[HPforGrownups] Latin in Harry Potter--Arabella Figg

[eloiseherisson at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 42612

Richelle:
> Okay, I may be going overboard with this Latin thing, 

Just possibly! ;-)

but still this is pretty cool.  First, I looked up "ara."  It means 
sanctuary.  Next, 
> bella.  It could come from one of these root words:
> 
> bellatrix = female warrior
> belliger = waging war
> bello = fight
> bellum = combat
> belua = monster
> 
> Take your pick, any of them fits in and makes sense.
> 
> 
Eloise:
Except that you've missed out the really obvious one - bellus, -a, -um, adj., 
'beautiful'.
'Ara bella' in Latin would mean 'beautiful altar', or 'beautiful refuge'.

Which would be added evidence for those who think she's polyjuiced into her 
old lady state.

(Incidentally, the first four you quote all have the *same* root, don't 
they?)

Richelle:
 Now, here's the really cool part.> 
> Take her last name, Figg.  In Latin it would probably come from one of 
> these two words:
> 
> figo = establish (that would make sense, she established a sanctuary and 
> was there to         wage war if necessary)
> figulus = potter
> 
> Whoa!  Could she have changed her name to avoid association and become 
> Arabella Figg instead of Arabella Potter?  Is she Harry's great aunt?  
> Grandmother?  Great grandmother?  Wait!  Don't throw anything yet.  Let me 
> defend my wild theory for a moment.  1) The Dursleys more than likely would 
> not know any of James Potter's family, right?  Right.  2) She may not have 
> appeared with Harry's family in the Mirror of Erised, as Dumbledore told 
> Harry "the mirror will give us neither knowledge nor truth."
> 
> 
Eloise:

OK. I have two problems:

One. Why does *everything* have to be derived from Latin? There are lots of 
wizards whose names don't have Latin derivations.

Two. Dumbledore places Harry with the dreadful Dursleys because they are his 
*only living relatives* and it is apparently necessary for his protection 
that he lives with blood relatives.
If Arabella is really a Potter, why, in heaven's name, doesn't he have her 
look after Harry herself (disguising herself as a muggle if necessary, as she 
has done anyway) instead of having her supervise from afar?

Now, as I understand it,  Arabella was originally a Scottish variation of 
Amabel (yes, that's an 'm') which is derived from (L.) amabile (amiable, 
lovable). 
Figg? It sounds old, fuddy-duddy, right for the wrinkly, dried-up old lady 
who probably takes her daily dose of syrup of figs. We only know the Figg 
part until the end of GOF. Perhaps the Arabella part, if it has any meaning, 
is our first indication that she's not what she seems.

>Okay, I'm admitting it's a really wild theory, but I'm rather fond of wild 
theories.  I think I'll start writing all of my wild >theories down, one of 
them's bound to be right! :)

I love wild theories!
Did you ever hear my one about Fourth Man?

Actually, I have just done a quick Google search on Figg and found that a lot 
of other people have come to similar conclusions as you, Richelle, about the 
derivations. I get a bit, um, boring about these things sometimes, as various 
people will attest <looking in no direction in particular!>

Eloise


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