[HPforGrownups] Mrs Figg, and her broken leg....

[devika261 at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 26488

In a message dated Sat, 22 Sep 2001 11:20:58 AM Eastern Daylight Time, vheggie at yahoo.com writes:

> Having spent my Saturday lunchtime listening to PS/SS on audio tape, 
> I've a few questions/suggestions about the mysterious Arabella Figg.
> 
> Early on in PS/SS, she breaks her leg, supposedly from tripping over 
> one of her cats.  As a consequence of this, Harry gets to go to 
> London Zoo, and have his first conversation in Parseltoungue.
> Several weeks later she's still on crutches, since Dudley nearly runs 
> her over with the racing bike he gets for his birthday.
> Why did she not mend it/have it mended with magic?
> 
> I've several ideas, some more likely than others....
> 1)It wasn't really a broken leg, but something far more serious
> 
> 2)She is actually a squib/muggle, but with sympathies for the 
> wizarding world & therefore couldn't repair it herself.
> 
> 3)She is actually a witch, but, as part of her disguise in the muggle 
> world, cannot use any magic, or have contact with the magic world 
> (perhaps part of the protection around Harry?)
> 
> 4)She is a witch, but in order to 'blend in' she's making a real 
> effort not to use magic or appear different, so she's using crutches 
> for the sake of appearances.
> 
> 5)She is a witch, and it was necessary to pretend to have a broken 
> leg, so Harry could go to the Zoo (did Dumbledore have suspicion 
> about Harry's 'language skills'?) - the crutches were just 'for 
> appearances sake', as above.
> 
> Personally I like option 3 best...any thoughts?
> 


Well, I'm supposed to be writing an English paper, but I like this question, so I'll take a break to answer it.

I'd go with a combination of 3 and 5.  I think Arabella Figg is a witch who has for some reason been living in a sort of exile from the wizarding world--probably self-imposed, and for the sake of Harry's safety.  She may or may not have actually broken her leg, but I think that she knew it was Harry's last full year with the Dursleys since he would be turning 11, and she wanted him to enjoy himself for once.  The broken leg was a good way for her to get out of watching him, so it was likely that the Dursleys would take him to the zoo.  And Harry did have a good time until the snake incident.  I don't believe that the whole Parseltongue thing was part of any master plan on Mrs. Figg's or Dumbledore's part, but you never know.
Also, IIRC, Harry did have to stay with Mrs. Figg one day when Aunt Petunia was shopping with Dudley.  She was then nicer than usual to him, not making him look at pictures of her cats and giving him chocolate cake.

Hmmm...I wonder what was in that chocolate cake.  A potion to give Harry courage, maybe?  Not that he needed it, though.
And what's with the cat pictures?  Is it some kind of clue?  Maybe Crookshanks once belonged to Mrs. Figg.  Or maybe Mrs. Norris has something to do with it.  
Hmm...the plot thickens...

Devika, who should be thinking less about Harry Potter and more about virgin martyr legends...