Mrs. Figg

[blpurdom at yahoo.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 24938

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "Amy Z" <aiz24 at h...> wrote:  
> 
> I love the cabbage-Polyjuice-Mrs. Figg connection.  This is *just* 
the kind of tiny little thing JKR would plant in books one and two 
for us all to say "AHHHHH!" to in book five.
> 
> I hate cooked cabbage, and as a picky eater, it has frequently 
> occurred to me that I'd find life at Hogwarts difficult.  Potions 
and magical remedies do not seem to be designed with picky eaters' 
tastes in mind. 

I wonder whether the reason for Polyjuice Potion smelling like 
cabbage has to do with The Invasion of the Body Snatchers, in which 
the aliens had the human duplicates growing in cabbage patches (I 
also wonder whether this is the joke with Cabbage Patch Dolls). If we 
knew whether JKR had seen this or read Jack Finney's book, it might 
be clearer.  Also on the cabbage smell, I just read the bit where a 
medium in "Good Omens" was boiling brussels sprouts in her apartment 
to prepare for a seance because she simply thought that this was how 
her clients would expect her apartment to smell.  Brussels sprouts 
look like miniature cabbages.  JKR seems to have many Gaiman/Pratchet 
references in her books.

--Barb