Dumbledore's 'sting'

[justcarol67]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, Tyler Hewitt <tahewitt at y...>
wrote:
> The 'defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald' may not
> have used Dumbledore's one sting. It depends on the
> definition of the word 'defeat', and the nature of a
> 'sting' for a bumblebee animagus. Does defeat mean
> kill? Does one have to kill someone in order to have
> stung them?
> If we don't know these answers, we can't be sure that
> DD has ever used his 'stinger'.
> 
> On a vaguely related note, I had a theory going for a
> while that has been partially debunked by the prophecy
> in OoP (at least it needs a good reworking).
> Basically, my idea was that Harry was created
> specifically to fight Voldemort-that Lily and James
> used magics during Harry's conception to ensure that
> he would eventually defeat him.
> Here's a bit from that old post that relates to
> Dumbledore:
> 
> "I suggest that the name Dumbledore has meaning.
> Dumbledore is old English for bumblebee. What does a
> bumblebee do? Pollinate. In its search for nectar, a
> bumblebee spreads pollen, fertilising flowers (in "The
> Botany of Desire", author Michael Pollen refres to
> bees as `flying penises'). Dumbledore could have been
> the one who cast the spell, or gathered ingredients,
> or otherwise helped Lily and James `pollinate' their
> special creation.  JKR has apperantly claimed that she
> just liked the word dumbledore, but we woulden't
> expect her to divulge a clue that large, would we?
> One more small tidbit about bumbebees-they are
> solitary, they don't hive like other bees. Sounds a
> little like Dumbledore, doesn't it?"
> 
> Tyler


OTOH, all bees that sting are female (the stinger is a modified
ovipositor or egg-laying mechanism). Honeybee stingers are barbed and
are left in the wound, killing the insect. Bumblebee stingers are not
barbed and consequently, bumblebees can sting multiple times.

Carol

Carol