit of a rant.

[birdg]

I think Remus was always doomed to die the same way the rest of the generation was. I think JKR just made him a father to 1.) let him have some happiness and something to leave behind and 2.) to kill two birds with one stone (so to speak) by killing off Remus as she intended and making him a father so she could also kill off a father figure.

[Mirabelle]

I always thought Remus' death had more to do with the Resurrection stone scene than some mental list JKR had about people who had to die. She was going to kill off the Hogwarts Class of '79, I don't think Remus was ever going to live.

[Rugi]

I've got to agree that Remus was doomed from the beginning (like Sirius and Snape). The whole '79 group's death I think symbolized the sacrifice and purging that had to be made.

I think giving him a son was intended, among other things, to compare the failed past with the, hopefully, more successful, hopeful future - Teddy is orphaned, for example, but he has the added help of having lots of people in his life, outside of his family, who are all interested in his life and welfare. Additionally, Remus's death showed the reality of the war in an intimate way - people die and leave families behind, that's life.

[starsea]

I think Jo actually intended Remus to live until OotP but when she couldn't kill Arthur, she decided to sacrifice Remus instead. I think having Remus in the Resurrection Stone scene also played a big part.

Let's see... 1997 was the year that Labour came to power. The Conservatives had been in power for 18 years (almost Harry's life span) and they'd managed to kill most of British industry, destroy the unions and create a terrible economic downturn. In the Muggle world, 1997 was seen as the end to all this and the start of a new era (Cool Britannia and all that). It was a time of immense hope, which has sadly degenerated into an economic downturn even WORSE than the one we suffered under the Conservatives, and financial institutions toppling like dominos due to lack of financial regulations.

[doriscrockford]

I also remember reading that she wanted Teddy to be born as a mirror to Harry and how Harry's life might have been different if he'd been raised by a loving family.

As for Tonks getting pregnant: it happens. One of my friends was born clutching her mother's diaphragm. Why her mother felt the need to share that information with her is another story ...

And the Tonks "lovesick" stage was definitely a red herring in my opinion. When reading OotP for the first time, who didn't think she was being impersonated?