InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Claro Que Si!"

The First War Mods (thefirstmods) wrote,
@ 2009-10-12 14:57:00

Entry tags:

game canon, resource

Wizarding England

Population

The population of the wizarding world in England includes all witches, wizards, and other creatures classified as beings. About 94% are human witches/wizards, 2% are vampires, 1% are witch/wizard werewolves, .5% are muggle werewolves, 1.2% are goblins, and 1.3% are 'other beings.'

At any given time, the total magical population is about .05% of the muggle population. In 1978 the magical population was estimated at around 28,000, though it is almost impossible to conduct a reliable census with exact numbers.

Money

Wizarding England, like the rest of the magical world, uses a gold-standard money system based on coins of varying size and materials. The monetary system is controlled by Gringotts Bank, which operates world-wide and holds a monopoly on all banking operations in England.

The standard unit of measurement is a Knut. There are 29 Knuts in a Sickle and 17 Sickles in a Galleon. A Galleon is worth about 5 muggle pounds (£).

Allowing for inflation and exchange rates, the conversion rate from 1978 Galleons to 2009 pounds is about 18. The conversion from 1978 Galleons to 2009 dollars is about 37. The conversion from 1978 pounds to 1978 Galleons remains at 5.

This is a handy conversion tool that allows you type in your own conversion rates.

Culture

The Wizarding World has a very insular culture, even among those considered liberal. Although they live alongside muggles and often times in full view of them, most wizards keep to their own kind due to the Statute of Secrecy; while they have nothing against muggles they find it annoying or stifling to hide their magic in everyday situations. Wizards have created their own versions of everything, from theater to coffee shops, and will rarely venture into the muggle society without a reason, such as having relatives there for muggleborns or half-bloods. There are a few businesses which deal with muggles, mostly those which procure mundane items like food and raw materials for resale in the magical world.

Classes
There are generally considered to be only two classes in wizarding society, Upper and Middle. The very poor or the outcast are shuffled to the side and pressed out to the muggle world; there are very few organizations focused on helping the poor, homeless, or disable which forces them to seek help from the muggle government.

Middle class wizards make up the bulk of the population and share many of the same attitudes and views as their muggle counterparts.

Blood Status
Separate from one's class but closely related is one's blood status. Muggleborns are magical persons born to muggle parents. Half-bloods are magical persons with at least 1 muggle grandparent. Purebloods are (technically) magical persons with four magical grandparents.

There are what is considered to be varying degrees of 'pure' and those who only just make the standard are generally looked down upon by the 'old pureblood' families if they try to trade on their pureblood status. The fewer muggles in a family's history, the purer that family is considered to be.

Though there is no definable physiological difference between pure, half, and muggleborn persons, there is a generally held belief that the purer the blood the more capable the wizard. There is some statistical evidence used to back this up, but it is almost always presented in a slanted manner - children who grow up in a magical household are more acclimated to magic and thus adjust better to a magical education and get better grades. This phenomenon is almost always attributed to blood instead of upbringing, however it is entirely possibly for a muggleborn to perform exceptionally well in magical society.

Trends and Style
Wizards have their own sense of clothing fashion and other styles that are wholly separate from muggles. 'Robes', while the traditional wear of all wizards, has come to replace the term 'cloths' for many as pants/skirts/jackets/ect became more popular. However, most wizards will still wear the traditional version of robes for official or fancy functions. Even when wearing non-robe cloths, the popularity of wizarding materials, culture references, and trends make the overall look very distinctive from that of muggles.

Wizarding architecture and technology tends to be very arcane compared to muggle counterparts, as there are no electronic devices. However, magical substitutes work 'just as well' and can be quite inventive.

Insults
The most venomous insults in the wizarding world generally have to deal with blood and muggle association. 'Mudblood' is someone with unpure blood, usually a muggleborn. A 'mudlicker' is someone who intentionally associates with muggles or with unpure persons.

Women's Rights and Tolerance
Women in the wizarding culture have had equal status for much longer than their muggle counterparts and are free to pursue careers and ambitions as much as any wizard. Witches have a long history of being powerful matriarchs and political figures in both wizarding and muggle cultures.

This is the only instance in which wizards are more tolerant than muggles - their relatively small size in the midst of a much larger, supposedly hostile population makes the wizarding population very intolerant of anyone who could considered a threat to their culture, security, and continued existence. This extends but is not limited to - homosexuals, half-breeds, disabled persons, squibs, and most Creatures.

War Influence
Though most of society continues to try and live their lives as normally as possible, there is quite a bit of fear and suspicion spread throughout magical England. Thus far the majority of persons have not been affected enough to change their daily routines beyond being less friendly and trusting of strangers and significantly more cautious with their personal security. Individuals are more private, keep to their own trusted families, and treat strangers with fear, but on the whole routines have not been changed by those who could reasonably expect to be free from Death Eater attentions. They keep their heads down, ignore as much as they can, and continue on with life.

Muggleborns and muggleborn sympathizers, however, have been treated with suspicion, disdain, and discrimination. On several occasions they have been turned out of their homes or forced out of their communities by neighbors or landlords who fear Death Eater attention. Several businesses have begun a practice of turned out known muggleborns or refusing to hire them, also out of fear of retaliation. Fear outweighs sympathy in most cases, and has started to produce a hatred of muggleborns as people share the blame for the war equally between them and the Death Eaters.

Death Eaters and suspected Death Eaters are also met with fear and suspicion, but as most of them are very powerful in society it is harder to direct anger at them without risking dire consequences. Also, it's harder to prove someone is a Death Eater than it is to prove they are a muggleborn.

Ministry officials, Aurors, and Hit Wizards are met with mixed results. Some heartily support them for fighting against Death Eaters, while others distrust their extreme tactics and notoriously arrogant natures. Many MLE officers have been known to abuse their positions since under the new regulations they are free to do almost anything in the pursuit of suspected dark wizards.

Upper Class Society

The upper class of society is almost entirely comprised of pureblood witches and wizards, although there are some notable exceptions. These half-blood and muggleborn exceptions are generally business men who made their wealth within the past generation or two and are generally seen as 'nouveau riche' and are either not welcome or barely tolerated at 'high society' events.

The majority of the most wealthy and influential families are old pureblood families that have been in power for several generations or more. However not all pureblood families are rich and those that comprise the upper crust of society will often look down upon 'lesser' pureblood families that attempt to trade on their blood status. There is an exception made of old pure families that have longstanding traditions of purity but who have lost their wealth or never reached wealthy status - the fall somewhere between the upper and middle classes in the social hierarchy.

Marriage and Sexuality
Members of high society families are expected to marry and produce children in order to carry on the family name, although these expectations are much relaxed in comparison to muggle societies since witches and wizards live (and are fertile) for much longer than muggles. Arranged marriages are not unheard of but are not considered common and most young wizards and witches are expected to choose suitable matches on their own - this does not keep families from trying to play match-maker, though.

Sexuality in high society is generally a subdued thing, since bloodlines are considered of utmost importance. While there is still the widely held belief that young people should be 'innocent' on their wedding night, pragmatism states that this most likely not going to be the case. A little bit of indiscretion is acceptable, exceptionally within in a committed relationship of some sort, but those who are exceptionally promiscuous are generally seen as being crude and untrustworthy.

General Trends
Most in high society tend to be more conservative and traditional with their fashion sense, political leanings, speech, and social views. Most have careers in the government, business, or finance, almost no one would consider taking a 'blue collar' job. Many are also involved in various philanthropic ventures, even if they are not naturally generous, as it's seen as the proper thing to do and gives them good PR and chances to socialize.

Generally, those in high society do not follow changing trends as much as those in the middle class and feel it is their duty to keep to traditional values and to stabilize wizarding culture.