Practical questions:
1) Can a wizard or witch date a muggle?
Absolutely! But it might be tricky because muggles are weird. An extension of that question is-- what is the success rate of those relationships? One happy example in the Harry Potter canon include Ted Tonks, a muggle, and Andromeda, of the great house Black, who married and produced the charming Nymphadora. On a darker note, there are three relationships that come to mind that were less than ideal: Merope Gaunt and Tom Riddle Sr., parents to the miscreants of all villains-- Lord Voldemort; Eileen Prince and Tobias Snape, parents to the devilishly intelligent Severus Snape; and Kendra and Percival Dumbledore, parents to the greatest wizard in the series, Albus Dumbledore. Why are these 'less than ideal' relationships? Starting with Voldy's padres, Merope, a pure-blood descendant of Salazar, beguiled Tom Riddle with a drug (Amortentia potion). That is ... sad. Pathetic really. Her love for the snotty muggle led her to desperate measures. Tom Riddle Jr. did not know anything of love because he never experienced it in his life time. He was deprived of one of the greatest loves--that of a mother's love--because she died as a result of heartbreak.
Switching to the Snape household, this was an unfortunate relationship because Tobias was abusive. What made him a time bomb? I don't know. I can only speculate that perhaps he felt intimidated by the magical powers of his wife and son? I wonder if Eileen told her husband she was a witch? We all know that she could have turned him into a toad, but unfortunately, it seems as though she did not. Something was off in that marriage and poor Severus was roped into it. He matured to adulthood and through out the course of his life he made some poor decisions, but because of friendship-- which is a powerful form of love-- he also made some brave decisions. Returning to his parents relationship, perhaps if there was more understanding, communication, kindness, etc. Severus would have avoided the mistakes of his youth? Once again, the muggle and witch relationship did more harm than good.
Last example is that of the Dumbledore's. This was, for the most part, a positive relationship because it produced the greatest wizard of the century--Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. The reason I included it as a 'darker note' was because of the result of what happened to Dumbledore's family. Albus's mother, Kendra, was a muggle who descended from a Native tribe in America (I will argue this point every day of my life)! She married the pure-blood wizard, Percival. Of course that strong magical gene was passed on to their three children. Due to the foolishness of muggles, Ariana (sister to Albus) was tortured as a young child because she displayed magic, which frightened the muggle boys. Percival, retaliated in defense of his daughter and was sent to prison (Azkaban). Ariana was forever scarred by the unfortunate incident. Her muggle mother took care of her, but in the end was killed by the erratic magic that burst forth from Ariana. I imagine the Dumbledore marriage was full of happiness, hope, and love. I am sure that Kendra, though non-magical, had to summon an insurmountable amount of patience for her magically strong children and husband. Their magic was never meant to be bottled up. A muggle who marries a witch or wizard must be able to handle the unpredictability of magic. That's just the simple truth of it.
2) Would a Slytherin date a Gryffindor? Or vice versa? And what are the best combination of Hogwarts houses?
Ha, of course it is feasible for students from different houses to date one another: Severus, a Slytherin, loved Lily, a Gryffindor; Harry, a Gryffindor, had interest in Cho Chang, a Ravenclaw, who also charmed Cedric Diggory, a Hufflepuff! The real question becomes, "are there lasting relationships between couples from different houses?" Again, the answer is "of course!" Look at Tonks, a Hufflepuff, and Remus Lupin, a Gryffindor. Alas, I cannot think of other relationships in which students from different houses married one another... Neville Longbottom, a Gryffindor, married Hannah Abbot of Hufflepuff! That's a cute coupling that I am pleased to mention.
Skipping to the next question, I think the best combination of couples from different houses would be Slytherin and Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Gryffindor, and Slytherin and Gryffindor. Why?
- I think a Ravenclaw and Slytherin couple would make quite an intelligent team. Witty, charming, efficient and ambitious. Oh my, they would be one of those power couples in the business world.
- I think a Gryffindor needs their ego stroked by someone who is more likely to give it, like Hufflepuff. Ha. No further comment needed.
- I love the idea of a person from Slytherin and a person from Gryffindor because of the image of fire and ice. This relationship would be full of gusto, excitement, surprise, and perhaps the greatest heartbreak.
And this concludes the post for today. I am still working out the kinks as to how I "magically sort" two people. Ha ha ha. Whatevs. My main concern is how easily this post was written. I need to prepare my lab meeting presentation, not writing about Harry Potter stuff!!!
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