I had always assumed the beast classification thing was along the lines of not wanting to be a member of the same group as the humans. The fact that they could make that choice in the first place, and understand its consequences, is evidence enough that they're not beasts. I rather suspect it was along the lines of "if you choose, you don't have to live like savages. You can do everything the way that us Europeans do and live with us. And you'll be one of us except when we decide it's time to persecute you." And, seeing no upside in that, they helpfully pointed out that their body was >51% beast before galloping back to the safety of the forest. Mistrust doesn't come from nowhere, and Wizarding Britain provides plenty of reasons for that.
I hate to have that dark of a reading of children's book, but racism is rampant and endemic in that setting. Sure, it's not against what we would consider races of humans -- yet. If Lord Emo took over, it would only be a matter of time before majou shoujo started getting slaughtered for practicing badthink Eastern magic (and for excessive genkiness not befitting the emo nature of magick). And the Ministry is not exactly blameless in the matter of preventing racism.
Bob, I hope you take it as a compliment that I thought someone else had invented your idea on magic. It's something that once read, seems so fundamental. I had assumed it was an IRL magical tradition or RPG, since you've done your research.
-- ∇×V
I hate to have that dark of a reading of children's book, but racism is rampant and endemic in that setting. Sure, it's not against what we would consider races of humans -- yet. If Lord Emo took over, it would only be a matter of time before majou shoujo started getting slaughtered for practicing badthink Eastern magic (and for excessive genkiness not befitting the emo nature of magick). And the Ministry is not exactly blameless in the matter of preventing racism.
Bob, I hope you take it as a compliment that I thought someone else had invented your idea on magic. It's something that once read, seems so fundamental. I had assumed it was an IRL magical tradition or RPG, since you've done your research.
-- ∇×V