Muggle vs. Magical (SS/HG Exchange Brainstorming/Research)

[m_mcgonagall_65]

Muggle vs. Magical -- What if Hogwarts had a club to introduce Muggle things to the students?  What things would Muggles do just as well at or better than the Wizarding World and why?  At what things would the Wizarding World excel?  For example, Muggle vs. Magical cheesemaking?  Chocolates?  Wine-making?  Literature?  Theater?  Entertainment?  Medicine?  Other ideas?

Comments

[morethansirius.livejournal.com]

A part of me thinks that the use of magic could lead to a certain amount of impatience with things that take nurturing. Somehow I expect wine and cheese to be better in Muggle form. Medicine is way better in the Wizarding world. We never saw much of the Wizarding entertainment world, but based on Celestina Warbeck and the Weird Sisters, I'm going to give the Muggles another win when it comes to music! I wouldn't be surprised to discover some great authors and playwrights were wizards and witches, but I think the Muggles would have the edge in Theatre. The goblins excel in silverwork and probably jewelry. Wizards can grow anything Muggles can and then some, so they win at gardening. Cooking and baking is probably a toss up. Wizards may have the edge in speeding things up, but Muggles look at food as an artform. Then again, there might be a tendency to depend on the house-elves for food and there may not be much change in Wizarding food. As for candy and chocolate, I'm giving that to Honeydukes, hands down!

[m-mcgonagall-65.livejournal.com]

I agree with you on the cheese. From my understanding of the process, it's the milk and the aging that does the trick--not much Wizards can do to improve on that.

Is elf-made wine a canon or fanfiction invention? I wondered if there was magic to control all the conditions (temperature, etc.) if Wizarding wine might consistenly be better, but I don't know enough about wine-making to know.

I wonder about chocolate. Do you think that Honeydukes has all the different kinds of chocolate that Muggles do? Why would Honeydukes chocolate be better than Muggle chocolate? I agree that the candy is more imaginative in the Wizarding world, both good and bad. :)

[morethansirius.livejournal.com]

Elf-made wine is canon as Snape offers it to Narcissa and Bellatrix in Spinner's End. Maybe it's just the elves that make wine as the only other reference to wine I recall is the nettle wine in Snape's first year logic puzzle. Though the wizards definitely do other stuff like butterbeer, gillywater, red currant rum, Single Malt Whisky and Ogden's Old Firewhisky.

Hmmm. You have a point about the chocolate. We Muggles do rather obsess over it. I think Honeydukes may be more creative on candy in general, but maybe Muggles should have the edge on chocolate, especially dark chocolate.

[m-mcgonagall-65.livejournal.com]

I don't know enough about either wine making or chocolate making to really know if there is anything that would favor Muggles or Wizards. I was thinking that the quality of chocolate mostly depends on the quality of cocoa beans.