Ginny & the Platform Scene

[Penny & Bryce]

No: HPFGUIDX 33083

Hi --

pippin_999 wrote:


>    I must point out that JKR manages to establish that  Bill and
> Charlie exist without dragging them onto the platform at King's
> Cross or giving them a cameo, even though Charlie plays a
> larger part in the first book than Ginny does.

Yes, but Ron doesn't wear Ginny's hand-me-down clothes or have 
expectations to live up to regarding her past performance at Hogwarts. 
Bill & Charlie are easy enough to introduce conversationally.  Bill & 
Charlie are also working or studying in another country at the time the 
rest of the kids leave for Hogwarts that September.  Would be a bit odd 
if they had turned up at the Platform ... given there was no QWC to 
attend that August.

> 
I said:
>  >> The Weasleys
> could hardly afford a child-minder for that shortish trek to King's
> Cross; Ginny would necessarily be with her mum. She'd also
> want to see her brothers off;<<

Pippin responded:

> 
>     If Mrs. W has no one to leave her with, then it's not Ginny's first
> time at King's Cross,  so why on earth is Ginny so excited?

I interpret her behavior as juvenile rather than excited.  She's excited 
at the prospect that she might meet the famous Harry Potter, but her 
behavior up to that time is merely to answer her mum's question about 
the Platform # (some evidence she *has* been there before) & whine/beg 
about why she can't go to Hogwarts (I concede that we don't know 
precisely where she meant to go & maybe it was to look in the muggle 
shops ... but her mother interprets her question as Hogwarts so...).  In 
other words, I don't see any "excitement" in her actions prior to 
learning that the famous Boy Who Lived is on the train & her twin 
brothers have met him.

 And
> who needs a Childminder?

Um....well perhaps Molly would feel comfortable leaving her 9/10 yr old 
alone at *the Burrow* (small village location in England), but I assure 
you I won't be leaving my daughter unattended in Houston TX at the age 
of 10.  Although if Molly is uncomfortable allowing her 10 yr old 
daughter to traverse the train station without holding tightly to her 
hand, I doubt seriously that she'd leave her unattended at home either. :--)

 Are we to suppose that poor Ginny's
> spent her first 10 years in social isolation out at The Burrow?
> She couldn't have Floo'd over to visit a friend or one of those
> hypothetical Weasley cousins? ? I'm sure it would have been
> much easier on Molly to leave Ginny behind than to try to keep
> track of her in the station.

Molly's behavior is over-protective ... IMO anyway.  I doubt she'd leave 
Ginny behind.  As for the social isolation, I fall into the Weasleys 
must have been home-schooled camp.  They have little knowledge of muggle 
life, which indicates they likely didn't attend the muggle school in 
Ottery St. Catchpole.  The Diggorys live near enough, but based on the 
Portkey in GoF, we can assume there aren't many more wizarding families 
in the vicinity of the Burrow.  Probably not enough to support a 
wizarding primary school in any case.  So .... if the Weasleys were 
home-schooled, then I'd say they might have been relatively isolated.

>   I just re-read the platform scene...you could just as well see the
> hand holding as Mrs. Weasley being over-protective(Now hold
> my hand dear, this is a busy place and we don't want you getting
> lost,do we)...and the first "Oh mum, can I go..." as Ginny's
> attempt to get away and look at the Muggle shops or something.

Oh, I think Molly is definitely over-protective of Ginny.  I've little 
doubt of that.  But, the depiction of Ginny in that scene is still 
pretty darn juvenile IMHO.

>   She cries and chases after the train, which makes me think she
> must be at least nine..old enough to get away with running on a
> railway platform (my mother would have screamed for fear I'd
> slip and fall under the wheels),

Maybe Molly was screaming, but Harry couldn't hear her.  <g>  I bet she 
was shrieking as a matter of fact.  Having seen some of those train 
station platforms in England ("mind the gap"), I can say that it took 
some nerve for me to get myself onto the train sometimes, let alone 
seeing to one or more children.  :::shudders::::  So, I bet Molly *was* 
screaming.  :--D

You've not yet convinced me that this is a typical 9/10 yr old girl.  I 
still say she's no more than 6 the way she's depicted.  But, that's just 
my opinion obviously.

Penny