Possible Flint or Plot device?

[caliburncy at yahoo.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 28131

I return from a brief stint of main list silence to bring you this 
special L.O.O.N. announcement:

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., John Walton <john at w...> wrote:
> I'm assuming that Susan Bones is in the same boat as Neville -- dead
> parents, raised by a family member. Alternatively, the "Bones" 
> mentioned by Hagrid could equally be relations to Susan -- Aunt,
> Uncle, Cousins...

JKR has stated in an interview that the Bones family referred to as 
being killed by Voldy and/or the DEs are the grandparents of Susan 
Bones.  I don't remember which interview, and am too tired to seek it 
out at the moment, but it can be found in the collection of interviews 
at the Harry Potter Galleries.  I think it's one of the AOL or B&N 
interviews, but I could be wrong.

Therefore, Danette, you can tell your husband that he is sharp-eyed, 
but that this is not a flint, because nowhere in Hagrid's comment did 
he say that the entire family (i.e. lineage) was wiped out.  Her 
grandparents were killed presumably after her father was grown.  And 
Susan, we can assume, was therefore raised by her parents as is usual. 
 It is a matter of consistency, not inconsistency.

Whether or not it actually becomes a plot point is another question 
entirely, and probably dependent upon whether or not Susan Bones 
becomes a more prominent character.  I personally find this unlikely, 
and suspect the connection is just another example of how the author 
needs to know more about the world than the readers do, but you never 
know.

Anyway, I am feeling tired and will now retire to bed.  Perhaps I will 
terrorize you all with an inane, rambling post of theoretically more 
substance tomorrow.  For the moment, all I have the energy to do is 
make this little point of order.

-Luke