Alcohol in the Harry Potter Series

[gottalovelife]

people against teenager's drinking have forgotten what its like to be a teenager

[Foreignpupil]

people against teenager's drinking have forgotten what its like to be a teenager

so very true

*EDIT*
I just had a revelation about my Aunts wedding. At my aunt and Uncles wedding they had an open bar for everyone. Even my five year old sister had wine at her place. I saw this because it was a one time ocassion, and a very special ocassion at that. It kind of reminded me of the wizarding world how they would just serve anyone. I have noticed that they are much more lax with their alcahol in the HP books, although people like Ron, wether out of no desire to, or not being allowed to, have not tried firewhiskey or anything strong

[Vampire_Girl]

Does this actually bother anyone? My friend's mother is super-strict about stuff like this and she doesn't even care! And if anyone out there was really concerned about this, I'd have to say they are being paranoid. No kid is going to become a raving alcoholic because they read about butterbeer in a Harry Potter book.

[FairyNuff]

True, if it were so, any of us could become a soul-less, sociopathic, homocidal maniac bent on world domination.

It is simply a part of life. So, it's reflected in the books.

[Pureblood25]

I did notice that there were some alcohol references in the books, even though I personally wasn't bottered. However, I also noticed that the kids don't consume alcohol other than "butterbeer" (which I agree is like rootbeer) until they are in their 6th year. The 6th year is when most of the kids are already or soon to be 17, which is the adult age for the magical world (As Dumbledore says when he arrives at the Dursley's in HBP). I think that kids understand that there is a certain age to where you are allowed to drink, so therefore I don't believe that it should be a problem.

[N_D_B]

Originally Posted by FrenchHermy

To be honest, I never spotted references to alcohol. Well, of course, I spotted the Butterbeer, but in my mind, it was just a name, it wasn't real beer... (Who would mix beer with butter? It would be really disgusting ) Winky, however, seemed to be drunk because of that, so there must be alcohol... But not very much, in my opinion!
About the wine, in HBP after the burial, Hagrid and Slughorn drank a lot of it, but Harry just seemed to drink a glass, not more, unless I'm mistaken... At least, he didn't drink much...

Harry did not drink any of the whine in Hagrid's house with Slughorn and Hagrid, himself.
Harry knew that if he was to drink that it would have just wasted the Felix potion and he'd never get the memory from Slughorn he needed.

Originally Posted by LuvHP_001

What I wonder is why did JK include it in the book? I guess to show that they're growing up.

Agreed. J.K. wouldn't have thought to put any wine or alcohol, "snogging", or a few "bad" words here and there (I was going to put "curse words", but seeing as this is a book full of curses and spells, it might have mislead some.) in her earlier books.
J.K. wants her readers to stay interested and to do that, she's got to keep up with the maturity level at which her characters and most readers are.

[tapdancer_]

Originally Posted by gottalovelife

people against teenager's drinking have forgotten what its like to be a teenager

GAH you are brilliant!!

[Waste_Of_A_Bomb]

Well, I thought that the alcohol references in HBP were a little excessive (I thought it was a little weird that Dumbledore gave Harry mead) they didn't really bother me. Butterbeers I've always assumed were similar to root beers, with a small amount of alcohol.

[Memphis]

I didn't think Butterbeer was alcoholic...

I believe JK sort of had to put alcohol in the books. When Hagrid goes to the pub, what is he going to drink? The book would sound boring if JK didn't say what he was doing or having.

JK puts the alcohol (and other little things) in to get more descriptive and give the readers mind a better image of what is exactly happening...

I don't really drink, but the Fire Whisky sounded good... So does butterbeer

[SchmergoWeasley]

There is far too much alcohol in book 6, seriously. The rest of the books, there is some, but it's not really excessive. Book 6 has so much alcohol in it-- my friend made a list of every time Dumbledore drinks alcohol in book 6, and it was so funny to see how long the list was. The list was captioned, "Now we know why Dumbledore acts so strange... and what caused the twinkle in his eye!"

[62442al_Man]

For me, the alcohol sort of sets the scene and the mood. It shows how different our two worlds are. There is nothing to be angry about, you shouldn't think of these characters drinking as odd and wrong, in my opinion.

[FairyNuff]

Dumbledore drinking a bit? Personally, if my arm was like that and I knew that I was going to die, I would:

Drink
Smoke
And do just about anything else that comes to mind.
Excess in moderation of course.

[polar_salsa]

Yeah, it always just seemed to me that it was one of those things that are just accepted in the Wizarding culture, ya know? Like alcohol is more of a casual thing so people don't really freak out about it....

[kh312]

i dont think that butterbeer is an alcoholic drink...rowling wouldnt want to encourage something like that.

[MRWHITE213]

I think some people are overreacting to the referances to alcohol in the series. We are talking about events that to take place over basicaly 365 consecutive days and not a month or two. So what may seem like a lot of alcohol consumtion really could be very little, ie 20 days with a drink or two consumed over 365 days, really not a big deal.

I live in the US were the legal drinking age is 21 period, though you can be drafted and be killed fighting for your country at 18. I believe I have seen a study or two that shows other countries that have a lower drinking ages and that it is more of a custom to have a wine with diner etc have a lower rate of people becoming addicted to alcohol due to a lack of binge drinking etc that happens here in the states.

To me, Jo is not glorifying alcohol consumtion. In stead, I see it as she is noting a fact of life that some people to enjoy a drink now an then, just like she shows kids getting in trouble, adults are not always right, and sometimes life can be unfair and cruel.

[jamyp]

I am American so I can't say for sure but it always seemed to me that in England drinking is not seen with the negative connotation that it is in America.

Butterbeer in my opinion has a very very low alcohol content.

[esmereldacat]

i dont think that butterbeer is an alcoholic drink...rowling wouldnt want to encourage something like that.

It has already been established that butterbeer is alcoholic, but with a very low percentage. Presumably, lower than regular beer. Meaning, very low. Since JKR doesn't ever have the kids drinking to drunkenness, and only the adults drink regularly, I don't see what the big deal is.

[cm2009]

I don't think that the characters socially drinking is a big deal. I think that it is okay to sip on a drink at a party, but just for social purposes (like an adult sipping on wine at a wedding reception). What I don't agree with is people going out and drinking just to get drunk.

Drinking socially and drinking to achieve drunkeness is different. I think that what we have seen in the series is social drinking. With which, I see nothing wrong. (Did you know that I am a distant cousin of Yoda? )

[rubeus06]

i don't think there is a need for concern at all as Jo must have thougt of this already.

[missypotter]

I was disappointed in the amount of alcohol in HBP. Particularly shocking was Dumbledore giving mead to Harry. I don't care what country you are in the damage of alcohol (particularly when started young) is well documented. It was just a usless add on that caused many parents a hesitation.