enigmatic Bill .... the missing Weasley child

[rcraigharman at hotmail.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 21417

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., BrownieH6 at a... wrote:
> Don't you think, though, that if there was a missing Weasley
> child, or is Molly was a step-mother, that Ron would have mentioned
> something to Harry about it by now?  I can't see Ron not knowing
> about something like that, or not telling Harry at some point.

That's two different questions.  If Molly were his stepmother, which
I don't believe, I agree it probably would have come up by now --
especially given the nature of "stepmother literature".

On the other hand, it is quite possible that if Ron had a deceased
brother he might not mention it simply because there might not be
much of a story to it.  I know that some people in the "dead Weasley"
camp expect that it had something to do with VWI.  I think it could
easily have been more mundane -- like an infant dying shortly after
childbirth, who might otherwise have been stillborn or the like.

Stillbirths are more common than people tend to think and though
infants are dying less frequently from birthing complications than in
times past, it still does happen.  Bill and Charlie would have likely
been young when the posited missing Weasley died and the younger
children might not have been made fully aware of it.

As far as telling Harry, I suppose it might eventually come up, but
it hasn't yet.  I have a very good friend who is the oldest in his
family, but his older-brother-to-have-been was stillborn.  I didn't
find this out about him until we knew each other for about 2½ years
and had we not started talking about the topic of genealogy, I might
still not have known.

For Ron, who would have been greatly removed from the missing
brother, the importance of this sibling would be far less than if
he were closer in age, like Percy....

....Craig