Molly and Arthur's past (Was Re: Latin-Arabella Figg)

[xp39c]

No: HPFGUIDX 42676


corinthum wrote:
> > I base this assumption on a few small events.  As always, I don't
> > have the book with me, so forgive any mis-paraphrasing. First of 
> > all, Molly's reaction to Sirius. When he appears, she doesn't 
react
> > like one horrified at seeing a traitor, an old friend/coworker who
> > turned against her. She is simply horrified at coming face to face
> > with someone she believes is a murderer. And she calls him by his
> > full name, Sirius Black. If she knew him, I think she would have
> > simply called him Sirius. After all, do you ever address those you
> > know by their full names? I know I don't. But I do refer to public
> > figures in this way. It's how they are usually referred on the 
news
> > and in newspapaers, and therefore the full name sticks in my 
mind. 
> > Since Dumbledore asked Sirius to summon the old crowd, it seems 
that
> > the members of this crowd knew each other.
 
to which Grey Wolf replied:
> I disagree with your first explanation: I use full name *only* when 
> speaking to people that I know, but dislike (as a way of formally 
> keeping the distances). For example, a few of the boys I went to 
school 
> with take drugs regularly, and I've seen them totally drugged. The 
few 
> times I've spoken to them since then I've used their "full" name 
> (abreviated to name and first surname), in a not-very-tactful way 
of 
> expressing my dislike for their company. When speaking of famous 
people 
> I know just from the papers, I normally use their surname(s) *only* 
> (i.e. not their names). Whether I use the first, second or other 
> surnames depends exclusively on which one is used by the papers and 
TV, 
> really.
> 
> Molly's reaction has always stricken me as the reaction of someone 
who 
> cannot believe how far has fallen a person she used to like. And I 
> simply cannot buy that Molly and Arthur aren't part of the old 
gang: 
> Dumbledore wouldn't have revealed that much information if he 
wasn't 
> absolutely sure that he could count with them, and the way I see 
it, 
> the question is a formality and keeping with the good maners, not a 
> test of loyalty.

I, too, refer to famous people by their last name when I'm talking 
about them, but if I see a celebrity in person and were to point him 
out to people next to me, I would use their full name.

Mrs. Weasley's reaction seem to me exactly like the reaction of 
someone who just saw a criminal, and not the reaction of someone who 
just saw a traitor.

GoF Ch. 36:
"Mrs. Weasley screamed and leapt back from the bed.
'Sirius Black!' she shrieked, pointing at him."

Her reaction was that of someone who was scared, not someone who was 
surprised and disgusted, as it would be if she knew him personally.

Also, if she and Arthur were part of the "old crowd", Dumbledore 
would probably have told them that Sirius was innocent, considering 
that one of their sons already knows.

--Hei Lun