small wonderings

[Milz]

No: HPFGUIDX 20728

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., bess_va at l... wrote:
> Hi y'all, I'm new to this list (and I'm also the world's worst 
> speller), and have a few small questions. 
> 
> 1.) how does Ron get to keep Pig when he returns home for the 
summer? 
> If I'd brought home a new, resonably expensive, 'thing' from school, 
> my mom and dad would have asked a lot of questions.  How does Ron 
> explain this to his folks?  Ron's a terrible liar, it not as if he'd 
> mentioned Pig previously to his family in letters home ("Dear Mum 
and 
> Dad, Harry gave me a great mini-owl for Christmas...").  His parents 
> aren't clued into Sirius' redemption until the end of GoF, so 
telling 
> them the truth is out.  (Love to envision that potential 
scene..."Well 
>  Mom, you remember Harry's godfather Sirius Black...?"
> 

Maybe Ron pulled a "I found him Mum. He's so tiny. I couldn't leave 
him there all by himself." He probably conned Molly and Arthur into 
letting him keep Pig because 1. Scabbers "died" (Fred, George, Ginny 
and Percy could corroborate) and 2. considering Errol's advanced age, 
Pig could be a family owl. I was notorious for bringing home stray 
dogs and cats when I was a child so I can imagine the techniques Ron 
used on Molly and Arthur.

> 2.) How do Fred and George design/develop their pranks if they're 
not 
> allowed to use magic during the vacations? Loud explosions are heard 
> from their rooms and we're introduced to the toffee at the end of a 
> summer vacation.  Why haven't they gotten into trouble with the MOM?
> 

I don't think the explosions were caused by wand magic. Harry's 
potions supplies needed replenishing in GoF. I think Fred and George 
used their potions supplies, household chemicals and things that can 
be found around the Burrow. Lots of things can cause explosions if 
ignited. There's a plant, called Borage, that when thrown on a fire it 
will spark and make small explosive sounds. I imagine some of the 
potions materials would do the same thing.

> 3.) where are Lily's girlfriends?  and particularly, where's Harry's 
> godmother?  JKR makes a distinction between Sirius being both 
Harry's 
> godfather and guardian.  I took that to mean Sirius was Harry's 
> *religious* godfather.  Sirius would have taken the role at Harry's 
> baptism and been responsible for overseeing Harry's religious 
> education should his parents not been able to take care of it.  
> It (godfather) would not just be an honorary title that some people 
> use, kindof like an honorary Aunt or Uncle.  And Sirius was 
appointed 
> *legal* guardian should anything happen to his folks.  It's my 
> understanding that if there's a godfather, there's usually a 
godmother 
> (only know this second-hand, my religious denomination doesn't "do" 
> godparents).  True, she may have passed on during the time of 
terror, 
> but other than Hagrid's collecting photos of Lily and James from 
> unnamed "friends", we don't know anything about Lily's friends.  Was 
> she like Hermione and just hung with the boys? (but she didn't 
> participate in the monthly rambles).
> 

I'm a god-mother. When I lived near my god-daughter, her parents put 
me down as the alternative "contact person" for her day-care and I 
baby-sat her quite often. Though I now live in a different state, her 
parent's will names me as her guardian should they both die (her 
god-father is the runner-up: if something happens to me, he'll 
become Gaby's guardian). So the god-parent responsibility doesn't 
necessarily concern religious education only.

Lily's friends are a mystery. I assume she had her own group of 
friends at Hogwarts. If her only friends were James, Peter, Sirius and 
Remus, I would have expected her to be indentified as such by Remus or 
Sirius. I even have a feeling that Lupin wasn't as close to James and 
Sirius as was Peter (Rosmerta's comments in PoA about Peter always 
tagging around James and Sirius).

I do hope that we'll meet some of Lily's friends.

Milz