Divination - Fred and George's wager + the significance of the number six

[Martin Smith]

No: HPFGUIDX 33596


pbeider asked:
<<Why would the Weasley twins bet all their savings on such a seemingly
improbable end of the Quidditch World Cup, and how is it that they
WON that bet?
<snip>
Theory #2: they divined the result.  But JKR has led us to believe
that true divination is very rare, and they haven't shown predictive
powers any other time.>>

Zorb picked up the thread:
<<I was wondering the same thing the last time I read GoF.  This happened to
coincide with reading up on the Ron-As-Seer theories.  This is just wild
speculation, but what if Fred and George didn't divine the result, but RON
did?  Maybe the Seventh Son theory has merit to it, or F&G know something
that Ron doesn't yet.  Ron could've made an offhand comment at home before
the QWC, that he thought that could happen.  The twins picked up on it and
thus placed the bet.

Probably not, but it's fun to guess!>>

Hi everybody!

A while back I picked up the
Ron-might-be-the-seventh-son-and-therefore-a-seer-thread by pointing out the
possibility that a hitherto unknown older Weasleybrother was picked by an
evil wizard in his youth and trained by him, not attending Hogwarts and thus
turning to the Dark side. That would make him a son non grata in the Weasley
household and also explain why Ron can say "I'm the sixth brother to go to
Hogwarts in my family" without lying.
Now, even if that is a possibility not yet opposed by canon, there might be
another possibility.
In Muggle folklore, the seventh son of a seventh son employs great magical
abilities, including Seeing.
In Terry Pratchett's world, the same goes for the *eighth* son of an
*eighth* son.
What if, in JKR's world, the ultimate Seer is the *sixth* son of a *sixth*
son? JKR is doubtlessly the ultimate Creator and big Kahuna in the
Potterverse, and she has shown constantly that she can utilise Muggle
folklore traditions with a unique twist of her own. She makes the rules,
doesn't she?
Now, if only I could find evidence of the significance of the number six in
canon. At a first glance, the number seven seems far more important, and the
following spring to mind:

* Seven years at Hogwarts
* Seven players on a Quidditch team
* Seven Weasley kids
* Seven locks on Crouch Jr's trunk
* Seven departments in MoM
* Seven registered Animagi in the century

Now, finding number six is harder. You will have to use various multiples:

* 2x6 times with the Put-outer
* 4x6 letters to Harry in 4x6 eggs
* 2x6 uses of dragon's blood
* 2x6 Malfoys are worth about the same as one Neville
* 111x6 is the age of Nicholas Flamel in PS (him being 665 last year)
* 2x6 members of the Board of education (or whatever it's called)
* 2x6 Muggles killed by Pettigrew when he framed Black
* 2x6 years in Azkaban for Black
* 6 trained wizards to overcome a dragon
* 6 years old when JKR started writing
* 6/2 members of The Trio
* 6/2 remaining members of MWPP

Seeing as how multiples are often used in any form of number-related magic,
especially the multiples 1/2, 2 and squared, in the case of finding
significance of the number six, we are also allowed to look for the numbers
three, twelve, thirty-six, two hundred and sixteen and so forth. Especially
the number twelve seems vital in JKR's world, as we can see in Steve's
Sacred Source of Several Sorcerous Stuff (from which some of the above are
derived):
http://www.i2k.com/~svderark/lexicon/number_twelve.html
Add to that the fact that the sixth son of a sixth son is twelve people, I
think it is fair to at least consider the possibility that JKR has decided
that such a person has what it takes to be a true Seer. And Ron might be.
If anyone wants to locate any further listings of the number six in the
book, please do!

On a sidenote, though: For me, as a Swede, the number six is not only
important, it is also vital for the survival of humankind: The swedish word
for 6 is the same as the Swedish word for what man and woman do when they
want to become Mum and Dad. Sex, that is.

Martin (who, as an experienced poker player can't for the world see how
F&G:s wager is motivated by the ratio of the implicit odds (the propability
of having the best remaining hand) and the pot odds (the size of the bet/the
size of the possible winnings) without magic involved)