Fairy Godmothers (was Re: Bonfire Night/Godparents)

[Morag Traynor]

No: HPFGUIDX 17349

Neil wrote:
<snip cogent exposition of Bonfire Night/Godparents>
I wonder who might be Harry's fairy godmother?
>In spirit, at least, it has to be Molly Weasley.

As I've said before, I think JKR studiously avoids religion in the books.  
But the whole godfather thing has a magic/folklore antecedent.  In fairy 
tales, the godparent (usually a godmother) is specifically a magical 
replacement for a dead parent.  Harry is a male Cinderella, hidden away as 
much as possible and  made to do household tasks while Dudley, the Ugly 
Brother, is petted and pandered to.  I think it's Hagrid who is the Fairy 
Godmother - he has a very maternal nature ("Norbert! Where's Mummy?") - 
stepping in to rescue Harry from the wicked step-parents, providing new 
clothes and showering him with gold.  "Going to the Ball" is, of course, 
"going to Hogwarts" - in both cases, being given a chance to find your 
rightful place in society.  Harry can't marry a prince, but he can go one 
better by *being* something pretty close to a prince - famous son of highly 
regarded family - in the wizarding world.  This is just an observation, not 
a criticism, but I think one reason HP is so popular (apart from being 
wonderful, that is) is this masculinisation of female archetypes.  Female 
readers of all ages are more used to identifying with male protagonists than 
male readers with female protagonists.
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