Wizarding World Culture

This is the place where Rowling's excuse for world building falls down most. From my perspective, she cannot seem to decide if she wants to actually build a hidden society living in parallel with the non-magical one, or if she is making magical families different simply as an excuse for humor. If the former, then some of the more ludicrous elements she has introduced are flaws in the design. If the latter, then the massive amount of backstory that she has provided in her various website articles is superfluous, unnecessary, and frankly a waste of time. If you want to write a farce, do so. If you want to engage in some world building to satisfy those, like myself, who want more detail, then take us seriously.

One thing is abundantly clear, and this quote says it perfectly.

[I]t’s one of the problems with magic. It lets you be more. Good becomes great, bad becomes vile, quirky becomes insane and followers become subservient. Magic makes you more, but you need to know what you are, especially if you want to become something specific.¹